Fair chase is a term used by
hunters to describe an
ethical
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...
approach to
hunting big game animals.
North America's oldest
wildlife conservation
Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...
group, the
Boone and Crockett Club
The Boone and Crockett Club is an American nonprofit organization that advocates fair chase hunting in support of habitat conservation. The club is North America's oldest wildlife and habitat conservation organization, founded in the United Sta ...
, defines "fair chase" as requiring the targeted
game animal
Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products (primarily meat), for recreation (" sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, tho ...
to be wild and free-ranging.
"Wild" refers to an animal that is naturally bred and lives freely in nature. "Free-ranging" means an animal that is not restrained by
trap
A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research.
Trap or TRAP may also refer to:
Art and entertainment Films and television
* ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...
s or artificial barriers, so it has a fair chance of successfully escaping from the hunt.
Fair chase has been the
honor code of North American hunters for over a century and the principle underlying many
hunting laws
Game laws are statutes which regulate the right to pursue and take or kill certain kinds of fish and wild animal (game). Their scope can include the following: restricting the days to harvest fish or game, restricting the number of animals per per ...
, and is taught to new hunters in
hunter certification courses.
Fair Chase is also a
registered trademark
The registered trademark symbol, , is a typographic symbol that provides notice that the preceding word or symbol is a trademark or service mark that has been registered with a national trademark office. A trademark is a symbol, word, or wor ...
of the
Boone and Crockett Club
The Boone and Crockett Club is an American nonprofit organization that advocates fair chase hunting in support of habitat conservation. The club is North America's oldest wildlife and habitat conservation organization, founded in the United Sta ...
.
History
The concept and the popularization of the term "fair chase" is credited to
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
and perpetuated by the Boone and Crockett Club, a conservation organization of Roosevelt's creation.
European aristocratic roots
Ethics, or a code of conduct, in hunting first emerged centuries ago among European hunters who were primarily the wealthy landowners and royalty. While the commoner hunted to stay alive, the aristocrat
hunted for sport, and it was this sporting approach that separated the two. These ethics did not transfer to the majority of immigrants that settled in the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
. Basic human survival and commercial enterprises often overlooked any hunting ethics. After two hundred years of unregulated hunting by recreational and commercial market hunters, the negative effects were severe. By the end of this "era of extermination", wildlife and especially big game populations were in drastic condition. Some species had already been lost to extinction, many others were on the edge of it.
In the early part of the 20th century, a sense of pride and accomplishment began to emerge among sportsmen that came with their newly accepted responsibility to conserve. Doing right by the game being hunted meant working with conservation and population recovery efforts, including the creation of the
National Wildlife Refuge System
National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to c ...
. As for the hunt itself, using restraint shifted the emphasis of measuring success from the quantity of game taken to the quality of the chase. The hunting experience became more important than the number killed, and success was now more memorable because the hunting experience became sustainable in the long term.
Development and definition
The earliest recorded North American usage of the term "fair chase" is in the fifth article of the Boone and Crockett Club constitution, adopted in February 1888. At this time in American history, there were no laws governing the taking of game for food or for sport. Water-killing deer (driving deer with hounds or pushers into lakes where hunters waited in boats to either shoot, club, or cut the throats of deer) was a widespread practice, especially in the
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular ...
.
Article X of the club’s constitution declared that the killing of game while swimming was an "offense" for which a member may be suspended or expelled from the club. Later writings by club members Roosevelt,
George Bird Grinnell
George Bird Grinnell (September 20, 1849 – April 11, 1938) was an American anthropologist, historian, naturalist, and writer. Grinnell was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in 1870 and a Ph.D. in 1880. ...
, and
Aldo Leopold articulated the term "fair chase" to the public through books and magazine articles. Most notable of these were the club’s Acorn book series on hunting (1893 – 1933), Leopold's ''
Sand County Almanac'', and Grinnell’s ''
Forest and Stream
''Forest and Stream'' was a magazine featuring hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities in the United States. The journal was founded in August 1873 by Charles Hallock. At the time of its 1930 cancellation it was the ninth oldest magazine s ...
'' magazine (now ''
Field & Stream
''Field & Stream'' (''F&S'' for short) is an American online magazine focusing on hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. The magazine was a print publication between 1895 and 2015 and became an online-only publication from 2020.
History ...
'').
In 1893, Roosevelt wrote about hunting and fair chase in his book titled ''The Wilderness Hunter''.
