From Montgomery Gentry's website (Hat tip to jc):
Troy is accused of conspiring with a professional hunting guide to improperly fill out a hunting tag. To back up this charge, the indictment claims that Troy shot a tamed bear in a cage, then made a video to appear that he did not shoot the bear in a cage, but in the wild. These claims are wildly inaccurate.
The bear in question was never in a cage or pen; not when it was killed or at anytime prior to that. This wild bear occupied its own habitat (consisting of several acres of woodlands) on a game preserve owned by the codefendant. Troy shot the bear with a bow and arrow from a tree stand mounted on the private game preserve. Troy did video tape this hunt for his personal use, but did not edit it to make it appear anything other than what it was. He did not distribute the video for commercial use or intend to use it to mislead anyone......
The result is that Troy has been convicted in the court of public opinion without fair representation. A true travesty of justice for a guy who truly loves God's creation, treats it with respect, and obeys the laws designed to preserve and maximize its splendor.
Please continue to support Troy and Montgomery Gentry in this time of crisis.
Now obviously, this is a tailored PR piece, but I thought I should post what Troy is saying in the matter. However, Troy has already been indicted by a jury in a federal court. This means that the evidence, which is contained in a sealed indictment and hence not available to the public, is compelling enought to warrant a trial.
By the admission of his lawyer's statement above, the "best case scenario" for this was that the bear, which he doesn't deny purchasing for the purpose of killing, was wild, and was shot in a few acres on Gentry's own land. This is still considered a "canned hunt," where a wealthy hunter purchases an exotic animal rather than track it in its real territory, and transport it to the hunter's property where is doesn't have any chance of escape. Real hunters, such as the one from Outdoor Life quoted in the previous piece rightly reject such killings as a fair play hunt.
The Humane Society released this on canned hunts:
Canned hunting operations, also referred to as "shooting preserves" or "game ranches," are private trophy hunting facilities that offer their customers the opportunity to kill exotic and native animals that are trapped within enclosures....The animals killed in canned hunts may come from private breeders, animal dealers, or even zoos. These animals are frequently hand-raised and bottle fed, so they have lost their natural fear of people. In many facilities, the animals expect to be fed at regular times by familiar people--and the shooters will be there waiting for them.
As hunter and noted author Ted Kerasote* puts it, "'Canned hunting' is a misnomer. More accurately defined as 'shooting animals in small enclosures,' the activity has nothing to do with the motives that inform authentic hunting: procuring healthy, organic food; participating in the timeless cycles of birth, death, and nurturing; honoring the lives that support us; and reconnecting with wildness. No matter where one stands on hunting--vehemently opposed to it or seeing it as yet another way to live sustainably on Earth--one ought to decry shooting animals behind fences."
"Fair chase"--a concept central to the philosophy of many in the hunting community--doesn't exist in canned hunts. The self-described ethical hunting community (including groups like Boone & Crockett, Pope & Young, and the Izaak Walton League) is becoming increasingly vocal in its opposition to canned hunting.
When the indictment is un-sealed, I'll post about it. Killing a bear like this is a disgrace.
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I would just so love to meet this man(sorry I mean asshole)on a quite road and show him how we brits deal with kind of unbelievable cruelty-perhaps someone will shoot him during his next gig
WHAT A SCUMBAG!
DO THESE IDIOT CELEBS HAVE TOOOOO MUCH TIME AND MONEY OR WHAT?
MAYBE THERE SHOULD BE ONE DAY OF THE YEAR THAT WE DROP THESE FANTASY HUNTER SCUMBAGS OFF IN THE ARCTIC TO HAVE AT IT WITH THE POLAR BEARS, NO WEAPONS JUST WITS. THAT WOULD MAKE A GREAT VIDEO.
Troy...you worthless, coward of a person. What a disgusting thing to do, hunt a completely harmless and unsuspecting animal. I hope you are sleepless nights thinking about how you took an innocent bears life for no reason but your own gratification. You should be locked in a cage with some real bears and left to fend for yourself. You sick disgusting, ***tard, excuse for a human being.
What a p*ssy Troy is! He certainly gives real hunters a very bad name. what a chicken.
This should never of happened to Cubby! Total betrayal for a tame & trusting dear bear. My heart went out for this poor creature.
TROY GENTRY, SHOULD HAVE THE SAME DONE TO HIM & I HOPE A BEAR WILL DO IT!!
As a video has been released showing him doing it (the one he shot as a personal momento?) he's going to find it kinda hard to deny he did it. It's out on a number of Facebook pages & YouTube.
It's even reached the UK - which is where I'm writing from.'Shooting fish in a barrel' is the term used here.
SHHH! Don't let Stephen Colbert hear about this!
... Begging the question?
Also, I hope Colbert does hear about this. A little satirical PR on how much of an ass Gentry is couldn't hurt.
