Pro golfer Tripp Isenhour faces charges for killing hawk

[austin552]

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ap-golfer-birdkilled&prov=ap&type=lgns

By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer

Tripp Isenhour, of Orlando, Fl…

AP - Mar 6, 1:49 pm EST
Golf Gallery ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)—An animal rights group wants the PGA Tour to take action against player Tripp Isenhour, facing charges for hitting a hawk with a golf shot because it was making noise as he videotaped a TV show.

“Because of the high profile nature of this case, the PGA needs to take steps to address its interest and to make it clear that they don’t condone animal cruelty,” said Dale Bartlett, the Humane Society of the United States’ deputy manager for animal cruelty issues.

He said the organization would contact the PGA Tour on Friday to discuss the issue.

Isenhour was charged Wednesday with cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird, misdemeanors that carry a maximum penalty of 14 months in jail and $1,500 in fines.

Isenhour, playing the Nationwide Tour this season after losing his PGA Tour card last year, apologized in a statement released Thursday and said he was only trying to scare the hawk away.

The 39-year-old player, whose real name is John Henry Isenhour III, became angry while filming “Shoot Like A Pro” on Dec. 12 at the Grand Cypress Golf Club—his home course—when a squawking red-shouldered hawk forced another take.

He got in his golf cart and drove closer to the bird, then 300 yards away, and starting hitting balls at it. The bird didn’t move and Isenhour gave up and drove away.

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.

“As soon as this happened, I was mortified and extremely upset and continue to be upset,” Isenhour said in a statement issued through his management company, SFX Golf. “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.”

Bartlett said Isenhour’s case, like the Michael Vick dog fighting case, is disappointing for society.

“We look up to professional athletes and we want them to reflect the best of us as a society and I think we’re appalled when it turns out they instead reflect some of the very worst attributes,” he said in a phone interview Thursday night.

Isenhour said he is an animal lover and his family has adopted three cats from a local shelter.

“We ask that everyone accept my sincerest apology, and please be respectful of my family’s privacy,” he said.

Isenhour has won four times on the Nationwide Tour, including twice in 2006. The former Georgia Tech star has played three events this year on the developmental circuit, the last a 36th-place tie two weeks ago in the Moonah Classic in Australia.

Jethro Senger, a sound engineer at the shoot, said hitting the bird was “basically like a joke to (Isenhour).”

“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,” Senger said. “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 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.

“Americans have no tolerance for cruelty to animals. Such a petty, mean spirited act against a wild bird is inexcusable and prosecutors are right to hold Isenhour accountable to the law,” Humane Society executive vice president Michael Markarian said in a statement released Thursday

[bell]

you only throw rocks until you hit something.......kinda dumb move since there was a camera crew, it's not like he was alone and no one was watching, what was he thinking?

[450knotOffice]

Friggin idi0t. Guys like him are always "sorry" when the heat is on them all of a sudden.

[Sonic dB]

In life, people are either azzholes, or they are not azholes. People are what they do. There really are no exceptions or explanations. People are what they are, the way that they act.

In this case, the guy is 39 years old, is a golf professional... and decides to shoot many many golf balls trying to hit this bird. After he kills the bird which happens to be an endangered species, he has the nerve to ask people to 'respect his privacy' and then gives some sad-chit story about how he rescued 3 homeless cats, i suppose to try and curry favor and show what a good guy he is.

he is not a good guy, he is an azzhole. period.

[slodave]

I hope birds cr@p on him every day for the rest of his life.

[bell]

Originally Posted by slodave

I hope birds cr@p on him every day for the rest of his life.

i don't, because in many cultures that is good luck.
however what they did in fight club would be fitting (with the bird poop).......

[slodave]

Originally Posted by bell

i don't, because in many cultures that is good luck.
however what they did in fight club would be fitting (with the bird poop).......

OK, in his open eyes and mouth. The wettest, biggest and foulest. That good luck anywhere?

[WI wide body]

Never met him but I did hear that he was a jerk before this even happened. (first names like "Tripp" are always a red flag for me)

Now he has solidified his reputation as the Mike Vick of the PGA!

[RWebb]

actually red-tailed hawks are not endangered (yet)

BUT, they are protected by federal law - the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and probably by sate law.

I'm glad they got him - the attention will impress others who might try to attack these and other birds. Dunno if he will get the message - a kid doing this I could understand, but a 39 year old man??

[slodave]

Randy, it was a red-shouldered hawk. Similar and still protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

[ZOA NOM]

When I first read the headline, I could not believe that they were actually filing charges for what was certainly an unintentional act, but then I read the article and was dumbfounded by this idiot's stupidity. Take a shot at the bird, or maybe two, but Holy crap, he goes on a friggin mission to hit the damned thing. He deserves all the bad press and Karma that's headed his way.

[the]

75 yards out, I wonder what club he used?

