Golfers do dumb things

[DirtCheap]

trip should face the death penalty or at life imprisonment without parole (so he won't kill anymore birds)

Surely this was written with a large degree of sarcasm.

[immts007]

Stupid and thoughtless. Doesn't reflect well on his character. I don't give a damn if the bird was endangered or not. To intentionally attempt to hurt a living creature for no good reason is pathetic. Chicken's served at KFC are killed for human sustenance, not kicks or target practice.

[Shindig]

OK guys, please quote what you're responding to, because I'm having a hard time finding what parts of what you read of mine are leading to these responses.

what? not an important creature? no harm done? he aimed at a hawk and killed it, (shindig) thats really sad to hear......

In addition to this:

It's a freakin bird!! I bet half of you ate chicken for dinner last night.. get a grip.

which I agree with, I'd like to first quote what I think crissmillputters is responding to. Of mine:

In conclusion, I believe: * There was no harmful intent on Isenhour's part. * The bird in question is not an important creature.

I didn't say "no harm done." I said "no harmful intent."

As for the importance of creatures, really, if it isn't someone's pet, someone's livestock, or endangered (in a serious sense, not this "least concern" area), then I really can't qualify it as important.

maybe you and shindig could open a.... lets kill animals driving range........

No, for several reasons:

* This would be deliberate harmful intent, both by us and our patrons. * We'd be picketed. * Golf is, and should remain, environmentally friendly. * I don't want to open a driving range without owning a course too.

trip killed another being that was gracefully living its god given freedom and callously took that hawk's life away

I'm going to chalk this up as sarcasm. I hope you don't seriously believe that killing an animal is worse than killing a human being.

I realize that there are people that hold such opinions: I've seen advertisements comparing Thanksgiving to the Holocaust and I've seen people decry research that attempts to cure AIDS and cancer because it uses animals. I'm just saying I don't believe that you are being anything other than sarcastic.

Stupid and thoughtless. Doesn't reflect well on his character. I don't give a damn if the bird was endangered or not. To intentionally attempt to hurt a living creature for no good reason is pathetic. Chicken's served at KFC are killed for human sustenance, not kicks or target practice.

This keeps coming up. Can we figure out if he intentionally killed it? I completely didn't get that impression from the article.

[DirtCheap]

Stupid and thoughtless. Doesn't reflect well on his character. I don't give a damn if the bird was endangered or not. To intentionally attempt to hurt a living creature for no good reason is pathetic. Chicken's served at KFC are killed for human sustenance, not kicks or target practice.

Are you familiar with the term "nuisance animal?"

I agree this was dumb and showed a serious lack of judgement. However, killing nuisance animals is a common practice. Ever set a mouse trap or stomp on a spider?

[Shindig]

There's more info beyond the SI/ESPN story, in this article:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sport...,7880171.story I'd like to point out Tripp Isenhour's comments on it, as quoted in the linked article:

"I want to let everyone know there was neither any malice nor deliberate intent whatsoever to hit or harm the hawk. I was trying to simply scare it into flying away. As evidenced by our family having adopted three cats from a local shelter, I am an animal lover.

David Leadbetter says the odds of making that shot - that is, hitting the bird - successfully are "one in several thousand." Isenhour hit ten balls at it.

Update : I don't read the Orlando Sentinel regularly. I found the article on a blog I won't link to from here, and likely won't read again. Not just because of the post that included this (in which the blogger wishes Isenhour to never break 75 again), but also because a quick search has revealed that the blogger in question has resorted to libel of his competitors in the past. I have far better sources for golf news: this board, for instance.

[sacm3bill]

Shindig, I respect your attempts to give Isenhour the benefit of the doubt, but you don't really expect him to admit guilt, do you? With misdemeanor charges brought against him and his reputation at stake? This is just spin control. It doesn't add up that if the bird hadn't been scared off by the 9th shot, he'd think the 10th would have any different effect - *unless* his intent was to hit it. His attempts to convince us otherwise are contradicted by the statements made by witnesses.

And regardless of intent, hitting just ONE intentional shot at the bird is an act of stupidity and irresponsibility, IMO.

Leadbetter wasn't there, so his opinion is meaningless.

His *family* adopted some cats, and that proves he's an animal lover?

I don't buy any of his BS.

