Humans can really piss me off sometimes. For example, Jake over at Pure Pedantry blogged about how some really short-sighted, selfish people are stripping slippery elms of their bark, which inevitably kills them, to sell as "medicine."
Well perhaps I can even top that:
A "country star" Troy Lee Gentry purchased a tame black bear named "Cubby" for the sole purpose of killing it in a small pen. Then, he tried to cover up the slaying as killed in the wild.
Authorities allege that Gentry purchased the bear from Greenly, a wildlife photographer and hunting guide, then killed it with a bow and arrow in an enclosed pen on Greenly's property in October 2004.
The government alleges that Gentry and Greenly tagged the bear with a Minnesota hunting license and registered the animal with the state Department of Natural Resources as a wild kill.
Gentry allegedly paid about $4,650 for the bear, named Cubby. The bear's death was videotaped, and the tape later edited so Gentry appeared to shoot the animal in a "fair chase" hunting situation, the government alleges.
Greenly is, of course, fighting it and protesting that what he did was legal. Sickening. One more reason for me to despise country music, I suppose.
Now I'm not hating on hunting per se; I actually think humane hunting for food or population control of deer, etc has some good arguments. In fact Big Buck Zone, a blog run by Outdoor Life magazine, denounced the killing:
If true and proved, these boys are in a whole heap of trouble, big fines and federal jail time sure to be pleaded away.
The pathetic story symbolizes a couple of big gripes I have with the hunting industry. First, celebrity egos. Gentry loves to hunt and that's great, but why fake it on videotape? To become a big hunting hero that's why.
Here's the worst thing. I've been telling ya'll for months ..... that those "canned hunts" or "high-fenced hunts" or "penned hunts" or whatever the hell you want to call them are killing our image. As a hunter this whole sad story makes me feel dirty.
RIP Cubby.
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troy lee gentry is a sick person who really needs to be watch. anyone who gets pleasure from something like this is a danger to all of us.
its a short leap to hunting homeless person,a sick person or anyone considered not worth living.
REMEMBER DIXIE CHICKS BOYCOT SOMEONE WHO IS REALLY A DANGER TROY LEE GENTRY
I'm not sure I understand the mentality of a hunter who does something like this, maybe because I've never hunted before or lack that urge to kill something as a means of stress-relief. Maybe I always imagined the thrill of hunting came from the actual hunt in the wild (as in DeNiro stalking the deer in 'the deer hunter'), and not the kill. There seems to be a lot of 'hunters' out there who seem only to want to take life with a gun, regardless of the fact that the animal is helpless in a pen or just recently released from one like in the illustrious DICK Cheney's quail hunting shenanigans. These people aren't hunters, they're cowards.
I do think there are still quite a few stepping stones to leap before we get to human hunting, jon, but these are the types of people who would support something like that. Sadly enough, the VP and country music stars speak the voice of the voting majority in this country and i wouldn't be surprised that human hunting and creationism are voted into standard practice the same day that abortion is banned and global warming is proven an insignificant 'natural' trend.
A reason to hate Gentry, yes. A reason to hate his fans who don't turn on him, yes. Not a reason to hate the genre he performs in.
I agree with those comments about "canned hunts", too.
Despite the fact that I don't eat meat, I can understand hunting for food. Hunting to control deer overpopulation, though, is usually just an excuse. Around here, people put out food for deer all winter to encourage more breeding, and then say they "have to" hunt to reduce the population.
While he's at it, why doesn't this twit just walk into the meat aisle of the supermarket and shoot up a shrink-wrapped broiler chicken?
What an idjit.
When I was growing up on the farm I slaughtered animals and hunted pests, like rabbit and deer as part of the regular scheme of things. I did not do ether for entertainment, nor did my father. This travesty seems to combine the worst aspects of the two and can only be explained by some sick sort of bloodlust. While there have been moments in the last 35 years that I regret having left that life for the city, I have not missed putting animals to death.
can i play devil's advocate for a minute and put up the idea that maybe, just maybe, the media hype on this thing has blown it all up? check out gentry's band's website for an open letter with the other side of the story. i'm not saying that i personally agree with hunting for "sport" but maybe the guy thought what he was doing was legal.
JC,
Though it's admirable of you to want to be fair and reserve judgement, I need to point out that the legal question isn't what has people upset. The legal question has to do with technicalities over how he tagged and reported the kill, not the kill itself. Canned hunting is legal in most states, but most real hunters consider it unsportsmanlike and cowardly.
That sweet bear was protected and defenseless. You SOB, weak jack-a**! Loser of a human being. Should we use a bow and arrow on you!? The bear had a name!!!!!!!!!!! You greedy jerk, preying on an innocent animal!
hi! I grew up with troy gentry and yes what he did was wrong! Everyone makes mistakes! Troy worked very hard to get where he is in country music. I am very sorry for the bear and for any suffering it went through! How many of us would be on this earth if we were all judged by one bad thing we had done in our lives. Our prayers need to go out to Troy and maybe this mistake will later save more wild animals like Cubby...