Another influencer in the pisser?

[Ucsdryder]

It seems you took the previous "dumbest comment of 2025" as a challenge.

1. Politics: There's a significant and relatively powerful sector of the US population that would ban all hunting if given the opportunity. People tend to only care about what directly affects them. The worst thing that could happen to hunting is for the general public to become oblivious to its existence. When the next crazy lefty takes office and tries to regulate us to death or sell off public land we're screwed without the media and the "influencers" who have the reach to influence the general population. Like it or not the future of hunting needs them. Unless you have a better idea? I can say with confidence that it's not the gatekeepers here.

2. Economics: The reason we enjoy the gear that we do at "reasonable" prices is solely because there is a market for these products that incentivizes companies like Exo Mtn to bring to market quality products. The scale of the customer base is why this gear is only expensive and not at unobtainable prices. You can think social media and these "influencers" for scaling a small niche market to something that can demand innovation at cost effective prices.

3. Morality: The fact that so many people here would condemn a man because the state has accused him of breaking their rules is incredibly disappointing. As of now I've seen no details on the offenses nor have I seen a conviction. Did I miss it? FWIW, I've never heard of the guy before today.

I’m with @thinhorn_AK on this one. I hate censorship as much as the next guy but if social media and YouTube did away with hunting content it would be a huge win for hunters.

 

[IDVortex]

I think hunters have gotten lazy and instead of being the voice of hunters, they'd rather rely on influencers to do it...... and now we have folks like MF, Bowman, etc being the image of hunting? How is this a net positive?

 

[satchamo]

I didn't say that. I insinuated it in a tongue in cheek manner. I'd apologize, but frankly I expect grown men to have thicker skin than that.
No offense to the non-veterans here, but this is precisely why veterans tend to limit our social circles to other veterans. I refuse to walk on egg shells for other grown men.

In all fairness, I didn't just respond to your one liner with an insulting one liner. I took time to try to explain why your stance was such a bad idea. I did fail to remark on why your call for outright censorship by powerful corporations was such a horrible idea. 1. I assumed that's implied. 2. I was incapable of politely making that argument without outright insults. 3. I assumed in good faith that your one liner was hyperbolic and it wasn't a hill you intended to die on.

You’re stirring up shit and trying to insult the guys manhood on a message board……….

 

[Stocky]

I mean I’ll probably still use the pad because it works and I already spent the money. Obviously have to recommend something else to other people

Peax own them now anyway dont they?

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I think hunters have gotten lazy and instead of being the voice of hunters, they'd rather rely on influencers to do it...... and now we have folks like MF, Bowman, etc being the image of hunting? How is this a net positive?

I’d take it a step farther and say that rather than being the voice of hunters, more and more people want to be an influencer so they can look cool to people they will never meet. It’s like a sickness. People shoot an animal, all the sudden they have to # kuiu, Rocky Mountains goat alliance etc etc etc. it’s just w way to jerk yourself off in public and amazingly, lots and lots of people want just that.

It’s not even about posting pics for your friends and family any more, it’s just pure unadulterated attention seeking. I know a guy who talks and talks and talks about how he dosent want “attention” the guy isn’t that great of a hunter, he’s not that great of a shot, he just exploits state resources to find animals then goes full social media with it. It’s sad.

 

[ThorM465]

I’m with @thinhorn_AK on this one. I hate censorship as much as the next guy but if social media and YouTube did away with hunting content it would be a huge win for hunters.

Maybe for our generation. But for our kids, it would be a huge win for the antis.

 

[Tilzbow]

I met a few outdoors folks growing up and the only cool people were Fred Bear, Chuck Adams and Dwight Schugh or however its spelled
Met the Eastmans when I was like 16 and talk about some douche bags

Dwight Schuh was legit. I met him at SCI in Reno around 20 years ago and spent a couple of hours BS’ing with him. We had a mutual friend which helped him open up. I talked to Fred Eichler via phone 15 years ago, he was a reference for a Dall Hunt I was booking, and he was exactly the same over the phone as he is on his show. The guy’s enthusiasm wore me out.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Maybe for our generation. But for our kids, it would be a huge win for the antis.

Couldn’t possibly disagree more.

 

[Stocky]

The world would be better if Instagram and Facebook banned hunting content.

This is as stupid as thinking we need influencers to keep hunting. The idea we are better to live in the shadows is silly. That how it becomes perceived as a weird niche. Its the opposite of repeating something until it becomes true like what the antis have been successfully doing for decades.

