Meateater is Woke

[Gobbler36]

I so much preferred the feel of rinella when he was based in NY, wore cobbled together clothes and seemed like he was having fun and not trying to create some sort of fine-tuned media machine. Dunno, maybe this was his plan all along, but like he even said in a show, you can’t guess where you’ll be in 10 years.

And I think dumping a season’s worth of shows at one time, then filling in the space with podcasts and stupid videos with staff yuk-yuking has a certain lifespan. Just drip out a show every once in a while and write a book worth reading every few years and call it good. All the strategic partnerships and whatnot sterilizes what was once a very good thing.

Couldn’t agree more

 

[Huntindog45]

And this is our problem we are supposed to fix?
Hell no if someone doesn’t hunt it’s not my problem, and I could care less I don’t care what color they are

Not really the issue I was addressing but I agree. Not out problem aside from the fact from a license sales aspect it would be nice to get some new demographics involved... that being said I kind of enjoy being alone in the woods so selfishly I enjoy low hunter numbers.


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[Gobbler36]

Not really the issue I was addressing but I agree. Not out problem aside from the fact from a license sales aspect it would be nice to get some new demographics involved... that being said I kind of enjoy being alone in the woods so selfishly I enjoy low hunter numbers.


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Yeah I think about the license sales thing too but I usually arrive at, if it cost me more money to support the system and there are fewer of us and more tags, I’m fine with that. Guess that means I get to stop going out to lunch everyday and eating leftovers........bummer

 

[brsnow]

I think you will start to see ballot initiatives on state levels geared towards influencing the management of the outdoors and wildlife. Might not be a bad idea to be proactive.

 

[TripleJ]

I think you will start to see ballot initiatives on state levels geared towards influencing the management of the outdoors and wildlife. Might not be a bad idea to be proactive.

Wildlife management via the ballot box has unfortunately been going on in Oregon for sure since at least the early/mid '90's. It's a tough deal when 2 or 3 cities in one small part of the state have the last word in how predator and wildlife populations are controlled/hunted in the vast majority of the land area in the rest of the state.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Hmmmm.

Hunter numbers are going down. We are loosing the baby boomer hunters, the biggest contingent, by the day. Seems like between eliminating certain hunts (Grizz in BC and black bear in NJ) and doing things like wolf reintroductions etc. in the name of conservation, that hunting opportunities are facing some challenges.

Meateater / wired to hunt put out a podcast last week about women in hunting and they have mentioned the issue on a few other episodes. It think those concepts along with this piece about race are designed to raise awareness and spur discussion about what can be done to get more non white and non male hunters into the sport.

For my part, I don’t care what color people are, what kind of wedding tackle they carry or who they share their bed with, I just think that having more hunters is better than having less. More people paying license fees, supporting the businesses in the industry and participating in advocacy and awareness to promote and enhance hunting is good in my book. Anything that can be done, including special efforts around females and minorities, only helps the overall goal of growing and improving the sport for us all.

 

[JWP58]

I sincerely hope they have karl malcolm on the next podcast to wax poetically about how bad it is that an overall small population, overwhelmingly located in urban metro areas dont hunt due to their fear of armed white people. Durkin too, hopefully he follows up his masterfully written piece and outline how recruiting 2-3% of a group that makes up approximately 13% of the country's population will save hunting. Ingenious plan I must say.

I need more social justice and virtue signaling in hunting.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Food for thought, here is an article on hunting numbers from last year.

Why We Suck at Recruiting New Hunters, Why It Matters, and How You Can Fix It

Baby boomers make up our nation's largest cohort of hunters, and they've already begun to age out of the sport. Within 15 years, most will stop buying licenses entirely. And when they do, our ranks could plunge by 30 percent—along with critical funding for wildlife management, advocacy for...

www.outdoorlife.com

By contrast, Western Europe hunter participation is less that 1% of total population and skews heavily toward the wealthy that have access to private land.

 

[Jimmy]

In my area I'd guess it's about 50/50 between white and non-white. I never really thought about it too much.

I like that meateater brings up some controversial topics. Makes you think. You don't have to agree.

If I was only friends with people I agreed with on everything, I wouldn't have any friends.

 

[alpinewanderer]

Not even sure where to start with this article: https://www.themeateater.com/hunt/big-game/is-hunting-too-white

The modern perspective that if the racial, etc., etc., makeup of a particular activity’s participants do not match those of the population at large there is something wrong or racist or sexist or ageist or anti-this or that is pernicious and reductive. In an effort to try to add nuance, they open a can of worms so deep it will consume them if they continue..... And I think it's rather shallow to look at minorities as something 'good' for hunting, as compared to introducing hunting to non-hunters so that they can share in what we consider a valuable experience for THEIR OWN fulfullment. There IS a difference, and hopefully you can see it. What if you learned that your recruitment in an activity was done to help perpetuate that activity, and not because of the value that activity gave to you?

Baxterb, I could not agree more! It really concerned me to see MeatEater run that headline and write that article. So much of the reasoning seemed like this condescending, dispassionate, articulation of some kind of clinical problem for marketing or business analysts to solve... wrapped in identarian jargon. I have grown very accustomed to this sort of rhetoric from administrations at universities, left leaning news agencies, software companies, and the indoor climbing gym industry but I didn't expect it to pop up in the hunting world and I must admit I'm really bummed by it. I really enjoyed Steve's shows, books, and podcast. His passionate view of hunting and the natural world really won me over and were a welcome reprieve from the identity politics that are so front and center elsewhere in my life. I'm worried that this might no be the case anymore.

