Red Shouldered Hawk about to grab a bunny or whatever
Posted on 03/06/2008 2:38:01 PM PST by oblomov
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - PGA Tour golfer Tripp Isenhour was charged with killing a hawk on purpose with a golf shot because it was making noise as he videotaped a TV show Isenhour was with a film crew for "Shoot Like A Pro" on Dec. 12 at the Grand Cypress Golf course. The 39-year-old golfer, whose real name is John Henry Isenhour III, was charged Monday with cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird.
According to court documents, Isenhour got upset when a red-shouldered hawk began making noise, forcing another take. He began hitting balls at the bird, then 300 yards away, but gave up.
Isenhour started again when the hawk moved within about 75 yards, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer Brian Baine indicated in a report.
Isenhour allegedly said "I'll get him now," and aimed for the hawk.
"About the sixth ball came very near the bird's head, and (Isenhour) was very excited that it was so close," Baine wrote.
A few shots later, witnesses said he hit the hawk. The bird, protected as a migratory species, fell to the ground bleeding from both nostrils.
Isenhour's agent, John Mascatello with SFX World Sports Management, did not immediately return an e-mail or telephone message Thursday.
"He just kept saying how he didn't think he could have hit it, which I think is a stupid thing for a PGA Tour golfer to say," said Jethro Senger, a sound engineer at the shoot. "He can put a ball in a hole from hundreds of yards away, and here he is hitting line drives at something that's, I don't know, a couple hundred feet away?"
Senger said it was "basically like a joke to (Isenhour)." He said no one in the roughly 15-person crew intervened, and many later regretted it.
"It was one of those cases where there's some trepidation on whether or not they should speak up and do something," Senger said.
Senger said the killing was not captured on video. The bird was buried at the golf course and later dug up by Florida investigators.
Isenhour, of Salisbury, N.C., turned pro in 1990. He had two wins on the Nationwide Tour in 2006.
I
The broken pillar of the wing jags from the clotted shoulder,
The wing trails like a banner in defeat,
No more to use the sky forever but live with famine
And pain a few days: cat nor coyote
Will shorten the week of waiting for death, there is game without talons.
He stands under the oak-bush and waits
The lame feet of salvation; at night he remembers freedom
And flies in a dream, the dawns ruin it.
He is strong and pain is worse to the strong, incapacity is worse.
The curs of the day come and torment him
At distance, no one but death the redeemer will humble that head,
The intrepid readiness, the terrible eyes.
The wild God of the world is sometimes merciful to those
That ask mercy, not often to the arrogant.
You do not know him, you communal people, or you have forgotten him;
Intemperate and savage, the hawk remembers him;
Beautiful and wild, the hawks, and men that are dying, remember him.
II
I'd sooner, except the penalties, kill a man than a hawk; but the great redtail
Had nothing left but unable misery
From the bone too shattered for mending, the wing that trailed under his talons when he moved.
We had fed him six weeks, I gave him freedom,
He wandered over the foreland hill and returned in the evening, asking for death,
Not like a beggar, still eyed with the old
Implacable arrogance.
I gave him the lead gift in the twilight.
What fell was relaxed, Owl-downy, soft feminine feathers; but what
Soared: the fierce rush: the night-herons by the flooded river cried fear at its rising
Before it was quite unsheathed from reality.
Robinson Jeffers
I guess he literally “shot a birdie”.
Let’s see... a fitting punishment... let hawks come and tear the flesh from him?
I’m sure this is a very worthy use of Federal, state, and local law enforcement resources.
BEAT ME TO IT!
Well, he did use several mulligans...
He should be placed downrange while other golfers drive balls in his direction.
Your BAD! LOL
fitting punishment.....
If he can hit a hawk he should be able to win about any tournament. If the damn thing didn’t fly off after a few shots came close it deserved to get hit. Big deal, he killed a hawk, I would bet money it was accidental if he did hit it.
Part of the draw of golf for me, is that the courses are more wilderness than I see most of the time. I like seeing the animals and birds.
This guy used poor judgement here. I think it reflects on him more poorly than he realizes. As for him being hauled into court over it, I think the courts have more important things to address than this man/bird incident.
We have hawks that return to fly over our property every year. I love seeing them flying around. I certainly wouldn’t like it if anyone harmed them.
The law enforcement issue is because hawks are protected species.
He had no reason to kill the hawk. Was he maybe protecting the flock of chickens or the troop of rabbits he has accompany him while he golfs?
If you read the story you can tell it was hardly accidental.
I would like to visit with Tripp via email and suggest he try the same trick with a disruptive pitbull around.
bump
More like he’s about to land by grabbing the branches...
It was a lucky (unlucky if you’re the hawk) shot. No one is that good. There’s no way he could do it again if given the chance.
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