The last time we wrote about hunting, and that controversial lion murder hunt from the Kruger National Park area, the debate was heated.

I think people are still arguing in the comments section, but at least they’re being civil.

That’s a little harder to do when you look at images like the ones shared by 37-year-old hunter Tess Thompson Talley, who is super stoked with having gunned down a ‘rare black giraffe’ (we’ll get to that later).

Before we get nasty, here’s the Telegraph:

“Prayers for my once in a lifetime dream hunt came true today! Spotted this rare black giraffe bull and stalked him for quite awhile,” Talley wrote in a since-deleted post on Facebook.

The post said the animal was more than 18 years old, weighed 4,000 lbs and yielded 2,000 lbs of meat. On average, giraffes have a 25-year lifespan.

The pictures went viral only recently after being reposted on Twitter last month…

She included her desire to kill a giraffe in her prayers. That’s who we’re dealing with here.

Here’s the tweet that set the viral wheels in motion:

Maybe Tess and Angus Buchan should meet up and talk about what it means to cast your religion in an awful light.

Since the post went viral, and Tess has been on the receiving end of some serious backlash, she has changed her tune about the giraffe being rare:

The giraffe I hunted was the South African sub-species of giraffe. The numbers of this sub-species is actually increasing due, in part, to hunters and conservation efforts paid for in large part by big game hunting. The breed is not rare in any way other than it was very old. Giraffes get darker with age.

This is called conservation through game management.

She also claims that she donated some of the meat to “feeding the local people”, as well as eating some herself, which she described as “absolutely delish”.

People who use the word “delish” should be hunted for sport. I joke, but they’re also the kind of people who call themselves “foodies”, so they’re flirting with danger.

I’m not someone who thinks the sun shines out of Ricky Gervais’ backside, but he does make a good point about the ‘hunting as conservation’ angle:

There are holes in that argument, but there is also plenty to mull over.

Let’s finish closer to home with the sharp-tongued Ben Trovato, who really went to town on Tess with a Facebook post from June 24.

Tongue firmly in cheek and off we go:

I had no idea someone as beautiful and brave as you existed in America until you posted that picture of yourself moments after executing an African giraffe. I don’t even care if you aren’t a real blonde. But if you are, praise the Lord! Which is exactly what you seem to be doing in one of the photos – thanking the Almighty for having guided this cloven-hoofed beast from hell into your crosshairs.

Your caption was so inspiring…On behalf of Africa, thank you for ridding us of another giraffe. They are violent, arrogant creatures who strut about the bush looking down on all the other animals. It’s no wonder so many of the little ones, like warthogs, suffer from self-esteem issues.

Stalking a giraffe isn’t for the faint-hearted. They move so slowly that even an experienced hunter like yourself runs the risk of falling asleep and being unexpectedly eaten by a passing lion…

Love the picture of you and the dead kangaroo. It can’t be easy shooting one of those brutes, what with all their bouncing up and down. And you got to do it on your birthday! It must be every little girl’s dream to shoot a kangaroo in the face when they turn 35…

Great pic of you with your dead Vervet monkey and Andrew with his baboon. Tabatha asked what you’re going to do with them and you said, “Full body mounts. These ya don’t eat.” There are animals you don’t eat? What’s happening, darlin’? Don’t get soft on us. You turn your nose up at monkey and the next thing you know you’re one of them snowflake vegan chicks driving a Prius and treating Mexicans like they’re real people.

We’ll skip ahead to the end:

So, anyway. If my government ever starts taking conservation seriously and bans trophy hunting, you could always stalk the children of illegal immigrants right there in Texas. Trump will probably move the kids out of cages now and into open-air enclosures where they at least have a sporting chance of survival. It could be fun. Anyone who makes it to 18 without getting shot is given a Green Card. You can’t get more humanitarian than that.

Odessa must be so proud of you, Tess. Not only does does your town have the highest rate of violent crime in Texas, but they also have the cutest killer in the whole damn state.

You can argue for hunting being a vital conservation tool all you like (and sadly, it often is), but you have to be a shitty human to take enjoyment out of gunning down animals.

Tess Thompson Talley – God-fearing woman, hunter, awful human being.

[sources:telegraph&facebook]