Aram Von Benedikt

[amassi]

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[UncleBone]

 

[GSPHUNTER]

While there is likely some truth here, how did that work out for Jim Zumbo?

Turns out Jim would have better off keeping his opinion to himself. He lost a lot of followers with his distain for AR15's which he called terrorist weapons.

 

[three5x5s]

This entire situation was a shit show. And obviously this guy has some serious issues. My biggest concern is that there are still some of us out there defending the guy or even saying it should be his buck, because the “LAW” says fatal shot takes the deer. The old timers that brought me up hunting would have backhanded me if I tried to claim a buck that someone else shot first. Basic hunting ethics. If you need a law to help you figure out this situation, you’re already lost and probably have no principal ethics.

The other weird thing happening, is folks getting ahold of the guy’s employer to get him fired. I have no issue if he gets fired from his job for this, that’s his problem. But random people, who were not involved at all in this incident, spending their time to contact this guys boss, seems very odd and a little on the woke side. Obviously his employer is aware. It’s a huge story on the internet. If they don’t fire him, and it bothers you that much, don’t give his employer any of your money.

Looks like he thinks the LAW is on his side and he could be right. Or he (couda, shouda just gave the girl her deer back).

 

[3Esski]

I'm just glad my childhood passed before Instagram hunting ruined my reading choices. Would be terrible to find out that Patrick McManus didn't do some of the stuff he wrote about, or in some case he did, otherwise much like Outdoor Life I'd never read it again.

 

[MountainTracker]

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[woods89]

Turns out Jim would have better off keeping his opinion to himself. He lost a lot of followers with his distain for AR15's which he called terrorist weapons.

Exactly. There really was no upside for him to the publicity he got.

 

[MountainTracker]

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[GSPHUNTER]

I'm just glad my childhood passed before Instagram hunting ruined my reading choices. Would be terrible to find out that Patrick McManus didn't do some of the stuff he wrote about, or in some case he did, otherwise much like Outdoor Life I'd never read it again.

I think he did do most of what he wrote about, he just embellished for the entertaining aspect of the story. I'm certain I read all of his stories. Crazy Eddie Muldoon, Retch Sweeney, and my favorite Rancid Crabtree. All of whom were real but he changed their name to add color to the story.

 

[svivian]

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Looks like he thinks the LAW is on his side and he could be right. Or he (couda, shouda just gave the girl her deer back).

Legal is not always the right thing to do. Ethics come into play at some point.

 

[MountainTracker]

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[lif]

Looks like he thinks the LAW is on his side and he could be right. Or he (couda, shouda just gave the girl her deer back).

We have laws like this for the poorly raised folks that haven’t been taught morality, respect, or pride. The only thing worse than what he did is if he uses a law to justify it.

 

[CorbLand]

My two cents that nobody cares about.

It isnt a bad thing to bring this to the attention of his employer. It would be a bad thing if it was not related to his job and you brought it to the attention of his employer. Basically, I sit at a computer and put numbers in spreadsheets and I like hunting. If someone contacted my employer saying CorbLand likes hunting, therefore you should fire him, that would be unacceptable. If that same person found out I was embezzling money, and they reached out to my employer saying you should fire him he is embezzling money, that would be acceptable.

In this case, AVB job is hunting and writing about doing so ethically. When he does something unethical, people should contact his employer. Now there are acceptable ways to contact his employer.

If you emailed them saying this dude is in the wrong, **** you for employing him, you all suck, etc. That is unacceptable.
If you emailed them saying I wanted to bring this to your attention and hope you will look into this matter and handle it in acceptable manner based on the findings. That is acceptable.

 

[CorbLand]

Legal is not always the right thing to do. Ethics come into play at some point.

Laws are dictated by morals and morals are dictated by laws.

 

[Blacktocomm]

It doesn't seem like he publishes enough articles to support a family off of - so I really hope the articles are a side gig/hobby and he supports a family a different way.

I am all for forgiveness, but if you hang your hat writing articles on ethical hunting and then get embroiled in situations like this - I think the articles and his opinion on ethics are somewhat suspect, and his employer should be aware of that.

 

[three5x5s]

I'v fell victim to Pride and Arrogance, hopefully I have learned from it. AVGs "she doesent deserve a deer like that" comment. That said...It just looks like he had an opportunity to change course but choose to double down.

 

[TXCO]

Yeah, seems a bit much for a first known slip up and i'm usually in front of the line wanting to hold hunting personalities accountable.

