Is it really Fair Chase?

By Justin Campbell | Equalized Outdoors

December 24, 2025

Infighting solves absolutely nothing, yet it’s rampant throughout the outdoor community.  I’m not talking about good old-fashioned ribbing and jokes here either.  That should continue until the end of time, in my very humble opinion.  However, today I feel that it has caused some people to hide their hands and use infighting as an excuse not to engage in much-needed discourse. 

If you follow any sort of professional bass fishing, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  The arrival of Forward Facing Sonar (FFS) has turned the sport on its head.  Opinions vary widely, as expected, but to the governing bodies’ credit, at least they are having the conversations in the open. 

Both Major League Fishing (MLF) and Bassmaster (B.A.S.S.), the two organizations at the top of the bass fishing industry, have enacted rules to limit the use of FFS.  A third, and up-and-coming league, the National Professional Fishing League (NPFL), has banned its use entirely. 

Why?  It all boils down to fairness.

Here in the hunting world, we also have an elephant in the room.   Does long-range hunting violate the spirit of fair chase? 

They deserve a chance.

According to the Boone and Crockett Club (B&C), fair chase “is the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper or unfair advantage over the game animals.” 

Let me be clear, because I can already hear the cries, as it stands, there is nothing currently illegal about taking an animal from “long range”.

 So, while not illegal, it’s certainly fair to question the ethics of it at the very least.   It’s also a significant point of internal conflict for me, because historically, I tend to lean towards the side of ‘if it’s legal, then have at it.’  When it comes to long-range hunting, I can’t say for sure that remains the case.

Tight Target grouping during sight-in

I must be honest and admit that my perspective on this issue stems from the influence of the Pope and Young Club (P&Y) tinted lenses.  For the uninformed, P&Y is essentially the bowhunting conservation version of the aforementioned B&C. Rifles were and still are illegal in the county where I grew up hunting, so even when I used a firearm, my engagements were relatively close.  Even as an adult, my longest shot on an animal that I can recall was inside 100 yards.

I’ve glassed up animals and certainly had opportunities to send one downrange from further out, but that’s just not the way that I like to do things.  Today, I rarely tote a rifle into the woods and all, and this season, as of the time of this writing, I’ve not even reached for my trusty Mossberg. 

Do I expect everyone to follow suit?  Of course not, but I do think technology has brought us to a crossroads, whether we like it or not.

If you’ve heard me on a podcast or seen me around social media, this story may be familiar, so I’ll keep it brief.  The reason I leaned heavily into bowhunting upon my return to the woods was simply that I can shoot—a little too well, in my own opinion. 

The firing line on Range Day

I took two bucks with my late Uncle Michael’s shotgun, once to quiet my remaining uncles who were enjoying my archery struggles a bit too much, while not being successful themselves.   The other was with my son on Thanksgiving morning, four days after having a cast removed that prevented me from shooting my bow.  

On both occasions, the outcome was a foregone conclusion from the moment the deer arrived and presented a shot.  There would be no buck fever, no nerves, only execution. It was just another target and a successful shot sequence.  I knew I wouldn’t miss, and I didn’t like how that felt.

 That’s in stark contrast to the first time I drew back on a doe at 24 yards, where I could barely contain myself.  That outcome was anything but certain, and I did, in fact, miss that shot.  Yet it didn’t matter; I was hooked from then on.

I had done the work.  Found a spot, hung a set, and put myself in position to execute.  All while being well within range of the animal’s senses.  Hunt the wrong wind on a bow hunt, and that’s game over before it even starts.  Don’t make a thoughtful approach to getting in?  Deer will blow out of the area, and again it’s game.  By now, I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. 

Long-range hunting robs an animal of all of its advantages, and to me, that is not in the spirit of fair chase.  Modern hunting rifles and modern rounds have given long-range capability to just about anyone who can afford a basic rifle and scope setup, which can be had for around $500 or even less. 

Shots that extend beyond 500 yards are now commonplace.  This author has made a shot of 1,000 yards, on video, on more than one occasion, but I would never attempt it on a live animal.

The author target shooting at 1,000 yards.

People often seem to equate access with ease of use.  Meaning some mistakenly assume something is easy solely because it is accessible.  Add in YouTube and social media, where only the successes are shown, and it’s a recipe for disaster.

Long-range shooting, while accessible, is far from easy.   It requires precision, focus, and repetition.  You must become intimately familiar with your setup, and a true marksman will also know their Data on Previous Engagements, better known as DOPE.

 If you’ve seen a piece of paper akin to a quarterback’s wristband taped to the stock of a rifle, that’s what that is. A marksman knows that they need to dial their scope x amount of turns and hold x amount of mils to the left or right at 800 yards in the current wind because they’ve done it. 

Image Courtesy of Mossberg

Image courtesy of Mossbery

Authors view downrange

That said, even I can concede that a shot of 700 yards on an animal for one shooter is not the same as it is for the other.  For me, that is not the contention.  Instead, it is the advantage gained over that animal. 

It should be more important to beat them in a fair fight.  Stalk the extra yards, stay undetected, and if you win, then you’ve earned it.  Often, though, as experienced hunters, we know that won’t be the case, yet we do it anyway. 

Proponents of long-range hunting will continue to argue that ethics are a matter of skill, preparation, and things that I’ve already conceded, and they are not wrong.  What they don’t say is anything about the fairness to the animals themselves.  

Killing an animal that was never aware of my existence because of my distance away from them would never sit right with me, and it shouldn’t be ok with anyone who considers themselves an ethical hunter either.  In fact, I would question whether it is even hunting at all.