An additional thought here on pheasants, elephants or what have you:
Our object, as Mike points out, is to hunt and, yes, hunting is fun, but it is so much more than that. More broadly, the term "fair chase" describes the accepted concept of ethical hunting.
To some, releasing pheasant from a tower grates -- it violates the notion of hunting. It's not fair chase, it's just shooting. In this context you might also put live bird pigeon shooting, although, given the limited distance one has to drop a pigeon for score, are we still within the definition of fair chase? I haven't done it nor seen it done and cannot say. I have, however hunted pen raised birds in a preserve over dogs. That fits my own view of fair chase.
As for big game, the ethical arguments, and they are frequent, generally center on size of the hunting territory and shooting from vehicles or at water holes. The latter two are outside my definition of fair chase. I don't know how big a ranch/game farm must be to ensure fair chase, but that may partly be a function of how much time a hunter spends on the property. Clearly a place just a few acres in size cannot fit the definition of fair chase as the prey cannot escape, even for a moment.
Now, R. Craig is still smarting at getting jumped on another thread because he posted his distaste for hunting elephant. He used language that had the effect of both stating his view and of diminishing and offending those who do, as he has done on this thread. He received a combination of replies in kind as well as more reasoned argument. The latter so far do not seem to have had any effect. Maybe Dig can address the subject after he returns from photographing his friends elephant hunt.
Regards
