Hunters not amused by (Pawlenty) shoot-and-run

[question everything]

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has taken a drubbing from hunters for not tracking down a deer he shot on opening day of Minnesota's firearm deer season. A headline on deerhuntingchat.com calls the possible presidential candidate a "slob hunter" for wounding a deer on Nov. 7 and then leaving for a Republican fundraiser in Iowa before the animal could be found.

One contributor wrote: "What kind of slob hunter goes out opening morning and shoots a deer knowing full well you won't have time to retrieve it or tend to it? One whose presidential ambitions override his hunting ethics, that's what kind."

The-deer-hunting-guide.com says: "A responsible hunter, who is also an ethical hunter, will be prepared to spend hours trailing a wounded deer; even come back the next day if needed. You must make every effort to retrieve a wounded animal. It's the right ethical thing to do."

Mark Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association and an organizer of last weekend's hunt, said Pawlenty and his hunting party did everything they could to find the animal. After the governor shot the deer at 7 a.m. from more than 200 yards away, he and his brother Dan, an accomplished hunter, went to where they last saw the animal. Finding blood but no deer, they returned to base camp for breakfast and to consider their next move.

Due in Iowa that night for a fundraiser, Pawlenty left while others took up the search. By dusk they had found nothing and stopped. There has been no sign of the animal since.

Pawlenty has bagged only one deer -- in 2004 -- in his seven years as governor.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/70080002.html

[Odin2005]

1. This hunter sez Timmy the Tool is a cruel ASSHOLE

[question everything]

7. Oh, but when he starts running, he can pose with a shotgun in his

hand - making sure he does not shoot a man in the face. Would be better than Romney but not Palin..

[Bitwit1234]

18. Cruel is not the word for this guy

He cut money for schools, hospitals, health care, breakfast for kids and any all social services. While ponying up money for tax breaks for business and doing a whirlwind con job trying to get a new stadium for the Vikings. Nothing wrong with a new stadium but it will only benefit "his" area of Minnesota. No where else gets a dime. This man went over the budget and cut each and every one of these things after the DFL and those in the republican party had hammered out a comprise budget deal. He does not care one wit about people I think he absolutely sucks as a human being. And little Phewlenty thinks he has a chance to be president. He is soiling his pants he is so excited.

[madokie]

35. From the few times I've seen him on the tv I can't see how he'll ever be a serious candidate

I have to add: he comes across as a punk

[grytpype]

2. This could be the end of Paulenty's career.

He's just not authentic.

[sharesunited]

3. The deer should shoot his ass.

[gratuitous]

4. It was a trick thing!

How was Pawlenty supposed to know what the right ethical thing to do would be?

[lob1]

5. He's not a hunter, he's a deer sniper.

[peacetalksforall]

6. He is bizarre. A bizarre phony.

[Gman]

8. I hate people that do that. Few things piss me off more

it's lazy, it's uncaring, it's extremely unsportsmanlike. It means you have no clue about hunting and what hunting really means.

[question everything]

31. What is it about presidential candidates who have to prove they can hunt?

Even Kerry looked ridiculous when, in 2004 he put on hunting gear.

And Romeny had to prove that he could shoot "vermins" and, of course the former and wannabe Republican Vice Presidents..

[47of74]

9. Question. Was Timmy's shotgun compensating for something?

[napi21]

10. Pawlenty and his hunting party did everything they could to find the animal.

It sounds like Timmy just shoots & has other people go track down the prey. I guess the dear Gov. doesn't do the dirty work!

[WCGreen]

11. Kind of like Nero or Caligula....

[cliffordu]

12. He will NEVER get another responsible hunter's vote. For anything.

The guys I know who hunt would have kicked his ass for that stunt.

And word of this will spread like wildfire.

[TornadoTN]

21. You've got that right - this is just pathetic

As a hunter myself, there's no way that you will convince me that they "did everything" to find the deer. Just a bunch of politicians on a photo op, short on time and they left the area when the deer wasn't found right around the area he was shot.

Pathetic.

[Tim01]

27. The repercussions from hunters are going to be severe. And rightly so. nt

[cleveramerican]

13. shameful

what a turd.

[JoeyT]

14. This is a mortal sin to most hunters.

I'm not a hunter but I've had to shoot deer on my land that people wounded and didn't kill. Not very often, but even once was too many times. (By the time I find them vets aren't an option.)
To most hunters this is completely unforgivable.

[tblue]

15. I think he just delivered us Minnesota in 2012.

I feel bad for that poor deer, though.

[no_hypocrisy]

16. The hunters made my point that Pawlenty had the potential of WINNING votes

if he had tagged his buck and been late to his speech and gave the reason why he was late.

[piratefish08]

17. Did he shoot it in the face and then blame the deer? Or am I getting my political hunting

stories mixed up?

[sandspur]

19. LOL he and Dick should go hunting together, have Sarah tag along

Make sure Dick has lots of ammo. Would be the first time Dick ever did something useful for the country.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

26. he should have tracked it down and forced it to apologize.

[tanyev]

20. C'mon, Tim. You want to compete against Sarah Palin?

You gotta get up in a helicopter and go shoot some deer. Amateur.

[question everything]

32. There was a political cartoon in the local paper

Timmy with a bracelets with the letters: WWSS What Would Sarah Say..

[Lyric]

22. Experienced, skilled hunters know how to follow the trail of a wounded animal

and finish the kill. It's something that REAL hunters learn how to do "on the job" while they're being taught by their parents and/or mentors, and it's one of the most important and serious "rules" that every legitimate hunter learns.

Fake-macho Republican "political stunt" hunters? Yeah...not so much. No real hunter would leave a wounded animal to suffer. I don't believe for a moment that they "tried everything" to find it. If you don't have enough hunting and tracking skill to follow the trail of a bleeding, clumsy, wounded animal the size of a deer, then you damned well don't belong in the woods.

What an asshole.

[Odin2005]

23. +1,000,000

[formercia]

24. How many hunters in Minn shoot a deer at 200 yds?

I don't care how good your rifle shoots, most people couldn't hit a deer at 200 yds, let alone make a clean kill. If you're in Wyoming and it's open country, that's one thing. In wooded country, you pass and wait for a better situation.

[cliffordu]

30. 200 yards with a scope is trivial.

A 200 yard shot "in the woods" is not really in the woods at all. At least not in the woods around here....More like 50 yards max.

[cliffordu]

28. Perfect. Yep.

[question everything]

34. And the fact that during his 7 years as a governor he shot only one deer

with no excuses during those other years confirms your observation that he is not a "real" hunter. Only plays one on TV...

[boomerbust]

25. Pathetic

Typical right wing sportsman.

[Are_grits_groceries]

29. He'll lose votes in the South too.

There are a lot of people here who hunt or know hunters. That is a mortal sin.

Put that on a billboard and he is done.

[DU GrovelBot]

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