The Hunting Public TV Show

[Lowg08]

Gonna need some sources on these accusations.

I’m not sure about the others but the Georgia accusation was confirmed by the dnr. As far as the turkey hunting. A friend of mine who shares a turkey camp with cat man, at least in Alabama that spot has been blown up. Not one gobble in a week the year after they went to it. First time he has never killed a turkey or two on that trip.

on the flip side of that. Someone else could have very well started the same thing. I feel like they are good, hard hunting dudes getting it done. I very rarely watch any hunting shows anymore. I did watch all their content up til last year just stopped watching hunting shows all together. Nothing against them.

also just because they went one time doesn’t mean they blew the area up. It may have caused some extra pressure but people were camping hunting there way before the show.

 

[OMB]

I’m not sure about the others but the Georgia accusation was confirmed by the dnr. As far as the turkey hunting. A friend of mine who shares a turkey camp with cat man, at least in Alabama that spot has been blown up. Not one gobble in a week the year after they went to it. First time he has never killed a turkey or two on that trip.

on the flip side of that. Someone else could have very well started the same thing. I feel like they are good, hard hunting dudes getting it done. I very rarely watch any hunting shows anymore. I did watch all their content up til last year just stopped watching hunting shows all together. Nothing against them.

also just because they went one time doesn’t mean they blew the area up. It may have caused some extra pressure but people were camping hunting there way before the show.

Yeah it's confirmed they took money to promote spring turkey in multiple states. I enjoyed some of their early stuff but now between the click bait episodes and hot spotting everything they touch, I'm pretty much out. We've got some public land near our Iowa farm and I'm just waiting for the video where it's "we're hunting the XXX River valley in XXX county, not a truck in sight" and wreck the NR draw odds even more.

 

[Lowg08]

Yeah it's confirmed they took money to promote spring turkey in multiple states. I enjoyed some of their early stuff but now between the click bait episodes and hot spotting everything they touch, I'm pretty much out. We've got some public land near our Iowa farm and I'm just waiting for the video where it's "we're hunting the XXX River valley in XXX county, not a truck in sight" and wreck the NR draw odds even more.

I hate that it’s going that way. I was listening to a podcast and the guy mentioned some landmark. Lost his scope cover or something like that and a week later a guy figured it out and went in there. Found his lost item. So it’s amazing how many people will just try to hawk in on others too. Lucky for me. Our deer hunting sucks. So I’m sure they will
Leave me alone

 

[summs]

@Dos Perros the founder Aaron warb left main stream sponsor pimp shows to start this. He and Zach were “public land specialist” and production crew for Midwest white tail. Bill winke the host and 10 minutes of a word from our sponsors for a 15 minute video from their redneck blind (lol). Sponsored by cabelas, Hoyt, big name stuff etc … thp member Greg was also apart of Midwest white tail.

They have to much personality to be boxed in from other producers.

 

[hardluck]

I like watching the Hunting Public, Catman Outdoors, and Have Bow Will Travel. Tanner is a nut but he kills some good deer.

 

[deerhunt1988]

Gonna need some sources on these accusations.

OK.

No one is paying them except youtube, amazon and the merchandise they sell.

Wrong.

Oh no don't tell me deerhunt1988 is here too !!

I'm everywhere

I’m not sure about the others but the Georgia accusation was confirmed by the dnr. As far as the turkey hunting. A friend of mine who shares a turkey camp with cat man, at least in Alabama that spot has been blown up. Not one gobble in a week the year after they went to it. First time he has never killed a turkey or two on that trip.

also just because they went one time doesn’t mean they blew the area up. It may have caused some extra pressure but people were camping hunting there way before the show.

Yup, it isn't just THP that is to blame. Catboy and Pinhoti are just as much at fault for ruining northeast Bama. They (THP) didn't even try to to hide the campground or gates which tons of of people recognized. I hunted that same area before and after YouTubers went there and it is night and day difference now.

If they'd just quit naming states, a lot of this would be avoided. But that'd hurt their views. I've hunted numerous areas/regions across the U.S. that have fell victim. Even my home state has had to implement measures to reduce non-resident turkey hunter numbers for spring 2022 due to the YouTuber influence on traveling turkey hunting.

