Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Possibly armed suicidal subject closes Grandview Avenue IRS scammer uses spoofed agency number to appear legitimate Talent will tax recreational marijuana Will 'GMO effect' shape election? Emergency services Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Possibly armed suicidal subject closes Grandview Avenue IRS scammer uses spoofed agency number to appear legitimate Emergency services Man charged with felony after offering bribe during Shady Cove arrest Suspicious propane tank at motel leads to three drug-related arrests Politics and Elections Will 'GMO effect' shape election? Dotterrer-Bates Senate race goes negative? Election officials fine Richardson for late reporting of rent-free home Phoenix Council race draws a full house Sheriff a no-show at Chamber candidate forum Education SOU's first governing board appointed Showing their peers how it's done McLoughlin middle-schoolers do their part for Weed An open door Ashland High drops homecoming king and queen Environment Deer-killing disease won't taint meat for hunters Marijuana growers are threat to salmon, biologists conclude Green home helps keep life simple Treatment plant scrutinized for algae growth in Rogue River Wild chinook making early splash in Bear Creek State news Nation - World Obituaries Donald E. Nuckles Death Notices Charlotte Louise White (Crenshaw) Death Notices Dolores J. Dysart Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Sports Latest Stories No. 3 Tornado tunes up for Thurston Eagles get back on track with shutout Bumgarner, Crawford help Giants overpower Pirates Driven to Succeed PREP FOOTBALL STATISTICS Varsity 541 College Sports Arizona likely to key in on Oregon QB Mariota Michigan apologizes for mistakes with QB injury Ducks have chance at payback versus 'Cats Michigan coach under fire over player's health Finding a balance Pro Sports Bumgarner, Crawford help Giants overpower Pirates Djokovic extends China Open winning streak to 21 Lakers' Bryant quickly pushes his pace Nadal dominates in return at China Open Royals steal wild-card thriller from A’s Community Sports Business Latest Stories Blog: Buffett buys into auto retailing � la Lithia Motors Harry & David netted $9 million in fiscal 2014 Founders of Downtown ART+SOUND event honored by foundation Umpqua surpasses U.S. Bank in local deposits SBDC series continues with marketing talk Real Estate News Medford's Pixel Productions moves to new quarters Tenants begin moving into One West Main Purchasers praise Harry & David's turnaround Historic building owners get lessons in restoration Pleasant weather, stable interest rates spurred summer home sales People In Business Transportation Agriculture Purchasers praise Harry & David's turnaround Opinion Latest Granlund cartoon: A real horror story - Ebola Jim Brock: Time to call off the drones, Mr. President Our View: Food labeling measure is a reasonable step Letters to the Editor, Oct. 2 George Will: A new case for term limits in Congress Editorials Our View: Food labeling measure is a reasonable step Our View: 'Negative' is in the eye of the beholder Letters to the Editor, Sept. 29 Our View: Winters continues to be invisible Our View: Holder leaves mixed civil rights legacy Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, Oct. 2 Letters to the Editor, Oct. 1 Letters to the Editor, Sept. 30 Letters to the Editor, Sept. 28 Election Letters, Sept. 27 Guest Opinions Is Ashland taking over Jackson County elections? Birds sound the alarm on climate change Manor residents give in many ways Transparency is essential in O&C debate Hazardous fuel treatments vital to protection from severe wildfires Lifestyle Latest stories Frank Talk: When good passwords go bad Community blog: Fermented or brined, pickles are paramount Community blog: I Love Lucy Tell us a spooky story The Fermentista’s Kitchen Food Community blog: Fermented or brined, pickles are paramount The Fermentista’s Kitchen A slaw by any other name would be ... cabbage salad Restaurant Inspections Community blog: Keep salmon succulent by smoking, poaching Home and Garden Fall is a good time to plant certain perennials Start now for a bowl of winter sunshine Counting the reasons to keep your eating local Medford gardens to be showcased Saturday Trees aren't always the best companions for plants Health Community blog: I Love Lucy Community blog: Why Texting is Not Talking Community blog: Finding Fun, Not Fear, In Our Senior Years Community blog: Menopause: What's it Good For? Part 2 For the brain, there’s no such thing as over the hill Hiking Biking Faith Religion briefs First Church of Nazarene plans cleanup Religion briefs Religion Briefs Milestones and Achievements Still stifling laughter 40 years after 'Young Frankenstein' New Arrivals Wedding New Arrivals Barbecue will support treatment for stricken skateboarder Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Rogue Valley Symphony opens its 2014-15 season Southern Oregon Pride Festival celebrates diversity Spoons Blues duo releases 'Over the Moon' Music in the Mountains returns to Prospect Theater Randall Theatre presents 'Blithe Spirit' A tribute to a great lyricist 'Mrs. Mannerly' is a matter of manners There's no accounting for poor manners Friends of Jim Giancarlo remember Ashland theater icon Music Rogue Valley Symphony opens its 2014-15 season Blues duo releases 'Over the Moon' Music in the Mountains returns to Prospect The Brothers Reed Sol Seed plays Lounge South Community Events Southern Oregon Pride Festival celebrates diversity Greater Medford Multicultural Fair Volunteers needed for Downtown Art + Sound Medford's Third Fridays Downtown Art + Sound Festival Dining Spoons 'Get Giddy' at Porters Jacksonville's Thai House is everything good Thai should be Ami Sushi serves up Asian dishes Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines & Special Sections NEWS NOW Possibly armed suicidal