BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 8, 2024
Ethical hunting is following the laws on the books, but much is left up to personal choices. Do I shoot the doe that has fawns she raised this summer? Do I push legal shooting time on either end of sunrise and sunset as that beautiful buck whizzes past me? Do I use gadgetry to help me find where the deer are or do I look for bedding areas, tracks and other signs of their presence? Do I pass on the younger bucks to let them mature? Other questions hunters face in the woods are about the sophistication of our guns or bows we use, or whether we employ game cameras or scout with drones. I like some hunters’ suggestions of training and licensing recovery drone operators or requiring a warden’s presence when using that equipment to find a dead or wounded animal. That approach doesn’t seem to violate hunting ethics or fair chase. It could be Maine’s future.