Melissa Bachman: Minnesota hunter’s lion kill ignites intern

[h2ofwlr]

Melissa Bachman: Minnesota hunter’s lion kill ignites international firestorm
21 November, 2013 // Outdoors Now

Photo: http://blogs.twincities.com/outdoors/20 ... firestorm/

Melissa Bachman, Minnesota hunter and TV host, is at the center of an international firestorm after shooting a lion and posting a photo of it to Twitter. The image is also her Facebook profile picture.

On Nov. 1, Bachman, who doesn’t appear to be related to U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, posted a photo of herself over a male lion she had killed in South Africa, tweeting: “An incredible day hunting in South Africa! Stalked inside 60-yards on this beautiful male lion…what a hunt!”

Reaction — condemnation at first — has been building, and this week, attention included media coverage the U.K.-based Guardian and tweets from notable people, such as actor Ricky Gervais and former Minnesota Twins catcher Drew Butera.

At this point, it’s gone somewhere toward the social-media realm of viral. Why this particular instance of a big-game kill has touched off such a row is lost on me. But it has. A Facebook page condemning Bachman has amassed more than 275,000 likes, while a page defending her has garnered more than 43,000 likes.

Bachman, who grew up hunting in central Minnesota and graduated from St. Cloud State, has remained silent on the topic, as have the producers of her show, Winchester’s Deadly Passion. I’ve been unable to reach her or Winchester. That the woman who answered my call to Winchester first asked me, “Are you the media or are you just calling to make a comment?” is revealing.

Bachman’s website has been on and off, perhaps from a crush of traffic. The story of hunting from her childhood and her fast-rising career, as told by her, can be viewed on this nearly 10-minute YouTube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo358fUWL6E

The firestorm has touched an array of issues, some worthy of discussion, some not. Among them:

Trophy hunting: Is it ethical? I haven’t seen evidence that Bachman didn’t use all parts of the animal, but nonetheless, the accusation that she’s only interested in a mount or the like is made by her critics. In truth, trophy hunting, where it does exist, is an uncomfortable topic among many hunters, especially the new wave of hunters who have taken up killing wild animals as a means to connect themselves with the food they eat. The Facebook page supporting her, “Show support for Melissa Bachman and resist anti-hunting abuse,” says “no meat was wasted.” (I haven’t found the source for that — and on something like this, I’m not about to assume much of anything is true on either side.)

(UPDATE: I finally tracked down a statement from the Maroi Conservancy, which operates a hunting preserve in South Africa and facilitated Bachman’s hunt. The conservancy’s website remains unloadable for me, and it appears that they ditched their Facebook page and restarted a new one. Click here for a link to a cached version of the original Facebook page statement, which attests that Bachman’s hunt was legal and ethical and “and all meat from animals hunted is distrubuted to the local community.)

Anti-hunting vitriol: There’s little question that many of those condemning her are opposed to hunting in any form. And many of them express their views with what can only be described as insulting, threatening and even violent language. “We would just like to see this particular <expletive> from hell dead”– things like that. And much worse. This isn’t new to Minnesota rhetoric either. Stories I’ve written on wolf hunting and controversy surrounding bear researcher Lynn Rogers are magnets for not only anti-hunting sentiments, but nasty anti-hunter sentiments. And hunters sometimes respond in (un)kind. And we all know social media brings out the least civil in many of us.

Sexism and women hunters: Apparently unavoidable is that Bachman is an attractive young woman. The Maverick, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, is among several venues where female writers have sounded alarms against the misogynistic rhetoric that’s hard to avoid if you surf much on the controversy. Tom Opre, whose Tahoe Films produces a number of hunting shows, including Extreme Huntress, believes anti-hunting advocates specifically target attractive women. “Anti-hunters hate the fact that attractive, smart, mothers — women who are making things happen in their communities — are involved in hunting,” Opre says in this video. “They don’t fit the stereotypical definition that they try to play off with non-hunters.”


