It shouldn’t have been a controversy in the first place…
2026 has already been a huge year for Cody Johnson, and it’s only getting better from here. Riding the highs of his first-ever Male Vocalist of the Year award at the CMAs back in November, Johnson would go on to break George Strait’s Rodeo Houston’s concert-only attendance record in March, performing to a crowd of 80,203. In case that wasn’t enough, he’d follow it up with an ACM Male Artist of the Year AND his first-ever Entertainer of the Year win earlier this month at the 61st annual ACM Awards.
At this point in his career, it’s no secret that the “Dirt Cheap” singer is quite the avid hunter. In addition to frequently posting photos from his hunting trips when he’s off tour, this past September, Johnson actually became a world-record-holding hunter during his hunt at Covered S Ranch in Synder, Texas, when he took home a bearded ram (that’s typically native to Central and South Asia).
Given his affinity for hunting and the huge year he’s had so far, the Texas native decided to celebrate the recent Entertainer of the Year win with a 10-day journey deep in the Alaskan wilderness on a grizzly hunt.
As it turns out, it was a pretty successful hunt for the Texas native. In an Instagram showing off a grizzly bear he harvested and teasing a full video documenting the Chasing Legends YouTube channel coming soon, he’d call the hunt the “trip of a lifetime.”
Though Johnson has caught some criticism on nearly all of his hunting posts over the years, this one in particular caught the attention of many fans and animal lovers, with many shaming him and expressing disappointment in the hunt. Besides some typical moral grandstanding of Johnson’s hunt, others were particularly angry that he was “showing off” the grizzly. Of course, this is commonplace anytime a country artist posts a hunting picture. There is always a certain segment of fans who are opposed to hunting, and there’s also a segment of people, perhaps even more aggressively, who oppose bear hunting.
“Poor bear, love your music but not this”
“Rich dudes killing wildlife for fun and to show off. Awesome.”
“Love your music … DESPISE being publicized. I understand efforts for population, etc. but … it is truly a beautiful animal that was hunted and this is NOT Mother Nature.”
In addition to the comments above, some were questioning whether the hunt itself was legal. Of course, it absolutely was legal, with Alaska offering nonresidents the opportunity to hunt grizzlies following strict guidelines, which include not killing cubs and traveling during a specific spring season (among others) — all of which Johnson and Co. followed here. And of course, Alaskan wildlife officials determine strict numbers of tags that are given out in an effort to maintain a proper balance of the ecosystem. It should also be mentioned that fees associated with hunting, whether it’s licenses, tags, stamps, etc… directly benefit conservation efforts in the state of Alaska, and the same goes for every state around the country. Hunting contributes a significant amount of money towards habitat restoration, species management, and wildlife research.
Though there were quite a few hate comments toward Johnson, plenty of other fans came to his defense — not only describing the aforementioned guidelines but also noting how Alaska itself allows this for conservation efforts.
“There are two hunting season for grizzlies in Alaska… one April -June and the other August-October. It’s all for conservation methods. It is a state sanctioned hunt which helps with the predator population, which helps with moose and caribou populations, etc.”
As you can see, it caused quite the stir among fans in both directions — mainly negatively — and the “‘Til You Can’t singer is finally responding to the backlash.
In a recent interview with Ryan Fox on American Country Countdown, Johnson explained that he received praise for the hunt from Alaskan officials. In particular, he’d note how big of an issue grizzlies are to the moose and caribou population in the state, explaining that a male grizzly eats anywhere from 120 to 150 calves a year.
“I caught so much flak for shooting this bear. Whereas people in Alaska, they praised it, because when you don’t control a predator population like a grizzly bear, it can get out of control really fast. A statistic is that a male grizzly bear eats between 120 and 150 calves a year — being moose or caribou — so the moose and caribou populations are suffering, and they’re having to really regulate hunting on them.”
Johnson would also add that, at its core, the trip was just as much about conserving the aforementioned moose and caribou population as it was a meat-harvesting hunt. Additionally, he’d rightfully call out the hypocrisy from many in the comments, commenting that it’s “awful ironic” that many people criticizing him have no issue eating meat when they don’t have to go out and kill the animal themselves.
In a lot of ways, in every way, this was not only a meat-harvesting hunt; it was a conservationist effort tag. So I’m really proud of it. You’re never going to please everybody, but I just think that it’s awful ironic that people would say, ‘How dare you kill this poor bear, but do you want to go eat at Chick-fil-A?'”
Well said.
@ryanfoxnow ACC EXCLUSIVE: ACM Entertainer of the Year Cody Johnson opens up to Ryan Fox about his recent Alaskan Bear Hunt and the blowback he’s received about it online. #CodyJohnson #AmericanCountryCountdow@Cody Johnson ♬ original sound – Ryan Fox
