ShareThisShooting birdies on a golf course? Good.Shooting eagles? Better.Shooting hawks? Stupid.Beyond stupid, really.It's criminal -- when done intentionally.And, according to authorities, there was no mistaking Tripp Isenhour's intent on Dec. 12 at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, where the pro golfer took aim with his golf club and hit a drive that struck a red-shouldered hawk perched in a nearby tree.The shot knocked the hawk out of the tree and caused it to drop more than 30 feet to the ground.Witnesses who ran to the fallen bird, which is protected by state law as a migratory species, reportedly told Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation investigators that the hawk was bleeding from his nostrils when it closed its eyes and died."I didn't think I would hit it," Isenhour yelled after delivering the fatal shot.That's a lame excuse.Really, it's no excuse at all.Because if the FWC report is accurate -- and there's no reason to believe it isn't -- Isenhour was trying to hit the hawk.Wisely, Orange County prosecutors agreed: They filed charges Wednesday against Isenhour for cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird, crimes that could cost him up to $10,000 in fines.If found guilty, though, it should cost him much more.It should cost him his playing privileges on the PGA and Nationwide tours, both of which ought to be so disgusted by his deplorable behavior that they suspend him for at least a year.What Isenhour allegedly did to that bird on that golf course was a disgrace to the game -- to a game proudly governed by uncompromising honor, personal integrity and gentlemanly conduct.And on that occasion, under those circumstances, Isenhour embraced none of those noble traits.Maybe he was having a bad day. Maybe his temper got the best of him. But by all accounts, this was no accident.Which, if true, is indefensible.Isenhour was videotaping a segment for a TV show titled, "Shoot Like A Pro," when he became annoyed with the noisy hawk and started shooting like a madman.According to the report filed by FWC officer Brian Baine, Isenhour became upset when the hawk's shriek repeatedly interrupted the taping, forcing the crew to do multiple takes and, eventually, prompting the 39-year-old golfer to hunt down the bird, which was approximately 300 yards away.Isenhour jumped into a golf cart, drove around a lake and proceeded to hit golf balls toward the hawk for about 10 minutes before eventually giving up, Baine wrote. But when the hawk moved to a tree only 75 yards away, Isenhour resumed his assault."I'll get him now," he allegedly told witnesses, who told Baine, "About the sixth ball came very near the bird's head, and (Isenhour) was very excited that it was so close."Baine wrote that no one in the 15-person crew tried to intervene. However, after Isenhour killed the hawk, many of them regretted doing nothing to stop him.They should.They were cowards.They own at least a piece of the blame for the cruel, senseless death of this innocent bird.Jethro Senger, a sound engineer at the shoot, was quoted by The Associated Press to have said: "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 also said the incident was "basically like a joke" to Isenhour, who could not be reached for comment and didn't return a voice-mail message left on his cell phone by the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers.And that's too bad.We'd love to know what he was thinking, how he felt when he hit the hawk and if he now regrets killing a red-shouldered hawk that was doing no harm to anyone.At the very least, we'd love to hear his side of the story, his explanation for such mean-spirited and cold-hearted conduct, his reasons for behaving like a gutless weasel.But, please, no excuses.There is no excuse for this kind of stupidity.Criminal stupidity.(Ray McNulty is sports columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. Contact him at ray.mcnulty@scripps.com or on the Web at www.tcpalm.com.)
Isenhour's bird shot deserves severe penalty
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JAIL TIME FOR THIS
JAIL TIME FOR THIS BUM------------------------------
The worst part of this story
The worst part of this story is not mentioned. This hawk probably had a nest nearby. That's why it was persistently screeching and staying in the area despite all the disturbance - it was trying to defend its family. Now the nest will fail -- the dead bird's mate won't be able to hatch an egg or find enough food for a chick all by itself. This golfer should be put in jail, not just reprimanded.
Great Column!
We agree 100% with columnist Ray McNulty's comments on this appalling incident. Tripp Isenhour should be punished fully for his malicious, intentional killing of an innocent being.
Isenhour is not even man enough to tell the truth
First of all thank you for writing such a marvelous piece on this dreadful event and know that there are countless thousands of people that totally agree with you!
My hope is that you will not drop this issue with only one blast. It is obvious that Isenhour hoped the whole thing would just go away also. The pomposity of this man is incredible!
In the first place the incident happened because of his over inflated view of himself- it was all about ego; a matter of "I'll show that bird!" The bird was making noise- interrupting his taping of a TV show - so like an idiot he goes after it- interrupting the show further by taking a ten minute break to drive around a lake in a golf cart where he could take better shots at the bird. Then he is obviously angered even more when the bird has the "gall" to land even closer to him- some 300 yards away or so. What truly happened that day is all pretty clear and thankfully investigators didn't buy the "accident" theory. In reality, what the bird did by disturbing the taping of the show was an ACCIDENT, but what Isenhour did was clearly intentional.