I think ntrlbrnhunter's tin foil hat wearing friends might be right. As the saying goes "it takes one to know one" and this college town lib smells it. And the things is, this sort of race and identity politics, should raise red flags for anyone, whether you lean liberal or conservative.

I hope this was just a "flyer" and we won't see anything like that again. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[WannabeHunter]

Bunch of snowflakes getting triggered around these parts....

 

[carsonmcdonald]

I could have picked a better headline

”Is hunting to white?”

Really??? click bait sells

I guess I’m going to have to start offering apologies to all the dudes I said had their tinfoil hats on to tight when they told meateater got bought out by libs and it would change their course.. I’ve followed these guys a long time and see that change more and more as of late... maybe coincidence...I don’t think so anymore

I generally stay off of social media. In fact, responding in these Rokslide forums area borderline out of my comfort zone. But, I want to access the classifieds on this site, and therefore I am required to contribute! In a way, it has been an eyeopening experience because I have purposefully browsed threads looking for something worthwhile to read and contribute to.
I came across Meateater probably 6 months ago. What was nice was that I immediately connected to their message and started listening and reading some of their (Rinella's) original material, not knowing how their business would develop. Call it naive, but I had higher hopes for these guys.
I have listened to probably 80 of their 160+ pods, and seeing articles like this, the perception of "clickbait" in their headlines, selling out, f-word man, this SUCKS!
I agree, hunter numbers are in decline as mentioned above, and the number of minority hunters pales in comparison to white males, but at the same time, why is it that a white male is more apt to be interested in the outdoors in the first place? Public lands belong to the public, regardless of ethnicity. If you want to go outside, GO OUTSIDE. Making this some elitist activity that is literally available to every American is asinine.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[Mike7]

The thing I dislike about articles like this, is not the discussion that ensues after the topic is brought up, but rather the seemingly purposeful misinterpretation or misrepresentation of the available information by the presenter.

Terms like "sensitive subject" or 'blacks being afraid of whites with guns in the woods', etc. takes the author's progressive perspective in my opinion and then applies it to the intentions of others.

Maybe the real barriers to minorities enjoying the woods, are not only cultural and demographic in nature, which I contend is very similar for "whites" raised in urban settings now, but also directly the result of policies which are in large part historically politically progressive in nature.

How is a potentially lower middle class city kid of any skin hue going to learn to experience outdoor's activities when his or her community provides subsidies for cell phones, junk food, etc., but on the other hand does not value the physical and mental benefits of outdoor activities, or the educational value of learning about wildlife management.

If the urban communities really valued outdoors activities to include hunting for these young community members, then perhaps there wouldn't be fees charged to visit and park on our local state or federal lands, fees to launch a boat, additional fees for hunting or fishing licenses, additional taxes on some hunting gear, demonization of firearms and archery gear and education, and little funding put toward school outdoor educational trips any more.

 

[Lamont22]

I thought it was an interesting article on a subject I’ve never really thought about. As hunters, we need to do everything we can to recruit new hunters.

 

[whaack]

Bunch of snowflakes getting triggered around these parts....

Right!? Good article. Interesting read.


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[BuzzH]

I always enjoy these threads and who they expose for what they really are.

Reading threads like this make it real obvious why recruiting hunters is so difficult.

 

[Gearqueer]

Clickbait title: check
Interesting statistics: check
Thought provoking? Meh, not especially

The author lost a little credibility when he quoted a man saying that it’s understandable for armed dark skinned Americans to be afraid of armed lighter skinned Americans. That was in poor taste and sounds like something you’d see in the mainstream media feed.

That’s like saying that since I live in Cook County, IL (Chicago) it’s okay for me to blatantly editorialize that light skinned Americans are afraid of armed dark skinned Americans. In other news; the sky is blue and water is wet. Sad, but generally true. I’d love to play a part in changing that if anyone can show me how.

I hate the excuse that because someone is from the city or their skin has more melatonin they can’t teach themselves to hunt or find a group to go with. That’s bullshit, Either you have the passion to make it happen (try hunting) or you don’t.

Overall, most of the article was informative and something to think about. It would have been more tastefully framed in terms of rural vs. urban instead of white vs. not white. It sure got clicks though.

 

[cmahoney]

I am so relieved we are finally having this conversation. Getting this issue out in the public forum feels like dropping a 100 pound pack. It’s time we all accept responsibility for the detrimental effect our white male hunting privilege has had on society.






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[Ebruce]

I think it was just highlighting the fact of where and why our numbers are down and to maybe look outside the normal for hunter recruitment. not Just hunting but fishing as well, I knew a few guys from japan that wanted to go fishing once they moved here but found trying to read the laws and stay legal to be difficult, they spoke great english but when trying to read some of the fish and game books it can confuse even those of us native born. I didnt find the article racist but also explaining why and how those groups got alienated. They barely even seem to visit national parks, this isnt just about hunting and fishing but look at public land issues those folks dont usually care about them because they dont use them and haven't historically. How can we bolster outdoor recreation in groups other than Anglo American of European decent.

 

[5MilesBack]

Not everyone was born a hunter, nor should everyone be a hunter. It seems pretty obvious to me that you're either a hunter or you're not. If every single person in this country was a hunter, we wouldn't have anything left to hunt. The current crowds during hunting season, whether from actual hunters or recreationalists, is already getting to a tipping point.

Think of it this way.........if we suddenly added even a miniscule 1% of the population to hunting numbers, that's adding 70,000 hunters to every single state. That's insane.