As I understand it, the only crimes that the inictment is likely to deal with are technicalities in how the kill was tagged and reported. The real outrage over this has to do with the ethical nature of canned hunting. When Gentry's lawyers say, "My client did nothing illegal," they're changing the subject. Just because canned hunting is legal doesn't mean it isn't wrong.
Eric - Yes, actually, you are correct, and I DO hope The Daily Show and Colbert both get wind of it... I do remember some good barbs from Jon Stewart when Chaney shot the "farmed" quail, before he blasted his friend.
I have to shake my head at these people.. I mean, why even do it? Why would anyone feel they were a Great Hunter by shooting tame animals? Just don't get it. Somehow the movie Naked Prey comes to mind... with a couple of changes, maybe Troy Boy would understand hunting a whole lot better...
Just another reminder of why I left Nashville....
Not to nit-pick but I believe the correct term is fair-chase not fair play. Fair chase as defined by the Boone and Crockett Club is
FAIR CHASE, as defined by the Boone and Crockett Club, is the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild, native North American big game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper advantage over such animals.
I personally don't support the B&C Club because I don't support trophy hunting, I live in Montana and have been hunting with my father for as long as I can remember. To many familys hunting is a cheap way to supply food (really good food) to their family's as well as enjoy the outdoors. Shooting a bear that has been transported to your property for the sole sake of killing it is not hunting it is disgrace to the tradition. Someone ought to transport that asswipe to their property tranquilize him then shoot him with a bow. Sorry about the rant, this pisses me off.
Thanks for the info on the correct terminology, csalbert. I think hunting for food/population control, and even fair-chase had arguments in favor of it. Providing food for a family is a great one.
No worries about being ranty, this pisses me off too! :)
It pisses me off too. It pisses me off that people can just make assumptions and believe the first thing they read. WHAT IF HE DIDN'T DO IT? What if Troy is innocent? I'm a big Montgomery Gentry fan, and I don't think Troy Gentry would do such a thing... I mean, I believe what it says on their official site... he killed the bear on a private game reserve, LEGALLY, and tagged it with his true first and last name. Plus, it's not like he has any criminal record.. so it wouldn't make sense. And he is a Christian. Don't forget that. I mean, seriously... why don't you try being mature about this and give him a chance?
No one is assuming anything. He's been indicted. That means there is a substantial amount of evidence, enough to go to trial with. Why would anyone prefer to believe his website, which is a public relation website to promote his career. What do you think they're gonna say? Also, as I stated, and many of the commenters stated---its the fact that "canned hunts" (which is the best case scenario, by his own admission)---are morally reprehensible, completely remove the idea of "fair chase" in a hunt, and are denounced by hunting organizations, like the one I cited. Its disgusting and cowardly.
And I have no idea what the fact him being a Christian has to do with it. Actually, thats a strike against him (one of many) in my book.
Anyway, the truth will out, as they say, as to whether what he did was illegal. But he's a cowardly hunter, at best, either way.
I AM UTTER SHOCK!!! FOR A MAN TO GET UP AND TELL PEOPLE ABOUT HOW HE LOVES GOD AND AMERICA...HE IS A DISGRACE TO WHAT I CONSIDER TO BE THE "HUMAN" RACE....IS THAT NOT WHERE THEY GOT THE WORD "HUMANE"? I THINK WHAT HE DID TO THAT BEAR...THEY SHOULD DO TO HIM...PUT HIM IN A CAGE AND "SHOOT AN ARROW IN HIM" DRASTIC AS IT MAY SEEM....AND HE SINGS ABOUT "BROKEN RULES AND CONSEQUENCES" WELL. WHAT IS GOING TO BE HIS CONSEQUENCE FOR THE RULE THAT HE BROKE...I AM APPALLED AT HIS BOLDNESS AND HIS NEED TO HAVE A TROPHY, I THOUGHT A TROPHY IS WHAT YOU EARNED AND CHERISHED WHEN YOU HAVE STRIVED TO ACHIEVE A GREATNESS....AND SO SADLY, NOTHING WAS GREAT ABOUT THIS....THIS WAS NOT AN ACT OF "GREATNESS" BUT ONE OF "SELFISHNESS" JUST SO THAT HE COULD BE A GREAT HUNTER.....I SAY "BOYCOTT" MONTGOMERY...BURN THEIR C.D.'S JUST LIKE THEY DID THE DIXIE CHICKS WHEN ALL THEY DID WAS PROTEST IN SOMETHING THEY BELIEVED WITH THEIR HEART!!!THEY HURT NO ONE!!! THEY KILLED NOTHING...AND YET WE ARE SUPPOSED TO SIT BACK AND LET THIS MAN SOOO CROWARDLY KILL A LIVE TAME BEAR AND TWIDDLE OUR THUMBS AND DO NOTHING...YES, TROY, A BROKEN RULE DOES DESREVE A CONSEQUENCE AND I HOPE YOU GET YOUR CONSEQUENCE ON THE DAY OF YOUR SENTENCE...LET THERE BE NO MERCY FOR YOU........I HOPE YOU ROT IN PRISON....