Former Buffy The Vampire Slayer star Eliza Dushku has upset animal rights activists after revealing she hunts elk and deer.

The actress proudly showed off her bow and arrow skills on late-night chat show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday and boasted about killing a deer in Oklahoma last Christmas. She also revealed she was hunting for elk in Colorado when she landed her role in upcoming TV series Dollhouse.

Realizing the studio audience had turned on her over her Bambi-killing antics, Dushku joked, "My mother called me herself and said, 'You're a liberal from New England, what the 'f' are you doing in Oklahoma shooting things."

And when Kimmel took the actress to task for her hunting boasts, she defended her actions by stating, "When you're in a relationship with somebody you have to, like, experience things that they do." She added, "A lot of people eat meat... and I eat what I kill."

Dushku's remarks have angered People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) activists, who insist the actress should put down her bow and stop hunting.

A spokeswoman for the organisation says, "Slaying bloodthirsty vampires on Buffy is brave, but slaying innocent animals where they live and raise their families is cowardly and cruel. Eliza is sorely out of step with the rest of the country; 95 per cent of Americans oppose hunting."

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)