Texas Tech cheerleader "trophy hunt" uproar

[iowajerms]

Kendall Jones is just your average college sophomore. She's a cheerleader at Texas Tech, working on a marketing and sports therapy degree.

But she also travels to countries like Zimbabwe and South Africa to kill big game like lions, rhinos, and elephants, and posts pictures on Facebook of herself posing - with a big smile - beside the dead animals.

This isn't a new hobby for Jones. She writes on her Facebook page that she's "been traveling to Africa with her family since she was 9 years old."

And she also describes her first kill, writing "... the first animal I ever shot was a White Rhino with a .416 Remington!! ... I got my leopard, and also took down a hippo to get 6 of the Dangerous 7 at the age of 14!"

While it's legal in these countries to "trophy hunt," as it's called, her page has caused an uproar. There are petitions calling for Facebook to take it down, and some over-the-line comments slam Jones, calling her "scum," and wishing she met the same fate as the animals she is posing with.

It's also boosted the number of clicks on her page.

"When people see a photo of a smiling girl next to a dead animal, they're going to freak out, and stopping them is almost impossible," said Buzzfeed's Ryan Broderick, who reports on social media and wrote about Jones' story.

Another one of Jones' posts is of a white rhinoceros, but she hasn't killed it.

"Here is the South African Vet administering treatment to the White Rhino I darted during the Green Hunt. The vet drew blood, took DNA samples, took body and head measurements, treated a leg injury and administered antibiotics. I felt very lucky to be part of such a great program and procedure that helps the White Rhino population through conservation," she wrote on Facebook.

Broderick says that context will do little to garner sympathy for Jones.

"One of the old jokes about the internet is that animals rule supreme. So no matter what, if you're putting up a photo of a dead animal on Facebook, and it's traveling around, you can't slow that down no matter how much you explain why you did it, and especially if you're smiling," said Broderick.

Uproar over cheerleader?s ?trophy hunts? posted on Facebook ? The Lead with Jake Tapper - CNN.com Blogs

 

[iowajerms]

Keep photos appropriate.

 

[TheRedPlectrum]

Would.

 

[iowajerms]

There is a bunch of pictures. Just image search "kendall jones facebook"

 

[NorthCoastSteelersFan]

I hunt, but won't kill anything I don't intend to eat.

So I'm not big on trophy hunting. But I gotta admire her guts, if she got a lion with a bow...assuming that it was an actual, wild lion, not some aging, former circus animal that she shot as it emerged from a cage. I've heard of such things being done, and that ain't hunting.

 

[oaknightshockey1]

I hunt, but won't kill anything I don't intend to eat.

So I'm not big on trophy hunting. But I gotta admire her guts, if she got a lion with a bow...assuming that it was an actual, wild lion, not some aging, former circus animal that she shot as it emerged from a cage. I've heard of such things being done, and that ain't hunting.

I read into her story when it first came out and all of the meat on everything she kills is donated to feed the local villages. In addition, the permits to hunt are ridiculously expensive, with that money going towards conservation. As to the lion, I'm pretty sure I read that they had been having trouble with that one attacking people. Overall, it seems like she is doing a really good thing, and people need to stop getting so butthurt about it.

 

[HammerDown]

Without knowing the details, it's just hard to believe that in the year 2014, we're still killing lions, elephants, rhinos and whales.

 

[beardown07]

 

[beardown07]

That's nothing...look at what this sick fucker did..

Tragic.

 

[oaknightshockey1]

Without knowing the details, it's just hard to believe that in the year 2014, we're still killing lions, elephants, rhinos and whales.

That's just it...most people don't look into it any further than the pictures before freaking out. From what I've read, the animals she paid a huge fee to take (money that goes to conservation) were nuisance animals that would have needed to be dealt with by the local population if she did not hunt them. Instead, the villages benefit by receiving not only food, but money as well because there are people willing to spend a lot of money for a trophy. The rhino pictured was not killed, just knocked out for scientists to put a tracker on it, as well as provide medical attention to it's leg.

That said, I'm not someone to trophy hunt, I only kill what I will eat. However, I think the outrage is very misplaced in this instance.

 

[HammerDown]

That's just it...most people don't look into it any further than the pictures before freaking out. From what I've read, the animals she paid a huge fee to take (money that goes to conservation) were nuisance animals that would have needed to be dealt with by the local population if she did not hunt them. Instead, the villages benefit by receiving not only food, but money as well because there are people willing to spend a lot of money for a trophy. The rhino pictured was not killed, just knocked out for scientists to put a tracker on it, as well as provide medical attention to it's leg.

