By Glen Wunderlich

Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)

Having read with great interest a thought-provoking excerpt from an article in Fair Chase magazine titled, “I’ve Walked the Line…Have You?” by Robert D. Brown on the subject of hunting ethics, I thought it would be worth sharing some of the concepts – both his and mine.  As a one-time head of the Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Department at Texas A&M, he would lecture students and cited a list the potential advantages hunters could have over their prey.

Here are his listed aspects of giving hunters the advantage over the hunted:

• Baiting with salt or molasses
• Bows with laser sights
• Camouflage clothes
• Compound bows
• Corn feeders
• Food plots
• Doe urine
• Drones for scouting
• Grunts/Calls
• High-powered rifles
• Hunting inside high fences
• Hunting with dogs
• Listening devices
• Range finders
• Remote live TV
• Telescopic sights
• Trail cameras
• Tree stands/Blinds

To begin, we must understand that hunting rules vary from state to state and that a foundational principle of the issue is that whatever method we hunters employ must be legal to be ethical.  However, mere legality does not necessarily equate to ethical.

As a professional member of the highly respected Boone and Crockett Club, Mr. Brown defines its fair-chase doctrine which must provide the game with a reasonable chance to escape. So then, are the use of muzzleloaders or bow and arrow, while stalking our game on the ground, the only way to achieve that?

I certainly hope not, because who among us would qualify as a sportsman or woman?  I believe there are other important aspects of the issue and there’s one inescapable fact of reality often ignored:  the human brain.

Years ago, there was a certain woodchuck that I wanted to eliminate from a farmer’s alfalfa field.  Even though a high-powered rifle was legal to use, it made no sense.  Because of the relatively close proximity to a nearby residence, I did not want to alarm anyone in the early morning hours.  To complicate matters, the ‘chuck’s domain was positioned so that shooting from distance would mean shooting toward a highway.

I devised a plan whereby I would use my bicycle to get to the area, which had no place to park a motor vehicle without causing some type of interference with traffic; I would hide the two-wheeler in the roadside ditch and hunt close by toward the safe center of the field.

At dawn, I pedaled a few miles with my single-shot Thompson/Center Contender pistol chambered in .22 rimfire in a backpack.  The chosen ammunition was subsonic to avoid unnecessary noise and my practice sessions were done at the known yardage of the forthcoming sneak attack.  There I waited in camouflage clothing head to toe in the prone position, while the hay hog slumbered.  At last, one perfectly placed shot completed the mission’s purpose.

Was it fair?  That’s debatable depending on perspective, but in my book it was as ethical as possible.  Never having been one to sneak around in the woods with moccasins afoot, it fit my style of ensuring a quick and humane end to the dilemma.

I remained within my limitations to execute the perfect plan both legally and ethically.  Although there was little doubt that the woodchuck would escape its pending demise, I met the challenge of fair chase according to my own definition.

If we take only shots that we know we can make with at least a 9-out-of-10 chance, then we are head and shoulders above those that don’t.  We owe it to the hunted.

October 13, 2021 – Pope and Young, America’s leading bowhunting organization recently updated their position statement on the use of tracking dogs. Pope and Young has always promoted the fair and ethical pursuit of games species, and as an organization constantly reviews stances on the wide variety of issues that can impact fair chase, and the harvest and recovery of game.

TRACKING DOG POSITION STATEMENT (Amended 9-30-21)

The Pope and Young Club recognizes that the use of tracking dogs to locate a wounded animal is becoming an increasing popular tactic and is being legalized in many jurisdictions. The Club supports the philosophy that it is the responsibility of an ethical hunter to expend all reasonable effort in recovering a wounded animal.

To the same degree, though, the Club believes it important that a hunter learn and master the traditional practices of blood trailing and tracking. These skills are inseparable components of a well-rounded hunter and are important woodsmanship values of the overall experience. Further, the Club is concerned that certain technologies and practices can be used as a crutch and actually supplant the basic skills expected and desired of a bow hunter.

As such, the Pope and Young Club will accept record book entries recovered with the use of trained tracking dogs with the following conditions/provisions:

1. The use of a tracking dog(s) must meet ALL state or provincial laws in the jurisdiction you are hunting that governs the use of tracking dogs for wounded animals.

2. The dog must meet all local requirements concerning training and/or licensing.

3. The recovery must be completed within 48 hours of the initial shot and the hunter MUST be present.
4. The dog may be used to recover a dead big game animal only. If the animal is found alive, the use of a tracking dog must be abandoned immediately.

The final determination of eligibility for entry of all animals found alive and later taken will be at the Records Committee’s discretion. Read more

Beginning Oct. 1, you can report your 2021 deer harvest online. All data collected helps the DNR to manage the deer population in Michigan. Reporting your deer is optional, but highly encouraged.

When you report your harvest, you’ll be asked to give your hunting license number, date of birth, deer season (archery, firearm, etc.), date of harvest, the county and deer management unit where you harvested your deer, whether you harvested an antlered or antlerless deer, the number of antler points, and the location where the deer was harvested. The location information is kept private and used for statistical purposes only.

This video will walk you through the simple steps you’ll use to report your deer harvest online. You can report your harvest at Michigan.gov/DNRHarvestReport.

Good luck, and be safe out there this fall!