Thread: Summer hunting .....a question of ethics??

Its very easy to be selective, I'm lucky if I shoot <2% of what I see. No hinds at this time of year, they're your breeding stock. Why kill something that is carrying, or mothering the next generation of animal for a herd? If it is obviously a dry hind or very old I might cull it out. When hunting for myself I consider myself a trophy hunter, but sometimes I will shoot a number of deer a week at times, this is generally with people I take out hunting, or for meat for friends and family.

On private land I'm pretty selective, generally hunting for a younger meat animal or a decent buck/stag. Bombing up everything you see doesn't generally please the landowner, a few guys I know have lost good hunting access because of there trigger happy attitudes! When carrying out pest control/culling in private blocks I'll generally shoot whatever I can but even then I won't shoot hinds October thru February or stags in velvet, unless its antlers are obviously malformed, or inferior.

On public land I won't shoot a "meat" animal unless we need meat for camp, or its very handy to my vehicle, and then it will be selected, usually the youngest deer - they are easier to handle and taste nicer. In the roar I generally aim for something better than I have shot previously - it took a few years of hunting and a number of deer to reach this point however. I have stalked and left dozens of stags that I consider to have potential, hoping to one day meet with them again. Some you do, but most you never see again.

Selective culling to produce a superior animal has been happening for generations on farms. I am a firm believer that with selective culling and strict rules about which animals a hunter is allowed to shoot, that in a wild herd, one is able to improve herd quality and overall trophy potential. I have seen and been involved with this personally on two large stations and some smaller properties where selective culling of their wild herd with helicopter/foot hunting has been carried out over a number of years and the quality of stags being seen and shot in recent years is clearly improving. It is so obvious its not funny.