subject closes Grandview Avenue ... IRS scammer uses spoofed agency number to appear legitimate ... Talent will tax recreational marijuana ... Possibly armed suicidal subject closes Grandview Avenue ... IRS scammer uses spoofed agency number to appear legitimate ... Talent will tax recreational marijuana ... OUTDOOR JOURNAL Not by a long shot? Advances in hunting optics and technology spur debate over the ethics of long-range shooting By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 26, 2014 @ 2:00 am Updated Sep 27, 2014 at 5:07 PM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 26, 2014 @ 2:00 am Updated Sep 27, 2014 at 5:07 PM --> Learn moreTo read the Boone and Crockett Club's position paper on long-range shooting, visit http://tinyurl.com/m4pund5 » Read more X Learn more To read the Boone and Crockett Club's position paper on long-range shooting, visit http://tinyurl.com/m4pund5 » Social News When Bill Leever hunts deer or elk, he strips down to the basic essence of what "fair chase" means to him. His rifle is equipped with only old iron sights, no optics. He carries no range finder. He relies of cover, wind and his five decades of hunting to pick out his target and put a big sneak on to get close enough for a good, clean shot. Though it's legal and well celebrated, squeezing off a shot at an animal 700 yards away is never part of Leever's arsenal. Not by a long shot. "I've always gotten a lot of satisfaction in matching my wits and skills against whatever animal I am hunting," Leever says. "A lot of things can go wrong with a 700-yard shot. It has to be a good, clean and close shot. We owe it to the animal. "It's the ethos of hunting," he says. Technological advances are now inviting hunters to take substantially longer shots in the field, spurring a public debate about whether relying more on improved weaponry over field skills is blurring the lines of hunting's historic fair-chase credo. The Boone and Crockett Club this spring weighed in on the debate, saying long-range shooting threatens that fundamental relationship between predator and prey that is at the core of what hunters dating back to Teddy Roosevelt have considered the ultimate respect given to animals. The club states in its paper that long-range shooting takes unfair advantage of the animal, eliminates the chance for the animal to sense danger, and it "demeans" the predator-prey relationship. In short, it can transfer what most know and cherish as hunting into simply shooting at live targets. "If your intent is just to turn animals into targets, you've moved into something else," says Keith Balfourd of the Boone and Crockett Club, based in Montana. "It's not hunting. This celebrating the shooting of animals at extreme range that you see on TV and YouTube, this isn't fair chase." There is no set standard for how long is too long. A combination of factors come into play, ranging from the type of weapon, ballistics, environmental conditions, the animal being hunted and, most importantly, the skills of the shooter. The ultimate arbiter is whether the distance and type of shot increases or decreases the likelihood of wounding the animal, and longer shots are widely accepted as increasing that risk. There also exists, however, a set of highly skilled hunters in more open country who understand maximum effective range of their weapons and run through thousands of rounds at the range specifically so they can pull off these shots when they present themselves. But the general public more and more is enticed to buy into new gun and optics technologies as a short-cut around long-term investment in honing personal shooting skills. "There's this 'buying skills' thing that's at play here, and the public is being tempted by these new technologies," Balfourd says. That's why Boone and Crockett weighed in on long-range shooting as it relates to fair chase, focusing on intent and imploring hunters to work on getting closer to their quarry for better shots and eschewing the celebrating of long shots for shots' sake, Balfourd says. "Ethics have always united hunters," Balfourd says. "There's a lot of historical precedence where a code, call it 'fair chase' if you want, brought people together. It's taught in hunter-education. That's how fair chase has stuck. "The 'Hail Mary' shots have been around forever, but it's never been an acceptable practice," Balfourd says. It's a personal message that hunters like Duane Dungannon know they have to be honest with themselves about. Dungannon, who is the secretary of the Medford-based Oregon Hunters Association, says he regularly debates with himself over what the effective length of his deer and elk shots can be. Most often, the "get closer" side in him wins out, but he knows "close enough" differs for everyone. "You have to know your range," Dungannon says. "It's different for everybody, and it depends upon what you're shooting. "If you shoot 60 yards with a bow, they can hear the string before the arrow gets there," he says. Mental exercises like this became starkly concrete for Leever on Sept. 13, while on a short dove-hunting foray on property he owns north of Medford. While walking around one of his ponds, he discovered a seven-point bull elk dead in the water, with an arrow protruding from its left rump. A mistake, but not a crime. "I immediately put two and two together," Leever says. "Obviously, it had been stuck by some hunter, it ran onto my property and died from its wound. "Who's to say it was too long a shot? But it sure points to someone indiscriminately loosing arrows at an animal to see if he can hit it," Leever says. "That's not sound to me." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected]. Follow him at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman.         By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 26, 2014 @ 2:00 am Updated Sep 27, 2014 at 5:07 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501