Hunting ethics are an unwritten, self-enforced code of moral conduct that governs a hunter’s decisions, actions, and respect for wildlife, landowners, and the public when outside the reach of legal enforcement. While wildlife laws define the legal minimums of behavior under threat of citation, hunting ethics define personal accountability, prioritizing animal welfare, quick harvest, fair chase, and habitat conservation above personal success.
Key Facts
- Foundational Standard: Established by Aldo Leopold and the Boone and Crockett Club, ethical hunting requires that game animals possess a natural, uncompromised ability to escape human pursuit.
- Maximum Effective Range Metric: A hunter’s maximum ethical shooting distance is the furthest distance at which they can place 100% of their shots within an 8-inch circle from field-supported positions, not benchrests.
- Primary Biological Duty: An ethical hunter’s foremost obligation during any harvest is achieving rapid circulatory or neurological collapse to minimize pain and eliminate prolonged suffering.
- The “Meat First” Rule: State salvage laws and fair chase ethics mandate the field processing and pack-out of all primary edible muscle groups before antlers, horns, skulls, or capes are transported.
- Tracking Rule of Thumb: Pure lung sign (frothy, bright pink blood) permits tracking after 30 minutes; suspected liver impacts require 4 to 6 hours; gastrointestinal or gut shots require 8 to 12 hours of zero disturbance to prevent pushing the animal.
What Are Hunting Ethics?
Hunting ethics operate as a self-regulating framework bridging the gap between what state wildlife agencies allow and what the sporting community deems honorable. The mechanism of ethics relies entirely on personal accountability, conscience, and peer enforcement.
For example, a state law may legally permit a hunter to shoot a bull elk at 800 yards with a centerfire rifle. However, if that specific hunter cannot consistently hit an 8-inch target at that distance in heavy crosswinds, taking the shot violates hunting ethics. Ethics govern the restraint applied to legal opportunities. Hunters internalize these rules through mandatory Hunter Education courses, mentorship programs, and adherence to established conservation models like the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.
What Is the Difference Between Hunting Laws and Hunting Ethics?
Hunting laws are legally codified mandates enacted by state wildlife commissions and federal agencies to manage species populations, guarantee human safety, and distribute harvest quotas. Hunting ethics are internal, voluntary standards of behavior that govern a hunter’s actions when no enforcement officer, peer, or bystander is present to witness the conduct.
LEGAL BOUNDARIES (State Wildlife Statutes)
[ Defined by Law: Seasons, Weapon Types, Bag Limits, Tagging ]
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ETHICAL BOUNDARIES (The Hunter's Self-Imposed Code)
[ Defined by Conscience: Shot Angles, Distance, Fair Chase, Tech Limits ]
Wildlife laws set the lowest common denominator of acceptable public behavior. Violating a hunting law constitutes a misdemeanor or felony resulting in fines, gear forfeiture, or license revocation. In contrast, violating hunting ethics carries no statutory penalty, but directly undermines animal welfare, conservation objectives, and public support for hunting sports.
For example, shooting an elk standing broadside at 650 yards across a deep canyon during legal shooting hours may violate no state statute. However, if the hunter has not mastered wind deflection, bullet drop, and terminal velocity dynamics—or lacks an immediate physical path to cross the canyon and retrieve the meat before thermal spoilage begins—the shot is fundamentally unethical. Legality asks “Am I allowed to do this?” while ethics asks “Is this the right thing to do?”
What Are the Core Pillars of Hunting Ethics?
The foundation of modern hunting ethics rests on four universal pillars that govern a hunter’s relationship to the animal, the ecosystem, property owners, and non-hunting citizens.
CORE PILLARS OF HUNTING ETHICS
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┌────────────────┬──────────────┴──────────────┬────────────────┐
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Fair Chase Respect for the Respect for the Respect for the
Standards Hunted Animal Land & Owners Broader Public
1. Fair Chase Standards
Fair chase is the ethical balance between the hunter’s skills and equipment and the animal’s natural defenses and avenues of escape. Established formally by Theodore Roosevelt and the Boone and Crockett Club in 1887, fair chase dictates that no hunter may pursue or harvest an animal that is restrained by physical barriers, trapped in deep snow, mud, or water, or targeted using deceptive electronic devices that entirely neutralize the animal’s instincts.