That said, I'm not someone to trophy hunt, I only kill what I will eat. However, I think the outrage is very misplaced in this instance.

I understand. I was surprised to learn that many elephants have to be slaughtered every year because there's nowhere for them to live anymore. Hard to believe.

 

[oaknightshockey1]

I understand. I was surprised to learn that many elephants have to be slaughtered every year because there's nowhere for them to live anymore. Hard to believe.

Yeah pretty much all that's left is the wildlife preserves...which need money, and that leads back to this situation. I support stuff like this because it provides funds to stop people from poaching, and they can strictly regulate the number that are taken.

 

[AHFox]

Without knowing the details, it's just hard to believe that in the year 2014, we're still killing lions, elephants, rhinos and whales.

HammerDown please educate yourself about what hunting does to benefit wildlife both in Africa, the United States and around the world.

 

[NEhomer]

I "met" this dude on a hunting site and was amazed at his lifetime record of big game kills. He's a navy officer who travels a lot. Take a quick run through his album and holy shit, I can't imagine the time, effort, skill, money and travel that it took to down that number of game species.

HuntingNet.com Forums

It's understandable that people don't like hunting but it's also a matter of being alienated from it while walking out of a burger joint in leather shoes. People just don't think about the subject of hunting with much depth. It's easier to default to their childhood Bambi training.

 

[BF4L]

Never have been a fan of trophy hunting. Not also a fan of high fence "preserve" hunting.

I hunt deer mostly and that is in now 4 states. MA, CT, VT and my favorite Maine.

 

[NEhomer]

I agree. Those things aren't my bag either but I don't need anyone questioning...and outlawing...my deer, turkey, waterfowl and upland bird hunting so as long as it's legal, funded and reasonably humane, I got nothing to kick at.

....and also, consider that if this young lady posted pics beside a buck she just shot, there'd still be a big uproar about it.

 

[Mangler]

Good for her, I take my 9 yr old Daughter hunting, I hope someday she becomes like Kendall.

 

[packerzrule]

That's nothing...look at what this sick fucker did..

Tragic.

I would hate to field dress that bastard

 

[Loneranger]

HammerDown please educate yourself about what hunting does to benefit wildlife both in Africa, the United States and around the world.

I'm going to defend Hammer somewhat becuz his comment was a reasonable one. Full disclosure here - I'm as dedicated a hunter as any of you and have been for 38 yrs. I promise there is no one who loves hunting more than I and who has defended and given to our sport for a long time. We love to hear the stories about how these African hunts feed the village , the money goes to conservation and all that good shit. The stories about these being "nuisance" animals is just plain bullshit. African hunts are more popular than ever with the uber rich and conservation has nothing to do with it. There are tons of Americans going over there 24/7 to kill up to 15 or so animals per trip. These are enormous money makers for the people over there and everyone knows it. Nothing wrong with that but let's not sit here and compare conservation efforts here to what they call conservation in Africa. These are strictly "kill" trips that have nothing to do with anything other than getting a shitload of heads to bring home, have mounted and hang on the wall and brag about how brave this multi millionaire hunter is. Conservation has nothing to do with any of this. It's strictly about money , ego and attention. Personally I wouldn't buy a raffle ticket to go shoot these animals off the back of a jeep. I know plenty who've done it and there isn't a single ingredient I find appealing. As far as this cheerleader , let's be honest about a couple things. Daddy paid for his little bundle of joy to go over there as many times as necessary for her to kill every kind of animal running around over there. She posted this strictly for attention and she got it. Am I saying she should be ashamed of what she did? Not at all , what I'm saying is she posted these pics to stroke her own ego and to gain as much attn. as she could becuz she obviously isn't getting enough in her life. If she and Daddy truly gave a fuck about hunting and conservation they wouldn't be doing this. It's a simple question that we should ask ourselves in many situations : what's the best that can come from this ? Nothing good , so why do it? Overall it hurts hunting when a person goes out of their way to shove dead animals down the worlds throat. There are a lot of people like Hammer who may not be against hunting but really don't care to see this. In the end , all hunters lose becuz another idiot HAS to make a statement in life instead of just shutting the fuck up and enjoy the memories etc. It was a stupid and selfish move by this chick and I have no sympathy for her whatsoever.

 

[iowajerms]

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