Of note, Opre’s statements are actually in response to a different incident, in which hunting opponents lobbied the National Geographic Channel to exclude Bachman from a different hunting show set in Alaska. (This isn’t her first brush with hunting opponents.) In the video, Opre says contestants who have appeared on Extreme Huntress, a reality-style hunting show, have similarly been targeted, including “death threats.” In a related note, a number of media reports in the lion-related dust-up have referred to Bachman as a “self-proclaimed ‘hardcore huntress,’ ” which has drawn chides from some female observers. Bachman has been a judge on Extreme Huntress, and in her Twitter bio she refers to herself as a “hardcore hunter.” But I haven’t been able to find the alleged proclamation: her calling herself a “hardcore huntress” — or even “huntress” in any context outside the show of the same name.

Conservation and safari-style hunting: Lions can be legally hunted in South Africa, but that’s not the case elsewhere in Africa, and many have raised questions as to where the money for such hunts goes, and whether the local population (of people and animals) benefit. Again, I lack details of Bachman’s particular hunt. The website for the operation she hunted out of appears to be down, perhaps also from a a related deluge. An online petition seeks to end wildlife hunting in the South Africa. The petition seems to have gone offline, but a cached version can be read by clicking here. Of note, while the petition purports to protect wildlife, its first line — “Hunting and poaching are one and the same” — is squarely anti-hunting.

How much of this is nothing new for Bachman? Has any of it surprised her? Has it changed her view on on hunting opponents? Is she of the school that any publicity is good publicity, or would she rather not find her self in the figurative (or perhaps literal) crosshairs?

These are, of course, questions I’d like to ask her. I’ll let you know when she talks.

As for me, it ought to be obvious. I’m on record as stating that there needs to be a sound conservation reason to not hunt animals like wolves; by default, those who want to hunt them should be able to, ethically, sustainably and safely. Lions are no different. There is a wrinkle here, though: We’re not talking about Minnesotans hunting game in our state; the Hemingway-esque pay-to-hunt exotic creatures in a far-off, that’s more complex. My guess is that it’s easy to criticize — until you have a chance to do it, and then we’d all sign up. Lions would probably be high on the list. As far as trophy hunting and targeting predators, I’m also on record as urging wolf hunters to eat their kills, or at least find use for the meat. Lions should be no different.

As for the anti-hunting vitriol, the real nasty personal stuff… It’s garbage of course. Social media has provided a platform for it. Usually, I avoid it, discounting it the same way one would racist remarks which aren’t worthy of my time. But I have returned e-mails and phone calls directed at me personally or people I’ve written about. More often than not, the insult-hurler or threat-maker was angry at the time, and ranted on impulse. Upon further reflection, he or she has usually apologized for the tone. The philosophical rift usually remains.

This time, the whole thing has grown big enough that it seemed worth looking into.

[gimpfinger]

You should see some of the crap they are saying about her on Facebook. I've been blasting anti's with logic (something that is missing in their lives) and getting them all sorts of pizzed.

Sent from under your sister.

[shnelson]

Facebook has been great for ruining my faith in humanity. Can't believe some of the backlash on there, and how ignorant some of the comments are.

I guess in certain scenarios, the same could probably be said about our crowd

[gimpfinger]

Facebook has been great for ruining my faith in humanity. Can't believe some of the backlash on there, and how ignorant some of the comments are.

I here you on that. Some of their thinking is way out there.

[h2ofwlr]

Well I guess then that we all know who elected the politicians to DC, don't we?

[maplelakeduckslayer]

The you tube video was taken down. Since when is Drew Butera notable

[triplecurler]

I like her. She worked her way thru the industry working for free at times. It's too easy to hide behind a computer screen.
The people where she shot the lion also benefit.

[randywatson]

She's got really big beautiful boo er eyes.

[randywatson]

Sorry better pic of her eyes

[triplecurler]

Think Mnfowl can get her for their first annual hunt?