Ethics and Honor

A huge bull elk ghosts through the early morning fog. His ivory colored antler tines seem to disappear into the frozen air as he slowly approaches my concealed position. I can hear his cows, mewing and calling to one another in the dense blanket of white that conceals them from view, while his bugles seem to shake the forest where I hide. At ten yards he emerges from the dense forest and turns to look back at his harem of cows and calves just becoming visible through the fog. The wind is in my favor the shot is an easy one, he is so close that I can see the white crystals from the fog stuck to his long guard hairs and eyelashes. I slowly draw my Osage self bow and prepare to let loose the feathered death. Suddenly! A cow elk emerges from the shadows and stands by his side blocking the quartering away shot. I let down on the bow and watch as the pair disappear over the hill and out of sight. Ten yards, why didn’t I take the shot anyway? Because of ethics, integrity, an honor.

Sometimes, we as bow hunters have wonderful opportunity one instant and disappointment the next. The story above happened to me on a Wyoming hunt last year. I am a firm believer in the fact that making the kill, for some hunters, often over rides common sense and ethics. I have found a few deer and elk that were arrowed and never recovered by hunters, who either didn‘t try hard enough for recovery, or had no knowledge of what it actually takes to find their game after the shot.

Having harvested several species of big game animals with my longbow, self bows and recurves in the past twenty five years of bow hunting; I must say the common denominator for my successes is good shot placement. Too often, I believe that hunters get caught up in the moment and take bad shots in the hope of “MAYBE” connecting. In my youth I did the same thing, and can still feel the guilt and burden of having failed in my attempt to make a clean and humane harvest. Every hunter has a different opinion of what is an ethical shot. Some compound shooters can consistently make shots at long range, while self bow shooters are hard pressed to remain consistent and deadly at twenty yards. I would stress that every brother or sister of the bow, find their own comfort zone, and stick to their personal ethics, no matter the size of the trophy. When preparing for the shot, I have a mental checklist. 1) Is the shot ethical? 2) Can I make the shot? 3) Pick a spot and smooth release.

Sometimes things go wrong, once the arrow leaves the string, and we, as ethical archers, must do everything in our power to bring the hunt to an honorable end. By this I mean, if you have the misfortune to gut shoot or wound a deer, then try everything in your power to find the lost animal. Exhaust every effort in the pursuit of doing the honorable and ethical thing. If you can honestly say you have followed through, then you have not done wrong. You have only been humbled by your efforts and will try that much harder to make certain not to repeat the same mistakes in the future. We as archers and hunters, outdoorsmen and women have a responsibility to protect our outdoor sports. Through integrity and honorable practices we ensure a future for our hunting heritage. My best advice to fellow archers is to stick to your morals and take only shots you are confident with. But above all never give up; it may take years to achieve your personal goals as a hunter. But the rewards of a successful harvest with morals and ethics in the forefront of the hunt will be cherished memories to last a lifetime. As well as the memories of the ones that got away…… like a seven point bull elk…… ghosting away into the early morning fog.

Mike “Hawk” Huston