kevin1

Do yourself a favor and don't move here if you're gonna have that attitude , Russ Bellar is sharing a cell with another felonfor the next two yearsbecause he had the same attitude ,andlike you failed to check ourstate law before he set up his killing fields .

In this state it doesn't matter if you bought and paid for those deer they are considered to be game animals , so you do not have the right to do what you wish with them . You can't shoot cows here either just because you own them because the BOAH will prosecute you for violating the state laws regarding legal slaughter methods . Learn our laws before you open your mouth next time junior , because you obviously haven't done so already. What's legal where you live can easily be a felony here .

DoctorDeath

My take on this after thinking about it over night is this ... had Mr. Houston been the average hunter and decided to go on a hunt like this for an animal to hang in his office or home then its his business "To thine onself be true" BUT I think "intent" is the real issue here ..his intent was to pass this hunt off to his fans and sponsors as being a honest fair chase hunt and for that he needs to pay. This was a premeditated lie from a grown man to misled others for a monetary gain and to further his reputation as a great hunter... plain and simple as I see it. Take for exaple what Pete Rose did ..he cheated and is paying for it ...Im sorry but it really makes no difference if it was a 1200 acre inclosure or a 4 x 5 pen the fact is he lied to his fans about it by trying to pass it off as a real fair chase hunt ... thats pure dee ass WRONG..and as the old sage once said "Pay back is hell" ...

dd

smokyghost

Isay put him in a swimming pool with no way out and snag his A$$ with treble hooks. I cant beleive people can call that hunting, Dam Shame

JagMagMan

Yes I agree, doing what he did is worse than just an average guy!
One, he is trying to pass it off as "hunting."
Two, he is selling it!

bigcountry

I am kinda shocked you guys never knew that this crap on hunting/fishing videos was mostly staged. Didn't you guys ever wonder why you have never seen 25 8-12 pointers in one day on a regular basis. Or how all this crap we buy doesn't seem to have the effect we hope for? I guess since I have been a child, I looked at it as entertainment.

You guys are acting like its news to you. What the guy is doing sucks, and is unethical. But, so is going to pay fish ponds. I mean thier are alot more causes out there to fight for than banning a guy.

JagMagMan

BC, I've always known that most of these are just, "shows!"
But, this is a little too far out there!

NY Bowhunter

I think most people knew something goes on at some level with all the "hunting" shows. I think the graphic nature of the video really makes it hit home. I for one never envisioned these pro "hunters" sitting in a stand watching a buck bounce back and forth off a fence untill he's tired and then shooting him. I guess I was somewhat naive to assume that hunting iside an enclosure was a little more like fair chase than that.

I aint buying the 1200 acre enclosure either. So Jimmy just happened to set up in a corner where you could see 2 of the fences from his stand? He can cry all he wants now. There is no doubt in my mind he knew there was unethical/illegal activity that went on before he stepped foot in Bellars ranch. I've talked to some Indiana hunters via message boards that live fairly close to the ranch and they say it was clear as day the guy was a scumbag. Kind of like hunters in a neighborhood know the one or two people in the area that are poachers.

bigcountry

I guess I have always assumed it from realtree to jimmy. Everybody in the fishing hunting business. Its big business and alot of money. Once they start spending it, they will do anything to perform every week.

Now when they come out with videos of people seeing spikes and broken 6's all day, and taking one and being proud of it. Now I might start believig they aren't pinned in.

This just reminds me of people who love steaks and then visits a slaughter house and now are vegans. I look at em and say, "how did you think you got that ribeye. Man I am hungry now.

JagMagMan

NYBH, I agree with you. I've always known that most of these "shows," are "staged!"I think some are more staged, than others! I do see that the smaller the property is, the less it becomes "hunting!"
As long as it is legal, they will market it as "hunting," and not "butchering!"

kevin1

Ihad theopportunity at one of the public input meetings to meet Bellar's son Chuck and speak with him about their farm in an effort to keep an open mind. According to him the entire farm is somewhere around 1,100-1,200 acres and subdivided into smaller parcels for pasture , breeding pens , feedlots , and of course the shooting pens . The largest shooting pen was about six acres , and supposedly had some level of "escape cover" such as shrubbery and trees . Since I was routinely hunting a public parcel of 395 acres , and a 400 acre private farm parcelat the time I was dismayed by this revelation . A guy posted 25 feet up a tree could easily survey the entire pen area that wasn't directly screened by other trees . I currently reside on a ten acre plot that is fairly heavily wooded , and I can say with confidence that it's onlymy level of proficiency and dumb luck on the deer's partthat allows them any realistic chance of passing through my patch without getting shotsince I know every possible route they could take . This conversation took place before the start of the meeting and was continued during the lunch break . Fellowmember Jack Ryan was also in attendance , and can verify the substance of this conversation . Jack , in fact , asked Chuck many of the more pointed questions , some of which Chuck seemed distinctly uncomfortable answering . I also noticed that during the meeting itself when the deer pimps were asked any revealing questions they would immediately begin trying to dodge the question and sidetrack the person who asked it .