Yeah it's confirmed they took money to promote spring turkey in multiple states. I enjoyed some of their early stuff but now between the click bait episodes and hot spotting everything they touch, I'm pretty much out. We've got some public land near our Iowa farm and I'm just waiting for the video where it's "we're hunting the XXX River valley in XXX county, not a truck in sight" and wreck the NR draw odds even more.

THP has already had an impact on the Iowa non-rez turkey draw. And they are the reason I hunted Iowa in 2018. When I saw a bunch of new turkey hunters killing long spurred birds left and right on public land all through the month of May, well, what more evidence does it take to persuade someone to go there?

As far as how they changed the draw stats, the 2nd season used to be the most coveted season and about the only one you weren't guaranteed to draw with 0 points. Now with all their Iowa footage and hunters looking to extend their seasons, the last seasons applications have shot up tremendously. On the bright side, the earlier seasons are now easy to draw.

The thing that saves Iowa from damage is that $270 turkey tag! And the draw process. More states may end up having to go this route. Which sucks for lower income hunters.

With all their Iowa deer footage and the increase in point buyers, I wouldn't doubt some zones taking 5-7 points to draw in the future. The zone they'd blown up is already taking 5 points. On the bright side, more money for Iowa DNR, less hunting opportunities for non-rez.

I hate that it’s going that way. I was listening to a podcast and the guy mentioned some landmark. Lost his scope cover or something like that and a week later a guy figured it out and went in there. Found his lost item. So it’s amazing how many people will just try to hawk in on others too. Lucky for me. Our deer hunting sucks. So I’m sure they will
Leave me alone

They throw those bones in there because they know people will go to digging to find out where they are. This triggers more engagement (views, likes, subscribes, etc.)

 

[deerhunt1988]

Now for evidence they are getting paid by state Game and Fish agencies:

Georgia resident turkey hunters were pretty upset after hearing GA DNR may have paid them. Hunters reached out to their agency regarding the matter and it was confirmed. GA spent ~$23,000 on the THP collab. Here is the response a GA turkey hunter received from GA DNR's Marketing and Communications manager.

And now further confirmation from a GA DNR employee:

What is a major blow to the face, is GA turkey hunters have lost 2-3 weeks off their public land turkey hunting for the spring of 2022 and one of the reasons is the increase in public land hunting pressure. So here you have a state agency paying YouTubers to try and sell more licenses while at the same time reducing hunting opportunity. Not cool.

 

[deerhunt1988]

Tennessee turkey hunters also suspected THP was being paid so they did a little digging. Evidence TWRA paid them in the e-mail below:

TN is a another state that is currently reducing turkey hunting opportunity (lowered bag limits, later seasons, etc.) while paying influencers to come hunt and promote it.

 

[deerhunt1988]

Arizona:

Here is a giant thread on Hunt Talk forum about AZ Game and Fish paying influencers between $5,000 to $60,000 a year:

OTC AZ Archery Units closed

I'm sure a lot of you know that AZGFD has closed or reduced seasons for a significant amount of units for the OTC archery hunt this year, after paying "celebrity" hunters to go down there and promote the OTC archery hunt recently. I'm waiting to hear all the details from AZGFD, it's been a few...

www.hunttalk.com

Certain OTC archery deer hunts influencers were being paid to advertise got so popular, they had to close those units to OTC hunting! Imagine being a resident who hunted those OTC units every year, and then losing that opportunity due to your state agency paying influencers to pimp it out! Talk about a slap in the face.....

THP just happened to hunt in AZ during this time period. Here is THP admitting they were one of the influencers being paid:

AZ hunters are pretty pissed to say the least. They've actually started a petition in hopes to get AZGF to quit paying influencers. Petition below:

2,525 people signed and won this petition

AZGFD: Stop Paying Influencers

chng.it

 

[deerhunt1988]

All that said....

Nothing against the boys. Anyone would jump at the chance to get paid to hunt public land. But when you start advertising specific hunts, states, localized areas to hundreds of thousands of other hunters, there will be repercussions. Who suffers the most is the resident hunter who relies on these impacted areas to hunt.

And it is REALLY bad form for state agencies to spend dollars paying influencers to hunt certain animals (i.e. turkeys in the southeast) while populations are declining and turkey hunting opportunities are being reduced across the board in basically every state in the southeast. That money could be better spent buying more public land, improving habitat, etc.

Lastly, its pretty amusing seeing the difference in opinions on hunting YouTubers/influencers between the white-tail forum and general forum. Here's a good thread on the topic in the General Forum:

Has Anybody Else Noticed a Scarcity of Hunting Videos on YouTube Lately?

I've noticed this over the last month or 2. I know Gritty in August was talking about releasing hunting videos leading up to and through the hunting season this year, every Sunday. His last one was over a month ago, which is not typical. I've noticed a reduction of hunting videos from almost...

www.rokslide.com

Vastly different opinions!

 

[Lowg08]

Is there a mike drop emoji lol. I love it.

 

[Iawalleyeguy]

You should see the damage they (and other YouTubers) have done to public land turkey hunting, particularly in the southeast! Have helped cause giant leaps in public land turkey hunting pressure, and absolutely ruined certain locations. Pressure increases so bad, hunters have lost a lot of public land hunting opportunity through public land season reductions (that aren't for private land), public land bag limit reductions, more public lands switching to draw/quota hunts eliminating OTC opportunity. It's pretty sad.

And don't think they aren't being paid. It's confirmed that Georgia DNR spent $23k on a project with them to pimp out public lands. What makes it so bad, is GA just removed 2-3 weeks off their public land turkey season for 2022 and reduced the bag limit! While at the same time paying THP to come turkey hunt. Sickening.

Tennessee also paid them. While at the same time reducing the statewide turkey bag limit.

Arizona has paid them as well. They are one of the influencers that received a check for advertising OTC archery deer hunts....which has now helped lead to AZ Removing OTC opportunity in several units.

With all the western big game content they are now pumping out, look for them to start being paid by more western states with the goal of attracting more non residents and further reducing all of our draw odds and potential OTC opportunities.

You can look at it that way if you want to. I prefer to look at as if they are bringing more people into our sport 1. our sport has more of a voice when legislation tries to get passed that could end it altogether
2. If more people are involved and using our public land states will have more money to buy and maintain our public land ,this won't happen over night and there may be some personal sacrifices for the greater good of all.
3. More people involved will create more jobs in the industry and drive innovation.
You have the right to feel however you want but it sure seems selfish to me!

 

[deerhunt1988]

You can look at it that way if you want to. I prefer to look at as if they are bringing more people into our sport 1. our sport has more of a voice when legislation tries to get passed that could end it altogether
2. If more people are involved and using our public land states will have more money to buy and maintain our public land ,this won't happen over night and there may be some personal sacrifices for the greater good of all.
3. More people involved will create more jobs in the industry and drive innovation.
You have the right to feel however you want but it sure seems selfish to me!

You are correct in most of your assessment.

And I admit, part of my feelings are out of selfishness. I hate seeing my public land hunting opportunities for turkeys in the southeast being diminished at an increasing rate with influencers being partially to blame.

My issue is when they continue to name states and 'hot spot' locales or specific hunting opportunities. The resource can only handle so much pressure on public lands. As we've witnessed first hand with turkey and the AZ OTC deer opportunities, once hunting pressure reaches a threshold you can expect reduced opportunities.

If all the new hunters they are "recruiting" were mostly hunting on private lands, we wouldn't be having this issue. And I believe the majority of "recruits" were hunters already, they just now have confidence to start hunting public lands. Which is a good thing! Unfortunately in certain circumstances, the influx of hunters to specific public lands can have very negative consequences.

Its a double edged sword and will be interesting to see how it all plays out in the future. Turkey and deer tags potentially going the way of western big game (we are already starting to see this). More states begin reducing hunting opportunity for non-residents (seeing this with turkey).

A simple solution would be to quit naming states. But that will never happen as long as they are being paid by state agencies.

If the current trajectory continues, I would not doubt us starting to lose hunters as tags become more difficult to draw, more OTC hunting opportunities are lost, and the public land crowds continue to grow.

 

[Iawalleyeguy]

You are correct in most of your assessment.

And I admit, part of my feelings are out of selfishness. I hate seeing my public land hunting opportunities for turkeys in the southeast being diminished at an increasing rate with influencers being partially to blame.

My issue is when they continue to name states and 'hot spot' locales or specific hunting opportunities. The resource can only handle so much pressure on public lands. As we've witnessed first hand with turkey and the AZ OTC deer opportunities, once hunting pressure reaches a threshold you can expect reduced opportunities.

If all the new hunters they are "recruiting" were mostly hunting on private lands, we wouldn't be having this issue. And I believe the majority of "recruits" were hunters already, they just now have confidence to start hunting public lands. Which is a good thing! Unfortunately in certain circumstances, the influx of hunters to specific public lands can have very negative consequences.

Its a double edged sword and will be interesting to see how it all plays out in the future. Turkey and deer tags potentially going the way of western big game (we are already starting to see this). More states begin reducing hunting opportunity for non-residents (seeing this with turkey).

A simple solution would be to quit naming states. But that will never happen as long as they are being paid by state

I live in iowa and hunt 50/50 private vs public Iowa has been a named millions of times on TV as a place to hunt trophy deer. I live in a state that chooses not to alow us to be over run with nonresident. So maybe your issue should be with your state agencies and legislature rather than guys trying to save our sport!

 

[Iawalleyeguy]

That being said I am involved with clubs and organizations that keep me informed about the yearly onslaught of stupid and harmful legislation. I am sending emails to representatives it seems all year long to let them know how I feel. I feel better about myself bashing dumb legislation than I ever would bashing another person with similar intrests!

 

[wind gypsy]

If all the new hunters they are "recruiting" were mostly hunting on private lands, we wouldn't be having this issue. And I believe the majority of "recruits" were hunters already, they just now have confidence to start hunting public lands. Which is a good thing! Unfortunately in certain circumstances, the influx of hunters to specific public lands can have very negative consequences.

I've been told time and time again that "having a place to hunt" is the biggest obstacle that results in people quitting hunting. Seems like THP's schtick addresses that challenge.

It would definitely be nice if they put more effort into preventing spot burning.

 

[Iawalleyeguy]

I've been told time and time again that "having a place to hunt" is the biggest obstacle that results in people quitting hunting. Seems like THP's schtick addresses that challenge.

It would definitely be nice if they put more effort into preventing spot burning.

Also maybe you were never a very good hunter and now with the added pressure it shows. And maybe just maybe other better hunters are still having success in your "burnt areas" you can choose to

I've been told time and time again that "having a place to hunt" is the biggest obstacle that results in people quitting hunting. Seems like THP's schtick addresses that challenge.

It would definitely be nice if they put more effort into preventing spot burning.

This is mainly because people want it to look and feel like it does on TV and for 99% of a us it is unrealistic. THP is showing people it can be fun without 1000 acres of private ground and success can be measured without a score! They seem like horable people that are out to get you to me!

 

[wind gypsy]

Also maybe you were never a very good hunter and now with the added pressure it shows. And maybe just maybe other better hunters are still having success in your "burnt areas" you can choose to

This is mainly because people want it to look and feel like it does on TV and for 99% of a us it is unrealistic. THP is showing people it can be fun without 1000 acres of private ground and success can be measured without a score! They seem like horable people that are out to get you to me!

Did you look at the topic i quoted? My point is that it's counter intuitive to push new hunters to finding private land because access to private is already one of their primary hurdles.

I may have never been a very good hunter but THP sure aint burning my public spots in N. MN wolf country. Wired to hunt had nice coverage of their hunt up in the boundary waters. Hoping to just see a deer. I hunt stuff like that except without the romanticized BW wilderness aspect

 

[Iawalleyeguy]

It sounds to me that some people on this thread may have just realized that they have had it super easy and may not be all that good of a hunter after all.
I bet turkey and deer still get killed in all the areas your talking about. Some guys maybe just lucky but some are just better hunters. Also seems like your state was just as, if not more to blame than a few guys trying to make a living doing what they love. So maybe your state legislatures suck way more than these guys. IF I felt like you guys I would be on the phone and email telling my State how I feel... not bashing other hunters on some forum.

 

[Iawalleyeguy]

I've never talked to a state official and had them say that they know because they read it on XXforum. Use your votes wisely and let them know how you feel regularly. You can't assume they know or are doing what you think is best because they are a member of a certain party. Get involved on a local and state level and you will notice the party lines get really blurry when it comes to hunting and especially public land use and management!