[flap]

years ago Dave Winfield threw at a Sea Gull with a baseball and hit it in Canada and was charged under Canadian law.Tripp should be no less if found guilty under American law .

[lordnazgul]

I think it is fairly easy to assume that he had intent. There are plenty of other ways to scare a bird off, run at it screaming, make very loud noises etc, none of these involve attempting to "nearly hit" the animal.

As for him claiming there was no malicious intent, he for obvious legal reasons cannot say "well i meant to hit it, but when i did i realised it was stupid, sorry!"

I am not an animal rights freak, but i am sure had the hawk attacked him and the crew without reason it would have been put down and there would have been a big press thing about being wary of hawks on a golf course.

I think its sad to assume that because it isn't owned and therefore wild that it isn't important. it's attitudes such as this that have led to tigers whale etc becoming nigh on extinct.

And on the subject of chickens, that chicken you ate would have been specifically bred for human consumption (this does not make it any more moral) and was not killed by some moron hitting a golf ball at it for laughs!

[ganjagolfer]

videos are being done all the time with some animals doing some hijinx and if the people doing the video are cool, it blends well into the presentation and even lightens it up and gives it some extra flavor

there is no excuse for his behavior

hawks are not just another animal like a mouse. a mouse' place in the animal kingdom is to be eaten by others. hawks are beautiful and intelligent beings and just because they don't place high on our human concieved definitions of intelligence, does not make their killing insignificant. humans have used considerations of less intelligent or unworthy to justify their killing or enslavement of millions of other humans and this same bs is being done to here

take whales and dolphins for instance whose intelligence is not acurately measured but is known they communicate in complex languages. i consider the killing of their kind to be the same as murder of another human as well.

with this logic, if et's came from another planet with vastly greater intelligence, we should allow them to kill our species and repopulate the planet with their own

i advocate for the death penalty for trip and no i am not being sarcastic

[DirtCheap]

i advocate for the death penalty for trip and no i am not being sarcastic

So killing mice and humans is just fine with you as long as no one kills a bird.

Just curious.. are you a vegetarian?

[mikelz]

years ago Dave Winfield threw at a Sea Gull with a baseball and hit it in Canada and was charged under Canadian law.Tripp should be no less if found guilty under American law .

Maybe you could say that Isenhour was ignorant of the law or just plain ignorant.

I'll say with conviction that anyone who isn't mystified by and respectful of mystical creatures like hawks is a f###head. Oh, watch TGC early in the morning. He was shooting a new infomercial. Now that's what I call having your core values in order.

[DirtCheap]

Maybe you could say that Isenhour was ignorant of the law or just plain ignorant.

Is one life greater then another?

Is a squirrels life worth more then a rat because he has a fluffy tail? Fishermen catch hundreds of Tuna in nets, but when they catch a dolphin, people freak out. Is the tunas life worth any less then a dolphins? My point is, Yes, hawks are beautiful to watch in flight. Pigeons fly too, but this guy could have killed a hundred pigeons and it wouldn't have even been a blip in the radar. How about crows? They fly.. Farmers shoot hundreds of crows every day.. Does that make farmers f###heads? Just wondering where your standard for a f###head ends. Is it just at the pretty animals? Or is it all life? BTW.. I agree with you that it was ignorant to hit golfballs at that hawk. It showed poor judgement and it was just juvanile.

[mikelz]

Is one life greater then another?

No. A squirrels life is worth more because they don't move into houses in platoons.

Fishermen catch hundreds of Tuna in nets, but when they catch a dolphin, people freak out. Is the tunas life worth any less then a dolphins?

Yes. Tuna are food and about as interesting as the cans they end up in. Dolphins are something else altogether.

My point is, Yes, hawks are beautiful to watch in flight. Pigeons fly too, but this guy could have killed a hundred pigeons and it wouldn't have even been a blip in the radar.

Pigeons are sky rats but you still aren't allowed to shoot them (here, at least)

How about crows? They fly.. Farmers shoot hundreds of crows every day.. Does that make farmers f###heads?

No. Crows are acknowledged pests but we can't shoot them here.

Just wondering where your standard for a f###head ends. Is it just at the pretty animals? Or is it all life?

