Deer taken down by 17 HMR

[FOTIS]

What you did my friend might be legal in Montana but in my mind was totally unethical and clearly a stunt. Why on earth would you use a rim fire on a beautiful animal like that? The fact that you shot her as many times as you did proves that you choice of firearm was substandard and a very poor one.
We can discuss this to no end and nothing would come out of it.
You could have asked anyone here for advise on such a questionable attempt.
Anyway I think we should look at this as something NOT to do. I am sorry but I can not condone or commend this practice sir. This thread is officially closed gentlemen.

 

[Richracer1]

Well, he isn't illegal. Here's what I copied from MT's regs:
Firearms:
General Season
• There is no rifle or handgun caliber limitation for the taking of
big game animals. In addition, muzzleloaders, shotguns with
0, 00, or slugs, archery equipment, and crossbows are legal.
• The possession of firearms with silencers while afield is
illegal.

As for etical, I'd say adefinite NO. This wasn't a clean kill as by his own admission, it kept getting up and he had to keep shooting it.

I agree with the others, get a larger caliber or stop hunting big game.

 

[Anonymous]

"A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience, rather than by a mob of onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact."
-Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac


The way that information is shared and communicated has changed a lot since Aldo Leopold's day and now, in a way, there is a mob of onlookers. Not only that but a mob of critics looking for any reason to condemn our sport, our passion and our way of life. We all know that they are also very passionate in their beliefs and would use this post to paint a dark picture of hunting. We all know their arguments are based on complete ignorance of the natural world around them. Instead of taking this post down I will leave it locked and available for everyone to see because I think that it shows that for every 1 hunter out there who doesn't respect nature, there is 50 more to let him know that he is wrong, whether it is in the field or on the internet.

Hopefully another hunter will see this post and use it as an example of what not to do.