Have you seen these trophy hunting websites? Seriously, they are something else. This is an actual caption to a photo that we’ve replaced above with an illustration by talented cartoonist Chad Essley. We’re not making this up…
From afar, Dian observed her lion gazing out over the plains. “I had seen photos, TV shows and paintings, but never experienced this beautiful beast so close in the flesh.”
Oh, but wait. At another part of the website, Dian Cooper explains more fully how she was feeling on this hunt, which took place about ten years ago in South Africa. She explains that they had put out bait for the lions, and then had followed the male over a couple of “mountains.” Then, she spotted him about 350 yards away and knew that if she didn’t take her shot, they’d lose him over the next peak.
There was a slight hesitance in my soul that almost stopped me from the hunt at that point. It’s the part of me that is in awe of beautiful creatures, and the honour and respect that I have for them. But then the hunter inside me takes over and the thrill of the hunt is flamed. Then there is no stopping my desire to achieve the goal that I came all the way across the ocean to achieve: complete my Big Five.
Ah well, she had to complete her Big Five. That lion never had a chance. Her husband, meanwhile, bagged a female so they could use the matched set in their taxidermy studio.
Dian and Rocky appear to have had studios in both Texas and South Africa, so we’re not sure which of their dioramas this particular male became a part of. But we’re sure it must have been impressive.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on April 15, 2019 at 21:00
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Tony Ortega is a journalist who was formerly the editor of The Village Voice. He’s written about Scientology since 1995, and in May 2015 released a book about Scientology’s harassment of Paulette Cooper titled ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely,’ and more recently a compilation of his stories, ‘Battlefield Scientology.’ He continues to monitor breaking developments in the Scientology world, as well as other subjects at The Underground Bunker. You can reach him by sending him a message at tonyo94 AT gmail.com (Drop him a line if you’d like to get an e-mail whenever a new story is posted.)