A rule about making a profit from hunting media would be better. Its just modern market hunting really.

Something that makes it so you cant make a living via hunting media would be better.

 

[ThorM465]

I’d take it a step farther and say that rather than being the voice of hunters, more and more people want to be an influencer so they can look cool to people they will never meet. It’s like a sickness. People shoot an animal, all the sudden they have to # kuiu, Rocky Mountains goat alliance etc etc etc. it’s just w way to jerk yourself off in public and amazingly, lots and lots of people want just that.

There's a lot of truth to that. I think it's reasonable to recognize that there's a large draw to being able to provide for your family doing what you love and having a significant voice in that market if all you need to do is share what you're already doing on social media. This isn't going away, not when there's wealth to be made. The best y'all can do is to become the "influencer" who does it the right way or to at least support and promote the ones that do.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

This is as stupid as thinking we need influencers to keep hunting. The idea we are better to live in the shadows is silly. That how it becomes perceived as a weird niche. Its the opposite of repeating something until it becomes true like what the antis have been successfully doing for decades.

A rule about making a profit from hunting media would be better. Its just modern market hunting really.

Something that makes it so you cant make a living via hunting media would be better.

It’s not about hiding in the shadows. It’s about just hunting to hunt. Not seeking attention is not the same as “living in the shadows”…

If the social media went away, it would be infinitely harder for the antis to complain.

I do agree with making a living off of hunting social media. Even the humble posts are actually just bragging. I saw one the other day where this dumb chick was like “you only see the success but what you don’t see is….” The. She went on to talk about how she invested a million dollars in her business, took a gamble by doing a million dollar renovation on her home etc etc etc. so what she was saying is “you see me shoot animals, and now you know that I have millions of dollars to play with”.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I met a few outdoors folks growing up and the only cool people were Fred Bear, Chuck Adams and Dwight Schugh or however its spelled
Met the Eastmans when I was like 16 and talk about some douche bags

I met Chuck Adams when I was younger too, he was getting ready for an elk hunt and doing a talk at a small local sporting goods store. He sat around for hours talking to every single person rather than bailing to go get ready for his hunt. That was like 30 years ago now though.

The modern crop of social media hunters are just a bunch of “look at me” types.

 

[ThorM465]

I have thick skin, I’m not bothered at all. I just don’t see any need to go on a side quest conversation with somebody who dosent want to debate in good faith, when you skip straight to insults rather than trying to convince somebody of your opinion there’s no reason to converse with you. Notice this was civil until you chimed in. Now we are derailing a thread with a meta conversation. I think I’ve wasted enough time responding to you now.

This most certainly was not "civil" before I jumped in. It was simply a one sided affair, an echo chamber. A lot of you here are perfectly fine with personal attacks until someone dares to take the counter position.

I’m glad you like social media hunting stuff, I think it’s taken a lot away from the sport. I think “influencers” are a dime a dozen and none of them are worth following. I don’t believe social media portrays reality.

FWIW, you're probably right here. However, it doesn't matter how pure the sport is if it goes extinct. I sincerely hope guys like you continue to be vocal and try to keep the sport as pure as feasible. I think this counter argument is important, but it does go to far at times. When it does it needs to get push back.

Most veterans I know don’t feel the need to publicly announce it though.

Have you ever taken the time to look at the profile pictures on these forums? In fairness mine is an EGA on most the other forums I'm a member. I've jest never gotten around to doing it here.

 

[ThorM465]

I do agree with making a living off of hunting social media. Even the humble posts are actually just bragging. I saw one the other day where this dumb chick was like “you only see the success but what you don’t see is….” The. She went on to talk about how she invested a million dollars in her business, took a gamble by doing a million dollar renovation on her home etc etc etc. so what she was saying is “you see me shoot animals, and now you know that I have millions of dollars to play with”.

Yes and there's very good reason for that. The data illustrates clearly that normies have an anti hunting knee jerk reaction when you only post the kill. However, if you give them the back story, (story arch with character development) the tremendous amount of work that went into the kill normies tend to eat up the content.

 

[Stocky]

It’s not about hiding in the shadows. It’s about just hunting to hunt. Not seeking attention is not the same as “living in the shadows”…

If the social media went away, it would be infinitely harder for the antis to complain.

I do agree with making a living off of hunting social media. Even the humble posts are actually just bragging. I saw one the other day where this dumb chick was like “you only see the success but what you don’t see is….” The. She went on to talk about how she invested a million dollars in her business, took a gamble by doing a million dollar renovation on her home etc etc etc. so what she was saying is “you see me shoot animals, and now you know that I have millions of dollars to play with”.

