Deer Disrespect aka “Deer Selfies”.

Don't even get me started. I will say this and be done:

Folks tell me all the time we need to stick together...meaning "we" hunters. I'm sorry, I have ZERO desire at all to ever be lumped into the same group as people like this. Never have. Never will. Some of the most ignorant, disrespectful and illegal people call themselves hunters - until that changes I will never "stick" with all blindly.

I don't like those either. Last year I took a standing selfie with the deer behind me. That was just for my wife. I don't think that was disrespectful. I wasn't doing anything goofy or even smiling in the picture.

BTW - This was posted on Southern Indiana Deer Hunter page on Facebbook. The Admin took it down,,,thankfully.

Another strike for Fakebook imo.

In my opinion the gruesome wound pictures so frequently shown and shared are equally as distasteful, and the ultimate in distaste / disrespect is the taxidermy mount with a bloody arrow punching thru the deer and deer trying to pull it out.

I think respect for the animal and other aspects of hunting ethics is a challenging but important topic. I read and really appreciated Beyond Fair Chase and think there's a lot of wisdom in a small book. But he was pretty strong about keeping a deer out of sight during transport to avoid inflaming anti-hunters and to show respect for the animal. I can't say I fault a person with a small car for strapping the deer on top if that's what it takes to get it home. A deer in a pickup bed, with antlers visible over the side, or even in a cargo carrier on a hitch on the back of the vehicle. doesn't bother me.

And I've taken pictures of deer I've killed and posted them on this forum or on social media. Part of experiencing the community aspect of hunting, and maybe a substitute for the deer camp experience I've never really had. Don't like these selfie style shots and agree they're disrespectful. But any of the things I've done or would condone above are probably over a line for somebody else, so is it a pot/kettle situation?

A lot of people on this forum I've interacted with and respect enjoy the "contest" thread every year. It bothers me to think I'm taking an animal's life with something like a contest motivating my action. Do I fault others for enjoying it? Not really, but it's not for me.

And that's completely avoiding all the third rail ethical topics like baiting (where legal) or public land vs. private or one type of equipment vs. some other type of equipment.

I guess what I mean to say and haven't said very well - I appreciate conversations about ethics where we discuss what bothers us and why, and help to create shared mores/norms that can discourage behavior that's ultimately harmful to the hunting community. But I think the argument that we need to try to stick together as hunters as much as possible is true, and for things that are not illegal but just distasteful...it's always good to remember that from another vantage point, any or all of us are offenders of some different sensibilities.

I can honestly say that no contest has ever determined whether or not I harvest any animal!! I hunt strictly for MY satisfaction and that’s it!! I’ve had so many people over the years wanting me to harvest a deer for them, but I refuse unless they’re providing the land to hunt on or I get drawn for a State Park hunt.

That sounds like when the state was in a reduction mode....in some ways you were helping a cause!

Oh, I'm sure I was helping the state's agenda, but I was killing for the wrong reason. Don't get me wrong, none of the meat went to waste since I filled others' freezers (in addition to my own), but i was simply thrill killing.