It seems like people are taking accounts and distorting them to further the outrage too. Dude said he didn't range the deer at the exact position when he shot and people are acting like he just eyeball ranged at 730 yards. As if nobody has ever sent an arrow without ranging an animals current spot when the arrow was released. I shot a bull for 40 when it was actually at 46 last year (gasp!). I can't imagine how many thousands of animals are shot with range assumptions after moving from a known range every year. Obviously his choice was bad in this situation combined with the distance but I just find it odd that folks are fixated on that when ranging errors are extremely common.

Memes calling him for what seems to be some shadiness and arrogance on his version of the story seem appropriate but it feels like we're really grasping on reasons to hate this guy.

If he worked a normal job, any job, other than being an outdoor writer I completely agree. I hate the if your opinion is different then youre cancelled culture. I think this is different because he is writing for western hunting magazines and representing western hunting to the public.

 

[TX_Diver]

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Stolen and modified...

 

[PathFinder]

To begin, I'll start by saying that I'm surprised this thread even exists, much less that it is 40 pages long already. After this event none of us thought their story would be heard. But alas, the Meme Gang has been awoken!
Easton has been my best friend since we were in 3rd grade, and I've known Rachelle for over 10 years now. They're some of the absolute best people I know. Easton is one of the best hunters I've ever been around and he put a lot into this hunt. He had been planning on her drawing the tag since last year and both of them were very invested in and excited for it. Rachelle gets far more excited for a deer hunt than any grown man I've ever met, and we had high hopes for her to get a chance at a good buck.
We hadn't hunted this part of the unit until this season. Aram's insinuation that we could track collars is absurd. I had an archery tag in this unit and Easton hunted with me for three of the twelve days I spent there. While on that hunt we both agreed that it would be a good spot to hunt for Rachelle's tag, and they put it on the top of their list for spots to hunt. Noting from my experience there, the collars are blatantly obvious from were Aram was sitting. I never did see that buck, but there was a collared doe in that canyon when I was there. Even in just 12x binos, the presence of a collar is unmistakable.
To address the shooting, I think Easton has put around 600 rounds through that rifle in the year or so he's had it. Lots of that has been beyond 600 yards. He took Rachelle out shooting before the hunt and she shot very well at those ranges. Could she have used more field experience? Certainly. The position they were shooting from was ideal (prone on a large flat rock) but more field experience would have helped.
This all blew up while I was off my phone elk hunting for a couple days. Before that the last I heard from Easton was that they had talked to the DWR, but expected nothing to come of it. At the time I suggested that their story should get out on social media. Easton didn't want that, even when I offered to get the story out. Neither he nor Rachelle thought it would be this big of a deal, and they didn't intend for Aram to lose his "occupation." When I told Easton about this thread last night on the phone and suggested he check it out, he had no interest. They're both pretty burned out and bummed out by the whole deal.
I appreciate the viewpoint of the tough guys who say that Easton should have done more. In a way, I agree with them. The reason he chose to allow Aram to steal the deer was to avoid conflict and try to preserve some of the fun of the experience for his wife. Escalating the contention would have ruined what was left of that.
For what it's worth, this wasn't the first time Aram and Easton have crossed paths. They were hunting the same area as one another (different spot than where this occurred) last year. Every time Easton has described him as behaving oddly. Not rude, but just strange and not entirely friendly. That was why he suspected that he didn't actually have a tag, and called the DWR to report the deer not being tagged before being broken down.
Though I'm admittedly biased in this situation, my take is that Aram acted very unethically. He forced himself into a situation where he knew someone else had shot a deer where he had no proof of having hit that exact deer himself. The unethical nature of that act is compounded by the fact that the other hunter was a lady half his size. It was compounded again by his public portrayal of himself an an ethical and competent hunter. Aram is probably a decent guy, but he allowed the excitement of the situation and likely his pursuit of public attention to lead him to commit a major ethical mistake. Should he lose his position in the "outdoor industry?" I think so, but that's up to his employers to decide. The truth of the story is out, and that outcome is theirs to judge with their money. It seems that most of them will cut ties. Outdoor Life appears to be taking his side. They called and talked to Easton, and were single minded in their pursuit of any information that would uphold Aram's story. But considering that they are clinging to a business model that has been irrelevant for a decade now, I'm not sure better can be expected from them.
No matter the outcome, it's a sour deal now. Much more sour than allowing a lady to finish what she started on a deer she clearly shot first. In my mind the ideal outcome is that Aram give her the deer and issue a public apology, and that his "employers" take that into consideration when deciding whether he should still represent them.
Until then, meme on Rokslide!