Bird lovers watch in horror as hunter guns down Tundra swan that rarely appears in Florida

[Submariner]

Just a maga hunter havin' some cruel fun.



Bird watchers eagerly gathered Saturday morning at Crowder Landing to confirm a rare sighting: two Tundra swans that migrated all the way to Florida.

But the bird lovers were horrified when they watched a hunter gun one of them down right before their eyes.

"We were screaming at him," Elizabeth Hawkins said. "Both birds were screaming. It was pretty distressing."

Hawkins, one of her friends and two other hunters at Lake Jackson witnessed the "needless killing" and immediately reported the incident to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The man shot at both large, all-white birds, which are federally-protected and can't be hunted in the state. One managed to fly away, but he tracked the other down in his kayak. Hawkins said it looked like he wrung the bird's neck, shoved it under water, then slung it onto his boat.

"Tundra swans, while seen in flocks during migration, separate in solitary pairs (and) mate for life," according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

more >.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/2024/01/29/bird-watchers-report-hunter-who-killed-protected-swan-at-lake-jackson/72395558007/

[bahboo]

1. prosecute the living fuck out of this asshole...

[flying_wahini]

2. This makes me sick. He said he thought it was a goose

But later admitted to hiding the dead bird in a bag. Asshole.

[RandomNumbers]

7. A guy who can't tell a tundra swan from a goose

should not be allowed to shoot at birds, period.

Not that anything significant will come of this incident. Just rage.

[XanaDUer2]

3. They won't name him

And its misdemenors. My blood is boiling

[Ferrets are Cool]

4. GDMF

I cannot write what I really feel about this fucker.
GD hunters. FUCK em ALL.

[Timeflyer]

5. Can't express the fury and sadness this cruelty stirs up.

Release the name of the gun-humping scum so he can be hunted online.

[RandomNumbers]

6. Despicable. Many hunters don't know what they are shooting.

This guy may have genuinely not known what he was shooting at.

That's not any excuse - but as long as hunting for "sport" is acceptable, this crap will happen.

Sure there are hunters out there that are ethical and careful. But I'd like to see their suggestions for what to do with the cretins among them.

[Fullduplexxx]

8. Someone should have shot him

[flvegan]

9. So 2 misdemeanors from the article. Do I have that right?

Man, those are some straight up serious consequences. Glad I'm not that particular barbarian today. What is that, like, a fine or something?

Spineless laws enforced by hacks.

LOL at "other hunters" witnessed the "needless killing" I remember when irony was a thing.

[Eugene]

10. This person "broke all the rules" and then lied his ass off to the Fish and Game officers.

The federal misdemeanor charges carry fines of up to $15,000. This should cost him dearly.