The Pennsylvania Game Commission is looking into a disturbing video that surfaced online showing two teenage hunters abusing an injured buck in the woods of Jefferson County.
The video was posted Nov. 30 on Facebook by Gregg Rossman, an unrelated man who identified the teens after first seeing the footage on Snapchat.
"Something definitely needs done. This video was shared to me from a mutual friend on Snapchat," Rossman said. "I was not a part of this! I shared simply to get the attention of authorities!"
The video was later uploaded on Twitter along with the identities of the two teens both of Brookeville. It isn't clear when the video was filmed. (Note: the video below contains disturbing footage).
One of the teens repeatedly kicks the buck in the head while the other teen films it, encouraging his friend to grab the buck and pull it away from the tree. A second video, later removed from social media, showed more of the teens attacking the buck and kicking it in the face.
Police in Brookville said the incident was out of their jurisdiction, but that an investigation was underway with the appropriate authorities.
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said they are investigating the incident.
"The conduct portrayed in the video is reprehensible and potentially a violation of the law," the agency said in a statement.
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In an interview with KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Hunting and Fishing Addicts vice president Bob Chase blasted the conduct seen in the video.
"It’s not who we are as hunters," Chase said. "It sickens me to find out that something like that gets out and a lot of people think, 'Hey, this is what these guys do in the woods,’ and it’s not at all like that."
Two Change.org petitions have called the teens to be criminally charged and banned for life from hunting in Pennsylvania.
Anyone with information related to the video is asked to report it to the Game Commission's Operation Game Thief Hotline at (888)-PGC-8001 or the Northwest Region Dispatch Office at (814)-432-3187.