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Commentary: Time to re-examine the concept of fair chase

Russ Mason writes that what served us well in the 19th and 20th century for game fish and wildlife restoration is now obsolete for some species in the 21st century. (Stock photo courtesy of Michigan DNR)

Most of us are familiar with “fair chase,” the honor code North American hunters have followed for roughly a century. Coined by the Boone and Crockett Club (BCC) in 1888, the concept describes an ethical code originally applied to big game hunting.
It requires that the targeted animal be both wild and free ranging, with a fair chance of escape. As an aside, the BCC was especially concerned with the water-killing of deer (driving deer into lakes where hunters in boats would shoot, club, or spear them). Article 10 of the BCC constitution states that the killing of swimming (big) game was grounds for membership suspension or cancellation.

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