I agree if social media disappeared completely the world would probably be better in alot of ways not just hunting but it existing but banning hunting is the worst possible combination. Maybe I misinterpreted your meaning.

Social media is here to stay. Theres nothing wrong with being proud of something you have shot. And I stand by if I couldn't take meat I would still hunt. Its many things to me meat is one nice bonus but adventure and connection to nature is one I value as much. Being selective adds challenge and hardship all things I think in general make people better.

I think we probably agree on many things. And if I could wave my hand id probably make a bunch of changes the same as you but thats not the real world so I prefer practical solutions. Like in NZ if I could ban helicopters I would in a second but thats not going to happen

 

[thinhorn_AK]

This most certainly was not "civil" before I jumped in. It was simply a one sided affair, an echo chamber. A lot of you here are perfectly fine with personal attacks until someone dares to take the counter position.



FWIW, you're probably right here. However, it doesn't matter how pure the sport is if it goes extinct. I sincerely hope guys like you continue to be vocal and try to keep the sport as pure as feasible. I think this counter argument is important, but it does go to far at times. When it does it needs to get push back.


Have you ever taken the time to look at the profile pictures on these forums? In fairness mine is an EGA on most the other forums I'm a member. I've jest never gotten around to doing it here.

Have I looked at profile pics on rokslide??? Have you seen how bad my spelling and grammar is on like 85% of the stuff I post here? It’s because I pretty much only post from my phone. Those pics get too blurry when I zoom in on them, so no I havnt looked at them.

As far as purity, I do think things need to get taken a step farther, I personally don’t believe people employed in natural resources should be allowed to hunt in the units in which they work. That will never happen though. Living in Alaska, I know lots and lots of hunters, people who absolutely love it, people who grew up doing it….then some new fish and wildlife person shows up in town, kills a giant animal on their first try (after flying the area for months) then goes on social
Media and everybody talks about what an awesome hunter they are….that type of stuff is both common and exhausting and to me is the lowest point of hunting. Even worse when those people claim they aren’t seeking attention.

I don’t think things will go extinct without that type of stuff. You should have read some of the comments after Jason hairiston or soudy golbachi passed away, antis loved every minute of it.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I agree if social media disappeared completely the world would probably be better in alot of ways not just hunting but it existing but banning hunting is the worst possible combination. Maybe I misinterpreted your meaning.

Social media is here to stay. Theres nothing wrong with being proud of something you have shot. And I stand by if I couldn't take meat I would still hunt. Its many things to me meat is one nice bonus but adventure and connection to nature is one I value as much. Being selective adds challenge and hardship all things I think in general make people better.

I think we probably agree on many things. And if I could wave my hand id probably make a bunch of changes the same as you but thats not the real world so I prefer practical solutions. Like in NZ if I could ban helicopters I would in a second but thats not going to happen

I personally believe there could be like 10 changes made, maybe even whittle that down to 5 or 6 that would fix most problems with hunting but like you said, it’s never happening. Unfortunately not only are improvements not happening, they are getting worse.

Hunting has gone completely mainstream and it’s gotten worse. Jason hairiston going on the Joe Rogan was one of the worst things to happen to hunting in my opinion.

 

[Stocky]

Yes and there's very good reason for that. The data illustrates clearly that normies have an anti hunting knee jerk reaction when you only post the kill. However, if you give them the back story, (story arch with character development) the tremendous amount of work that went into the kill normies tend to eat up the content.

The TV show NZ hunter adventures is probably the single biggest positive for huntings public image in NZ. Its on mainstream TV during standard hours. It features big adventure trips often without an animals dying in an episode. They have summited peaks, packrafted rivers, and often bring family or new hunters along. With just enough success on good mature animals to normalize it in NZ. Since they started I've had many vegetarians (and previously anti hunters) decide they will now eat game meat and some want to come along and experience it. But in fairness they are a bit unique in the hunting sphere.

 

[atmat]

 

[thinhorn_AK]

The TV show NZ hunter adventures is probably the single biggest positive for huntings public image in NZ. Its on mainstream TV during standard hours. It features big adventure trips often without an animals dying in an episode. They have summited peaks, packrafted rivers, and often bring family or new hunters along. With just enough success on good mature animals to normalize it in NZ. Since they started I've had many vegetarians (and previously anti hunters) decide they will now eat game meat and some want to come along and experience it. But in fairness they are a bit unique in the hunting sphere.

Meateater sort of does that.