A video made the rounds of social media last week that is painful. It began as an Instagram post labeled “big game kill” and it was hard to know how facetious that was; Michael Garcia of Antonito recorded his dog, a smallish, heeler-looking animal, killing a fawn that could not have been more than a couple of weeks old – and then showed the fawn skinned, apparently Garcia’s handiwork.
Garcia had been working as a fishing guide at Conejos River Anglers, in Antonito. Someone at the company told Denver’s FOX31 news it now planned to let him go, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it is investigating the incident.
Garcia took to Facebook to say, “I would like to apologize to everyone for the offensive video, and pictures I posted ... I truly am a lover of the outdoors and in no way would have thought it would get this out of hand! ... Hopefully the social media world will have some understanding. Stay focused, stay hydrated, and hunt hard, see you out there!”
Any hunter worth her salt and many of the rest of us would prefer not seeing Garcia out there, or here. As long as he thinks the problem is his sick trophy adventure got “out of hand” on social media, he might be better off staying home for everyone’s sake. The deer have it hard enough already.