2. Respect for the Hunted Animal
Respect for wildlife demands rigorous pre-season marksmanship, disciplined shot selection, deliberate post-shot recovery efforts, and total utilization of all edible parts. An ethical hunter treats the quarry not as an ego trophy or target score, but as a living creature deserving of a quick death, minimal physiological stress, and complete utilization of its meat.
3. Respect for Landowners and Habitats
Private property access is a privilege, not an entitlement. Ethical conduct requires obtaining explicit written or verbal permission before stepping onto private acreage, respecting livestock, leaving gates exactly as found (whether open or closed), staying off muddy access roads to prevent erosion, and packing out all personal gear and refuse.
4. Respect for the Broader Public and Non-Hunters
Roughly 80% of North Americans do not hunt, yet their acceptance of regulated harvest sustains the political and legal frameworks of conservation. Ethical hunters maintain high standards of field discretion by transporting harvested game covered or out of view, refraining from provocative displays of carcasses in public parking areas, and avoiding graphic social media posts that strip wildlife of their dignity.
How Does Modern Technology Challenge Fair Chase Ethics?
Modern hunting technology challenges fair chase ethics by shifting the balance of the hunt away from woodsmanship, patience, and environmental literacy toward automated surveillance and ballistic certainty. When technology removes an animal’s reasonable chance to detect, evade, or outrun a predator, pursuit transforms into mechanical extraction.
LOW RISK HIGH RISK
Ethical Integrity Intact Fair Chase Compromised
├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────┤
Mechanical bows & Passive, non-cellular Cellular trail cameras Thermal scopes,
analog optics used within scouting cameras checked with real-time updates drones, & active
field-proven ranges. days before the hunt. to mobile devices. targeting systems.
To maintain ethical standards in an era of rapid technological advancement, hunters should evaluate emerging equipment against three self-auditing criteria:
Cellular and Real-Time Trail Cameras
- The Ethical Boundary: Using scouting cameras to assess species health and inventory herd genetics weeks prior to an open season preserves the element of pursuit.
- The Violation: Utilizing cameras that transmit instantaneous satellite or cellular imagery to alert a hunter that a specific animal is at a location in real time eliminates fair chase. Multiple states (such as Arizona, Utah, and Nevada) have legally banned these devices during hunting seasons; regardless of state statute, acting on real-time game surveillance is an ethical breach.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones)
- The Ethical Boundary: Drones serve valid functions in agriculture, search-and-rescue, and geological survey operations.
- The Violation: Deploying drones to locate, pattern, track, or drive game animals is universally condemned by sporting conservation groups. Even using drones for post-shot carcass recovery remains controversial: while it can assist in meat salvage, it introduces high-decibel disturbances into wild corridors and risks scouting live animals under the guise of recovery.
Thermal Optics, Night Vision, and AI-Ballistic Sights
- The Ethical Boundary: Handheld laser rangefinders and optical glass without electronic aiming aids demand foundational marksmanship and atmospheric calculation from the hunter.
- The Violation: Weapon-mounted electro-optics that calculate windage, elevation, and target lead automatically—or thermal imaging devices used to locate bedded big game in dark canopy—reduce the animal’s natural camouflage and sensory defenses to zero.
The Hunter’s Decision Window: When Should You Take the Shot?
The shot-decision window is the decisive multi-second span where a hunter confirms that animal orientation, distance, backstop safety, and weapon capability align to guarantee a rapid harvest. The non-negotiable rule of ethical shot placement is simple: if an instantaneous, fatal wound to the heart-lung vitals is not guaranteed, the hunter must hold fire.
DEER/ELK VITALS TARGET ZONE (Broadside Perspective)
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
[ Spine ]
┌─────────────┐
[ Scapula/Shoulder ] LUNGS │
│ │ (Large) │
│ ├─────────────┤
└──[ LEG ]──┤ HEART (Low) │
└─────────────┘
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OPTIMAL TARGET
(Lower 1/3 Behind Leg)
1. Understanding the Target: The Cardiopulmonary Vitals
Big game species—including white-tailed deer, mule deer, pronghorn, and elk—possess a vital zone containing the lungs, heart, and major thoracic vessels.
