Hunter bro stabs a bear with a spear and leaves it -- then smiles and laughs about it dying in pain

Gouging a bear with a seven-foot long spear isn't a humane thing to do -- especially when you then just leave the bear to die after stabbing it.

Yet this is what American hunter Josh Bowmar, 26, recently did in a video that went viral and sparked outrage from animal lovers worldwide.

Mirror.co.uk reports that Bowmar is now lashing out at his critics who accused him of wanton cruelty for spearing a bear and then waiting until the next day to "collect" it as a trophy after it died a slow, painful death.

"You all should be ashamed of yourselves for trying to kill a heritage that has existed for over a million years," he told the publication. "Literally, since the dawn of man, the spear has been a vital role in survival."

Of course, Bowmar wasn't hunting for survival, even though he claims that he did eat the bear afterward.

All the same, Bowmar told the Mirror that "no one cares more about these animals than us hunters, especially me," while insisting that using a spear to slay the creature was really the most humane method at his disposal.

"If I just wanted to kill, why not use a rifle and shoot the animal from 500 yards away with it having no chance to escape," he said. "If (I) didn’t care about the humane killing of this bear, why did I spend years preparing and practicing, becoming extremely proficient with a spear to make sure I could harvest this bear ethically?"

Masha Kalinina, of Humane Society International, told the Mirror: "No-one could argue there is any skill involved here, no exhibition of hunting prowess, and certainly this has nothing to do with conservation as trophy hunters often argue. This is pure selfish blood lust, a desire for a thrill and a trophy at the expense of an innocent life."

Check out his whole interview at this link.

The video of Bowmar killing the bear with a spear follows below.