The Case Against Hunter Recruitment

[Molon Labe]

Ridiculous. Further cements my opinion of the Rinellas.
Self centered me me me type people...always right and whats best for me is the only way.
Whining about a "problem" you help create is childish.
Totally hypocritical...i want to make money off the industry...but do not want people getting in my way of shooting an animal for my TV show....

Meateater...a show that Matt has been on and podcasts he has been on (havent watched the show but someone pointed that out earlier) is one of the largest recruiters to the outdoors/hunting culture in todays society.
I'm assuming there is meateater instagram and facebook etc...constantly promoting and pushing the business and selling all their sponsored equipment.

I'm a capitalist so i enjoy watching companies succeed. Make money. Make a great product that improves the standard of living for humans. BUT dont complain about a "problem" that you are actively creating...

Its like complaining about cow manure smell in a field that you just got done spreading...

I love hunting and fishing. I love sharing my experience with new people and getting them out in the woods. I only bring in one or two late adapters a year...i wish i could recruit more. A great many of the people that contact me wanting to start hunting out west do so because....they listen to Meateater. They also ask tons of questions about gear and feel like they need all the best gear right away because that is all they hear! Only way to be successful is if you are shooting the meateater gun with the meateater camo pattern and the meateater yeti cooler to store your meat and the meateater blah blah blah.

I havent listened to the podcast for a couple years because of the commercialization that they have went through...but it was great back in the day when they first started out.

And then to publish an article like this...i just dont understand why? Publish an article bagging on more hunters on a website for a company that is constantly recruiting new hunters...and selling these new hunters on the dream.

 

[elkyinzer]

R3 all about the $$$$$$.

Totally agree with Matt. Make hunting not an "industry" again.

 

[elkyinzer]

Can someone cite a practical example of where the "strength in numbers" R3 argument has prevailed in a meaningful way. I'll hang up and listen...

 

[Ozarkansas]

Can someone cite a practical example of where the "strength in numbers" R3 argument has prevailed in a meaningful way. I'll hang up and listen...

I would say on issues like the proposed California bear hunting ban, having a large number of ACTIVE hunters shout at the politicians has been a big help. But I concede simply increasing raw Hunter numbers doesn’t automatically help

 

[AlaskaMark]

Disappointed with the article, it goes against everything I and others are seeing in real life. Try to get kids out hunting these days; they are addicted to their phones, to social media, camping is no fun, what's hunting? How many of you older guys used to bring a shotgun or .22 to school way back when, leave them in the truck so you could go hunt ducks or squirrels after school? Everything has changed and hunting just isn't pursued by as many as it used to be, nor is it recognized overall by the public as mainstream.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, just wow.

 

[Rob5589]

Disappointed with the article, it goes against everything I and others are seeing in real life. Try to get kids out hunting these days; they are addicted to their phones, to social media, camping is no fun, what's hunting? How many of you older guys used to bring a shotgun or .22 to school way back when, leave them in the truck so you could go hunt ducks or squirrels after school? Everything has changed and hunting just isn't pursued by as many as it used to be, nor is it recognized overall by the public as mainstream.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, just wow.

I didn't take the article in that way. I read it more that organizations and businesses should not be pushing recruitment.

Conservation nonprofits are essential to the future of hunting, and we owe them much for the important work they do. If you are not a member of a group like BHA, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, or Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, I urge you to join, contribute, and help shape the priorities. Those priorities should be protecting wildlife habitat, increasing acreage available to hunters, and countering threats to hunting rights. Let friends and family recruit the next generation of hunters. That model has worked since the beginning of time.

 

[Molon Labe]

R3 all about the $$$$$$.

Totally agree with Matt. Make hunting not an "industry" again.

I agree with making hunting not an industry again...but that is exactly what they do in commercializing it...right?

I think he doesnt want R3 to be about companies/orgs doing the recruiting. And i agree with that. But those companies/orgs have the buy in to R3 because more sales of course. Matt seemed fine with RMEF and BHA doing the recruiting...

