this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2024
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A Wyoming hunter who reportedly ran over a gray wolf with a snowmobile, taped the creature’s mouth shut, took a picture with it inside a local bar and then shot it to death behind the tavern has ignited calls for stiffer penalties in such an egregious case of animal abuse.

Cody Roberts, 42, is at the center of the uproar after being ticketed and fined a couple of hundred dollars for illegally possessing the wolf while it was still alive – but so far going unpunished for the manner in which he is said to have killed the animal.

Meanwhile, Wyoming wildlife authorities have kept much of the case hidden under a veil of secrecy, arguing that records on wolves taken in the state are not matter of public record under laws there.

But the news outlet WyoFile.com reported that the laws only protect the privacy of people “legally taking a wolf” within the state and therefore may not apply in the case of Roberts, who stands accused of flagrantly and cruelly violating hunting ethics.

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[–] SteefLem 129 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Funny that they keep calling him a hunter… hes not a hunter hes a psycho who get a stiffy from kicking something thats already down. A real hero /s

[–] [email protected] 20 points 7 months ago (5 children)

I mean, hiding in a tree, disguising your scent, scoping a dumb animal and shooting it with a rifle from a hundred yards away isn't exactly a fair fight either. I agree there is a difference, I think there is just a lot of mythmaking about what is effectively using all of the gifts of civilization in order to trick a sub toddler intelligence deer that it's not about to be murdered.

[–] [email protected] 52 points 7 months ago

The criticism isn't about a fair fight, it's about the unnecessary cruelty in the treatment of the animal. An important part of hunting ethics is minimizing the suffering of the prey. Kills should be as quick and efficient as possible.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 7 months ago (1 children)

If hunting was about honoring a fair fight, we wouldn't have lasted long as a species.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Well the world would certainly be a better place now if that were the case.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Idk, the other apocalypses without us were meteors and volcanos. At least ours has that solid narrative irony.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 7 months ago

There's no question the planet and all other life would be better off if we died out in the stone age. Climate change, PFAS, microplastics... We're parasites to the planet (channeling my best Andrew Ryan impression there).

[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago (2 children)

You’re not wrong, but I’ll say some devil’s s advocate stuff: hunting is a lot harder to get a successful kill than you make it out, deer are experts in their environment, they aren’t just bumbling around, and hunters usually honor the animals they kill reasonably well.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

When I've hunted blacktail in the Pacific Northwest that's certainly true. When I've hunted whitetail in the Midwest it was as if the deer also didn't want to live in that hellhole lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

I don't think dishonor is really the issue. I'm not a hunter, I'm actually vegan...but I like to think that most recreational game hunters are hunting responsibly and want to ensure as clean a kill as possible, and to put the animal down quickly if they don't get that on the first shot.

It's the poachers and irresponsible hunters they are aiming to stop. People hunting over their limit and without tags/permits. The point of the tags/permits/limits is to keep the population itself relatively healthy.

In a lot of regions, hunting is a necessity, if only because we've hunted down or driven out most of the game animals predators (like wolves). It's a necessary evil in order to keep the wild population from overbreeding.

[–] wjrii 14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

It is a cultural ritual and a challenge, but certainly not a "fight" in the sense of taking your chances one v. one. I don't hunt. I find the idea of making myself incredibly uncomfortable solely for the opportunity to be the one who kills my meat animal to be distinctly unappealing. That said, I eat meat. I can't do so and also condemn someone for being willing to kill an animal, even if I am eeshed out by the ones who seem to enjoy it too much.

I grew up around a lot of hunters, though, and to a one they all had chest-freezers full of venison, so in terms of expending vertebrate life they're certainly no worse than I am. Even field crops involve some chance of killing vertebrates, though I don't think it's as many as some of my fellow omnivores like to imply (and hay for livestock feed seems to be the worst of it). I'm cognizant of the difference between killing to eat and tolerating rather less killing in order to eat.

