This week saw the unwelcomed return of dentist Walter Palmer, 60, to international media coverage. Palmer was widely denounced over his shooting of “Cecil the Lion” for a trophy five years ago. He is now back with a series of gruesome pictures with a dead ram from Mongolia. The argali ram is considered “near threatened” but are a favorite for trophy hunters including a similar hunting trip by Donald Trump Jr.
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. In addition to the controversy over the shooting of “Cecil the Lion”, there were subsequent controversies of an Idaho hunter taunting animal advocates and killing giant elephants or giraffes or famed wolves or mountain goats or hundreds of hippos for trophies. We also discussed the shooting of an iconic elephant as well as disgusting videotape has emerged of a trophy hunter shooting a sleeping lion. Then there was the outrage is over pictures of English hunters posing with dead zebras. Shooting a zebra is about as challenging with a long-range rifle as shooting a neighborhood dog.
In the latest case, Palmer reportedly paid up to £80,000 to slaughter to kill the ram. Palmer has a long array of pictures with giant dead animals and has become the face of those who pay a great deal of money for such thrill kills from elephants to lions to giraffes.
I cannot understand the joy of killing one of these animals or the challenge of doing so. 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. Aa someone who hikes great distances to see such animals in the wild, the idea of then pulling out a high-powered rifle or bow to kill one of them is as foreign a notion for me as would be cutting a painting out of its frame at a museum to possess it. There is a desire to dominate over the animal, to possess it. It is not for food. It is for fun. The fun of a thrill killing of an animal that is entirely oblivious that you are even in the area. It has the same awareness as it would if it were shot in a zoo. The difference is that a dentist travels a long distance for the enjoyment of seeing it die in nature.
I know many on the blog disagree with my environmental views and particularly my views of trophy hunting. However, after all of these years, it still remains a mystery to me about why this is such a thrill or release for these hunters.
What does ”near threatened” mean? Is it ‘at’ or ‘about’? It’s hoist an attorney on his own petard time. Hint. The odds using that level of the language are 50 50 .. Fifty this is worth reading and 50 it isn’t.
Like to hunt and fish but always as a rule eat or donate the meat harvested. Do not sport hunt myself but as long as the hunter has the requisite permits and animals are not over hunted, I am “pro-choice” on such matters. Amazed at how people who have absolutely no problem with ripping an 8 month old fetus out of its mother’s womb would forbid such hunting if they could. Or write such a post while munching on prime rib. I guess he is a “nazI’ too, along with Teddy Roosevelt.
As least here is a guy who is financially well off and cannot be doxxed by the cancel culture crowd. Also have a feeling that the Brave Masked Wonderful Warriors of Antifa (TM) will leave this guy alone and give him wide berth. And he doesn’t care if you call him a bad name.
Good for him!
antonio
One thing to consider: These animals aren’t endangered or “threatened” because of people who pump a hundred thousand dollars or more into the local economy for the privilege of hunting them.
If he’s following the local laws, getting the proper permits and doing it the legal way, there’s nothing to complain about here. The locals are responsible for writing the laws and authorizing the hunts to balance the preservation of their natural resources against the considerable economic impact people like this can have in a local economy.
If you’re going to get all “save the whales” on us, how about concentrating on the myriads of poachers who actually are a threat to the survival of many species and contribute only devastation to the economy, rather than the legitimate people who invest considerable time, effort and resources to follow the rules and do it legally. Just a thought.
if anyone has a pet that is elderly and dies on natural causes, not a shooting, please let me know, I will pay you money for your beloved pet so I can take em to a taxidermist and then stick your pet on my wall. I will take a photo selfie and send it to you too. /just kidding
Endangered Mongolian Ram!? Don’t let this dentist drill on your teeth. I have a hunch he lies claiming you have cavities when you don’t just to charge you and make money. I also have a hunch he enjoys the sound of the drill. While most dentist are known for depression, not this guy. Nope. Happy as a clam drilling on your teeth.
This is gross.
You’re being silly, mr. anonymous.
At the Holy Gates a human gets the interview where Saint Peter decides or judges whether to send to Heaven or Hell. The human stands at a podium. Nearby is a handbasket to send the dead human to Hell. Heaven has a side gate. There is also a trap door on the floor under the podium.
Trophy hunters go down the trap door to a burning Hell when Saint Peter pulls the lever.
Liberty2nd – I would like to think that, like the Egyptians, good and bad are balanced out. More good, no basket. More bad, basket time.
“Trophy hunters go down the trap door to a burning Hell when Saint Peter pulls the lever.”
This story doesn’t sound quite right
I would like to take this trashman and lock him in a cage with a tiger or a lion, let him have a knife, and let him have a level fight, mano a mano. Then, if he manages to outfight his opponent, the trophy would mean something. This way, it doesn’t deserve to be called a ‘trophy,’
savage says:
“I would like to take this trashman and lock him in a cage with a tiger or a lion . . .”
Mr. savage, you are so morally superior
A solution in search of a problem and I question who is “firing” at him. I’m guessing folks like JT who’ve never hunted.
