Another day, another day of (out)rage from the anti-hunting, anti-gun Left in America. Instead of directing their ire at criminal gangs, drug cartels, non-performing prosecutors, or criminals crossing our borders, they now attack Montana Governor Greg Gianforte for legally hunting and killing a mountain lion.
That he shot it on public lands has added to the pearl-clutching vapors they as they furiously fan themselves.
Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post (Democracy Dies in Darkness) brings us the latest news from the wild west. They breathlessly deliver the story of Montana’s governor harvesting a wild cat as if they had just run all the way from Big Sky Country to bring us the news.
On public land north of Yellowstone National Park late last year, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) shot and killed a mountain lion that was being monitored by National Park Service staff, after hunting dogs had chased it up a tree.
The mountain lion hunt, which has not been previously reported, occurred on Dec. 28 on a swath of U.S. Forest Service land southwest of Emigrant, Mont., according to residents familiar with the episode who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve relationships in the community.
An anonymous report? Did these concerned citizens also slip the WaPo’s Joshua Partlow details of the governor’s secret ties with Russia and how they helped him steal an election?
Less than a year earlier, Gianforte killed a Yellowstone wolf in a similar area that was wearing a tracking collar, prompting an outcry among environmentalists.
Just because an animal wears a tracking collar doesn’t mean it can’t be hunted when the law allows it.
The 5-year-old mountain lion was wearing a GPS-tracking collar that Yellowstone biologists use to monitor the rare and elusive predators. Park staff knew the animal by its research number: M220.
Oh, no. The mountain lion had a name. Bless Partlow’s little heart for trying to humanize a wild animal.
Gianforte’s press secretary, Brooke Stroyke, confirmed on Monday that the governor had hunted the mountain lion. She said he had a valid license, drove the lion up into a tree and shot it on public land.
“The governor and friends tracked the lion on public lands,” Stroyke said in an emailed statement to The Washington Post. “As the group got closer to the lion, members of the group, who have a hound training license, used four hounds to tree the lion once the track was discovered in a creek bottom on public land.”
Stroyke said that after the mountain lion was chased into the tree, Gianforte confirmed it was a male, “harvested it, and put his tag on it,” she said. “He immediately called to report the legal harvest and then the [Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks] game warden. In Livingston, the governor met the game warden who tagged the lion and took the collar.”
Governor Gianforte’s displays of toxic masculinity makes the special snowflakes and anti-hunting bigots melt down with exceptional efficiency.
If you doubt Gianforte’s ability to trigger the Left, look no further than the comments on Twitter.
This is “sport” ? Treeing a beautiful cat for slaughter ?
Its murder…and it barbaric.
You want to shoot a gorgeous cat, use a Camera !!— patty proferes (@saghrbrsun) March 2, 2022
— Blue Bayou Progressive (@SouthBayouBlue) March 2, 2022
@MTGOP @GovGianforte pic.twitter.com/IPOyVzyedg
— Lisa C (@SocialJusticeNM) March 2, 2022
“Puma. Cougar. Mountain lion. There are many names for the big cats that roam the Americas, rarely attacking humans,” writes @abigailweinberg. “But there’s only one name that springs to mind for Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte: Asshole.” https://t.co/cIMSMCSiKU
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) March 3, 2022
These people hate lawful hunters and gun owners, plain and simple. But you already knew that.