[Sonic dB]

More to this story...a freaking coverup. Check out this blurb from the pga website how he "accidentally killed the bird while hitting into a tree... people like this just drive me nuts...and the pgatour to get behind this azzhole is reprehensible. Fkin sociopaths, protect their buddies, all about making money and lying to look good:


http://www.pgatour.com/2008/r/03/06/tripp_statement/index.html

Professional golfer Tripp Isenhour issues apology
text size Mar. 6, 2008

RESTON, Va. -- Professional golfer Tripp Isenhour has issued a sincere apology for a December 2007 incident in Orlando during which he hit a golf ball into a tree accidentally killing a red-shouldered hawk during the taping of a golf instructional video.

"As soon as this happened, I was mortified and extremely upset and continue to be upset. 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. We ask that everyone accept my sincerest apology, and please be respectful of my family's privacy," Isenhour said.



"

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by slodave

Randy, it was a red-shouldered hawk. Similar and still protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

I heard both, first a red-shouldered, then a redtail hawk. Either way he's a JERK. And now I've lost all respect for the PGA if indeed they are trying to cover it up.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Anyone who hunts/hurts/attacks an animal is a person I have no respect for. They're usually insecure idiots and deserve to be prosecuted.

I hope he gets sued into bankruptcy and dies penniless. Or becomes Michael Vick's new cellmate/lover. I don't care which. Arsehole.

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Anyone who hunts/hurts/attacks an animal is a person I have no respect for. They're usually insecure idiots and deserve to be prosecuted.

I hope he gets sued into bankruptcy and dies penniless. Or becomes Michael Vick's new cellmate/lover. I don't care which. Arsehole.

Not to get to far off target but I agree with the hunting deal also. Just don't get it. Sure would be a 'heated' debate here on PPOT though

[dhoward]

Originally Posted by the

75 yards out, I wonder what club he used?

Bird wedge?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Off-subject but I agree. I think hunting is pathological. If you want to go camp or hang out in the woods or go hiking, that's fine (I love those things myself and am a pretty experienced outdoors type). To get some sense of "sport" from blowing holes in a defenseless, innocent animal from long range is simply disgusting human behavior. I don't get it and never will. There's no "need" for it and any of these claims of "population control" are simple rationalization B.S. on the part of the people that want to continue to perpetuate their sick game.

I'm not an environmental extremist or a PETA member or anything, I'm just a person who knows basic right from wrong and happens to think animals make for better enjoyment alive than dead with holes blown in them. To deliberately revel in and take enjoyment in the suffering and killing of innocent things is just sick. There was a time when hunting was required to survive. That was about 200 years ago. There's no justifiable reason for hunting today except among very small, isolated and/or eccentric individuals.

Sorry to send this off-topic, but I think it's the same mental disorder that compels a golfer to try and kill a hawk with a golf ball as it is that compels someone to get his rocks off by killing wildlife with a gun or a crossbow. Yea, very "manly". Let's smear ourselves with deer piss, lie around in wait in the woods for hours and then courageously shoot an animal from distances way beyond that of its natural defenses. Then we'll cut its head off as a trophy to boast to our buddies about how "tough" we are. Bull. That ain't tough. You want to be tough? Go fight it and kill it with your bare hands where it can fight back or outrun you. Then I'll be impressed. Using animals as target practice - whether with bullets or golf balls is the same to me - unsporting and pathological.

Any person who puts "hunting" as one of their hobbies or interest automatically loses serious credibility with me by default. It's about the same thing as saying "I like monster trucks" or "NASCAR rules" or "didja check out that tractor pull last week?" Automatic 50 I.Q. point deduction.

[Tim Hancock]

hmmm.... where is that picture of my daughter and her .22 in the back yard ?..... no, better not post it as this seems to be one of those sensitive threads where group hugs and kittens are treasured.

I don't know, maybe it simply has to do with whether you grew up in the big city or out in real America. In the real America I grew up and still live in, kids shoot sparrows with BB guns and later as teens they shoot woodchucks and other varmints with .22's. PETS ARE LOVED DEARLY, but when they get deathly ill, they get put out of their misery as opposed to getting thousands of dollars spent on them to prolong their life another 6 months.

I can understand those who mourn the loss of a pet they owned and loved for years, but I truly don't get those who cry over a bird getting hit by a car or a wood chuck getting shot. It seems ludicrous to me that someone who swats a fly or mosquito can then somehow view the death of a deer, varmint, cow, fish, chicken or a sparrow as being any different (especially if that person eats meat).

I am not a hunter, as I don't like the taste of wild meat, but killing and eating a fish, shooting a varmint in the back yard, hitting an animal with my car when they fly/run out in front of me, does not bother me in the least (unless it damages my car).

If this guy had clubbed the Hawk, then I would agree he should get in trouble for purposely killing a protected species, but I have no problem with him attempting to shoo it away. There is no way he could have had any confidence that he could have killed that bird by hitting golf balls from that distance. This was a freak shot.

[dhoward]

Please, won't someone think of the birds?