Alligators are ugly but I find them inspiring. Try shooting one of those on a golf course and see what happens. How about those tortoises down there or the cormorants? Ugly, for sure but I have personally carried a tortoise off Power Line Road to the pond he was headed for. No, it's not pretty animals and I'm not a vegetarian. Hawks aren't food and killing animals just for the heck of it makes a person a f###head in my book. If you hunt deer, fowl, boars or whatever is legal and eat what you kill, that's fine by me. My book is not a best seller. It's in the "Opinion" section at Barnes and Noble.

BTW.. I agree with you that it was ignorant to hit golfballs at that hawk. It showed poor judgement and it was just juvanile.

Thanks.

[geezer]

Forgive my ignorance; Who is the guy in your post mikelz?

And I completley agree with everything you've said. (btw, I'm by no means an animal rights campaigner or a vegitarian)

[Finn07]

The facts are this. When the bird got closer to him he stated "Ill get him now." That to me says he was in fact attempting to hit the bird, no questions asked. He hits about six balls and then kills the thing. This is a no brainer what his intentions are. Kind of stupid when you have 15 or so people around you. This guy will be getting in trouble, you can bet that for sure. There is no way the tour or any governing body will let this go. There was so much intent here for what he did, and that one witness account tells it like it happened.

[Hoovedawg]

Wow some of you all are wierd.

You act like the guy murdered a family or something. He killed a BIRD. I am by no means advocating killing birds randomly, but have any of you ever hunted, eaten a hamburger or hit an animal in the road with your car. Animals are not and should not be treated humans (even dolphins and whatever other animals you want the death penalty for killing).

Everyone says it was an easy shot and he knew he could hit it. Do you realize how far away 75 yards is --- 225 feet. Even Tiger could not easily hit a bird maybe a foot wide and a foot tall with a golf ball under two inches in diameter from 225 feet away.

[ganjagolfer]

Just curious.. are you a vegetarian?

i eat american bison or bufalo

many reasons first is that the bison enriches the land upon which it walks. it hooves are pointed and go into the ground so that when it rains, the rain is absorbed into the earth unlike cattle which flatten the ground and then causes run-off and erosion bison have the water requirements of a camel and are able to meet their water requirements through the grasses they eat and therefore when they graze, do not congregate around streams as cattle do causing environmental degradation. cattle water needs are as well draining aquifers accross the country and once gone dry, will take hundreds of years to renew themselves. bison are a natural fit for the environmental diversity of our great plains and enhance its eco-system. america would being a great favor for its land to change its meat consumption practices to ones where the land welcomes the choices bison are tough brutes and won't get hurt by golf balls. actually, i strongly recomend to not play golf around them as they will charge and should one kill someone, i am an advocate for no criminal charges being brought against the bison but my biggest reason for eating bison is they volunteer to be eaten. "the bison gives itself so the people may live" lakota sioux. being that they are asking to be eaten, it would be almost rude not to do so

[ganjagolfer]

Wow some of you all are wierd.

thank you

i decided a long time ago not to be the same as everyone else

You act like the guy murdered a family or something. He killed a BIRD. I am by no means advocating killing birds randomly, but have any of you ever hunted, eaten a hamburger or hit an animal in the road with your car. Animals are not and should not be treated humans (even dolphins and whatever other animals you want the death penalty for killing).

at its best, hunting is more akin to honoring the spirit of the animal. indigenous cultures worldwide are meateaters and do so in a deep tradition of love and respect for those they eat and they would consider trying to hit a hawk with a golfball as not just a crime to the hawk which was killed but offensive to great spirit.

yes, animals should not be treated as humans considering that we don't treat humans all that great. the issue here is all life has dignity and so every being should be treated with the love and dignity of its nature even mice deserve that. if you are killing mice cuz you are keeping a messy kitchen or house with crumbs all around, maybe you should consider that you are the one who deserves to be killed, or at least clean your house some

Everyone says it was an easy shot and he knew he could hit it. Do you realize how far away 75 yards is --- 225 feet. Even Tiger could not easily hit a bird maybe a foot wide and a foot tall with a golf ball under two inches in diameter from 225 feet away.

the point is if someone is standing 500 yards away and you are shooting at them with a rifle with little probability of hitting them but you hit them anyway, you shot and killed that person and the only way the judge would dismiss the charges of murder is if you were white and the person you shot was black