Help for my school Project

Hey to all those hunters out there, Im doing a school paper on a controversal topic, and i have decided to do it on hunting. More specifically the ethics evolved in the trophy vs meat hunting. what makes a hunt more or less ethical than another? Just wondering if anyone had any ideas to contribute or links to an article that i could use. THanks for the help and good luck out there.

300+ hours in the stand and only 6 deer in your lifetime? Something is wrong with this picture. Yes I understand not everyone have private honey holes and may have to hunt public that gets hit pretty hard. With that being said, I think some of those 300 hours should be spent scouting different areas to hunt. Most sits average what maybe 3 hours, so in 100 sits you've seen deer 6 out of that 100 times? By no means am I trying to belittle you, but something is wrong here. How many different "spots" or areas have you tried? I don't mean a different tree a couple hundred yards away, but how many parcels of land have you tried? Have you scouted pre-season, put up cameras, or tried any other means of scouting to help be successful? Too often people walk into a piece of woods and hang a stand in the first straight tree they can get up in, while sometimes you might get lucky it usually takes a lot more work than that.

I do it for several reasons, most of which have very little to do with the actual harvest of game. Tradition, relaxation, spending time with family and friends, and generally enjoying nature are probably my biggest reasons. I am especially happy that it is something I can pass along to my son, as my father did with me. I enjoy the thrill of the chase, the anticipation, and the preparations. I enjoy reading and interpreting sign. I also enjoy the fruits of the labor. The actual killing doesn't thrill me all the much anymore and much prefer the concept of C&R while fishing. I don't hunt small game nearly as much as I used because of this. I do still enjoy turkey hunting and deer hunting with a bow and will make every effort to fill my tag with something of my choosing given the chance. It's a hobby of mine and it's what I do... Good Luck with your assignemt and get out and enjoy what the outdoors have to offer.

just to get some other ideas going around id just like to ask you all why do you do it? most of us had those near death encounters, or put in way to many hours with little success (im at 300+ hours in a deer stand and ive seen 6 deer in my life) but just comment with why you do it? thanks for the help fellas and good luck out there to all!

There are so many variables it's hard to know where to start. There's the species being hunted, the amount of time one has to hunt, whether or not you're trying to provide food for your family, the weather, the terrain, the experience level of the hunter, the cost of the hunt, etc......... I think mostly it comes down to the individual and what they want out of the hunt. Some are out for quantity and some for quality. The adventure can be the most rewarding part for some and others measure success by the amount of game harvested. None are right or wrong as long as the rules and laws are followed you can consider yourself an ethical hunter whether you get your quarry or not. If you're a hunter and I'm assuming you are, think back to some of the hunts or fishing excursions you've been on. Was it fun just to be out there when you didn't get anything? How rewarding was it when you did get your deer, turkey, whatever... Was the time spent with family or friends? Would it have been different if you were alone? Maybe not as fun or maybe more so just knowing you did it by yourself. I love hunting and fishing with my dad and kids and buddies but sometimes I like just being alone in the woods trying to sneak up on a turkey. Hard to do with a bunch of people. Hope some of my rambling makes sense and gets you thinking on the right track. Good luck with your project and good luck afield! TS2