I go for bird hunting. It’s fun and exciting. Anybody who thinks it’s so easy can go try.
Cape Buffalo is supposedly the most dangerous game. Per Col Cooper
Who was the great Jeff Cooper?
https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2020/4/1/jeff-cooper-the-man-behind-the-modern-technique/
I’m not interested in trophy hunting, however I understand the thrill of hunting a challenging prey. Having visited African game reserves to take pictures, I do understand the economics of those preserves along with those used for hunting. It helps the economy, AND in nature all wild animals are constantly caught up in the vicious cycle of life. That’s what nature is.
Moreover, most hunters I know are far more conversant in how these animals function in their natural environment than those whose pretense is in ‘protecting’ them. If an animal is truly endangered or the hunting is truly unethical, then I’m of course against it. Given the high publicity around this hunt, I seriously doubt that is the case here.
“hunting a challenging prey”
Did you read the article?
“disgusting videotape has emerged of a trophy hunter shooting a sleeping lion”
“as challenging with a long-range rifle as shooting a neighborhood dog”
If they wanted a challenge they’d hunt their prey with primitive weapons. THAT would require skill and courage. This is just slaughter.
Anyway, this all comes down to how one feels about the animals. Reason has little to do with it.
I’m talking about hunting in general.
Your comment about using primitive weapons is idiotic.
Professor Turley, 65 million years ago, an asteroid caused the extinction of perhaps more than 20 million dinosaurs and more than 800,000 cows are killed every day. Last week on the golf course, I watched a hawk fly off with a squirrel. Life is messy. Get used to it.
Shhhhhhh!
It happens!
Absolutely.
George – I am sure that squirrel was protected. Cancel that hawk!!!
The main difference is that hawk is going to EAT the squirrel, while this man has zero interest in EATING that ram.
He gets off on the power of killing a helpless animal from 100 yards away who never saw it coming, and NOT for food.
Anonymous – you every hunt wild sheep? 300 yards is better than 100 yards. Some people like sticking pins in bugs and putting them on cards. Some people like to own yachts. I do not begrudge Tiger Woods his tony yacht, why would I be upset with someone doing something legal?
I figure they probably are eating it. It’s a goat and goat tastes great. I like curried goat quite a bit. Bet Mongolians have their own recipes however
How do you know he didn’t want to eat ram chops.
The thing that almost everybody seems to forget is a large percentage of the money paid for the license to take the game is then paid to reserves and conservationist organizations. And while yes I agree that hunting for sport is wrong, it cannot be denied that most of us who hunt for food are also out there for the sport (show me one area excluding the remote north where you can’t just drive five miles to the local Walmart to buy a steak). Would it be better that the “hunter” only be allowed to shoot a photograph? Sure. Taxidermists can even build replicas based on that photo if you really want. But would that same hunter pay £80,000 for a grainy long distance photo and a fake trophy? Not a chance. Sadly pragmatism trumps idealism in this situation. It’s not right, but there it is.
You have a point. Pay at the pump. If you are so sick and rich, why not be made to pay big bucks into the preservation of your victims. This dentist is obviously a little off the beam. The pivotal question is how much of the $100K goes to the species? If the sheep’s future is safeguarded somewhat then killing a few to save hundreds is perhaps the way to go. Lil Donnie has lots of money from his daddy. Let him put some of it to good use. Lil Donnie and his sort are somewhat F*#ked anyway. Keeping them from self gratification won’t change that. Take their money and put it to good use. Now let’s see those tax returns; just how big a crook is Trump?
If a handful of mature rams are harvested each year, then the general population won’t be harmed. I’m suspecting that there are just a few permits allotted each year. And a very pricey hunt it would be. Poaching maybe the biggest problem. These folks don’t bother with lisences or permits.
It would be nice to see Turley have as much concern for the law under the Trump regime, as he does for trophy hunting.
Death Cult of the Elite
Planned Parenthood is not under discussion in this thread.
So? What’s the implication? Obviously, Turley is making a distinction. We don’t know what it is. So all we can do is evaluate his position on trophy hunting on its own terms. His opinion seems to be that it’s gruesome and pathetic (for its lack of sport). If you disagree just make an argument. Or argue that there can’t be a valid distinction between trophy hunting and abortion. That would be interesting. What you wrote is nothing. (Unless your point is the same as mine.)
The problem with Prof. Turley is that he’s a city dweller who pays big money to go into national parks to “enjoy the outdoors” because he’s from a world of concrete. He has zero concept of what the world is really like outside of those urban jungles (my wife grew up in Chicago and I am well familiar with the place) other than one he’s invented based on the rantings of others just like him. Trophy hunting actually is a source of income for people who otherwise would have none. Turley needs to read some Robert Ruark. Then he’d know what the outdoors is really like, as those of us who grew up outside of the artificial environments where far too many live today do.
The environment really does something to our host’s personality. First he says:
I cannot understand the joy of killing one of these animals or the challenge of doing so.
But then he rattles off several reasons they do this. He should stick to the law, because this is not a good look for him.
Trophy hunting disgusts me too.
Don’t you ever say that about my wife again.
