Viral Video Of Texas Girl, 7, Shooting Deer With An Assault Rifle Causes Online Outrage
An animal hunter from Texas is experiencing both sides of celebrity after sharing a video of his 7-year-old daughter following in his footsteps on social media.
Cody Klapper of Jacksboro, which is located a few miles northwest of Fort Worth, has had years of training with the controversial pastime, so claims the Daily Mail. In turn, he has chosen to pass on his know-how of the violent action to his child, second-grader Lilly Klapper.
After teaching her the tricks of the trade for more than two years, most of which has been documented on a Facebook page entitled, “Lilly Pad’s Outdoors,” Klapper decided last week that it was time for Lilly to step her game up and make her first official kill.
With his cell phone and an AR-15 rifle in tow, the elder Klapper drove Lilly out to a field and had her prepare to take down an adult deer. Filming the experience from start to finish, the young girl is seen on camera keenly observing the area through the rifle’s scope for about a minute and a half, before suddenly pulling the trigger and breaking out into a wide-opened smile.
It’s a direct hit.
“You’ve got it,” Cody can be heard lightly exclaiming while patting Lilly on the shoulder and giving her a high-five.
The video can be seen below. Inquisitr readers should be advised that the following visual might be disturbing to some viewers.
Originally meant to be seen only by those who followed Lilly’s Facebook page, the video, which was posted last Monday, was ultimately shared by several users of the website and in turn, went viral. By the end of the day, the clip had amassed an impressive 1.4 million views.
“We have a passion for the outdoors,” Klapper explained to FOX 4 News, “and [the video] was primarily intended to be for family and friends.”
Knowing that others might not be as keen to his mindset, the huntsman tried to quell a potential firestorm by stating that most non-hunters should avoid viewing Lilly’s kill shot clip.
“I respect and understand that this video may not be for everyone,” Klapper wrote with the visual memento.
“If you think that you might be offended by this video that has my daughter shooting a deer with a modern hunting rifle, please keep scrolling.”
Luckily for Klapper, most who viewed the clip — many of them being avid marksmen themselves — have heaped loads of praise onto the father for properly teaching his daughter how to safely maneuver a weapon.
“That made me cry,” a woman named Janna Haiken commented. “So proud of a baby girl that knows what it takes to feed a family.”
“You did a fine job, Dad. She looks well trained. Nice shooting little one,” another Facebook user, Ruben Salazar, expressed.
Unsurprisingly, not all have been as supportive, however.
https://twitter.com/Emy4Trump/status/805175591389409280
“[Teaching] children [how] to kill animals,” a Daily Mail reader by the name of “Diana” sarcastically stated. “How noble of you.”
“I hope a big buck walks out of the woods the next time and takes Daddy out,” North Carolina poster shahco remarked. “Then, let these kids relate to what the family of that deer felt like.”
In the past, Klapper has shared other photos and videos of Lilly using various weapons, such as other guns and bows and arrows, and practicing on makeshift animal targets. Cody’s wife and Lilly’s mother, Daisy Bailey Klapper, has also joined in on hunting excursions, and can be seen aiming at an unknown creature in her Facebook profile photo.
At some point after going viral, the video was removed from Facebook and posted onto a YouTube page also associated with “Lilly’s Pads Outdoors.” As of this posting, it has received over 65,000 views.
[Featured Image by wwing/iStock]
