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Golfer Faces Charges in Hawk Killing
Breitbart ^ | 6 march 2008 | TRAVIS REED

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.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: golf; hawk; isenhour; pga; wildlife
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To: Abathar
I was waiting for someone to ask. When I did a Google news search, it caught my eye that a source said it was a tennis player. There you have it. Actually, there is something wrong with that.


41 posted on 03/06/2008 3:12:27 PM PST by doug from upland (Stopping Hillary should be a FreeRepublic Manhattan Project)
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To: FoxInSocks
PGA Tour golfer

Doh! I stand corrected, I was reading a different article that said he had two wins on the Nationwide tour. Re-reading it, that was in 06.

Anyway, Buy Tigers video instead!

42 posted on 03/06/2008 3:13:24 PM PST by Doomonyou (Let them eat lead.)
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To: oblomov
"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?"

See, being good at sports will catch up with you in the end.

If I pulled a stunt like that, all you'd hear is laughter when I missed the hawk by a mile.

It was a stupid, cruel thing to do. But if he'd just seen this movie, it would explain a lot:

That was two hours of Paul Giamatti carrying a hawk on his arm and waiting for it to die.

43 posted on 03/06/2008 3:13:36 PM PST by x
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To: calex59

Some people actually believe you don’t kill creatures just to kill them. It wasn’t necessary. Hunters eat what they kill.


44 posted on 03/06/2008 3:14:50 PM PST by doug from upland (Stopping Hillary should be a FreeRepublic Manhattan Project)
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To: FoxInSocks
Hmmm, Check out post #41.

PGA, Nationwide, and a Tennis Pro!

45 posted on 03/06/2008 3:16:04 PM PST by Doomonyou (Let them eat lead.)
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To: oblomov

Well, he could have shot an EAGLE.


46 posted on 03/06/2008 3:16:35 PM PST by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: Doomonyou

This guy sure gets around! :-)


47 posted on 03/06/2008 3:18:40 PM PST by FoxInSocks (B. Hussein Obama: The Paucity of Hope)
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To: DoughtyOne
"And it’s a good dictum. I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy remembers this and feels guilty over it in the late night moments of his life. Mose of us reflect back on our more stupid moments in life, wish we had done differently."

I feel bad for the golfer, not the bird-brained bird who was too dumb to fly off after two dozen golf balls whizzed by his head. I wonder if there is a statue of limitations on bird killings? I threw a softball at a pigeon and killed it when I was a boy. No, I don't feel guilty.

48 posted on 03/06/2008 3:21:16 PM PST by houstonman58 ("When the Son of Man returns, will there be any faith left on earth, think ye"?)
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To: doug from upland

I hunt, and I eat what I kill, but I don’t have fits when an animal is killed for other reasons. If it is an ongoing thing, then I might call the person to task, but I bet that the hitting of this hawk was a total accident and didn’t happen the way it was reported. Killing a hawk is not a big deal, not nice maybe but hardly a reason to condem this person to death as serveral on FR have suggested. The animal lovers on FR get carried away quite frequently and wish horrible deaths on humans that they think killed animals un-necessarily. Do they think that makes them better than the person who killed the animals? I don’t think so, I do think that killing animals for food is fine, but many kill just for sport and say they are killing for food. I think this is ok also, as long as they don’t wipe out a species. Get over your self righeousness, it isn’t seemly and rather stupid to boot.


49 posted on 03/06/2008 3:25:41 PM PST by calex59
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To: calex59

You nailed it dead center. Tiger Woods couldn’t hit a hawk from that distance. Boy, talk about blowing stuff out of proportion.


50 posted on 03/06/2008 3:30:42 PM PST by badgerlandjim (Hillary Clinton is to politics as Helen Thomas is to beauty.)
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To: calex59
I hunt, and I eat what I kill

Ditto that, when I get grief for "Killing a helpless animal" (not that often, by the way) I ask, I guess it's better to get chased for two miles, get dragged down and eaten alive by a pack of wolves?

51 posted on 03/06/2008 3:32:26 PM PST by Doomonyou (Let them eat lead.)
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To: houstonman58

Yes, stupid bird indeed. Our hawks would fly off after the slightest provocation. My only thought is that they might have been fed by some of the golfers and become more tame.

As for a pidgeon vs a hawk, I’m going to have to admit to a bit of prejudice toward the hawk.


52 posted on 03/06/2008 3:33:41 PM PST by DoughtyOne (Some think McCain should pick his No 2 now. I thought the nominee was No 2. And that No 1s me off!)
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To: mnehrling

But you gotta admit...this is one helluva lot more ‘sporting’ than just cappin the bird with a scoped rifle...I mean, it takes persistence, luck, and fate...the stupid bird didn’t know when to vacate. Hardly a representative of the species that would fit into the overall scheme of the “survival of the fittest” genre....


53 posted on 03/06/2008 3:33:49 PM PST by Gaffer
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To: oblomov
Protect the birds, YES. Protect the borders, NO.

Sounds bout right.

54 posted on 03/06/2008 3:35:29 PM PST by unixfox (The 13th Amendment Abolished Slavery, The 16th Amendment Reinstated It !)
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To: PeterFinn
The law enforcement issue is because hawks are protected species.

I don't know why. Red shouldered hawks are abundant in Georgia. And I'm not talking about red TAILED hawks either, which are even more abundant. It's hard to hit a driver and NOT hit a hawk.

55 posted on 03/06/2008 3:39:10 PM PST by groanup (Why is it some SQL's won't answer the simplest questions?)
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To: Williams

Interesting that the libs don’t complain about the 1 in 100 who are in jail at times like this, huh?


56 posted on 03/06/2008 3:42:10 PM PST by Brilliant
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To: Pharmboy

That’s a handsome bird. If that was your capture then congrats.


57 posted on 03/06/2008 3:44:15 PM PST by decimon
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To: Pharmboy
My wife had one of these birds for hunting for about 6 months. It was very proficient at catching cotton tail rabbits. Eventually it flew off while she was hunting in the estuary east of Mission Bay. She normally hunts with a big female Red Tail Hawk.

We had another Red Shouldered Hawk for a short time. My wife spotted an id tag on it's leg and was able to contact the owner (another falconer). The owner paid for air freight all the way to Florida to recover the bird. It flew off during a falconry meet in San Diego. My wife later captured it.

58 posted on 03/06/2008 3:45:33 PM PST by Myrddin
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To: Pharmboy
Red Shouldered Hawk about to grab a bunny

Must be a different breed of rabbits up there. Around here, they don't live in the tops of trees.

59 posted on 03/06/2008 3:45:43 PM PST by PAR35
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To: doug from upland

Was he SMOKING? As long as he wasn’t SMOKING I say let him off with a fine.


60 posted on 03/06/2008 3:52:08 PM PST by ichabod1 ("Self defense is not only our right, it is our duty." President Ronald Reagan)
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