Hey...rednecks....does this LOOK like a pheasant or a duck to you? No? Then perhaps you can control yourselves before pulling the trigger next time you see one. Save yourself $85,000....
Well, now I know why I’ve gotten several emails and attempted blog posts from enraged South Dakota rednecks in the last day. One of their fellow rednecks, Jeff Blachford of Miller, South Dakota, has been fined $85,000 for killing a Whooping Crane last year.
Some brilliant logic from these folks though on why it’s perfectly fine to go out and shoot one of the most endangered birds in the world. My favorite…the idiot that posted this morning saying that Whooping Crane “mortality rates are high because of natural causes…they just can’t get off the ground fast enough” to get away from predators (or South Dakota rednecks with guns?). Brilliant. They’ve somehow survived for thousands of years despite this “handicap” of not being able to “get off the ground fast enough”.
Surprising, this brilliant person may be the intellectual giant of Miller, given some of the other emails and attempted posts I’ve gotten. I’m surprised some of these folks are able to log on to a computer and actually produce a message of any kind.
I hope an $85,000 fine has taught you a lesson, Mr. Blachford. I hope the rest of the Miller redneck crowd realizes how incredibly small and insignificant they are (we all are) in the big scheme of things, and that YES, wiping a species off the face of the earth IS a big deal.
This is South Dakota. Given the “culture” ( hesitate to use that word here) of the state, you’re allowed to blast away at practically anything that moves. However, the next time you see an enormous white bird and you don’t know what it is, perhaps you’ll now pause before actually pulling the trigger. In the meantime, I think I’ll bestow the coveted “scum of the week” award to Mr. Blachford, and to all of the redneck “supporters” who have tried to email or post.
I bet you have some mistakes in your background you would not like to come to light. Maybe if you knew the true story you would not be proving how opionated you really are. Very short sighted on your part.
Yes, very “short-sighted”. I am sure there’s a very good redneck reason for shooting a five-foot tall bird. Perhaps, for example, the Miller redneck crowd thought it was just an extremely large, albino pheasant!!!
Maybe the Miller redneck crowd mistook the bird for Al Gore, a perfectly valid reason for a redneck South Dakotan to start blasting away.
Mistake, indeed. An $85,0000 mistake. Pardon me for being “opinionated” on my very own blog, but this isn’t my first rodeo. While I know most South Dakota sportsmen are INDEED good sportsmen, I’ve come across far too many situations when I’ve been out in the field where a redneck or handful of rednecks cause a hell of a lot of harm.
Shooting a completely unmistakeable bird, one of the rarest birds in the world, certainly qualifies as a “hell of a lot of harm”. A $85,000 fine wouldn’t have been levied if this were just some innocent “mistake”.
Looking at your article here, I see you have as many shares and tweets at the bottom of the page as your IQ Terry, “0″. I bet Mr. Blachford had more people supporting in court than you have hits on your site. Quit trashing “rednecks of SD” like this happens every day. You’re just another bitter aging hippy liberal douche that is in the sad minority here. Where are you even from? If you don’t like the SD “redneck culture”, we’ll gladly let you leave and relocate to another place that is more accomodating to your ideology. Furthermore, if were Mr. Blachford, I would ask Congress for a letter of apology because he saved more money on our national debt in one day than Obama has in four years. The guy should be pardoned by the governor because for his public service.
Yes, the guy should be pardoned “because for his public service”. Whatever that means.
And no, thankfully, it doesn’t happen every day. Most South Dakota sportsmen are indeed real sportsmen. This only happens when the Miller redneck crowd gets itchy trigger fingers and feels the need to go out and start blasting away at every living thing they see.
As for my site, I’ve already done the world a tremendous service! Given all the posts, attempted posts, and emails from the Miller redneck crowd, by my calculations I’ve saved 1,329 animals that would have otherwise been needlessly shot, had Miller residents been out and about, instead of obsessing over my website!!
Sorry. I had a typo. It should have read simply “for his public service”. How big is your ego? You haven’t saved anything. I really hope you’re not under the misconception that this blog actually does something useful. I’m not saying it was right to shoot this bird. Not even he is apparently since he pleaded guilty. If you would have done any sort of investigative research, you’d know that “Jesse’s” post on this site was by far the most accurate. You’re just bashing not only a person, but a whole group of people that you don’t understand anything about. As a resident of this area of “rednecks” I take offense. Apparently, so do others in this area. You’re not a member of this community, nor do you know how the people in large feel about this issue. You come off sounding like a bitter tree hugger from Minnesota. He owned up to it on his own free will and it’s over. I feel he was punished more than enough for it.
Funny how much energy you’re putting into a blog that doesn’t “do something useful”!!!
Yes, “George”, “Jesse’s” post was the “most accurate”. The one claiming we should give this loser credit for eventually pleading guilty to the crime?
Yes, let’s give this loser “credit”!! Let’s throw him a parade! Let’s give him a medal!! He shot an unmistakable bird just for kicks, one of the rarest birds in the world! But hey, now he’s “manned up”!! I’d make him mayor of Miller for being such a stand-up guy.
Do I know how people in that area feel about the issue? It’s very apparent from the Miller rednecks trying to post out here just how incredibly screwed up your belief systems are. Defending the man and giving him “credit”? Not exactly the sentiment most normal folks would have.
But then again, you’re not normal. You’re from Miller.
I just “love’ redneck righteousness!! Killing beautiful, treasured birds. Obviously a parental role model. bet this loser supports things like “pro-life” and is anti-abortion and just loves capital punishment–just get to pick whom or what to kill. There is nothing which can justify someone killing a large majestic creature. I’m happy he got caught and hopes it takes him and his defensive buddies alot of beer money to pay this fine.
Blachford got off with a light sentence. He could have received 20 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine. He also was charged initially with witness tampering. If he and some of the yahoos have learned a lesson by this slap on the wrist, that’s good. I would have given him some time in prison.
Just to clarify for everyone. Blachford was facing one year in custody and up to 150000 dollar fine. The 20 years and 250000 was only brought up because of the tampering with a witness which quickly got dropped because they didnt have any evidence and was just trying to get him with some sort of felony. And let the record show that Blachford agreed to pay the 85000 and wasn’t “sentenced” that. He could fought for less restitution, but he didnt. And also let the record show that he didnt “get caught” and that he turned himself in to authorities cause he felt bad about it. So before you keep saying how bad of a guy he is just know that he did the right thing and accepted that he did wrong. He worked hand in hand with authorities to make everything painless for him as well as the authorities. He’s gonna be paying along time for this mistake that he whole hearted accepted and justice was served so give the guy a little credit about being a man about accepting his mistake. He coulda said nothing and the authorities could still be looking for someone to arrest. Don’t believe everything you see in the papers either. Just a case that proves that the media blows everything way out of proportion. Hopefully this brings a little site to things and see he doesn’t have to be deemed has this horrible guy the rest of his life.
Gotta love the “supporters” who are too gutless to even provide a real email address…
“Jesse”…yes, this is ALL about this loser, and how we should all “give the guy a little credit”. Sure, the idiot went out and blasted away one of the most endangered birds on the planet, a massive bird SO unlike anything else that there’s no way it could have been done by mistake. Sure, he was charged with a Federal crime, and charged with witness tampering before he started to cooperate.
But hey, let’s “give the guy some credit” for being such a great, stand-up guy.
Good call, “Jesse”.