This one isn’t just cringe-worthy, it’s the kind of industry news that makes me wonder if there’s a way to get off this particular ride. Larysa Switlyk, the hunter known for the show Larysa Unleashed, has found herself in a bit of international trouble after a foreign goat hunt. And although the American mainstream media is focusing on the anti-hunters’ outrage that Larysa dared to hunt goats at all and post a trophy pic, there is far more to this than that little tidbit.
Earlier this fall Larysa went on an all-women hunt to Scotland to celebrate a friend’s birthday. For reasons known only to Larysa she brought along a sex toy, shot a ram, and had her picture taken holding one of the ram’s horns in one hand and the bloodied sex toy in her other hand.
Yes, you read that right: she had her picture taken with an animal she’d just shot, gripping a sex toy she’d coated in blood. Check it out:
According to The Sun at least one of the women on the hunt was outraged by Larysa’s behavior:
British hunter Jenna Gearing was one of the women on the trip but left because Larysa “disrespected” the animal.
Jenna added that the marital aid had been given as a birthday present but said Larysa was “rude and arrogant” throughout the trip.
She told MailOnline: “It was a bit of fun during the party but I have no idea why it was brought out the following day on a hunt.
“It was an appalling thing to do, a complete show of disrespect to the animal she has just killed.
“I’m not friends with Larysa any longer and In fact the reason I left that hunt early was because I was so against what she stood for and her morals.”
Larysa has drawn the ire of not only the anti-hunting crowd, but of the Scottish government itself. Her trophy pictures of herself posing with a number of sheep and goats are being criticized as “barbaric” and the Scottish government has decided to review their hunting laws as a result.
Here’s Larysa’s response to the people who are upset about her hunt via Fox News:
Switlyk hit back to defend her actions, and has released a new clothing line mocking the outrage she faced online. The T-shirts included the slogans “Don’t Let Me Get Your Goat” and “Barbaric Hunter”.
Even Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, has gotten involved. She took to Twitter to address the issue:
According to The Evening Standard, Scottish minister Mike Russell got into it, too:
Scottish minister Mike Russell called for an end of the hunting of wild goats on the island.
Could it be the end of hunting on the island of Islay? Let’s hope not. But wait, there’s more.
In response to the uproar of Larysa’s fall hunts, Scottish officials found a way to fire back at Switlyk by reporting both her and an un-named man to local prosecutors (and they did it just in time for Christmas). She’s being brought up on gun charges which is no small thing in the UK:
“Following several complaints of wild goat ‘trophy’ hunting on Islay in (October), Police Scotland can now confirm that a 33-year-old woman and a 41-year-old man from the USA have been reported to the Procurator Fiscal for firearms offences,” police said in a statement.
She was reported under section 11a of the Firearms Act 1968, which refers rules for someone who borrows or lends a firearm for hunting, according to BBC. Such person must be using the firearm for hunting animals, follow the rules of the lender’s certificate and be accompanied by the lender.
To sum up: Switlyk spent time on foreign soil hunting sheep and goats. She posted the aforementioned bloody-sex-toy-and-ram photo on social media along with multiple standard trophy photos with other animals. Outrage followed, some stirred by the sex toy photo, some by the hunt in general. Gun charges have now been filed against Larysa.
I’m one of the most pro-hunting people you’ll ever meet. Hunting is like my religion and is something I would gladly do all day, every day. Defending our ability to hunt is not just part of my job, it’s part of my life.
Defending our Second Amendment rights is in my blood. So, do I support the witch-hunt appearance of these gun charges being filed? No (if she did violate the law though, that is on her…you must always, always know the laws where you hunt). Do I support her behavior? Also no.
For better or for worse Larysa Switlyk has become highly visible in the hunting world. Her public Facebook page has more than 52,000 likes, her Instagram account has 88,900 followers, and her show runs on multiple channels including The Pursuit Channel, Untamed Sports, and the Women’s Outdoor Network on Roku. Her actions are a brush all hunters are painted with – specifically female hunters, if I’m going to be blunt. She has a following and now she has garnered negative international attention and sparked international fury.
I support legal hunts and it does appear Larysa’s foreign hunts were legal…with the possible exception being the alleged violation of local firearms laws. Culling is part of the culture on Islay, in fact. I believe if she had simply done her legal hunt and behaved professionally this entire mess would never have happened. Or, if it had, it likely would have taken place on a smaller scale with less damaging results for the larger hunting and firearms worlds.
Unprofessional behavior and snark in the face of criticism aren’t what we need. This applies to all of us, hunters and gun owners alike, and applies exponentially more to those of us who are in the industry spotlight (granted the degree of spotlight varies from person to person). You absolutely cannot be rude, dismissive, or immature. Such behavior hurts us all. A sense of humor is great, but do you know what’s even better? The ability to deliver a reasonable, well-thought response; the ability to be courteous in the face of criticism.
I find myself torn. I’m absolutely disgusted by the photo Larysa had taken with the bloodied sex toy. That photo is inarguably, unequivocally wrong. As for the tee shirts she’s selling to mock the anti-hunting outrage, I feel they are being offered in an unprofessional spirit. You may feel differently. These are simply my opinions.
The gun charge against Larysa requires more information before I can say much about them. If she broke the law, she broke the law and should be held accountable. I may not agree with the law – it reeks of Washington State’s ridiculous laws, by the way – but it’s still the law. This seems to be a case of the Scottish government looking for some way to punish her to appease anti-gun and anti-hunting voters.
And I certainly don’t want to see hunting on Islay – or in Scotland at large – closed to us as a result of this. There is certainly a history of hunting-related anger in the area, but this spark seems to have started a raging fire.
I’m torn. Can we actively support her from a right-to-hunt standpoint while being openly disdainful of her actions? I don’t know. What do you think? And before you answer, take a moment to consider this: how do you think the general public would have reacted if it had been a man posing with a dead animal and a bloodied sex toy? Something to ponder.