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Rules of Fair Chase

TheKingsDeer.com

TheKingsDeer.com

Whitetail-Images.com
Reading some of the dialog today and wanting to pass on some sense of organization that has ideals and a sense of code, here you go.

After 31 years of bowhunting I decided to rejoin the Pope and Young Club this year,mostly for my own self and how I want to be as a bow hunter but to teach my sons about ethics and responsibility. We all have our own code but when it's defined and written down it just seems to be more. If either of these two entities make sense for you, by all means.

The Pope and Young Club - Rules of Fair Chase

The term “Fair Chase” shall not include the taking of animals under the following conditions:
  • Helpless in a trap, deep snow or water, or on ice.
  • From any power vehicle or power boat.
  • By “jacklighting” or shining at night.
  • By the use of any tranquilizers or poisons.
  • While inside escape-proof fenced enclosures.
  • By the use of any power vehicle or power boats for herding or driving animals, including use of aircraft to land alongside or to communicate with or direct a hunter on the ground.
  • By the use of electronic devices for attracting, locating or pursuing game or guiding the hunter to such game, or by the use of a bow or arrow to which any electronic device is attached.
  • Any other condition considered by the Board of Directors as unacceptable.
The fair chase concept does, however, extend beyond the hunt itself; it is an attitude and a way of life based in a deep-seated respect for wildlife, for the environment, and for other individuals who share the bounty of this vast continent’s natural resources.
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Now, The Boone and Crockett Clubs statement

FAIR CHASE STATEMENT
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]FAIR CHASE, as defined by the Boone and Crockett Club, is the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild, native North American big game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper advantage over such animals.
HUNTER ETHICSFundamental to all hunting is the concept of conservation of natural resources. Hunting in today's world involves the regulated harvest of individual animals in a manner that conserves, protects, and perpetuates the hunted population. The hunter engages in a one-to-one relationship with the quarry and his or her hunting should be guided by a hierarchy of ethics related to hunting, which includes the following tenets:
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1. Obey all applicable laws and regulations.
2. Respect the customs of the locale where the hunting occurs.
3. Exercise a personal code of behavior that reflects favorably on your abilities and sensibilities as a hunter.
4. Attain and maintain the skills necessary to make the kill as certain and quick as possible.
5. Behave in a way that will bring no dishonor to either the hunter, the hunted, or the environment.
6. Recognize that these tenets are intended to enhance the hunter's experience of the relationship between predator and prey, which is one of the most fundamental relationships of humans and their environment.​
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So does that mean if you take it with a lighted knock it will be disqualified?
 
Jim said:
So does that mean if you take it with a lighted knock it will be disqualified?
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Correct, Pope and Young does not allow entry into their "record book" of any animal taken with a lighted nock. Same goes for sight lights, bow mounted rangefinders, etc.
 
Its a great post, Whitetail-Images! As a hunter ed instructor down here, we really hammer our kids on Fair Chase and ethics. Personally, I don't see the advantage that a lighted nock gives, but I also have no intention of entering anything into anyone's official record books. I like P&Y and B&C for their conservation practices and fair chase dogma, but I think their records standards are old and antiquated.
 
AZHunter said:
Its a great post, Whitetail-Images! As a hunter ed instructor down here, we really hammer our kids on Fair Chase and ethics. Personally, I don't see the advantage that a lighted nock gives, but I also have no intention of entering anything into anyone's official record books. I like P&Y and B&C for their conservation practices and fair chase dogma, but I think their records standards are old and antiquated.
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Thank you, I am glad you appreciated it. The older I get the more I wonder about our society and the idea of "win at all costs" - and how much I hate this attitude.

I got my 2010 buck measured this summer by a Pope and Young measurer and he sits on their board and he asked me about the lighted knocks. I told him I don't use but I am a bit old school and wish I had the patience and skill to stick with my recurve during deer season.

It's kind of like the "let off" thing a few years ago, and I look at the buck Jim Hole Jr. shot in Canada and it doesn't count. Jeez, he is a stud, I am talking about Jim, he could throw a rock and kill a good buck but the rules are as the rules are...

Anyway, I have to remind myself at times and when I get up at 5 am, look in the mirror, do I like what I see. Some years are great and others suck but that's hunting. Not everyone can do it!
 
What about a range finder? Would that fall under the "locating or pursuing" catergory? I doubt I would have any deer entered into the P&Y book, but just curious.
 
I do not have any deer entered in any record book. P&Y really grinds me on how subjective they have been with some really great deer recently. The higher ups strike me as the equivalent of baseball purists. A lighted knock aids in the recovery of the animal, not in the actual harvest. There is so many advancements in technology and P&Y was founded before compounds existed! I would recommend that traditional archery stay at 125 inches but compounds should be at 160 or something like that.

I applaud them for conservation efforts, but denounce them for bias when judging deer and not keeping updated over the years.

I would also think that when P&Y was founded the quality and quantity of animals was different than now. Also the fact of panel scorning deer every four years seems very outdated as well.
 
Even though I don't animals in any record books, I agree with P & Y decision to stick to the rules set forth at their inception. To change the rules to allow the entries would not only cheat those people previously denied, it would dilute the accomplishments of those who tried and succeeded in harvesting an animal that qualifies for that record book.

This is a great thread BTW. Thanks for posting it W-I.
 
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I bowhunt every winter down in Texas on a 6000 acre high fence ranch. I am a cheater and don't care:D Most guys have never even hunted a 600 acre property.

I like their conservation, just don't enter any myself. I don't need the attention or accolade like some do.
 
LYON said:
What about a range finder? Would that fall under the "locating or pursuing" catergory? I doubt I would have any deer entered into the P&Y book, but just curious.
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Ever hear of Chuck Adams? Mr. Range Finder! Look at his entries in the Clubs books.

I honestly don't think the Club wants an exploding membership. They want like minded individuals that care about the same things.

I didn't think I would ever lease, now I do, I didn't think I would ever gun hunt and Saturday I will take my sons muzzleloader out for the first time in 31 years. I have a bunch of first going on in those last two sentences and I want to make sure if I am going to change I have a set of rules I follow. The rules are the same things I believe in and both organizations I respect because they adhere to them. Just my 2 cents...
 
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