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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gulf1263" data-source="post: 3370666" data-attributes="member: 99783">Ethical binocular companiesSport/trophy hunters only make up a moderate percentage of hunters, most guided hunts are sport/trophy hunters but the rest are what are called meat hunters and subsistence hunters.Here in Alaska a large proportion of hunters are meat and subsistence hunters along with what can be called recreational hunters.Having worked for the US government and State of Alaska I can tell you that any human intrusion upsets the balance of nature and that includes birders and wildlife observers.  Simply living (as a human) upsets natures balance...someone out in the woods clicking away with a camera for instance.Flushing your toilet, turning on your stove or even breathing.Sport/Trophy hunters in most states in the US and Canada are highly managed and when they step outside the lines they go to jail along with the guide.So my question is what constitutes "ethical", suppose you discovered that ISIS had obtained a number of brand X binoculars and had used them in preparing for the attacks in France or that company X had sold binoculars to country X who's military are known for committing atrocities or the optical glass from company X was sold to company Y who then produced military optics that where used by country M's military to kill civilian demonstrators.Pretty much every optics company has produced "dual use" optics, just like any company that produces pickup trucks can find them used by "technicals".Lots of Chinese optics were used by the dictatorships in Mynmar and other countries, the bino's made by aus Jena were used by the VOPO's during the cold war and other Warsaw Pact secret police units yet people prize them for their performance.How far do we go?Art</blockquote>

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