I feel that R3 is more about grass roots (friends and family) than companies doing the recruiting...but i dont watch hunting programs or catch much marketing so i am speaking to this a bit ignorant.

I'm assuming Matt and Steves kids hunt...they are recruiting them correct? Are they fine with their kids taking up hunting but dont want other kids out there because they are going to crowd them or steal "their" buck on a youth tag? Some kids want to hunt but dont have a parent that hunts. I want those kids to have the opportunity to enjoy the passion i have for hunting. Steve recruited Joe Rogan into hunting...now Rogan's podcast also accounts for a LOT of late adapters taking up hunting.

So is it only cool if they and their company recruits people...but the rest of the companies/orgs need to stay away from R3?

 

[ODB]

I didn't take the article in that way. I read it more that organizations and businesses should not be pushing recruitment.

Conservation nonprofits are essential to the future of hunting, and we owe them much for the important work they do. If you are not a member of a group like BHA, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, or Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, I urge you to join, contribute, and help shape the priorities. Those priorities should be protecting wildlife habitat, increasing acreage available to hunters, and countering threats to hunting rights. Let friends and family recruit the next generation of hunters. That model has worked since the beginning of time.

yup. It’s the corporatization and monetization that’s what’s rubbing wrong.

 

[MattB]

Personally, I think was a questionably written article, written by a person who is in essence suggesting their personal sense of aesthetics be used as the basis for broad-based policy decisions.

I also thought it odd but telling that he listed BHA ahead of RMEF in terms of conservation non-profits, and left out so many other big names.

 

[WCB]

I like it.

 

[RyanT26]

If you go back and look at the Wyoming 90/10 tag thread. It seemed like a majority of Wyoming residents wanted more tags in some cases 30 or more for themselves and it was viewed as ok to have that outlook.
Well I feel the same way, I want more tags with less hunter pressure. The 3R’s is about money.

 

[mmw194287]

Matt seemed fine with RMEF and BHA doing the recruiting...

He said the exact opposite of that in the article:

"I recently quit the board of a major hunting nonprofit over this. While helping design a survey to better figure out what members thought the organization’s priorities should be, I advocated for two questions: Do you want to see more hunters when afield, and if so, how many? The board’s unwillingness to include these questions remains troubling to me. I assume they feared the answers would be “no” and “zero,” in which case they’d have to reconsider R3, which is a main thrust of the organization. I’m concerned that avoiding the tough questions doesn’t serve hunting nonprofits or the hunting community more generally."

 

[Molon Labe]

He said the exact opposite of that in the article:

"I recently quit the board of a major hunting nonprofit over this. While helping design a survey to better figure out what members thought the organization’s priorities should be, I advocated for two questions: Do you want to see more hunters when afield, and if so, how many? The board’s unwillingness to include these questions remains troubling to me. I assume they feared the answers would be “no” and “zero,” in which case they’d have to reconsider R3, which is a main thrust of the organization. I’m concerned that avoiding the tough questions doesn’t serve hunting nonprofits or the hunting community more generally."

Yep thanks. I read that totally wrong...my error. I read that he wanted people to join those organizations but didnt pay attention to why he wanted people to join them. My bad.
He wanted people to join those organizations and to help "shape their priorities".

Basically...join the organizations and tell them not to recruit people so he can go into the mountains with a film crew of 10 people that meateater recruited and shoot animals and sell sponsors. Win win...less hunters in the mountains and more public ground to hunt!

I dont think we need more people sitting on their couches watching hunting shows...we need more people outside living their own hunting shows!

Next RMEF banquet you go to make sure to spend an extra 25% to make up for the lower number of new hunters recruited! Less money coming into banquets means less public land to have to yourself...