- Target Size: The vital circle measures roughly 8 to 10 inches in diameter on a mature deer, and 12 to 15 inches on an adult elk.
- Ballistic Mechanics: Penetrating both lungs produces bilateral pneumothorax (complete lung collapse), massive drop in systemic arterial pressure, and unconsciousness via brain hypoxia within 10 to 30 seconds.
2. Shot Angles: Green Light vs. Red Light
- Broadside (Green Light): The animal stands directly perpendicular ($90^\circ$) to the hunter. This angle exposes the entire surface area of the vital triangle with minimal interference from dense leg bones or the heavy scapular blade.
- Quartering-Away (Green Light): The animal points away at an angle. The hunter aims behind the rib cage, driving the projectile forward through the diaphragm, liver, and both lungs toward the opposite off-shoulder. This exposes deep vitals with virtually no bone obstruction.
- Quartering-Toward (Yellow Light / Red Light for Bows): The animal faces partially toward the shooter. This angle severely narrows the vital opening, shielded by the heavy shoulder bone and humeral joint. While experienced centerfire rifle hunters with heavy-constructed, bonded copper bullets can take this shot, it is an absolute red light for archery gear due to insufficient kinetic penetration.
- Straight-On / Frontal (Red Light): The animal faces the hunter head-on. The target area is limited to a narrow 4- to 5-inch thoracic inlet surrounded by dense sternum cartilage and skeletal framework. Any slight wind or muscle twitch results in a non-fatal, superficial chest wound or severed shoulder.
- Texas Heart Shot / Directly Away (Absolute Red Light): Targeting an animal retreating directly away through the pelvic cavity is reckless, anatomically irresponsible, and leads to lingering gut wounds with minimal recovery rates.
3. Anatomical Myths: The Dangers of Head and Neck Shots
Many untrained hunters believe aiming for the head or brainstem represents the peak of ethical accuracy because it drops an animal in place. Experienced field practitioners reject head and neck shots for three biological reasons:
- The brain of a mature white-tailed deer is roughly the size of a tennis ball ($3 \times 2$ inches) and is in constant, unpredictable motion.
- A miss of merely two inches results in shattered lower mandibles (jaws), severed snouts, or soft-tissue tongue wounds. The animal runs off, unable to eat or drink, facing a slow death over weeks.
- The neck’s cervical spine is surrounded by non-vital muscle and the trachea; an off-center hit often produces transient spinal concussion, knocking the animal down momentarily before it gets up and disappears without an operable blood trail.
What Is the Step-by-Step Ethical Protocol After the Shot?
The ethical obligation to an animal does not end when the trigger is pulled or the bowstring released; it intensifies. Post-shot recovery demands methodical patience, spatial awareness, and physical persistence.
CHRONOLOGICAL POST-SHOT RECOVERY TIMELINE
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┌────────────────┬─────────────────┴─────────────────┬────────────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
Minute 0 Minutes 1–30 Minutes 30–60 Hours 2–12
Mark exact Observe, listen, Inspect impact site; Search grid if
locations & and wait quietly diagnose blood sign is lost;
read reaction. in your blind. sign & anatomy. recover meat.
Step 1: Mark the Markers (Minute 0)
The instant a projectile impacts an animal, the hunter must remain stationary and memorize two exact geographical reference points:
- The Impact Point: The exact tree, boulder, fence post, or patch of brush where the animal stood at the precise moment of impact.
- The Point of Disappearance: The last visual landmark where the animal vanished from sight, along with the precise directional compass azimuth of any audio sounds (e.g., crashing timber, breaking deadfall, or a terminal collapse).
Step 2: The Mandatory Waiting Period (Minutes 1 to 60+)
Unless an animal is visually confirmed dead on the ground, pursuing it immediately is the single most common failure mode in game recovery. An animal hit with a marginal shot that is given quiet time will typically travel less than 150 yards, lie down in security cover, and expire from internal blood loss. If jumped by an aggressive hunter within the first 20 minutes, its adrenaline surges, enabling it to travel miles across property lines and rough topography.
