July 17, 2013
By PH Online Editors
PETA has more high-profile celebrity dollars rolling in these days than the collection plate at the Church of Scientology. Take, for instance, PETA's annual Sexiest Vegetarian contest.
As we've written before, these "animal-lovers" line up dozens of celebs for an online vote and advertise the heck out of the promotion. Almost every celebrity entered tweets or posts to Facebook in support of the effort, further widening PETA's pop culture reach. It's that reach and committed advocacy that sets this anti-hunting group apart from their opponents. While many high-profile athletes, politicians and country singers kill animals and eat meat, few take their passions to the airwaves with as much tenacity as PETA's Tinseltown followers. Those that do — including former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan — are often met with public pushback. That needs to change .
That's where our Sexiest Meat Eater competition comes in.
Last year over 2,000 hunters voted and Kristy Lee Cook and the Trump brothers took home the crown for sexiest male and female meat eaters. This year we're back to make the same statement. In our second annual ode to protein pioneers, we're putting 16 more steak-loving role models up for your vote. The winners get well, nothing, other than our undying affection and the chance to tell every PETA member where they can shove their celery. See if Kristy and the Trumps can defend their crowns.
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Click through the photos, learn more about these meat-loving idols and cast your vote below for your favorite male and female. Winners will be selected on Aug. 7.
Blake Shelton Blake Shelton loves to hunt and often shouts out his favorite pastime on national TV. His Twitter wars with PETA are famous, and his redneck twang certainly stands out on NBC's airwaves.
Sexiest Moment: He actually took Adam Levine, fellow Hollywood-type and judge from the famed talent show The Voice, duck hunting on his place in Oklahoma . Of course, Levine chickened out and didn't go through with the kill, but at least our boy Blake is giving his best effort to convert Tinseltown wussies.
Eva Longoria Though she's more well-known for turning heads on
Desperate Housewives , actress Eva Longoria has been fairly open in the past about her hunting past, making her a breath of fresh air among snobby Hollywood bleeding hearts.
Sexiest Moment: Be it rabbit, deer or even snake, Longoria says she can shoot it, skin it and cook it up by suppertime. Now that's one hard-working Housewife .
— Photo by The Associated Press
Haley Heath Simply put, Haley Heath is one of us. Her aw-shucks grin and down-to-earth lifestyle leaves most viewers all tingly inside. Not to mention she's certainly put in her time in the woods and can stand up to any hunting challenge thrown her way. You can catch Heath in action on
The Sportsman Channel with her husband and two little ones on their show
Family Traditions TV .
Sexiest Moment: Heath, a fifth generation hunter, was the first woman to receive The Sportsman Channel's Viewer Favorite award and continues to put family values and the outdoors in the spotlight.
Jennifer Lawrence Our beloved
Hunger Games hottie
dialed up this gem in reference to a squirrel hunting scene in her film
Winter's Bone (2010): 'I should say it wasn't real, for PETA, but screw PETA. ' That quote was just the first in a long line of anti-Hollywood barbs that show off this 22-year-old's authenticity. She's been a breath a fresh air (very sexy air) for hunters and meat eaters everywhere since she burst onto the big screen.
Sexiest Moment: It's not hard to find a sexy moment for Lawrence, but we're constantly in awe of how many folks she has brought to bowhunting and archery just by playing the arrow slinging protagonist Katniss Everdeen so very well.
Justin Tuck When he's not flattening opposing quarterbacks, New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck loves spending time with a bow in hand chasing down all sorts of big game. We're not sure which is more awesome: laying out Tom Brady en route to another Super Bowl win, or letting an arrow fly into a wild hog's boiler room. We're leaning toward the latter.
Sexiest Moment: Tuck joined up with our friends at Bowhunter to arrow a few javelina in south Texas, and proved to be just as fearsome in the field as he is at MetLife Stadium.
— Photo by Daniela Farrera
Kay Robertson Master chef and matriarch of a hunting empire, "Miss Kay" Robertson appears alongside her husband — Duck Commander founder and former star LSU quarterback Phil Robertson — and her sons Willie, Jase and Jep on the hit A&E show
Duck Dynasty . The boys may get all the attention, but come on, we know who the real star of the show is.
Sexiest Moment: Being a strong, supportive wife and mother to a group of burly, bearded, duck-huntin' so-and-so's is enough to get outdoorsmen across the country searching for their own Miss Kay. Kudos to you, ma'am. Here's hoping we can get our hands on a jar of your famous homemade jam.
Kristy Lee Cook Though she entered the national spotlight as a contestant on
American Idol , Kristy Lee Cook made no bones about who she really is — a down-home, huntin' country girl — with her show
Goin' Country .
