Former NHL Player Tim Brent Under Fire In Latest Big Game Trophy Controversy
jonathanturley
We have previously followed the controversy over the shooting of “Cecil the Lion” by an American dentist Walter Palmer from Minnesota as well as subsequent controversies of a Idaho hunter taunting animal advocates and killing giant elephants or giraffes for trophies. As many of you know, I am no fan of such trophy hunts. I often hike in remote spots to see bears and other animals in their natural habitat. I cannot understand the joy of killing one of these animals or the challenge of shooting them with a high-powered rifle. I seek out these animals and take pictures with the same ease it would be to kill them. Yet, many feel a tremendous release in killing these animals and posing with their dead bodies. The latest is Tim Brent, 34, who played hockey for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes before retiring in 2016. He is receiving a body slam from readers who do not understand his expressions of joy in posing with a dead grizzly bear. His description of the kill made things only worse.
In one of his postings, Brent proudly proclaimed “Alright folks, here is my Mountain Grizzly! We put an awesome stalk on him but he spotted us at about 75 yards. Instead of taking off he turned and came right at us. It was very easy to tell this boar owned the valley we were hunting in and wasn’t scared of anything!”
Of course, he wasn’t scared of anything because he had no idea of what a high-powered rifle is. So Brent stood with a group of hunters with high-powered weapons and killed a magnificent animals who “owned the valley.” Now he owns the bear. Why is that impressive or joyous? I am not saying that Brent did anything wrong. I just fail to understand the thrill in the kill.
