Anti-Hunters Slam Olympic Shooter Corey Cogdell

Olympic shooters are really making the rounds in the American media lately. First, Kim Rhode set an American Olympic record by medaling in her fifth straight appearance in the games, shooting an Olympic record 99/100 in women's skeet shooting.

Now, another member of Team USA is making headlines. Alaska native Corey Cogdell -- a longtime huntress who was listed No. 17 on the 99 Sexiest Olympic Athletes -- recently posted photos to her fan page on Facebook from a hunt in Africa, as well as a few back in the good ole' U.S.A.

Naturally, the anti-hunting crowd was there to tell her what a terrible person she is for practicing a completely legal activity. On Monday, one intrepid social media loudmouth started the Facebook page "Corey Cogdell Is Not Welcome In Africa," in which some less-than-civil criticism has been levied against Cogdell.

That criticism in turn leaked over to her own page, which according to GoHuntn.com, was unfortunately taken down due to the overwhelmingly negative feedback, some of it downright threatening.

"I hope someone shoots your firstborn," writes one user, Steven Carey Lassoff. How ironic it is that animal rights activists are quick to criticize hunting by calling it "murder," yet will casually joke about shooting the children of those they disagree with. Yeah, that's pretty open-minded.

Cogdell is still active on Twitter, where she still gets plenty of love from her supporters as she prepares to compete in women's trap shooting Wednesday.

However, her absence on Facebook will be missed, and we're sad to see a few haters forcing her away. To them we say, this is not how adults act. You may claim to be civil, but flooding Cogdell's page with negative comments over participating in a vital part of Africa's local economies and conservation efforts is immature, at best. Threatening her is just plain wrong.

As for Ms. Cogdell, we can only wish you the best of luck as you represent America in the games, and we wish you happy hunting when you return home. Remember, the America you represent is full of hunters, conservationists and those who care about our sport; we're not all small-minded heretics.

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