Bowhunting ethics
In Unit 3 of Section 1 - Be an ethical and involved hunter, we explored what being an ethical hunter is all about. These moral codes are vitally important and should always be front of mind.
Your ethical code doesn’t just happen all by itself. Thinking about what you consider right or wrong is important. Consider how you would feel after acting on a decision — would you feel proud or ashamed? And how would it affect other people?
To make ethics work for you, there are four steps to follow.
- Have the correct licences and permissions to hunt.
- Realise that there are moral decisions to make for many of your actions, such as: ‘Should I shoot now and risk merely wounding the game, or should I wait for a better shot?’
- Think about the consequences of those decisions and how they might affect you and others.
- Do the right thing.
That sounds simple; in real life, however, few answers are black and white. Your personal ethics will help you sort through the grey areas and any moral dilemmas you might encounter.
