American Ryder Cup golfer Sam Burns has sparked controversy after posting a photograph of himself on social media with a dead deer.
The 28-year-old, who was wearing a camouflage version of president-elect Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ cap, posted the picture on his Instagram page alongside the caption: “Deer hunting is great again!”
Burns, who is a five-times winner on the PGA Tour, was condemned by some Instagram users but the image was endorsed by others and ‘liked’ by fellow golfers including Billy Horschel and Rickie Fowler.
Nick Dunlap, who is 20 and ranked 30th in the world, replied: “Where does one get such a hat?”
Brian Harman, who won The Open at Royal Liverpool in 2023, has also spoken at length about his passion for hunting. It earned him the nickname ‘The Butcher of Hoylake’.
“I love hunting, my brother and I do a lot of turkey hunting,” he told Golf Digest. “I love to deer hunt, I do a lot of bow hunting, we duck hunt. I killed the biggest deer of my life two years ago.
“I don’t shoot deer that aren’t mature. A lot of people say it’s cruel to kill an animal, but for me instead of depending on a grocery store—I enjoy eating meat—instead of depending on a grocery store, I go and I kill an animal that’s been roaming free its entire life and is about to die anyway. And I butcher it myself, I take care of all the meat myself and then I eat it or I give it to someone to eat or I cook it for someone else to eat.
“My goal is to leave the land in a better place than I found it. have great respect for wildlife. “I’ve got a lot of layers, man. I’m like an onion.”
Deer hunting is allowed by licence in most US states. Governor Tim Walz, who was Kamala Harris’s running mate and potential vice president in the recent election, has spoken about his own interest in hunting.
A ‘Hunters and Anglers for Harris-Walz” was announced during the campaign and described as “a new national organising program to engage, mobilise a broad coalition of sportspeople, conservationists and rural and gun violence prevention voters in key states across the country.”
