Chumming ethics.

[MoCarp]

1 hour ago, tjm said:

Ethics  is like religion or politics in that it varies with occasion and the people involved. A very twisted and convoluted branch of philosophy. I think there is no action that can not be shown to be ethical under some one of the systems of ethics.

if that were true owning people would or could still be justified, wrong is wrong....just like property rights..you may own the land you bought...but that land was here before you and will be after you...and laws are and should be there to protect people from the destructive actions by wrong minded people

1 hour ago, tjm said:

Chumming for fish is exactly the same as chumming for deer and both are time honored traditions in some places and among some people.

I think ethics of chumming is like ethics of catch and release or ethics of gill netting gamefish, it exists only in the eye of the beholder. It depends only on the time and place. Any action can be justified or condemned by one religion or another. So we are left to look at the legality of it and say if it is legal it is legal. We could attempt to change the legality of one action or another, but then we may be infringing of others "natural rights" .  

good points..... but legally the state owns fish/wildlife and gives the privilege to take as they seem fit..its our political actions that drive regulations 

1 hour ago, tjm said:

  Some us would probably think bass tournaments are ethical, I don't. Some seem to think  that eating a bass in unethical, I just think there are tasting fish, others think it is the highest and best use of a god given resource.Is it ethical for me to restrict your natural right to eat a crappie? Or a hamburger? A vegan might say "yes", not only ethical but of great benefit to the universe.

exactly...it becomes a political battle....on which user group wins regulations....each case can be pitched on its own merits....typically economic and sustainability

1 hour ago, tjm said:

is using a paid guide ethical? Isn't that akin to buying your fish or game? Didn't the custom of tipping a guide come from the thought that paid guides was unethical? Is there a difference between paying a guide to put you over fish with electronics and paying the same guide to put the fish under you with chum?

a guide is hired because of knowledge and skill....you tip because you want to motivate said guide to exceed expectations.....is it ethical? depends....if I go to a water by myself and land a 20# brown its more of a pat on my back than if I hire a guide and through his skill land a 20# brown at least IMHO

1 hour ago, tjm said:

Corn may not hurt trout and maybe they can digest some corn, but I have seen days on small streams that had trout with swollen bellies floating belly up or laying upside down on the bottom, and cut open half a dozen to find them with nothing in their digestive tract except yellow corn. One fishery biologist, when I reported it said unequivocally that whole corn could not pass through a trout, said he also thought it created a chemical reaction/imbalance or something like that, fermentation maybe, I forget, long time passing.The fact that they are chumming that heavy and the trout are not dying is most encouraging. 

hence I'd chum with poultry pellets....just smarter.....cheeper too and IMHO more effective....corn use is banned in many trout areas