The lion-killing dentist

[frank ryan]

I am sure you are all aware of this story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/30/us...imes&smtyp=cur

I hate it when idiots like this give hunting a bad name. I also hate it when social media is mobilized to destroy someone's life and career. But that seems to be world we live in now.

Thoughts?

You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson is a nice book on cyber-vigilantism.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Not a hunter but having lived in Africa I'm familiar with how conservation efforts work and how big game hunting is a part of the equation. I don't think all the information has come out. It's very possible that this guy didn't do anything wrong and that all the responsibility rests on the guides. I may be wrong but I think it's unlikely that the hunter participated in luring the animal out of the preserve. The guides have spotters that most likely did the dirty work without the hunter's knowledge.

That is exactly what he is claiming.

[Paperback Writer]

Jimmy Kimmel went after the lion killing dentist very harshly in his monologue. I'm not a hunter and don't understand big game hunting. But I also don't agree with destroying someone's life via social media for something the person has apologized for and might not have been entirely at fault.

[Northwestcoug]

Not a hunter but having lived in Africa I'm familiar with how conservation efforts work and how big game hunting is a part of the equation. I don't think all the information has come out. It's very possible that this guy didn't do anything wrong and that all the responsibility rests on the guides. I may be wrong but I think it's unlikely that the hunter participated in luring the animal out of the preserve. The guides have spotters that most likely did the dirty work without the hunter's knowledge.

He was convicted before for killing big game where he wasn't supposed to...

[Commando]

I don't feel quite as strongly as everyone else on this. The guy's in deep shit, clearly. I obviously don't sympathize with poachers at all and acknowledge it is a despicable act, but I have a fb friend that went APE SHIT on this guy. He was apparently so deeply hurt and offended by this lion having been poached I have to wonder what else is going on at home. Somebody predictably brought up planned parenthood blah blah blah and the original poster was like "woah woah woah- we don't have all the facts about what was going on, but if it is as bad as portrayed I will certainly be upset over that, but THIS GUY IS A HUMAN PIECE OF WALKING SHIT etc etc etc..." Some people even responded that he ought to be corralled and hunted. Alright, facebook indignation- you can calm TF down, now.

[TripletDaddy]

Whoosh! Cecil...

[CardiacCoug]

You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson is a nice book on cyber-vigilantism.

Yep I read that -- very entertaining book.

[falafel]

Whoosh! Cecil...

[Katy Lied]

I can't really muster up any sympathy for the dentist. I do feel bad for the lion.\

[Dwight Schr-ute]

As the official board conservation officer, most of the burden for any violations should land on the professional guides. This guy didn't do anything different than 100s of other rich Americans before him. Stuffed a bunch of cash into a couple of guides hands and expected them to produce a trophy for him to draw on. And they did it with spades. Hell, he didn't even have to get out of the vehicle. I think what he did was wrong, I think what all of these guys do it wrong. The excuse that they use about culling herds and what not only works if the hunter isn't fixated on the alpha trophies. Which of course puts too much pressure on the guides to produce. And these guys did. Breaking the law to do it. He deserves some of the flack that's coming down the pipes for being arrogant and lazy. He deserves more for missing the kill shot bad enough to where it took them 40 hours to track him down and finally put him out of his misery. He deserves some flack for being a dentist and probably insisting the people refer to him as "Dr." But these constitute about 3% of the crap he's taking. It's never ceases to amaze me at how upset people can be at something for three days before moving on to the next target.

The Jimmy Kimmel thing was pretty low brow but there was something good worth mentioning. If your indignation is really based on something substantial, open your wallet and make a difference.

[Northwestcoug]

As the official board conservation officer, most of the burden for any violations should land on the professional guides. This guy didn't do anything different than 100s of other rich Americans before him. Stuffed a bunch of cash into a couple of guides hands and expected them to produce a trophy for him to draw on. And they did it with spades. Hell, he didn't even have to get out of the vehicle. I think what he did was wrong, I think what all of these guys do it wrong. The excuse that they use about culling herds and what not only works if the hunter isn't fixated on the alpha trophies. Which of course puts too much pressure on the guides to produce. And these guys did. Breaking the law to do it. He deserves some of the flake that's coming down the pipes for being arrogant and lazy. He deserves more for missing the kill shot bad enough to where it took them 40 hours to track him down and finally put him out of his misery. He deserves some flake for being a dentist and probably insisting the people refer to him as "Dr." But these constitute about 3% of the crap he's taking. It's never ceases to amaze me at how upset people can be at something for three days before moving on to the next target.

The Jimmy Kimmel thing was pretty low brow but there was something good worth mentioning. If your indignation is really based on something substantial, open your wallet and make a difference.

And with that, this thread should be closed!

[Jeff Lebowski]

And with that, this thread should be closed!

Not until he changes "flake" to "flack".

[Northwestcoug]

Not until he changes "flake" to "flack".

I missed that .
I concur.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I missed that .
I concur.

Dwight deserves all the flake he gets over that typo.

[Commando]

I guess I'm more open-minded and thought maybe the guy in fact did deserve a little flake for what went down.