We all have our preferred methods of hunting and fishing (and some of us even trap) and I see no problem there.
The problem arises when we speak out against a method someone else prefers just because it doesn't meet our personal standards.
As long as it's legal we should refrain from making our opposing view public IMO.
There are practices of hunting/fishing I don't find "sporting" or enjoyable and I avoid using those methods, but they are legal so I will be careful not to speak out against them now and in the future.
Just because I decide not to hunt from a tree stand or shoot fish with a bow & arrow (just fictional examples, I'm not saying I'm opposed to those methods, and in fact I'm not - I've done both plenty of times!), I shouldn't publicly bash those who use those methods by saying it's not "real" hunting or fishing!
I've hunted deer with a longbow while setting in a weed line along a fence and had a deer walk within mere feet of me and I've been perched in a tree stand when a deer walked under the stand. For me, both of those occasions were memorable and exhilarating. (so exciting I let both deer walk - knowing I had totally penetrated their defenses was enough of a "victory" for me) They weren't the same, but yet the end result was very similar and very satisfying to my "ego" as a hunter.
I suggest if we don't feel the (legal) method meets our personal standards of"sporting" or "ethical", we simply walk away (or click on another thread) instead of bashing a legal activity!
A post (shamelessly) stolen from another forum, but worth reading:
Joe Hunter goes to a cocktail party, nothing fancy, just a holiday gathering in Anytown, USA. A conversation begins with Bob Peta, it goes something like this;
“Say Joe, didn’t you go deer hunting this year.”
“Sure did Bob.”
“Man that’s, uh, great, did you get one?”
“Yep, sure did, nice 6 point.”
“Uh, wow, hey that’s great. Say listen Joe, yer a true hunter, a ”Real” hunter are you not?”
“Yes, I sure am.”
“Say, I hear tell of a kinda huntin where people can go and kill animals in fenced in areas. You’ve never done that have you?”
“No, no I haven’t.”
“Well I wouldn’t call that “real” hunting, would you Joe.”
“Well, that’s not the way I hunt.”
“I know Joe, but there are people that hunt in fenced areas, I don’t think that’s “Really” hunting, do you Joe.”
“Well, uh, I guess not.”
“Great, say listen Joe, a bunch of us concerned “Real” hunters are trying to get that done away with, we feel that it is unethical. Will you help us Joe?”
“Well sure, because that’s not the way I hunt, and I am a “Real” hunter.”
“Say thanks Joe; here is what we need you to do. As a “real” hunter, the big boys in senate and congress will listen to you; they know that any “Real” hunter only hunts the way you do, and that’s the only “Real” hunting there is. So what we need you to do is get out there and get petitions signed, people will sign them because you are a “Real” hunter and know that only your way of hunting is the “Real” way.”
So Joe diligently goes after the goal, to ban and outlaw any kind of hunting that Bob suggests is not “Real” hunting. He gathers signatures, petitions courts, makes meetings, he is really cleaning up this “unethical” way of hunting. Wow, he’s got a lot of support. He’s gathering “Real” hunters from all over, and finally, after much hard work, they get a legal way of hunting banned.
“Joe, you did great and we sure appreciate your hard work, but hey, let me tell you what I heard about. There is another kind of hunting “We” think is not right. Do you think you can help us?”
“Well, I guess so Bob, I don’t hunt like that, so it’s not “Real” hunting. How can I help?”
“Well, here is what we need…….,” and it’s the same story. Odd how Bob seems to keep adding onto the list of what “Real” hunting is, but Joe goes at it hard and heavy, and in the end, he gets that type of legal hunting banned. Bob and his “Friends” are happy. Joe’s a “Real” hunter after all, and these other guy’s, well, they are not, because the way they hunt is different from Joe, and Joe does not like that type of hunting, so what’s the harm in getting rid of it? Joe’s a “Real” hunter you know. Not like those other guys. He even goes to Sportsman’s organizations and recruits from within, it’s easy because there are a lot of “Real” hunters there.
Time passes and more and more legal forms of hunting are banned. Bob and his “friends” are happy with Joe. He’s been a big help. After it’s all just about gone, Bob and his “friends” decide that it is time to get Joe’s way of hunting banned, the final chapter.
“Bob, uh, hey buddy, this is Joe. I know I helped you get rid of all those other forms of legal hunting, but now there is a move to get rid of the way I hunt.”
“Well Joe, I know. My “friends” and I are spearheading that.”
“But Bob, I thought you liked the way I hunt, that it was ok for me to do the type of hunting I do.”
“Well Joe, no, any and all types of hunting are bad, the poor defenseless animals never have a chance, and we dislike, actually hate hunters.”
“But I thought the way I hunted was “Real” hunting to you.”
“Dang Joe, it was all “ Real” hunting, but we at PETA and HSUS Hate you, but thanks for all your help, we really appreciate it.”
You see, what Joe became was a “Cannibal”. A “Useful Idiot” to the anti’s and PETA. They don’t give a rat’s backside how you hunt, what you hunt, or when you hunt. They just want all hunting done away with. They use hunters against hunters to gain support for their “Causes”.
If you do not support any and all forms of legal hunting, and decide to pick and chose the ones you like and dislike, and voice any decent about the way someone else legally hunts, you are in fact, a “Cannibal” and a very very “Useful Idiot” for the enemy. There are plants even within the sacred walls of your favorite Sportsman’s organizations. Route them out, expose them, and rid the board of them. Hunting’s future depends upon it.
Man I'am I way behind the times.......What's next wheels on bows ? 
.....What's this world coming to!!!! 
kidding i dont use the stuff..
