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December 10, 2012

West Virginia Mascot Shoots Bear With School Gun, Stirs Up Controversy

West Virginia University Mountaineer mascot Jonathan Kimble found himself between a bear and a hard place last week after he Tweeted details of his hunting trip with the university-issued muzzleloader.

Jonathan, who was voted to be the Mountaineer last February, took to the woods of his native Pendleton County Monday with a group of 15 friends and family members for the opening day of bear hunting season. He was armed with the school's famous muzzleloader.

About four hours into the hunt, the party’s dogs treed a female black bear. Jonathan took the bear with one shot from the same rifle he uses as a mascot at athletic events. That evening, Jonathan tweeted a picture of himself with the rifle and the bear along with the message, "Killed a WV Black Bear today with my Mountaineer rifle today!!"

That tweet was furiously reposted. A video showing Jonathan shooting the bear followed by his screaming, "Let's Go Mountaineers!" was posted by someone in the hunting party soon after (it is certainly not the classiest hunting video ever made). When Jonathan heard of the video, he asked the poster to take it down

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/newshound/2012/12/west-virginia-masco
t-shoots-bear-school-gun-stirs-controversy

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