.....It is legal according to the laws of the various States I hunt in, and ethical (in my mind) as long as the game is used properly (i.e., prepared & then consumed). Moralize all you want, but those are the cold & hard facts of the world I live in. I would certainly prefer that all the birds I take be flying, but that has not always been my reality. I am generally dog-less (which is a factor), I don't take unsafe shots (for all the usual reasons) and I'm certainly not interested in wounding game with little chance of recovering it, but... occasionally some form of "ground-swatting" is the only solution to the challenge of filling one's bag.
Live with that knowledge or ignore it as you please.
That's a very real and reasonable world, but I've had some of my best hunts behind great dog work where a friend or kid is smiling ear to ear, or I held back my boy when ducks are landing in the dekes until a drake mallard sets wing and talk him up for the others that will explode into the air, or take in some great new cover, or conditioning the dog and passing up on dove, when that's why I brought a shotgun along. Somewhat similar for big game, I've supported many hunts, and scoped many big deer and elk, but I just don't feel like shooting one for at least the last fortyish years, could change tomorrow. I do like a good game bag, though.
