Country music star Cody Johnson fired back at critics who took aim at him for going on a bear hunt.
Johnson flew to Alaska for a 10-day hunt and shared images of the adventure May 26 on social media. The post drew mixed responses, but his critics came after him aggressively in the comments.
In a recent interview with Ryan Fox on American Country Countdown, Johnson said Alaskan officials praised him for the hunt, and noted that grizzlies wreak havoc on the wildlife population. Calling his trip a “conservationist effort,” Johnson hit back at his haters.
“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?’”
Johnson further explained his perspective on the matter.
“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,” he said.
The famous singer continued, “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.” (RELATED: Morgan Wallen Pokes At His Piano-Flipping Viral Moment)
He doubled down on his position.
“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,” he said.
Johnson has released six studio albums, and is best known for hits “‘Til You Can’t,” “Human,” “That’s Texas,” and “Dirt Cheap.”
“‘Till You Can’t’ topped the country radio music charts and led to a 2023 Grammy win for Best Country Song.