Stop it. We don't need this anymore.

[JFK]

Replace the word “advocates” with the word “dollars” and all of a sudden this thread makes sense. Strange.

 

[Randy Newberg]

I struggle with the math as well. More hunters = more advocates seems like a poorly guided approach. If the goal is more advocates, why not focus all the effort on getting people who already grew up hunting to do more of the advocacy? Why would a guy who started hunting yesterday want to immediately spend resources on advocacy?

My guess is this all has a lot more to do with the money involved, much like everything else in life.

We focus our efforts on hunters, whether new or existing. Are you suggesting we only focus on existing hunters who already are applying in western states to make sure nobody else applies beyond those who are currently in the game?

A lot of folks who come to hunting realize what a great opportunity we have in this country and as a result they invest a lot of their time, talent, and money toward that cause. I know many early stage hunters who are contributing to the cause.

You state it has more to do with money. It's really about freedom. I'm at a point in my life that I can do whatever I want with my time and money, so long as I don't make any stupid financial decisions. It is a position I've worked 40 years to get to.

You probably know a person who works to get to a point in life where they can blow their money by spending their time on the Florida beach. You might know the person who works to get to the point where they can move to live near the grandkids. Or it might be some other person blowing money and time on things you probably wouldn't blow your time and money on.

Those folks do it because they can, and because that is what they want to do. It is the ultimate freedom to have your time and your money accountable to nobody other than yourself. Odds are those folks worked hard to get to that point and took risks to have the freedom to do what they want.

I'm at that point in my life. I do this because it is what I want to do. I've worked most my adult life to be in a position that I can get up every morning and do something I find fulfilling and interesting and not give a damn about the economics of it. If some want to criticize my decision to do what I want now having reached this point in my life, that's fine.

Good luck this season.

 

[SDHNTR]

I hope people continue to engage in advocacy and conservation, whether they are new hunters, or folks who have grown up hunting. The urgency of conservation has never been more evident in my lifetime. Some of the most critical remaining landscapes that have previously escaped the plow and shovel are now in the crosshairs. I'll keep doing what small part I can toward that effort with my time, my money, and our platforms. I accept that some aren't going to like it. Comes with the territory.

I wish you luck in 2022.

I agree with you on this point! I just don’t think dumbing down the tag acquisition process is the way to do it. Barrier to entry is good. When people earn something, they cherish it more.

There’s a tipping point, where these endless attempts to increase opportunity eventually reduce opportunity, or the quality of the opportunity. We’ve passed that point now. I hope the pendulum swings back somehow. The backlash has obviously begun.

 

[cnelk]

Easy now. Randy is probably bumping up against his 2 hrs/day doing the forum thing

 

[Randy Newberg]

Can someone post a YouTube link to a most recent video of conversation or advocacy group doing something to help/promote wildlife?

I’d like to watch it

There's plenty of them for your viewing pleasure on YouTube. Here is one we did about a group of Nevada volunteers.

A film about a group of amazing volunteers doing great work. The film cost $30,000 for us to produce part of which was thankfully offset by some sponsors. One of the best stories I think we've ever told. Not about big rams, but about people who give of their time and talent that exemplify what hunting and conservation about.

Yet, you can see by looking at the analytics below, folks don't like to watch conservation videos. Result being, we lose money on our conservation videos, our advocacy videos, our videos about science or public lands. Those videos don't gain a lot of likes, views, or subscribers. It has made all of $60 since we published it 2.5 years ago and it has netted 11 new subscribers.



But, I don't give a flip how the video performs in terms of dollars or subs. Conservation advocacy is a critical part of our WHY, so I keep doing them. The same with our videos and podcasts on legislative issues, science issues, fund raisers for conservation groups.

We have four silos of content; 1) entertainment, 2) education, 3) information, and 4) advocacy. The only category that gets much in the way of views is #1. The other three categories lose money. But, like the video above, we keep doing them because that is what fulfills our WHY.

I'll grab a bunch more video links to show you some examples. I suspect your question will be answered with a quick YouTube search.

 

[SDHNTR]

“Are you suggesting we only focus on existing hunters who already are applying in western states to make sure nobody else applies beyond those who are currently in the game?”

No. What I’m suggesting is you focus on entertaining us. You’re a great story teller. You have a story that people identify with. You’re a likeable fellow. Sometimes you’re even funny!

Show us wonderful wild places and the pursuit of majestic wild creatures, with a cast of interesting characters. That’s enough. That alone will captivate your viewers. That’s good media, without alienating anyone.

Stop it with the “Tag Application/Drawing/Leftover/OTC 101” stuffs.

That’s all.

 

[SDHNTR]

We have four silos of content; 1) entertainment, 2) education, 3) information, and 4) advocacy. The only category that gets much in the way of views is #1. The other three categories lose money. But, like the video above, we keep doing them because that is what fulfills our WHY.

Then for goodness sakes, stick to #1. And sprinkle in some #4, for those of us who recognize its importance!

Problem solved. Whew!

