Oh, here we go again…
Country music singer, Jordan Davis, who is fresh off a rather comical mix up with Canadian border police (apparently there’s another Jordan Davis who has a warrant in Indiana), has found himself in hot water again. And this time, it’s because of something that he actually did.
The Louisiana native recently checked a dream hunt off his bucket list, axis deer in Hawaii, and it sure sounds like many of his fans are not on board with hunting, or at least, posting about it. Last weekend Davis shared a photo with a downed axis deer, as well as a handful of other pics from the beautiful state of Hawaii. If you know anything about hunting at all, axis deer is largely regarded as one of the most delicious and tasty game meats in the world. Not “gamey” and super tender, it’s right up there with elk as a top choice among most hunters.
Jordan was pumped to fill up the freezer, calling it an “absolute bucket list” hunt:
“Axis deer in Hawaii. Absolute bucket list hunt with some great people.”
We’ll get to the backlash in a minute, but first, I want to walk through the history of axis deer in Hawaii just to set some context for the hunt.
Axis Deer In Hawaii
Axis deer are actually native to the India and were first introduced to the Hawaiian Islands in the 1860s as a gift to King Kamehameha V. Originally released on the island of Molokai, they were later introduced to Lanai and Maui. They have a rather striking, year-round spotted coat (similar to a whitetail fawn) and the males don these tall, sweeping antlers. They are undeniably beautiful animals, but they were never meant to live in the Hawaiian ecosystem.
Axis deer are native to India where they had to survive tigers, leopards, lions and other violent predators (as well as harsh weather conditions), they are incredibly resilient, agile and downright hard to hunt. They’ve been known to “jump the string” and duck out of the way of arrows before they can hit.
But Hawaii is a tropical paradise with zero natural predators, giving the axis deer free reign to roam and breed as they please. Unlike North American whitetail or mule deer that have a strict rutting season, Axis deer breed year-round. Since they have no predators, they have severely overpopulated Maui, Lanai, and Molokai., consuming native vegetation down to the dirt, which leads to massive soil erosion. When it rains, this loose topsoil washes onto the coral reefs, suffocating marine life. It’s a massive ecological problem. They cause millions of dollars in damage annually to local farmers and ranchers by wiping out crops and competing with cattle for forage.
Of course, when you have an invasive species that is severely overpopulated in a region, the natural solution is to eradicate the problem, or at least make a concerted effort to reduce the population so the environment can thrive again. And it just so happens that Hawaii is incredible beautiful, axis deer taste incredibly delicious, and therefore, hunters absolute jump at the opportunity to harvest one (or a few depending on which island you’re on). It’s not cheap, but you get an incredible vacation, a ton of tasty wild game meat, and you participate in the conservation of the environment… it’s a win-win-win-win for everybody.
Well, except the anti-hunting crowd… which Jordan Davis apparently shares a lot of fans with…
The Fan Backlash
Sometimes when a famous country artist or other celebrity posts a hunting picture, you find a ton of PETA folks bombarding the comments, but a lot of these seem like actual fans. They also oddly think he can hunt if he wants, but shouldn’t post it because his fans follow him for music. Apparently, they want to dictate what he can and cannot post on his own Instagram account and it sounds like he is only allowed to post about music… laughable.
Here’s a look at some of the ignorance:
I can’t understand how people find joy killing animals like that.. totally understand kill to eat (as I eat too) but show a dead animal like a trophy to be proud of it’s just weird to me
If this is what you do in your spare time ok but your music fans don’t need to see this. Is this where our ticket money goes
I hate to see this – because i have always loved your music and your whole vibe – but this is extremely disappointing. Sentient beings are not here to killed for trophies.
Wow. Super glad we didn’t manage to see you on tour now. Think the universe had my back with that one… absolutely horrific
That’s a no from me. Unfollowing.
This is horrifying
Unfollowing now
Just so wrong to post this.. I’m disappointed with him
Killing the biggest and strongest isn’t the flex you think it is. Weakening the gene pool isn’t great for future generations.
Your bucket list is to kill a specific animal??
No. I didn’t follow you for this. This should have been kept for a family & friends post.
Oh dear. No need to advertise this… especially to UK fans
I’m a big fan and seen you live so many times but this hurt my heart . Very unnecessary!
Disgusting.
Oh that’s horrible, how is this a bucket list ? Isn’t there anything better to do ?
While I understand the need for deer culling, for me it’s the trophy hunting vibe you’re giving off that makes these images hard to look at. I presume the majority of people, including myself, who follow you are here because of your music and don’t expect to see images of you gloating over a kill.
And it goes on and on like that…
Look, if you don’t like hunting, that is your prerogative. You don’t have to like it, and I can understand why people find it uncomfortable. It’s killing a living and breathing animal, I fully understand why that makes people uncomfortable. But I do have a problem with people who eat meat from McDonalds or the grocery store and act like that wasn’t an animal that got killed too. Like if you can create enough distance from it, or the animal isn’t cute enough, it doesn’t matter? Nah, that makes no sense to me.
Hunting is an important and necessary part of conservation. In the United States, wildlife conservation is largely funded by hunters. A federal tax is placed on firearms, ammunition, and archery equipment. This tax, combined with state hunting license fees, tags, stamps, etc… generates billions of dollars annually and that money goes directly to state wildlife agencies to fund habitat restoration, wildlife research, and the protection of both game and non-game animals.
As detailed above with the Hawaiian axis deer problem, landscapes have a strict “carrying capacity,” which means the maximum number of animals an environment can support without being destroyed. Unchecked, deer species can destroy forest understories, wipe out native plants, and eventually suffer from mass starvation and diseases like Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Regulated hunting acts as a controlled predatory force to keep populations stable and ecosystems healthy. It also helps to mitigate human interactions. As human populations expand into wild areas, conflicts inevitably arise. Overpopulated wildlife leads to a massive spike in vehicle-animal collisions, agricultural crop destruction, and damage to residential areas. Regulated hunting helps keep wildlife numbers at a socially and economically acceptable threshold, fostering a more peaceful coexistence between communities and local fauna.
It’s a science that is well-regulated to help everybody involved thrive… it’s not “killing for fun,” “trophy hunting” or whatever other nonsense argument you want to make. Ultimately, conservation is not about preserving individual animals, but about ensuring the long-term survival of entire species and the health of the habitats they depend on. That’s cold hard fact.
And finally, these comments trying to police what Jordan can and cannot post on his own account because you’re a fan who bought tickets? Gimme a break. What an insane level of entitlement… he doesn’t owe you his Instagram feed. Touch some grass.
