Benedictine Sister John Paul Bauer prayed the rosary in her tree stand the first morning of hunting season. Then she shot and killed a 100-kilogram, 10-point buck.
A photo showcasing the Roman Catholic nun holding the enormous deer’s remains has made her an online sensation.
The local diocese claims the photo was seen more than two million times on Facebook before they felt forced to remove it after harsh criticism.
But Bauer, a teacher at Elk County Catholic High School in St. Mary’s, PA, believes her hunt promotes conservationism.
“In St. Marys, this is what you do. You go hunting. Everybody goes hunting — the coach, myself, the students,” Bauer told FOX 6.
“If you don’t kill the deer, they will starve. You have to maintain the population that can be fed naturally off the land,” the nun said on the diocese’s website. “If you get an overabundance, then the deer starve. Likewise, if you overkill, then that’s not good either. So there’s a balance.”
The diocese says Bauer had the deer butchered and is sharing the meat with local families. She’s also having the buck’s 40-centimetre rack mounted.
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