 

[Randy Newberg]

Easy now. Randy is probably bumping up against his 2 hrs/day doing the forum thing

It's usually more than that. For you, tonight I'll make it four hours.

Enjoy.


RMEF volunteers at work.

MT Wild Sheep volunteers at work and funded by conservation groups.

Volunteers removing fence for antelope migration routes, coordinated and funded by a conservation group.

That took two minutes. How many conservation videos you want me to post?

Fact is there is tons of it out there on YouTube if one looks for it. Another fact is that hunters have little interest in watching it. The analytics on those videos would show how much of a money loser conservation and advocacy content is.

 

[Cameron.25]

Then for goodness sakes, stick to #1. And sprinkle in some #4, for those of us who recognize it’s importance!

Problem solved. Whew!

Something tells me he is not gonna comply lol

 

[cnelk]

It's usually more than that. For you, tonight I'll make it four hours.

Enjoy.


RMEF volunteers at work.

MT Wild Sheep volunteers at work and funded by conservation groups.

Volunteers removing fence for antelope migration routes, coordinated and funded by a conservation group.

That took two minutes. How many conservation videos you want me to post?

Fact is there is tons of it out there on YouTube if one looks for it. Another fact is that hunters have little interest in watching it. The analytics on those videos would show how much of a money loser conservation and advocacy content is.

You proved my point without even knowing it.

The ‘East Button/How To’ videos are the issue.

Best of luck in ‘22

 

[OMB]

Can someone post a YouTube link to a most recent video of conversation or advocacy group doing something to help/promote wildlife?

I’d like to watch it

Was going to say this earlier, but Kuiu Conservation Direct program looks like they're doing great work, and I don't see anybody featured in those videos that looks like they picked up hunting in the last few years.

And let's not forget, this huge influx of Pittsman-Robertson dollars is from Joe Blow buying a Glock and two boxes of ammo, not the guy getting into hunting from Youtube.

 

[Randy Newberg]

“Are you suggesting we only focus on existing hunters who already are applying in western states to make sure nobody else applies beyond those who are currently in the game?”

No. What I’m suggesting is you focus on entertaining us. You’re a great story teller. You have a story that people identify with. You’re a likeable fellow. Sometimes you’re even funny!

Show us wonderful wild places and the pursuit of majestic wild creatures, with a cast of interesting characters. That’s enough. That alone will captivate your viewers. That’s good media, without alienating anyone.

Stop it with the “Tag Application/Drawing/Leftover/OTC 101” stuffs.

That’s all.

I didn't think that is what you were suggesting. I was responding to the quoted post that was not yours.

I appreciate that you find our entertainment content interesting. Unfortunately, I'm not in this gig to entertain, other than what it does to help accomplish what we set out to do. If I thought we could build platforms that engaged audiences that created advocacy by producing purely advocacy content with me never being on camera, I would prefer to do that. Unfortunately, we would have an audience of about ten people if that is all we produced.

And there wouldn't be a policy maker in the world who cared what opinions we had on conservation and public land issues. We would have zero ability to help on policy issues, conservation, advocacy, and the other things we use our platforms to try accomplish. I would be back in the days when I was frustrated by how little voice hunters had in western land policy, access issues, land trades, legislation, and the other events that led me to start these platforms in 2008. These platforms were born of that frustration and getting my butt handed to me in legislatures, in DC, on policy issues, etc.

I am glad that people like the entertainment part of what we do. I feel that only fills a very narrow window of our WHY. Entertainment is a necessary requirement to our work, as is the advocacy, information and educational content.

I appreciate you making your opinions felt on this. Unfortunately, I suspect each year at this time you will be pissed at me.

 

[woods89]

Then for goodness sakes, stick to #1. And sprinkle in some #4, for those of us who recognize its importance!

Problem solved. Whew!

#2 and #3 might be what pushes that Midwestern hunter over the edge to come west. And what will he often do when he has those plans? He'll decide he needs a backpack, maybe some better optics, some technical clothing.......

If I were a company in that space I think middle aged Midwestern hunters would be a really promising demographic for me. Thus, it seems, someone is picking up the tab when the YouTube monetization falls short.

I'm not trying to throw stones here, but I also don't totally buy the line that influencers are doing this out of the kindness of their heart.

And I'm one of those Midwestern guys who comes west every couple years. I don't have Facebook or Instagram, don't hardly ever watch YouTube anymore, and certainly am not doing it because of hunting media.

 

[Whiskey_Fish]

I find it mildly disappointing that the general gist of the complaints in this thread are “It was hard for me to figure out and I’m mad the barrier of entry in my hobby isn’t higher.”

Western hunting is hard. We don’t need this gatekeeping crap too. The “hand holding” and “too easy” argument doesn’t hold much water for me. Do we really think these people would never figure out how to apply for tags without Randy et al?

How many hunters are really using these application strategies anyways? Can the guys demanding the proof on other topics provide the proof on this one?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Okhotnik]

Because Randy bans anyone immediately if they disagree with him or call him out for pimping endangered species that belong to the public.

