Ethical behavior is a category in the Behavior of Humans Continuum. There are two basic headings: Ethical & its mate Unethical, and Lawful & Unlawful. At one end there is Ethical at the opposite end is Unlawful. In between activities can be a mix, but generally a behavior that starts out as ethical and lawful can progress away from ethical into unethical, then when enough people see it as unethical they band together and process the activity into unlawful. the process can also go in reverse where activities that were once Unlawful have gained public acceptance and while not yet Ethical have at least become Lawful. This progression is not limited to the hunting community but to people in general. It is not only the process of banning hunting in certain countries or it's cousin banning importation of certain animal parts (the idea being to stop the hunting of those animals), it also is at work in such activities as smoking tobacco (moving from ethical to unlawful) and marijuana (unlawful to lawful).
Human interaction with behavior devolves into blame for various results. In the early days of the American frontier a lot of people moved from the East to the West. These people were seeking to find treasure or start a ranch or farm. None of these activities produced any food in the short run- There was an abundant supply of game animals from deer and elk to buffalo. These animals were a significant part of the diet of the indigenous people. An employment opportunity became apparent, the Market Hunter. He provided food for the new population and assisted the government in the process of eliminating those that may contest the taking of land previously enjoyed by others. So to one sector of the population the market hunter was a hero to another he was evil. as it turned out those that saw him as a hero prevailed. About the time that the wild game populations were reduced to non-productive levels the production from farms and ranches increased to marketable levels to supply the food needs not only of those local but also a surplus for export. So the market hunter as a profession became extinct. Then people began to seek welfare of the various animals previously seen only as a food source and the Conservation Movement started. various agencies and non-government organizations were started for the benefit of the animals. Needing someone to blame for the previous decline in animals, they found the Market Hunter as the primary suspect. So the same behavior, hunting animals for food, went from being highly favorable to unethical to highly regulated to unlawful in some areas; the market hunter went from hero to villain.
So when viewing some activity and claiming it to be unethical, keep in mind that the subjective value of a behavior is fluid and what might be seen as ethical/unethical today may be viewed entirely opposite next year.
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