The great conservationist Aldo Leopold reminds us that, “Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching—even when doing the wrong thing is legal.” Leopold also made the point that, in the field, you are your own referee. There is no one else to “call the shot.” At the end of the day, the measure of the hunt is a measure of oneself.
While professional sports leagues continue making tweaks to their refereeing system and booth-review processes, it makes one wonder if hunting has had it right all along: We police ourselves and call our own shots.
Aldo Leopold is considered conservation's most influential advocate and the founder of wildlife ecology. He was an avid sportsman, shown here in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1938. the photograph was taken ...
