Aram Von Benedikt

[Scotto]

Good on Outdoor Life for holding themselves and their contributors to a higher ethical standard.

 

[Shō[t]gun]

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I know some folks don't agree that Outdoor Life should do anything about AVB's behavior, they found fit to investigate and to take action to uphold a standard. Kudos to them.

Now for NRA Hunter magazine to say something too.

I don't have a problem with them investigating, just that we had a bit of a witch hunt going on over here and demanded they join in.

 

[BLJ]

I don't know why y'all keep posting memes of 90s Alan Jackson?!?!

Thinking Dale Earnhardt myself………

 

[gerry35]

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

Thanks for posting some more information on this situation. So they did practice but she made a bad shot which can happen to anyone (except the 223 guys of course, they never mess up). I would agree with Easton not escalating the situation with a guy who is armed and acting irrationally. Some things just aren't worth pushing especially when you're outnumbered. Hopefully AVB learns from this whole thing and hopefully the couple can get this behind them and not have it sour hunting for them.

 

[UncleBone]

@PathFinder

But what is your favorite meme so far?
asking for a friend.

 

[amassi]

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[PredatorSlayer]

Looking at it through the perspective of a man with children at home and a lot of future ahead of him, is a deer worth dying over? Is it worth getting you or your wife shot over? Is it worth having the chance that your wife sees you get murdered or murdering someone over a deer?

Not worth the fight in my eyes. But, I would have shot that deer in the skull plate before I walked away from it. Neither of us gets to have the trophy.

Jay

Thats like saying I won’t fight, but I will definitely throw fighting words around. You can’t have it both ways, either you are that guy or you are not.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I don't have a problem with them investigating, just that we had a bit of a witch hunt going on over here and demanded they join in.

There are enough self righteous people in the world who take themselves too seriously. Don’t be one of them. Sit back, crack open a cold beverage and enjoy the memes.

 

[KenLee]

I don't know why y'all keep posting memes of 90s Alan Jackson?!?!

Cause he's real country

 

[grfox92]

If you haven't done so, go read, 2 weeks from desert sheep opener. That is a classic.

Oh no I'm current on that one lol.

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[grfox92]

Are you actually doing your job instead of just coming back to this thread every 30 minutes?

I got caught up yesterday morning at 6am, checked the thread at 10am at work and there were 300 new posts. That's when I lost hope.

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[saskhunter]

 

[grfox92]

Thats like saying I won’t fight, but I will definitely throw fighting words around. You can’t have it both ways, either you are that guy or you are not.

Well said. I'm not advocating for violence, but I can tell you there is absolutely no chance in hell AVB was leaving that mountain with that deer if it was me and my wife out there.

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[The Guide]

Thats like saying I won’t fight, but I will definitely throw fighting words around. You can’t have it both ways, either you are that guy or you are not.

I said he probably did the right thing for his circumstances. Me, I probably would have not done that. I would have told him to get lost from the get-go and then doubled my resolve once my wife found the blood trail. I've had couple elk stolen from me before I could get to them and I actually understand the situation.

Jay

 

[three5x5s]

Thinking Dale Earnhardt myself………

That would esplain why he ran to the front knocking everyone out of the way.

 

[mcr-85]

had to add the last line

 

[fngTony]

View attachment 622149

come on man, gotta at least remove the tail when putting antlers on a horse

 

[saskhunter]

 

[MountainTracker]

come on man, gotta at least remove the tail when putting antlers on a horse

Hahaha that’s the other leg man


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