Thanks for chiming in Randy. Gosh, golly. gee whiz, Randy I did not know how to hunt until I watched your super informative hunting show. Aw shucks, BTW Why did you ban me and others when we asked if you received payments from AZ fish and Game for pimping out the late season Coues deer archery hunts to non residents? At first you denied it. Great job on exploiting endangered Coues deer to make a buck. When are you going to have that anti hunting, anti gun deebag Charles Post on your hunting show again? Really sad to see flash in a pan celebrities making big money pimping pout our public natural resources. States should should start charging you $25 k a film permit for exploiting our public natural resources.

 

[wrexstex]

"Influencers" ...grrr, hate that term!
I don't watch any of them and ignore the term 99% of the time.
I've mentioned it before, hopefully Dad or Grandpa was the 'influencer' and obviously they did it for love not money.

Same here, i do not watch any of them too.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

Let’s introduced tigers into the western states. We’ve run through the wolves, All along with passing/passed laws that guarantee way more cats and bears then before. All creating less opportunity for the human hunter. Anything we could do to further that cause has been explored, accepted, and even sensationalized by a large part and, growing number of modern hunters and the political groups they choose as their representation.

Hooray.

Don’t blame Randy. His influence isn’t the cause. It’s the sheer fact western hunting, in its remoteness, with tactics employees with awesome toys, is much more fun. Think about it.

Setting in a hardwood thicket where you might be able to see 50 yards, isn’t nearly as fun or productive as glassing your prey, planning an approach, then getting after them. A good day out west with glass in hand guarantees you exponentially more game spotted, a much more interactive ecpietence, and a much better hunting experience. Versus the hours you set waiting on a whitetail that you won’t see until it’s nearly time to shoot.

People have always favored the most rewarding choice when it came available. This is no different.

 

[Okhotnik]

Let’s introduced tigers into the western states. We’ve run through the wolves, All along with passing/passed laws that guarantee way more cats and bears then before. All creating less opportunity for the human hunter. Anything we could do to further that cause has been explored, accepted, and even sensationalized by a large part and, growing number of modern hunters and the political groups they choose as their representation.

Hooray.

Don’t blame Randy. His influence isn’t the cause. It’s the sheer fact western hunting, in its remoteness, with tactics employees with awesome toys, is much more fun. Think about it.

Setting in a hardwood thicket where you might be able to see 50 yards, isn’t nearly as fun or productive as glassing your prey, planning an approach, then getting after them. A good day out west with glass in hand guarantees you exponentially more game spotted, a much more interactive ecpietence, and a much better hunting experience. Versus the hours you set waiting on a whitetail that you won’t see until it’s nearly time to shoot.

People have always favored the most rewarding choice when it came available. This is no different.

Don't begrudge Newberg making six figures exploiting western state hunting. You can't kill a Montana mule deer without a signature howa mule deer rifle and Newberg super ammo, or a sitka vest or a Nissan pick up. cha Ching

Why doesn't Mr Newberg do shows in his home state of Minnysoda? Or WV, NC, NY, ND, CA, AL, MS, LA? Cant make big bucks marketing his aw shucks Minnysoda Rem 760 hunting rifle or a pair of $65 farm and fleet hunter hunter coveralls especially since all of the wolves he and BHA worship have diminished mid west deer hunting

 

[Wvroach]

But do they? Show me they do in numbers proportionate to recent increases western hunter numbers and I’ll gladly eat crow.

RMEF in December 2013 had 203,000 member in December of 2018 (latest number I can find) over 235000. Over 10% increase.

The funds from hunting licenses of non residents, which are widely unsuccessful i.e. most elk hunts have less than 15% success for non residents during rifle. 5% typically through archery.. a non residents elk only tag will normally be in the 800-1200$ range a residents elk,deer, antelope,bear is usually sub $200..

To say that non residents are not contributing to the cause and that more hunters doesn't mean more advocates is false...

When is the last time you and your group of local hunting buddies spent time at your state legislature to advocate for your hunting rights or donated to a charitable organization that does the same? Not a attack on you just a question.


Residents have an overwhelming advantage both monetarily and by virtue of location. I have no problem with that. To say non residents don't do their fair share is false though. Clearly the spike in numbers, license sales, local sales traveling through, conservation group membership etc contradicts that claim...


Something about having a plank in your own eye worrying about a speck in someone else's... Non residents are not the problem here...

 

[tt_johnsclist]

Yes the resource is limited and public, that's why we have professional biologists to set quotas, seasons, document harvest, etc. etc.

The reason is to ensure that the resource is not over-utilized.

For instance, the 7,250 NR full priced elk tags has sold out for longer than 20 years in WY. The number of licenses available is set in regulation. Its impossible to do any damage to the public resource by increasing the customer base.

Doesn't matter if there are 7,250 total customers or 725,000 customers...the impact to the resource is limited to 7,250...and the exact same in either case.

Except that the resource isn’t the elk themselves, but rather the quality opportunity to hunt those elk. So when you have 7,250 customers everyone that desires gets access to the herd for a quality hunt. But when you have 725,000 customers and your draw odds approach 0 that elk herd for all intents and purposes may as well be extinct.