JT, I can no longer hike and so I think no one else should. All hiking trails should be closed, all hikers fined. In fact, all hikers jailed for long periods in small cells so their hiking muscles atrophy. You must give up hiking today, it is evil. You are bringing evil upon mankind. It is the sign of the Second Coming. You must have opened the Seven Seals.
Stop Hiking Now.
We are in a public health emergency. Hiking spreads COVID-19. That is why our leaders took the difficult but necessary step to close our parks and trails. It is a small price to pay when lives are at stake. We can consider reopening once there is a cure and the crisis has passed.
Stop Hiking Now.
Besides, parks are just one more example of our racist legacy. “The real problem is that there is a perception among Black people that they don’t belong outdoors. Although many folks would take exception to my opinion, the great outdoors in the U.S. has never truly been a welcoming place for people of color.”
Stop Hiking Now.
————————————————————
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/more-diversity-how-to-make-national-parks-anti-racist/
MBITRW
About 45% of the black population lives in neighborhoods with gruesome crime rates. There’s a sensible reason they keep to their own property. All the people bleating that ‘black lives matter’ have been agitating for public policy which will make this situation even worse, and are trashing the achievement of the New York City government in making black neighborhoods more livable in this respect.
You know, among the blacks I knew in my home town in the 1970s, fishing was a popular past-time, among men and women alike. I have no clue where this ‘black people don’t belong outdoors’ meme got started.
EDKH – No there is no reason for anyone to go in the woods.
PCS – I agree, nobody should go into the woods, ever. Most of American history and human settlement was driven by a justifiable fear of the dangers lurking just beyond the edge of human habitation. We now know through the advent of modern SCIENCE that the woods are even worse then we thought. They are a cesspool of COVID-19 transmission, and racism to boot. Silence is violence, thank you for having the courage to speak out!
Stop Hiking Now.
Late last September me and my wife went to Yellowstone. There were bus loads of Asian tourist. The number was astounding. These people were typical tourist. Their cameras were clicking and they couldn’t see enough of the park. There were a lot of these people and they spent a lot of money at Yellowstone.
Independent Bob – My last trip to Yellowstone my wife finally got to see a live bear (sow and two cubs) in the northern meadows. The rangers kept us so far away, I had to blow up telephoto pictures I took of them. Still, it was the highlight of my wife trip. That’s all she talked about for weeks.
I most definitely agree. City dwellers should remain in the cities and stay the hell out of the country, period!
I’m moving to your town, to be your neighbor.
Paul, aren’t you being a little selfish?
Independent Bob – yes, it is all about me, me, me.
Solo-meeooo.
Independent Bob – yep, yep, yep!!!!
IB, don’t let Paul’s sarcasm throw you off the trail. He’s looking out of the common good. The woods are an oppressive place. It is a moral certainty.
PCS – everyone knows I am opening the seven seals. One is in Montana, where you grew up.
Meanwhile, news about rioters who shot an elderly man out running errands in Provo, Utah gets quietly swept under the rug. Jesse Taggart, 33, of Salt Lake City, has been charged with attempted aggravated murder (among other things). His accomplice Samantha Darling, 27, of Ogden, was arrested for obstruction of justice and rioting. The victim was hit in the arm and struck by shrapnel in his eye and stomach. Another bullet was lodged in the steering wheel of the victim’s car.
With the current crisis of mob-led violence, some well-deserved scrutiny into the backgrounds of these two individuals, the influences that nearly caused the senseless taking of an innocent human life, and how to prevent attacks like this in the future could actually save human lives.
There’s the meat eating controversy; don’t eat anything with a face, etc. Then there are the arguments about the horrible few years of an animal’s life until it is slaughtered for meat. Then there’s the argument about hunting for meat and what perverse thrills it feeds. There is no argument concerning this sort of sicko; paying $80k to kill a sheep in Mongolia just for the head. The man’s a maggot, probably a Maggot.
On the legal side, how much defamation publicity would it take before there was a lawsuit from the Dentist, a sort of trophy lawsuit?
Concerning animal cruelty, it seems that the argument against any meat eating is as far to one extreme as this sicko is to the other. One might venture to put this sicko far further in his sick extreme. There’s really nothing to discuss here, the dentist is a sicko and should be targeted himself.
Now, bullfighting, there’s a topic worthy of discussion.
When a pack of wolves bring down an animal. They start eating it before it’s dead.
the strength of the wolf is in the pack
Isaac the Canadian says ‘the guy is a maggot” and “he should be targeted himself”
only right on one count: nothing to discuss. you can eat soy if you like.
Now a little something for true Americans:
https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/firearms
“In 1785 Thomas Jefferson wrote to his fifteen-year-old nephew, Peter Carr, regarding what he considered the best form of exercise: “… I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprize, and independance to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks.”1
Evidence exists to show that Jefferson himself was a fair marksman. At twenty-five he noted in his accounts: “Won shooting 1/6.”2 In a later contest, during a muster of Captain Jacob Moon’s Albemarle County militia company, he lost 2/6.3 But as he grew older, Jefferson limited his exercise to horseback riding while restraining his attachment for firearms and hunting.”