choice we undertake some responsibility. We agree to
abide by certain laws designed to protect our wildlife
populations for future use. ‘hese regulations are set
by legislative bodies on the basis of scientific advice
from experts.

But the true hunter also chooses to abide by
another set of rules, the ethics of the sportsman. ‘This
code of ethics was set not by law but by usage, not by
Solons but by generations of hunters who could see
what had to be done if hunting was to remain a manly
sport designed to ennoble the hunter and not debase
him. It is this with which we are most concerned
here. Most hunters can break the code of ethics with-
out anyone knowing except themselves. Most of us can
shoot at ducks too distant for a clean kill; most of us
can shoot carelessly and perhaps wound a deer or
endanger other human life; most of us can take out
our frustration over a poor duck flight by shooting
a cocky blackbird swaying on a bulrush.

Some of us waste good game meat by not taking
proper care of it. Throwing ducks into the garbage
because nobody can stomach the flavour is an act of
what Aldo Leopold called “ethical depravity.” We
don’t advocate hunting for the pot, neither do we
advocate hunting solely for the kill. The true sports-
man recognizes hunting in all its aspects as an experi-
ence that takes on meaning only when the hunter
assumes the self discipline of submitting to the sports-
man’s code of ethics.

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