Sam Barber recently went on a hunting trip to Alaska. But when the "Indigo" singer showed off the caribou he bagged on social media, the backlash began.
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Sam Barber Is a Hunter
Like many country artists, the 23-year-old Barber is also an outdoorsman. And like any hunter, the country-folk artist showed off what he harvested: an enormous caribou.
Some fans took to the comments to congratulate the singer, while others took issue with Barber's carousel of images from his excursion, calling it "disgusting" and "gross."
One user wrote, "i love you sam but this isn't right."
Another added, "There's no true fun in hurting an innocent being."
Another comment read, "Another photo like this puts me as a fun far away from you. Even if you do this why to post it? That is one of the gorgeous animals in the world."
Someone even wrote, "Followed for music, unfollowed for this."
What Barber Did Is Perfectly Legal
Other users defended Barber, saying hunters like him help conservation efforts in Alaska.
"To all y'all complaining about hunting," one user wrote. "He's harvesting a caribou and there are around 950,000 caribou across 32 herds in Alaska. Around 22,000 are legally harvested each year for food. Alaska Fish & Game actively monitors individual herds and regulates hunting based on what each population can sustainably support - and they restrict or completely close hunting when a herd can't support it. This isn't indiscriminate killing; it's a regulated harvest and a normal part of wildlife management and food provision in Alaska. Get a grip."
Barber is far from the only country artist who hunts. Earlier this year, the Drury Outdoors team shared some pics of Morgan Wallen with the 8-point Iowa Whitetail he caught
Riley Green is also an avid outdoorsman. Last year, he had an accident while hunting that got blown out of proportion.
"It was really not that bad. I was hunting in Ohio, and I stepped on a nail, and it snowed, and so... I went to the hospital to get a shot, a tetanus shot," he said last year. "But there was an article that came out that said it was 'impaled.' Which sounds awful, and it said I was hospitalized, which is very different from going to the hospital. But I'm fine."
