Fifteen guides on ethical hunting, conservation, Leave No Trace and field craft, collected on one page.
EcoBullet writes about hunting because most of our customers hunt, and because the ethics of the field and the ethics of the range come from the same place: respect for the animal, the land and the people next to you. The guides below are free to read and are kept up to date. Start with the ethics section if you are new to hunting, or jump straight to the field-craft guides before the season.
Hunting ethics and fair chase
- Fair Chase Principles: What to Know: the history of fair chase, its core principles and why the balance between hunter and prey keeps the sport alive.
- Ethical Shot Placement: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?: which shots are ethical, which are not, and the gray areas in between.
- Precision Matters: Ethical Shot Placement in Deer Hunting: anatomy, broadside and quartering-away shots, judging distance and angle, and what to do after the shot.
- Why Hunters Must Practice Selective Harvesting: choosing animals by age, sex and herd health, and why that protects the future of hunting.
- Ethical Hunting in the Digital Age: optics, GPS mapping and online communities have changed hunting; how to use the technology and still hunt by fair chase.
- How Can Hunters Make a Positive Impact and Improve Their Image?: the hunter-education answer, the other image questions on the test, and what a first season really needs.
Hunters and conservation
- What Is the Hunter's Role in Wildlife Conservation?: from the Duck Stamp and the Pittman-Robertson Act to rhino conservation in Africa, how regulated hunting funds and drives conservation.
- The Crucial Role of Sustainable Hunting in Ecological Conservation: follow the law, harvest selectively, respect quotas and seasons, waste nothing.
- How Rewilding Restores Balance to Nature: keystone species and depleted habitats, with Yellowstone, the Netherlands and Malawi as examples.
Leave No Trace
- How Leave No Trace Principles Shape Outdoor Experiences: the seven principles for hunters and hikers, from planning ahead to respecting wildlife.
- Putting Leave No Trace Into Action: Practical Tips: what the principles look like on a hike, at camp, while fishing, climbing or in winter.
In the field: dressing game and caring for gear
- Field Dressing Big Game: Our Guide: the tools, the first incisions, organ removal, cooling the meat and getting it home in good shape.
- Essential Tools for Effective Field Dressing: knife, bone saw, gloves, game bags, sharpener and the rest of a clean kit.
- Tips on Caring for Hunting Gear: firearm cleaning, clothing and scent care, boot maintenance, repairs and recycling.
Ammunition and sustainability
- What Is Sustainable Ammunition?: what it means when ammunition swaps lead for copper, steel or tungsten, adds biodegradable parts and cleaner manufacturing.
Train with EcoBullet before the season
EcoBullet makes range-training ammunition with a lead-free primer, loaded in Chattanooga, Tennessee: 9mm Luger, .223 Remington and 300 Blackout. It is not a hunting load. It is the ammunition for the practice sessions that make the ethical shot possible, with less lead in the air at the firing line. For ranges and instructors, see EcoBullet for Ranges, Instructors and Agencies.