Ironically, allowing hunting itself is probably one of the best ways (and certainly one of the oldest) to encourage conservation of wild spaces and the lives therein, and if properly regulated it can be maintained at a scale that I don't think would be out of line with a fairly natural role for humans in the natural world. The world is messy, people have deeply held beliefs coming from vastly different frameworks and experiences, and finding the right balance is necessary to avoid even more tragic disasters.

Fuck this guy in Wyoming, though. Showing off and torturing a dying animal is cruelty for its own sake and I don't think that's a hard line to draw either. He sure as shit wouldn't do that with a calf or deer (or maybe he would, but he'd find even fewer defenders).

[–] JamesTBagg 13 points 7 months ago

No predatory animal is looking for a fair fight. Hell, if the fight is too fair the animal is likely to just choose different prey.

[–] Zombiepirate 78 points 7 months ago

What a miserable piece of shit.

You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat a person or animal that is helpless.

[–] ikidd 70 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

This is a poacher, not a hunter. And a roaring asshole.

[–] otterpop 50 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I guarantee you that the Wyoming Game and Fish department is doing everything it can in its power to throw the book at this guy and that they are disgusted by him. They're likely being very careful not to make mistakes and hand out information they're not legally allowed to.

[–] voracitude 23 points 7 months ago

Good. Fuck Cody Roberts.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 7 months ago (1 children)

If he would have just shot it to put it out of it's misery after it was run over I don't think anyone would have been upset. But duck taping it's mouth shut and then transporting it to a bar and then taking pictures for clout, and then shooting it, I hope this guy spends some serious time behind bars.

[–] poprocks 7 points 7 months ago

I'm sure he ran it over on purpose too. People like this have no conscience.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 7 months ago

I hope this guy gets taken behind the tavern too...

[–] dyathinkhesaurus 23 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I bet this guy peaked in high school.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 7 months ago

Peaked at birth. Their entire life has been a downhill trajectory

[–] [email protected] 19 points 7 months ago

That is some serial killer shit.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

arguing that records on wolves taken in the state are not matter of public record under laws there.

Why not?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Gotta demonstrate a public need to know about what you hunt.

But it all falls apart anyways because as wyofile.com said the protections are only for legally taking a wolf. So a newspaper would appeal if the case gets enough social media traction?

[–] Jim_Just_Jim 4 points 7 months ago

What a piece of garbage.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)
[–] gmtom -1 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Nono you don't understand every hunter has assured me that it's not about the sick satisfaction of taking a life, it's about helping nature by controlling populations and eating sustainable food, or whatever bullshit they come up with.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Yeah, don't go kill a wild (organic) animal and eat it, go to the grocery store and buy the antibiotic-riddled meat produced in awful conditions by a factory farm like the rest of us you disgusting FUCKS! /s

Dawg, I live in a real rural place. Maybe like 20% of the people I know use wild game as their primary source of meat; they take 1 elk or maybe 2 deer and fill up the freezer for the year to feed their family.

Trophy hunters, however, can absolutely FUCK right off.

Edit: and so can this wolf dude too.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Do those hunters also run over their prey with snowmobiles, tape their mouths shut, and show them off in a bar?

[–] gmtom -1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Have you ever seen people culling herds of wild boars?

[–] [email protected] -3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

That doesn't answer my question.

[–] gmtom 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Because its a bad question.

Like if he didn't tape its mouth shut, would that ha e made it okay?

If he had shot it instead of hitting it with a snow mobile, would that have made it okay?

If he just took it home instead of showing it off at the bar would that have made it okay?

Most hunters hunt for the entertainment of killing something.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 7 months ago

If he didn't tape its mouth shut, shot it instead of hitting it, and took it home instead of showing it off, that would be okay. It wouldn't even make a news story.

You're just against hunting and trying to paint all hunters as demons. I pointed out that most hunters are not like this person, and your response is essentially "it doesn't matter."

You'd be taken more seriously if you admit you're biased.