Bill, I understand where you're going. And if animals had a giant LED, countdown timer on their sides indicating just how much viable, productive life they had left, I would agree. But a fish you hold in your hands, up close and personal, while it's still alive. You can judge, (hopefully, if you've paid attention to PB
) some idea of where that fish stands in its lifecycle, and decide if you want to harvest or not.
Not so a deer, or a squirrel. If you choose to kill because it's the biggest and best you've seen, and it's legal to do so, more power to you. But if management is high on your list of priorities, wouldn't you fill your tags with the lame, or blind, or infirmed animals? I could've killed that white squirrel easily, saved and preserved its tail for display, eaten the meat, and told myself that I saved it from a horrible, painful death brought by a hawk or perhaps an eagle. But the real truth would've been I killed it because it was unique, and I wanted it. And I would've been perfectly legal in that regard, but there's plenty of other squirrels out there.