Step 3: Impact Site Forensics (Diagnosing the Blood Sign)
Proceed directly to the point of impact and examine the sign with an LED light or direct sun. The color, consistency, and smell of the sign dictate the tracking timeline.
| Blood Color / Consistency | Biological Source | Animal Reaction | Mandatory Wait Time Before Tracking |
| Pink, frothy, airy bubbles | Lungs (bilateral collapse) | Mule kicks hard, runs low and fast, crashes within 50–100 yards | 30 to 45 minutes |
| Bright crimson, pulsing spurts | Heart or major arterial branch | High jump, erratic dash, rapid collapse | 30 to 45 minutes |
| Dark red, deep maroon, watery | Liver | Humps back, walks off methodically, beds down within 200 yards | 4 to 6 hours |
| Brownish-green tint, foul odor, food matter | Rumen, paunch, or intestines | Hunches back tightly, tail tucked, walks slowly away | 10 to 12 hours (overnight) |
| Clear fluid, white hair, bright spots | Low brisket or grazing limb | Normal gait, bounds away cleanly, blood dries quickly | Exhaust all tracking protocols |
BLOOD TRAIL FORENSIC MATRIX
┌───────────────────────┬───────────────────────┬────────────────────────┐
│ LUNG SIGN │ LIVER SIGN │ PAUNCH SIGN │
├───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼────────────────────────┤
│ Color: Bright pink │ Color: Dark maroon │ Color: Green/brown │
│ Texture: Frothy, airy │ Texture: Heavy, flat │ Texture: Watery smear │
│ Odor: Metallic │ Odor: None/iron │ Odor: Vegetative/sour │
│ Action: Wait 30 mins │ Action: Wait 4–6 hrs │ Action: Wait 10–12 hrs │
└───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┴────────────────────────┘
Step 4: The Recovery Grid (When the Trail Goes Cold)
If a blood trail diminishes or stops entirely, ethical recovery mandates shifting from linear tracking to an organized grid search:
- Flag the Last Known Blood: Mark the final confirmation point with high-visibility surveying tape (which must be removed later). Never walk directly down the blood line; walk parallel to avoid disturbing footprints and sign.
- Execute Concentric Circles: Search outward in expanding rings from the last known blood, checking the undersides of sage leaves, briars, overturned stones, and bark along deer trails.
- Inspect Terrain Funnels and Water: Wounded animals experiencing hypovolemic shock and fever naturally travel downhill and seek dense bedding cover or standing water (creeks, ponds, marsh margins).
- Time Commitment: Spend a minimum of four to eight hours executing systematic grid sweeps before concluding that an animal has survived or the sign is unrecoverable.
How Must Meat and Carcasses Be Ethically Handled in the Field?
The pinnacle of ethical hunting is complete meat utilization. Allowing wild game to spoil in the field through lazy processing, heat exposure, or poor sanitation is both a statutory crime (known in wildlife legal codes as wanton waste) and a failure of personal ethics.
THE DANGER ZONE OF MEAT CARE
Ambient Temperature: Greater than 40°F (4.4°C)
Bacteria double on moist, warm carcass surfaces every 20 minutes.
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Core Meat Target: Drop internal temp below 40°F within 4 hours.
The Three Enemies of Game Meat: Heat, Moisture, and Dirt
To ensure table-quality venison, elk, or game meat, execute the following actions sequentially immediately upon finding the expired animal:
OPTIMAL CARCASS UTILIZATION WORKFLOW
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1. Tag & Validate → Affix species tag to carcass carcass. │
│ 2. Open Cavity → Gut or employ the gutless pack method. │
│ 3. Air Movement → Prop open chest cavity to cool down. │
│ 4. Clean & Hang → Place meat in breathable game bags. │
│ 5. Haul Meat First → Antlers and head out on the last pack. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
- Tagging and Validation: Before notching, field-dressing, or moving the carcass, fill out and attach your state-issued hunting tag directly to the animal as dictated by regional law.
- Immediate Evacuation of Viscera: Intestinal bacteria, stomach acids, and internal body heat ($101^\circ\text{F}$ to $104^\circ\text{F}$) must be evacuated promptly. Use clean, surgical-grade field knives to drop the pelvic canal and release the entrails, or utilize the gutless method for backcountry big game.
