The former NHL player received near instant backlash for his hunting posts on social media. (Tim Brent Instagram)
A former professional hockey player has received death threats and abusive comments online after posting photos and boasting about a grizzly bear he hunted last week.
Tim Brent, 34, shared multiples pictures of himself posing with the large bear in the Yukon, Canada.
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“Alright folks, here is my Mountain Grizzly! We put an awesome stalk on him but he spotted us at about 75 yards. Instead of taking off he turned and came right at us. It was very easy to tell this boar owned the valley we were hunting in and wasn’t scared of anything!” Brent wrote in a caption on Instagram.
In another photo of Brent holding up the massive paw, he shares, “Did you know on average a single Grizzly eats around 40 Moose and Caribou calves during each calving season?”
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The Canadian national, who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes before retiring in 2016, began receiving backlash right away for the multiple hunting photos – including from comedian Ricky Gervais.
Some of the threats of violence were so extreme, Brent posted that he contacted Twitter. However, the social media platform said the threats did not violate their abuse policy.
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Brent has called out the criticisms as what “hunters and conservationists” are “up against.”
Though, there have been a few that have defended Brent, and his wife Eva Shockey-Brent, who is a well known hunter and first woman in three decades to make the cover of Field & Stream.
Brent and his wife, another avid hunter, are open about their hunting lifestyle. (Tim Brent Instagram)
“STHU!! You know nothing about this sport keep your negative comments to yourself or better yet why don’t you cry about to your fellow yuppies & tree hugging vegan friends nobody is on your page harassing you & your lifestyle so carry on hater please & thank you!” one wrote on Instagram.
According to the Yukon Environmental agency, the bag limit for grizzly bears is one for every three license years. Bears in the wild usually live 20-25 years and males can reach up to 600 pounds.
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Brent also posted photos of his moose kill on Instagram and Twitter to the same response.