A Kiwi dad, so far known only as Johnny has incurred the wrath of the Internet after posting a snap of his young daughter taking a bite out of the “warm quivering heart” of a deer she just hunted.
The images which show the proud dad and his eight-year-old daughter posing by the dead animal and also show the little girl biting the heart of the animal were posted to the New Zealand Woman Hunters page. The page has subsequently been removed after the post sparked outrage.
The post read:
“Check out my little pink ninja princess Chloe (8) with her first deer a young stag. Shot in a bush block on a friends farm last weekend. She made tricky downhill shot using my shoulder as a leaning rest and shot with dads 7mm-08 at about 40m. Then she took a bite from its warm quivering heart, Go, Chloe!!”
The images rapidly spread far beyond the hunting Facebook page; it was shared 20,000 times and attracted thousands of vitriolic comments before it was deleted.
Some of the comments supported the unorthodox parenting:
The dad explained to Fairfax Media that while he understands for many hunting is an activity they disagree with, he is “not fussed” with other people’s opinions.
“Safety is the important thing; I carry the firearm because it’s a bit too heavy for her. I ran her through the seven basic rules and taught her about safety,” he explained.
“Chloe has been coming hunting with me since she was eight months old in a front pack. This was her first deer. She has shot a goat, and been target shooting.”
He went on to argue that biting the heart of the first kill is something of a hunting tradition:
“I’d quote the saying, ‘Lions do not care of the opinions of sheep.’ She wanted to do it when she saw a picture of her uncle biting the heart of his first deer.”
“We’re not too serious about it; it’s something some hunters do with the first kill. I wouldn’t say [it is] ritualistic, but she is a hunter now.”
