Question of Ethics and Safety

Guys,
 In the Aug issues of North American Whitetail Mag., there was a very disturbing article in my opinion. The article is titled "Michigan's Plexiglas Moose". It tells a story of a hunter that saw a great deer but the window from which the deer stood behind at a somewhat close distance was closed. The question lies in "to shoot" or "not to shoot" There to me, comes 2 questions to this shot. 1) Will I make the shot a good clean one with having to go through something as flexible as the name implies or get a bad hit and wound a great animal and 2) how will the shot affect me personally from inside the blind? Will I be hurt from the blast of the plastic glass back in my face? After reading the article, I myself would not have taken the shot, book buck or not. Too many varibles could have come into play in this situation. If any of you have ever tried to drill into this stuff, you know it splinters and shatters real easy. Not so much as reg glass but does none the same. The possibility of getting some in your eyes would have been great. The possibility of getting a bad hit would have been great also. Gut shot on a nice animal such as that would have been a great loss, and how would you feel if that had happened to you. This is just my opinion now, so let me know how y'all feel about it. It is on pg 17 of the mag.

Gary Scheel
NAHC LM,RMEF LM,NRA Member, Lonestar Bowhunter, TexasHogHunter Pro Staff Member

Gary,

I even worry about those "shoot through" nets on many of the ground blinds.  Not so much with a gun mind you, but deflection of your projectile, whether a bullet or arrow, is a real possibility when shooting through anything.  Even something as soft and supple as blades of grass will stop a bullet or alter its trajectory in a short distance.

I say let it walk and hunt it again another day.

Love playing that string music and sending a Muzzy flying!

For me personally, this is a no-brainer.
 
I will NOT shoot through anything but air when taking a shot at a game animal no matter how big that animal is or is not.  I even have a problem with the shoot-through mesh -- and this is just my personal preference not a criticism of those who do -- that Dave mentioned.  I want an unobstructed shot every single time, especially when I put the amount of time and effort into getting a shot that I do every season.
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve 

Man, I am glad I am not the only one that see this as a NO-SHOT decision. I have shot one time through the netting oin my ground blind and even though it hit it's mark, I did not want anything but air as Steve stated between me and my target with all of the hrs spent to get to that point.  A couple of reasons I think the article was published are 1- it was a huge deer and 2- big deer sell products. MPO.  Thanks guys......

Gary Scheel
NAHC LM,RMEF LM,NRA Member, Lonestar Bowhunter, TexasHogHunter Pro Staff Member

You hit the nail on the head with your last two observations!!  That is the ONLY reason that this question even made it to print!

Love playing that string music and sending a Muzzy flying!

There is also an article on x-bows in that issue that kind of irked me a bit, but not going to go there. Thanks for the comments guys.

Gary Scheel
NAHC LM,RMEF LM,NRA Member, Lonestar Bowhunter, TexasHogHunter Pro Staff Member

Hi Gary,
To me this sounds like another case of "trophyitis".....I did not renew my subscribtion when it came around the last time....Who was ever to know that yours and mine favorite pastime would come down to these issues and problems......If the guy was lucky enough to keep his eyes, I pitty his poor ears....What a disgrace to our sport....I didn't read the article and I am pretty sure I don't want to.....Why wouldn't he be able to harvest the deer in a more conventional manor....Like getting out of the shooting house and actually be stealthy enough to shoot the deer offhand from the outside (if it was that close)?....or better yet wait for another time where ethics and safety came first?.....
 
This isn't the first time NA Whitetail has published articles on a big buck taken by somewhat unsrupulous methods...I know of one shooter on a personal basis but I will not get into that on-line.....Millions of deer are shot each year but only about one in ten thousand will make B&C.....The marketing of products both on TV, videos and periodicals use these select few kills as a "barbituate" to addict hunters to buy anything and go to any length to kill big bucks...The hunters that get caught up in this web, thinking that they have to shoot the biggest and the best, suffer the most because they miss the true meaning and enjoyment of the hunt.... 
 
Sorry if I rambled but things like this are killing our heritage and our appearance to the non-hunting public....
 
My .02,
Randy
 
P.s. what products were they promoting so I know never to buy them?

No question here at all. If you don't have a clean, clear shot, you simply do not shoot. End of story.

The freshest tracks still have feet in them.

Y'all are welcome to hunt with me anytime, anywhere. No questions asked........

Gary Scheel
NAHC LM,RMEF LM,NRA Member, Lonestar Bowhunter, TexasHogHunter Pro Staff Member

tx,
 
like everyone says already, to take that shot is just plain stupid. I am like Steve and only shoot through air. I have a ground blind that says "shoot thru", but i will take a small razor knife and cut me some holes in it. I don't trust NONE of that stuff.

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson

NAHC-L, NRA