The teddy bear's connection
![TheodoreRooseveltTeddyBear](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/TheodoreRooseveltTeddyBear.jpg)
The history of the
teddy bear
A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...
has a close connection to fair chase. During his presidency in 1902, Roosevelt was in Mississippi to settle a border dispute. His hosts knew Roosevelt was an avid hunter and arranged for a black bear hunt for the president. In the thick brush swamps of Mississippi it was a common practice of the day to hunt bears with hounds. Out of concern for the president's safety, the guides insisted that he stay in camp until a bear was brought to bay by the hounds, and subsequently a small bear was caught and tied to a tree. When Roosevelt arrived at the scene he refused to shoot the defenseless animal.
Being omitted from the chase was unsettling to Roosevelt, who prided himself in living the hardy life of an
outdoorsman
Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environment they are being carried out in. These activiti ...
—the harder the hunt the better—and he did not earn this bear though a fair pursuit. Political cartoonist
Clifford Berryman immediately drew a cartoon depicting Roosevelt refusing to shoot the restrained bear. The story made national headlines and a shopkeeper, Morris Michtom in Brooklyn, New York, had his wife sew a stuffed bear to sell in his store. He wrote Roosevelt asking permission to call the child's toy "Teddy's Bear", and he consented.
Fair chase today
When in the field, the initial question for every fair chase hunter is whether the animal has a reasonable opportunity to elude the hunter. If the animal does not, the hunt can never be "fair chase". For example, a fair chase hunter does not shoot an animal hampered by deep snow or entangled in a barbed-wire fence.
There are also laws that regulate hunting. Ethical, fair chase hunting therefore begins with obeying game laws. A fair chase hunter must acquaint themselves with the laws that govern hunting, as they reflect considerations for safety, the sustainable use of the wildlife resources, and the minimum level of conduct that the public will tolerate in a particular state, province, region, or country. If something is illegal it cannot, by definition, be fair chase. On the other hand, just because something is legal does not make it fair chase.
There are certain aspects of fair chase hunting that extend beyond written laws. For example, shooting at a running deer is not illegal, nor are there any laws regarding shooting at extremely long ranges with a firearm or bow. To those who believe in the responsibility to kill quickly and cleanly, taking such risky shots would be unethical. A large part of the time-honored tradition of hunting has to do with the fact that sportsmen police themselves and others both within and beyond the rule of law.
"Canned shoots", also known as "
canned hunting", may be legal in some North American states and provinces, but they are not representative of fair chase. Canned shoots involve the "pursuit" and killing of a big game animal kept in or released from captivity to be shot in an artificial hunting situation where a kill is virtually guaranteed.
When
Internet hunting was introduced in 2005, allowing people to hunt over the Internet using remotely controlled guns, the practice was widely criticized by hunters as violating the principles of fair chase. A spokesperson of the
National Rifle Association of America
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...
(NRA) stated, "The NRA has always maintained that fair chase, being in the field with your firearm or bow, is an important element of hunting tradition. Sitting at your desk in front of your computer, clicking at a mouse, has nothing to do with hunting."
[Humane Society Wildlife Abuse Campaign]
Fact Sheet on Internet Hunting
/ref>
One hunting club declares that a fair chase shall not involve the taking of animals under the following conditions:
* Helplessly in a trap
A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research.
Trap or TRAP may also refer to:
Art and entertainment Films and television
* ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...
, struggling in deep snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
, mud or water
Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...
, or on ice
Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...
.
* By " jacklighting" or blind-shining at night.
* By the use of any tranquilizer
A tranquilizer is a drug that is designed for the treatment of anxiety, fear, tension, agitation, and disturbances of the mind, specifically to reduce states of anxiety and tension.
Etymology
Tranquilizer, as a term, was first used by F.F. Yonk ...
s or poisons.
* While inside escape-proof fenced enclosures.
* From any powered vehicle
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), ...
or powerboat
A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine.
Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gea ...
.
* By the use of any powered vehicle or powerboat for herding or driving animals, including use of aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
to land alongside or to communicate with or direct a hunter on the ground.
* By the use of electronic device
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
s for attracting, locating or pursuing game or guiding the hunter to such game, or by the use of a bow and arrow to which any electronic device is attached.
See also
* Turkey shoot
A turkey shoot is an opportunity for an individual or a party to take advantage of a situation with a significant degree of ease.
The term likely originates from a method of hunting wild turkeys in which the hunter, coming upon a flock, intention ...
References
{{reflist
Hunting
Hunting in the United States
Ethical principles
Animal rights