- Preventing “Bone Sour”: In heavy big game like elk or moose, thick layers of rump meat insulate the hip joint. Even in freezing air temperatures, internal heat trapped around the femoral head can cause rapid bacterial fermentation known as bone sour, spoiling entire hindquarters within six hours. You must debone the quarter or split the ball-and-socket joint down to the bone to let heat escape.
- Breathable Game Bags: Never place warm meat into non-breathable plastic trash bags. Store quarters in heavy-duty, woven synthetic or cotton game bags that keep flies and dirt off while facilitating airflow and surface crusting.
- The “Meat First” Pack-Out Doctrine: If packing an animal out of the backcountry across multiple round-trips, the edible quarters and boned meat must be loaded and brought to base camp or town refrigeration on the first trips. The antlers, cape, and skull plate are retrieved on the final trip. Prioritizing trophies over table meat violates every principle of conservation stewardship.
Comparison of Hunting Disciplines and Ethical Profiles
Every hunting implement and landscape carries distinct mechanical boundaries, wounding margins, and ethical self-restraints.
| Weapon / Method | Typical Effective Range | Primary Mechanical Failure Mode | Core Ethical Self-Restraint Required |
| Centerfire Rifle | 100 to 300 yards (Field Supported) | Wind deflection and projectile stabilization collapse at distance | Refusing shots in heavy crosswinds or across canyons where game retrieval is impossible. |
| Compound Archery | 20 to 40 yards (Max 50 yards under calm conditions) | “Jumping the string” (animal dropping before arrow reaches vitals) | Restricting shots exclusively to relaxed, unalerted animals inside confirmed laser ranges. |
| Traditional Archery | 10 to 25 yards | Trajectory arc variation and lower kinetic energy delivery | Passing on all quartering-toward, alert, or marginally obstructed opportunities. |
| Shotgun (Waterfowl) | 25 to 40 yards | “Skybusting” (shooting birds outside dense pattern density) | Working birds into decoy spreads rather than taking low-probability passing shots. |
| Public Land DIY | Variable based on platform | Crowding fellow hunters or cutting off other stalk lines | Leaving adequate space (minimum 400–800 yards between setups); packing out every scrap of trash. |
| Private Land / Outfitted | Variable based on platform | Treating the hunt as a guaranteed service rather than an unpredictable pursuit | Ensuring game is free-ranging without high-fence enclosures or unethically altered behavior. |
Navigating Real-World Ethical Dilemmas: A Field Guide
Ethical tests rarely present themselves in clean, easy contexts. Instead, they occur when fatigue, legal ambiguity, and heavy personal investments collide.
THE ETHICAL CONFLICT RESOLUTION MATRIX
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THE PROPERTY LINE THE PUBLIC LAND THE MARGINAL
TRESPASS DILEMMA INTERFERENCE TEST HIT CONUNDRUM
Stop at the boundary; Yield to the established Punch your tag; abandon
contact landowner or warden hunter; wave gently, back out, personal pursuit to track
before crossing fence line. and move to Plan B terrain. the wounded animal.
Scenario 1: Tracking a Mortally Wounded Animal Across a Property Line
- The Dilemma: You shoot a buck on public land or your leased acreage. It travels 100 yards and collapses 40 yards inside a heavily posted, locked private property parcel.
- The Ethical and Legal Action: Do not climb the fence. Crossing a boundary without permission constitutes criminal trespass, even when following blood. Mark the fence post, document your blood sign with a GPS pin, and contact the landowner immediately to present the facts and request access. If the landowner refuses, contact the regional district game warden. Many state wildlife officers will accompany hunters to inspect the sign and facilitate meat recovery, but if access is ultimately denied, the hunter must abide by private property rights.
Scenario 2: The Established Hunter Encounter
- The Dilemma: You wake up at 3:30 AM, hike four miles into a public land basin, and settle onto a glassing knob at daybreak. Ten minutes before legal shooting light, another hunter emerges from the dark timber 150 yards away, clearly planning to hunt the same drainage.
- The Ethical and Legal Action: Flash your headlamp or wave your orange cap to make your physical presence instantly known, eliminating any accidental firearm safety hazard. Do not act aggressively or attempt to sprint down the ridge to “claim” the area. The second hunter has a legal right to be on public dirt, but ethical sportsmanship dictates that the later arrival should yield to the established hunter. Politely coordinate plans; if they refuse to move, pack your gear and proceed calmly to your secondary backup location.