Sexiest Moment: Of course, any time someone like Cook gets a show that involves harvesting some tasty, tasty backstraps, someone's going to get their Pampers in a bunch. PETA recommended — after saying Cook was persuing her "15 minutes of shame" — Cook should follow other American Idol personalities like Kellie Pickler, Carrie Underwood and Simon Cowell, who are all gung-ho for PETA and soy, but Cook took a classy high road by replying, "Given that hunters have done more for American wildlife conservation than any other group in history, I make no apology for being one." No wonder she won our Sexiest Female Meat Eater in 2012 .
Melissa Bachman Another one of the industry's leading female personalities, Melissa Bachman can arrow just about any big game you can imagine, from whitetails and muleys to gators and black bears. Don't let that cute Minnesota accent fool you; this lady will put more meat in her freezer on one season than you will in a lifetime.
Sexiest Moment: You're looking at it. Bachman's bowfishing blog remains one of the all-time most popular Petersen's Hunting articles, though we're still trying to figure out exactly why.
Michael Waddell What can we say about Michael Waddell that hasn't been said before? A frequent Petersen's Hunting contributor, Waddell has made a name for himself as one of the top hunters out there today — and one of the best looking.
Sexiest Moment: How a man can look so good and hail from a town called Booger Bottom, Ga., is a mystery to all of us, but we salute you nonetheless, Mr. Waddell.
Si Robertson Is it the beard? The ponytail? The tea cup? The glasses? Ladies love
the boys from A&E's Duck Dynasty , and Uncle Si makes a strong case as the breakout star of the show. These guys do their part to bring hunting to the mainstream, but Uncle Si takes it a step further — he makes it look sexy.
Sexiest Moment: This video . 'Nuff said.
The Trump Brothers You may not have guessed the sons of The Donald were avid outdoorsman, but believe it or not, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are crazy about putting meat on the table the old-fashioned way. With a few million bucks — that's dollars, not wall-hangers — at their disposal, the Trump Brothers are now well-known for taking expensive hunting junkets the rest of us only dream about.
Sexiest Moment: The Trump Brothers' much-publicized African safari earned the ire of much of the Western world. From PETA to the national media, folks were up in arms over the Trumps taking all sorts of African big game, including a leopard, an elephant and a Cape buffalo, to name a few. Never mind the fact that the hunt was perfectly legal, and the meat went to local villages. No doubt, the Trumps were well-deserving of our Sexiest Male Meat Eater award in 2012 .
Willie Robertson Head of Duck Commander and Buck Commander, Willie Robertson has created a hunting empire with the family brands, taking the companies to unprecedented heights with shows like A&E's
Duck Dynasty , one of the highest rated shows on television. His outstanding morals on family and the outdoors — as well as his beard and trademark bandana — have made him a role model for outdoorsmen everywhere. Outdoorswomen, meanwhile, can only hope and pray they can find a man of Willie's caliber.
Sexiest Moment: Never has a duck hunter looked better than when Willie modeled the fictional Carrot Call while taking a jab at anti-hunting singer Morrissey on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon .
Georgia Pellegrini They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and the fellas on our editorial staff can certainly attest to that. So if that's the case,
Georgia Pellegrini is the cartographer who leads women to romantic bliss with their (hungry) men. Author of the book
Girl Hunter , Pellegrini is open about her love of wild game, and even has a section of her website devoted entirely to game meat.
Sexiest Moment: Take your pick . From bison pizza to oryx fajitas, Pellegrini's delicious wild game recipes have our would-be male suitors shopping for engagement rings.
Paul Ryan OK, so the Romney-Ryan ticket wasn't able to get into the White House, but vice presidential candidate and Wisconsin representative Paul Ryan endeared himself to the hearts of outdoorsmen as he went on about his love of hunting and the outdoors.
Sexiest Moment: Posing with his compound bow in his Washington office was enough to get hunting gals all hot and bothered. Throw in the photos of Ryan and his quarry, and the ladies were sent into a frenzy.
— Photo by Gage Skidmore
WINNER: Shawn Michaels As a professional wrestler, Shawn "The Heartbreak Kid" Michaels became a fan favorite in the ring with moves like "Sweet Chin Music" and "Teardrop Suplex." But Michaels is just as intimidating in the field, and has made a name for himself as an outdoorsman with his show,
MacMillan River Adventures .
Sexiest Moment: His theme song says it all .
— Photo by David Seto
WINNER: Tiffany Lakosky Without a doubt one of the most female hunters around, Tiffany Lakosky and her husband, Lee, have made a name for themselves on their show,
The Crush — and the title makes sense, given the emotions of her male fans.
Sexiest Moment: When the hunting industry boycotted the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show over the event's AR ban , Tiffany was one of the personalities taking a stand, saying in a joint statement with Lee, "We can't support a show that doesn't completely support the Second Amendment... Anyone who believes this isn't a big deal is wrong. It is a big deal because this is where it starts. There's a reason for the Second Amendment and we all need to band together and stand behind it." 'Atta girl.