 

[PablitoPescador]

The US in general has been moving towards more of a pure democracy (mob rule) for years. We hear politicians constantly using buzzwords like “our democracy.” it seems like the hunting community as a whole has increasingly been beating the drum of strength in numbers. I would agree with Matt that the battle is never going to be won by a greater portion of the population being into hunting. Just look at the recent “democratic” loss in Colorado. All it took was 50.91% of the population to legislate a devastating blow to hunting in CO and neighboring states. We will never be the majority and if we ever were to become the majority there would be no opportunity. The preservation of hunting IMHO will come from the general population having a understanding of wildlife conservation and ethics, not from perceived strength in numbers. There’s a cap to how many hunters our landscape can sustain and we’re closer to reaching it every season

 

[Jimbob]

Ridiculous. Further cements my opinion of the Rinellas.
Self centered me me me type people...always right and whats best for me is the only way.
Whining about a "problem" you help create is childish.
Totally hypocritical...i want to make money off the industry...but do not want people getting in my way of shooting an animal for my TV show....

Meateater...a show that Matt has been on and podcasts he has been on (havent watched the show but someone pointed that out earlier) is one of the largest recruiters to the outdoors/hunting culture in todays society.
I'm assuming there is meateater instagram and facebook etc...constantly promoting and pushing the business and selling all their sponsored equipment.

I'm a capitalist so i enjoy watching companies succeed. Make money. Make a great product that improves the standard of living for humans. BUT dont complain about a "problem" that you are actively creating...

Its like complaining about cow manure smell in a field that you just got done spreading...

I love hunting and fishing. I love sharing my experience with new people and getting them out in the woods. I only bring in one or two late adapters a year...i wish i could recruit more. A great many of the people that contact me wanting to start hunting out west do so because....they listen to Meateater. They also ask tons of questions about gear and feel like they need all the best gear right away because that is all they hear! Only way to be successful is if you are shooting the meateater gun with the meateater camo pattern and the meateater yeti cooler to store your meat and the meateater blah blah blah.

I havent listened to the podcast for a couple years because of the commercialization that they have went through...but it was great back in the day when they first started out.

And then to publish an article like this...i just dont understand why? Publish an article bagging on more hunters on a website for a company that is constantly recruiting new hunters...and selling these new hunters on the dream.

Matt and Steve don't see eye to eye on this. Steve is Meateater Matt is not. "Meateater" is just willing to post an article showing the other side of the debate.

I can see you dumping on meateater for commercializing hunting but they are all about promoting hunting.

Steve has said that Matt is not happy about what Meateater does.

 

[ChrisAU]

I can't imagine being so upset about it that I'd be mad at my own brother for being successful, when I was a part of it in the early years at that. I think the best way is likely somewhere in the middle.

 

[ChrisAU]

And also, Matt wasn't just in the "early" years. The sheep hunting episode that was the last episode of the season previous to the most current one was awesome, and he was a very big part of it.

 

[ODB]

And also, Matt wasn't just in the "early" years. The sheep hunting episode that was the last episode of the season previous to the most current one was awesome, and he was a very big part of it.

Wrong brother. That was Danny. You won’t see Matt on the show ever again I think. Unless it’s to talk about this issue.


and I don’t think Matt is mad a Steve for being successful. He’s way more complicated than that.

 

[ChrisAU]

Wrong brother. That was Danny. You won’t see Matt on the show ever again I think. Unless it’s to talk about this issue.


and I don’t think Matt is mad a Steve for being successful. He’s way more complicated than that.

You're right, my bad!

 

[Molon Labe]

Matt and Steve don't see eye to eye on this. Steve is Meateater Matt is not. "Meateater" is just willing to post an article showing the other side of the debate.

I can see you dumping on meateater for commercializing hunting but they are all about promoting hunting.

Steve has said that Matt is not happy about what Meateater does.

Ahhh ok. That makes more sense.
Sorry I don’t really follow meat eater or know exactly who does what with the company. I just remember his brother being on several podcasts and thought it was hypocritical to bad mouth something you are doing as well.

im just going to go sit in the corner since I obviously don’t know enough about this to voice my opinion. I’ve been corrected twice on this thread in as many posts time to tuck tail and run haha!

For the record I do like that meat eater brings people into hunting. They are doing well and I’m glad they are around. I just wish there was a way for a company to be successful without constantly pimping products...