First point: No shot is certain. Hunting involves some risk of injuring an animal. I doubt very much whether Cecil thought much about all the animals he has mauled and lost over the course of a lifetime. Not to mention those he ate alive.
Second point: He pays to have the guides (licensed guides) take care of legal issues. That’s why the fees are given. If you want to have a legitimate point, consider the mess of case law here - now imagine it in another country (and a third world country at that).
Third point: What are the facts of his ‘conviction?’ This man is a hunter. Have you ever hunted in heavy cover? Finding the line between legal and illegal terrain is not always as easy as you might think walking city streets. Did he actually carry a 300, 400, 500 . . . 1,000 pound bear elsewhere to claim legality or is this internet say-so? Finally, if he was let off lightly, it weighs heavily in favor of his offense being minor or unintentional. Actual and intentional violators are not let off easily, at least not where I come from.
Forth point: His past game violation in this country has no bearing on the legality, guilt or motives in the pop culture case at hand - except in the court of public opinion. You’ve cast your vote.
Obviously, nothing is going to persuade you from your conclusion. And yes, he was found to have driven the bear onto the legal site and then declared to have killed it there when taking it to be weighed. He was, I believe, fined.
B&A hunting leads to lots such day-long suffering, and no, I don’t begrudge a lion its kill. Jeesh!
The man is not a hunter for food or for need. He is a hunter paying obscene amounts to get perverse jollies.
“Finding the line between legal and illegal terrain is not always as easy as you might think walking city streets. Did he actually carry a 300, 400, 500 . . . 1,000 pound bear elsewhere to claim legality or is this internet say-so?”
Several news outlets reported (based in part on FOIA requests) that Palmer killed the bear in an unauthorized area, and then offered to bribe the guides that the bear was killed in an another area.
He then made false statements to USF&W concerning the hunt and ended up pleading guilty grading that, and was sentenced to one year of probation and a $3,000 fine.