Would you still feel as comfortable lining up this shot?
No less comfortable than I would have last year.
1) the liklihood of killing a cow with a golf ball is very low
2) cows aren't protected by international treaties
3) there's no active group of paochers and smugglers trading in cow parts
4) as a consequence there are no large criminal penalties for killing a cow
On the other hand, cows are someone's private property. So killing one does carry a responsiblity to repay the owner for the loss.
This civil action has always been a good enough reason not to act negligently in a way that results in killing a cow. That animal in the picture most likely is there under a long-standing grazing right, so no one could claim it was some place it shouldn't be.
I used to work with some folks who spent a lot of time doing very dangerous undercover work in an attempt to curtail the trade of illegally taken raptor parts. People like that aren't above killing a law enforcement officer to protect their business. The laws and penalties are intended to stop that trade.
Isenhour is unlikely to be sentenced to the maximum penalties. But hitting several golf balls at a protected bird from 75 yards, ultimately killing it, would seem to call for some kind of penalty.
Ken