Scenario 3: The “Tag-Out” Dilemma on a Wounded Animal
- The Dilemma: You take a shot at an animal at dusk, hit it marginally, and cannot immediately locate it. The next morning, before resuming your track, a larger, fully mature trophy animal walks past your stand at 30 yards offering a clean broadside shot.
- The Ethical Action: Let the animal walk. As a matter of personal hunting ethics, taking a shot at an animal means you have mentally and morally punched your tag. Your singular, non-negotiable obligation is spending that day exhausting every avenue of recovery for the first animal before attempting to harvest another. Continuing to hunt fresh quarry while a wounded animal remains unrecovered treats wild resources as disposable targets.
The Hunter’s Presentation: Social Media, Field Photos, and Non-Hunters
The long-term future of hunting depends on maintaining public trust and societal acceptance. Disrespectful public conduct, blood-soaked vehicle tailgates, and insensitive online posts erode the cultural credibility of conservation and alienate the non-hunting public.
ETHICAL HARVEST PRESENTATION (The 5-Point Check)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [ ] Clean the animal: Tuck tongue in, wipe excess blood. │
│ [ ] Frame naturally: Position animal resting on its brisket.│
│ [ ] Show humility: Avoid sitting on, standing on, or mocking.│
│ [ ] Caption with context: Highlight habitat, meat, & memory.│
│ [ ] Conceal for transit: Cover carcasses on public highways. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
- The Transport Rule: When transporting your harvest home, secure the animal inside your vehicle trunk, beneath a truck bed topper, or wrapped under a clean, heavy-duty canvas tarp. Driving down busy interstate corridors with an uncovered animal head hanging over a tailgate offends non-hunters and displays juvenile disrespect for the animal’s life.
- Composing Field Photography: If you document your harvest, present the animal with dignity. Tuck the tongue inside the mouth, wipe heavy frothy blood from the nostrils and wound site with a damp cloth, position the animal upright on its brisket (natural bedded position), and avoid sitting or straddling the animal’s back as if it were a piece of furniture.
- Online Framing and Language: Write captions that celebrate the camaraderie, physical challenges, wild places, and wholesome organic meat that define the pursuit. Avoid transactional, arrogant jargon like “smoked him,” “dropped him in his tracks,” “dirt-napped,” or “put the hammer down.”
Frequently Asked Questions About Hunting Ethics
What is the concept of Fair Chase in hunting?
Fair chase is the ethical standard that requires game animals to have a natural balance of senses and physical capabilities to detect and evade hunters. It forbids hunting enclosed animals, using motorized transport to herd game, or deploying electronic surveillance that neutralizes the quarry’s natural defenses.
What should you do if you hit a deer but cannot find blood?
If you cannot locate blood, mark the impact site, identify the animal’s escape route, and look for disturbed soil, sheared twigs, white belly hair, or displaced leaves. Search the path for 100 yards, then initiate an expanding grid search across downhill trails, thickets, and local water sources.
Is taking long-range shots on big game considered ethical?
Long-range shooting is unethical whenever the distance introduces unmanageable variables—such as shifting crosswinds, animal movement during flight time, or long retrieval timelines—that prevent a guaranteed clean harvest. If bullet flight time exceeds the reaction speed of the animal, the hunter is gambling, not ethically hunting.
Can a legal hunting act be considered unethical?
Yes, many actions permitted by legal minimums are unethical. Examples include harvesting an animal at extreme distances beyond verified competency, shooting a swimming deer, using legal real-time trail cameras to harvest bedded game, or refusing to help a stranger track a wounded animal across shared boundaries.
What is the “Meat First” rule in backcountry hunting?
The “Meat First” rule is an ethical and legal mandate requiring hunters to prioritize the field care, processing, and backpack transport of all edible meat quarters from the field before salvaging personal trophies such as antlers, horns, skulls, or hides.
How long should you wait before tracking a wounded deer?
Hunters should wait 30 to 45 minutes for frothy, pink lung blood or bright crimson heart blood. If the sign indicates a dark maroon liver hit, wait 4 to 6 hours; if the sign indicates a paunch or gut hit, wait 10 to 12 hours before tracking.