Now, Isenhour has made things even worse with his audacity to think that he could try to lie via the media about his actual intentions! Now evidently he believes he can tell his falsehood laden story in court and that a judge will also be dumb enough to believe him! Is he so arrogrant that he believes everyone in the world is stupid except him?
Predictably, there are those who have made the comment that there are other more important issues in the world that deserve the attention more so than this story. Blah blah blah - even some of isenhour's fellow golfers are saying this. BUT, the fact is that the "other" important issues ARE getting attention- always do- always have. DO NOT BE DECIEVED! The people saying that this event is being made a big deal of is and/or has been over prioritized are in reality just expressing their own opinion that they don't think Isenhour killing a bird was a big deal. Comments made by these people only reveal that they are as cold hearted and mean spirited as Isenhour is.
I have pasted below my communication with the PGA.
To condense:
The bottom line is that if the hawk was annoying and interrupting the taping of the TV show there are many other ways the hawk could have been discouraged and harmlessly scared into flying away and leaving the area for a brief period.
The indisputable fact is that when you deliberately drive multiple golf balls at something there is the undeniable possibility that you will hit whatever it is. Isenhour was fully aware of this fact but made a conscious decision to do what he did anyways.
My communication to the PGA:
Countless people are now poised to boycott anything and everything that has to do with the PGA over this Isenhour matter. They are also organizing boycotts of PGA related sponsors as well as Isenhour’s endorsement sources and sponsors. My question to you is, if the PGA is not willing to drop him or ban him, then how willing are you to face the backlash for not doing so? Animal rights organizations around the world are hotter than the surface of the sun about this and pure Hell is on the way. Protests are already being organized in Isenhour’s hometown in North Carolina, Orlando, Florida and other cities across the country. In addition, protests are being organized related to the PGA and sites for their events.
If the PGA is not willing to banish him, the question on the lips of tens of thousands of people is: Will your excuse for not banishing him from the PGA be as limp, empty and wholly dishonest as his excuse for killing the bird?
Most of us are not sure which is worse, the fact that Isenhour did such a mean spirited, unwarranted deed or that he tried to lie to the world about it with his childlike excuse and explanation. Clearly, he was not simply trying to scare the hawk away and multiple witnesses who were there have attested to that. Virtually everything that Isenhour has said in his "apology" is inconsistent with the facts gathered by investigators that led to the charges being brought.
Anyone calling himself a MAN to be so neuron challenged that they would actually do such a vile act in front of onlookers while video cameras rolled is almost hard to believe. One can only sense this act was borne out of ego, audacity, pomposity and an overall distorted and highly inflated view of his own importance.
He fired drive after drive at this defenseless bird, ten shots in all, knowing full well that any one of the drives could have hit the bird instead of merely scaring it away. Certainly if it had been a human being or even a cocker spaniel instead of a hawk he would not have been driving golf balls at it. He made a conscious decision that the welfare of this bird was not on the same level as himself or other human beings or literally even a cocker spaniel.
A hawk died because it annoyed Mr. Isenhour by doing what it naturally does as a creature of the wild; in kind, Mr. Isenhour brought about the bird’s death by an act that represents what he evidently does "naturally" as well.
The obvious fact is that he did not care whether he hit the bird or not. If he had cared, he wouldn't have been driving golf balls at it with the distinct possibility of hitting and injuring or killing the bird. This is indisputable. His attempts to lie about this are both ridiculous and insulting.
Furthermore, this event happened several weeks ago and he is only offering an apology now after charges have been brought against him-- another indisputable sign that he is not at all sincere. He is NOT sorry about what he has done he is only sorry he got caught. In addition to senselessly claiming the life of an innocent animal he has attempted to play the world for fools by expecting us to swallow his hogwash of an explanation.
Isenhour noted in his desperate statement that he is an "animal lover" and cited the fact that his family has adopted three cats from an animal shelter. One can only wonder about the poor investigation conducted by the animal shelter that allowed someone with Isenhour’s factual disregard for animals to ever adopt those cats in the first place.
Reader polls consistently condemn him for this act, but even if the majority of people could sweep the incident itself aside, his nefarious "apology" and/or explanation cannot be interpreted as anything other than an obvious view into his overall flawed character as a man. In the most literal sense, Mr. Isenhour isn’t even man enough to tell the truth about what he did.
His version of the incident as conveyed in his stated "apology" and explanation is no more than an attempt to insult the intelligence of virtually everyone that hears it or reads it. Certainly his legal representation merits questioning in terms of competency for if Isenhour’s excuse is the best he can come up with he would have been further ahead not to say anything at all.
His actions speak as loud as his words and they both say the same thing: He is an inherently dishonest man and therefore it is a disservice to allow him to continue to be a part of the PGA. In addition to being guilty of this unthinkable act, he has also proven that he is a dishonest man and he is without honor.
There is no doubt that his continued association with the PGA will cost the PGA far more than anything he could possibly bring to the PGA on the plus side.