Fair chase

North America's oldest wildlife conservation group, the Boone and Crockett Club, defines "fair chase" as requiring the targeted game animal to be wild and free-ranging.

[2][3] Ethics, or a code of conduct, in hunting first emerged centuries ago among European hunters who were primarily the wealthy landowners and royalty.

[citation needed] In the early part of the 20th century, a sense of pride and accomplishment began to emerge among sportsmen that came with their newly accepted responsibility to conserve.

Doing right by the game being hunted meant working with conservation and population recovery efforts, including the creation of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

[4] The earliest recorded North American usage of the term "fair chase" is in the fifth article of the Boone and Crockett Club constitution, adopted in February 1888.

[5] Later writings by club members Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell, and Aldo Leopold articulated the term "fair chase" to the public through books and magazine articles.

[8] Being omitted from the chase was unsettling to Roosevelt, who prided himself in living the hardy life of an outdoorsman—the harder the hunt the better—and he did not earn this bear though a fair pursuit.

The story made national headlines and a shopkeeper, Morris Michtom in Brooklyn, New York, had his wife sew a stuffed bear to sell in his store.

A fair chase hunter must acquaint themselves with the laws that govern hunting, as they reflect considerations for safety, the sustainable use of the wildlife resources, and the minimum level of conduct that the public will tolerate in a particular state, province, region, or country.

"[13] The Pope and Young Club, a US-based organization that promotes bowhunting, declares that a fair chase shall not involve the taking of animals under the following conditions: