Unfollowing Hunting Social Media Will Make Hunting Better: Matt Rinella Essay

[slick]

It's funny to me that so many people have their knickers in a knot over what category Matt or Steve Rinella put them in.

Good on both of you for your success in your perspective fields, don't give a chit what you think about me or how I hunt if it's done legally.

Unfortunately, I did listen to parts of the podcast of which I haven't listened to in years and came away equally dissatisfied. With that being said both have valid points to each side of the argument.

If anything I took away is that I still don't appreciate the second hand nature of the commercialization of wildlife that come from the likes of Newburg, Rinella, insert name here.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

I have multiple animals in the freezers and hunt for myself were ever and when ever I have the opportunity to. I also haven't bought any meat from the store in years besides chicken. My dogs eat all trimming that I wouldn't eat and do 100% of my own processing along with showing vets how to do it themselves. I have gone out just to kill something for the meat, I really don't see an issue with that.

Happy for you man, that honestly sounds like a lot of us here. But do you have so much meat that you have to give it away to make room for the next hunt? Or do you know anyone that puts it in bags and throws it off of bridges? @TL406

 

[ndayton]

Did you look at the stats of how many of those are non res? because I bet most of them are, which means residents don't see a drastic decrease in odd and they state makes more money. As for OTC thats up to the state and if they were to limit non resident OTC tags I bet that pressure would go down. I blame state agencies being money hungry way over someone on social media.... Hell AZ was PAYING influencers to promote OTC hunting in AZ so they can bring in more revenue. It sure as hell wasnt to help the deer numbers increase.

11,724 new resident hunters and 18,724 new non resident for elk. That's still an increase of almost 12,000 new resident hunters in Colorado.
In the case of Oregon resident hunters lost OTC opportunities so not sure how that will effect hunting pressure, normally 2300 hunters hunt the now Eaglecap unit which now only offers 1735(I believe) tags. So again a decrease in opportunity.
I agree that OTC going to controlled in Oregon was largely driven by ODFW getting more revenue.

 

[wind gypsy]

If anything, the main thing that detracts from @Mattrinella message is the elitist tone. Hunting on private doesn't make you some rich slob.

If it weren't for people like Randy having a platform there wouldn't be near the allies supporting hunters on current issues like the horseshit proposals being made by Gianforte (MT FWP) and in the corner crossing issue in WY.

That doesn't mean that there isn't a lot of truth to Matt's stance but putting anyone in the hunting industry in that box is counter productive.

 

[KurtR]

Now hunting and killing are two different things. If you are killing for any other reason besides the meat, I would love to hear an argument defending that.

Predator and Pest control are two off the top of my head

 

[PMcGee]

I made this point back on page 30 something of this thread but some hunters are out there hunting with multiple full freezers. I'm really proud of a friend of mine for getting a Moose this year and then turning his Mule Deer tag back in that he used 12 points on. He would have for sure had a good chance on a lifetime buck with that 4th season tag with the dates this year but he had to buy a new freezer just for the Moose. Now, if you are that guy with full freezers and continuing to hunt because you make money from it? That I have a huge problem with.

I shot a moose in 2017 and had to buy a freezer. You’re telling me I shouldn’t have hunted the rest of the year? I shot two deer that year and yes I gave some meat away to friends that don’t hunt. I really can’t see why now it’s a big problem to give meat away. Some people enjoy the meat and don’t hunt. If I have tags to fill and can get them meat what’s the problem?


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[kwackkillncrew]

I think the point matt is trying to show is that when these big guys throw out all this content with huge bulls shot people assume its on public land (since they do no disclose that hey we filmed this hunt on a private ranch) so people think there are monster bulls all over and its easy to do. So then it attracts alot more attention to hunting in certain states for certain animals. I do think they should say we are out on this private ranch hunting on this type of hunt. Its funny when people are hunting public they are sure happy to tell you that but when they are on private it doesnt get said very often.

 

[robby denning]

Its funny when people are hunting public they are sure happy to tell you that but when they are on private it doesnt get said very often.

all too true

 

[TL406]

Happy for you man, that honestly sounds like a lot of us here. But do you have so much meat that you have to give it away to make room for the next hunt? Or do you know anyone that puts it in bags and throws it off of bridges? @TL406

My lighthearted point being that if someone wants to go buy a pile of tags and kill a pile of animals because they enjoy hunting, stalking, executing good shots with a bow and then they take that meat and donate it or give their neighbor a whole deer for Christmas…that’s fine, good on them. It’s exhausting when people virtue signal about about “hunting for the right reasons, only kill enough to sustain yourself….” Prolific killers who kill a pile of animals legally each year don’t just throw the meat in the ocean and if you’re getting otc tags to do it, you aren’t depriving anyone else of meat to feed their family by putting a bunch of animals on the ground.

 

[OMB]

I shot a moose in 2017 and had to buy a freezer. You’re telling me I shouldn’t have hunted the rest of the year? I shot two deer that year and yes I gave some meat away to friends that don’t hunt. I really can’t see why now it’s a big problem to give meat away. Some people enjoy the meat and don’t hunt. If I have tags to fill and can get them meat what’s the problem?


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I think the issue at as it pertains to this topic is that there's a certain % of influencer hunters/wanna be influencer hunters that are killing animals just for the sake of content and getting their ego stroked by likes. More power to anyone that fills the tags they drew or bought for a given year, but it's a perversion of the system when killing for social media content and pushing product is the main motivation for hunting.

 

[Desk Jockey]

My article in Free Range American does a better job of laying out my points. One thing to keep in mind is that Steve and the other influencers had zero interest in increasing hunter participation prior to when they began making $ off hunting. Probably the best way to get more hunters afield would be to get on social media and tell everyone exactly where you’ll be hunting that week. You’ll be hunting where you think your chances of success are best, right. Don’t you want others to have those same high chance of success?? Hopefully you’ll run into the people you’ve inspired to hunt your area so you can give them a head start and not spook anything for them.

Welcome to the party, Matt. Good to see you on here defending your position.

I assume your point above is somewhat facetious. But I have and do share hunting spots with people I have “recruited” into hunting. I am far from an expert but I try to pass along whatever knowledge I can to anyone that is interested and will take someone hunting whenever I can. I am a “big tent” guy and think that we need all the numbers we can get to combat the decline in US hunters so that we can maintain the strength of our collective voice as hunters.

Drawing on my experience from introducing people to other past times, many new recruits will never take hunting up with any vigor or frequency. It will be an experience that they may enjoy for a time, but won’t continue. However, there will be those rare few who will take to hunting and pursue the pastime with passion. Those are the hunters we need. The ones who will join us in pursuing, protecting and preserving this shared resource. The rest - you’ll know them by their skinny jeans, neck beards, logoed flat brims and pristine gear - will fade away. They are attracted by a confluence of a now popular desire to connect with their food sources, social media proliferation and following the fad. Their attention will turn to blacksmithing or Kombucha brewing or something else within a season or two, when the novelty fades. When they are gone, what will remain will be the corps of dedicated, passionate hunters that care about the pastime and will give there time and coin to support and preserve it.

 

[MuleyFever]

I think the point matt is trying to show is that when these big guys throw out all this content with huge bulls shot people assume its on public land (since they do no disclose that hey we filmed this hunt on a private ranch) so people think there are monster bulls all over and its easy to do. So then it attracts alot more attention to hunting in certain states for certain animals. I do think they should say we are out on this private ranch hunting on this type of hunt. Its funny when people are hunting public they are sure happy to tell you that but when they are on private it doesnt get said very often.

Yeah, I dont think Matt is saying anything negative about people hunting private. What Matt is saying is that these influencers hunting private and not making that clear are misrepresenting the hunt for favorable content. People watching then get a false representation of what they think is the hunting they can do on public land. Matt is saying the same thing when he talks about the wounded animals not shown. It is a false representation to make content for likes.

 

[PMcGee]

I think the issue at as it pertains to this topic is that there's a certain % of influencer hunters/wanna be influencer hunters that are killing animals just for the sake of content and getting their ego stroked by likes. More power to anyone that fills the tags they drew or bought for a given year, but it's a perversion of the system when killing for social media content and pushing product is the main motivation for hunting.

I really think that’s a small %. There’s definitely some influencers in it for the wrong reasons but I’d bet most would still be hunting if social media went away. As far as hunting companies posting on social media it is there livelihood. Hunting companies have been doing that forever. It’s just a new way of advertising. It’s like saying Coca Cola shouldn’t show pictures of people drinking their products on social media.


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[Nickofthewoods]

I think the issue at as it pertains to this topic is that there's a certain % of influencer hunters/wanna be influencer hunters that are killing animals just for the sake of content and getting their ego stroked by likes. More power to anyone that fills the tags they drew or bought for a given year, but it's a perversion of the system when killing for social media content and pushing product is the main motivation for hunting.

Exactly. Though I do think there is a certain amount of every day hunters that are out in the field when they have more meat than they know what to do with, and that may still be hunting just to try and keep up a reputation similar to the social media influencers. I know some hunters like this. If that's not you please don't take offense to my comments, I have no problem with people that utilize their meat and share with friends and family who will also value and use the meat.

 

[MuleyFever]

Exactly. Though I do think there is a certain amount of every day hunters that are out in the field when they have more meat than they know what to do with, and that may still be hunting just to try and keep up a reputation similar to the social media influencers. I know some hunters like this. If that's not you please don't take offense to my comments, I have no problem with people that utilize their meat and share with friends and family who will also value and use the meat.

To add to this then they complain there are too many new hunters taking their opportunity. I cant agree with people having multiple tags in multiple states then complaining about new hunters making draw odds more difficult or crowding.

 

[ddd-shooter]

…still waiting for someone to explain why dead animal pics need to be shared with multitudes.

And I’m not buying the “cave painting“ or sporting goods store argument. You pretty much knew the people in the store and you dang sure knew your fellow cavemen.
Both Snyder and steve basically said why they do it or why it’s done. Validity. Having dead animals helps sell backpacks and seeing dead animals is why Steve bought books.

So other than ego and selling stuff, why post pics?

 

[PMcGee]

…still waiting for someone to explain why dead animal pics need to be shared with multitudes.

And I’m not buying the “cave painting“ or sporting goods store argument. You pretty much knew the people in the store and you dang sure knew your fellow cavemen.
Both Snyder and steve basically said why they do it or why it’s done. Validity. Having dead animals helps sell backpacks and seeing dead animals is why Steve bought books.

So other than ego and selling stuff, why post pics?

Our local newspaper used to have a page dedicated to said pictures. I don’t know everyone in town. I post pictures for friends to see. I’ve had multiple friends who were on the fence about hunting that now respect hunting more because of pictures I’ve shared.


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[KurtR]

…still waiting for someone to explain why dead animal pics need to be shared with multitudes.

And I’m not buying the “cave painting“ or sporting goods store argument. You pretty much knew the people in the store and you dang sure knew your fellow cavemen.
Both Snyder and steve basically said why they do it or why it’s done. Validity. Having dead animals helps sell backpacks and seeing dead animals is why Steve bought books.

So other than ego and selling stuff, why post pics?

Because they want to. Who are you that any one has to validate what they do as long as it is legal.

 

[Rob5589]

…still waiting for someone to explain why dead animal pics need to be shared with multitudes.

And I’m not buying the “cave painting“ or sporting goods store argument. You pretty much knew the people in the store and you dang sure knew your fellow cavemen.
Both Snyder and steve basically said why they do it or why it’s done. Validity. Having dead animals helps sell backpacks and seeing dead animals is why Steve bought books.

So other than ego and selling stuff, why post pics?

Maybe a small percentage buy a Kifaru pack based on Snyder's success. But they wouldn't sell if they were garbage. SM has done one thing well; everyone knows immediately about a product if it doesn't perform.
Of course they use success pics to bolster their position and/or sales. Is anyone buying Robby's book if it was full of forkys? Or a Kifaru pack if it falls apart under load?
They both sell a product to provide a positive experience for the buyer. It only makes sense to forward it positively.

 

[ddd-shooter]

Because they want to. Who are you that any one has to validate what they do as long as it is legal.

If someones ”legal” actions get my hunting reduced (see bowmars), then I have a right to demand an equally positive reason to offset the negative results.
Do you think duckbills in mouths is helping you? Do you think eating raw liver is helping you? You think a 180” deer eaten completely by coyotes is helping you?