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

[kfili]

If the trail is over crowded can you still ride it? If all the elk are gone from an area can you still hunt them?


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you are arguing with an imperfect analogy, but depending on the trail, Maybe, maybe not. maybe you can ride but not the way you want.
Do you have a response to the main point, which is that the answer isn't less hunters but creating more opportunities and improving game management?

 

[browning2480]

If the trail is over crowded can you still ride it? If all the elk are gone from an area can you still hunt them?


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You need to relax a little bit. It is Christmas time and the Elk are not going extinct. We are talking overcrowding. The success rate for killing an elk is like 20 percent. Bears and Wolves will do more than man ever will to the population

And again, I don’t ride Mountain Bikes but have a trail behind my house in probably the new cool place for everyone to come ride in NW Arkansas. Seeing how gung-ho some of these riders are and the money they spend on equipment, I can see how an overcrowding of the trail could keep someone from riding it. Can only go as fast or as far as the person in front of you lol

 

[cuttiebrownbow]

you are arguing with an imperfect analogy, but depending on the trail, Maybe, maybe not. maybe you can ride but not the way you want.
Do you have a response to the main point, which is that the answer isn't less hunters but creating more opportunities and improving game management?

Imperfect analogy? I wasn’t the one that compared mountain biking to hunting.

Creating more opportunities and improving game management? Improving game management at this point involves creating less opportunities - with it only getting worse to the social media whores which is really the point/debate of this entire thread.

No state is perfect but I think many actually manage game very well. They have a limited resource, a limited budget and an unlimited demand that is only getting worse.


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[Muledeerhunter406]

Lol I don't even have a personal Instagram. And if you don't understand how an analogy works you probably should not try to weigh in on a debate with multiple nuances

You deffinantly sound like one of those entitled and I'm better then you people that just started hunting

Imperfect analogy? I wasn’t the one that compared mountain biking to hunting.

Creating more opportunities and improving game management? Improving game management at this point involves creating less opportunities - with it only getting worse to the social media whores which is really the point/debate of this entire thread.

No state is perfect but I think many actually manage game very well. They have a limited resource, a limited budget and an unlimited demand that is only getting worse.


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This is 100% accurate

 

[actionshooter]

The definition of success for hunting is killing. If it’s not then you shouldn’t take a weapon.


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That might be your definition of success, but thankfully I don't think thats the definition of most, or at least I hope not.
My definition of success changes all the time,
If I pass a good buck up because it doesn't meet my current standards or need the meat, I consider that a success.
If my kids are with me and they have an opportunity, that's a success
If anyone else with me fills a tag, that's a success
If the kids learn something new that they will carry with them, that's a huge success
If we learn a new area, that's a success

Just being there and in gods country is something I consider necessary in my life and I don't need to fill a tag to have it feel "successful" and feel sorry for people who do.

But that's just me

 

[cuttiebrownbow]

That might be your definition of success, but thankfully I don't think thats the definition of most, or at least I hope not.
My definition of success changes all the time,
If I pass a good buck up because it doesn't meet my current standards or need the meat, I consider that a success.
If my kids are with me and they have an opportunity, that's a success
If anyone else with me fills a tag, that's a success
If the kids learn something new that they will carry with them, that's a huge success
If we learn a new area, that's a success

Just being there and in gods country is something I consider necessary in my life and I don't need to fill a tag to have it feel "successful" and feel sorry for people who do.

But that's just me

I love hunting but I wouldn’t go hunting somewhere without my target species. Every hunters goal is to fill their tags. It’s called hunting, not killing, because it’s a challenge and I have had many great hunts where the end result has been tag soup. But, make no mistake my goal was to fill my tag

I hunt for bone, meat, and challenge.

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[ndayton]

you are arguing with an imperfect analogy, but depending on the trail, Maybe, maybe not. maybe you can ride but not the way you want.
Do you have a response to the main point, which is that the answer isn't less hunters but creating more opportunities and improving game management?

Genuinely curious, how would you create more opportunities and improve game management to meet the current demand for quality hunts.

 

[kfili]

Genuinely curious, how would you create more opportunities and improve game management to meet the current demand for quality hunts.

I haven't thought of it this before this thread. Off the top of my head-Expanding game opportunities i.e elk hunting in states like Tennessee and VA, increasing game lands, working with landowners to create more access.
Again I am a new hunter maybe I am entitled (no clue how but maybe) but the answer to overcrowding should not be a blanket answer of we should reduce our numbers. Blaming social media is hysterical, it sou ds like a boogeyman

 

[kfili]

Imperfect analogy? I wasn’t the one that compared mountain biking to hunting.

Creating more opportunities and improving game management? Improving game management at this point involves creating less opportunities - with it only getting worse to the social media whores which is really the point/debate of this entire thread.

No state is perfect but I think many actually manage game very well. They have a limited resource, a limited budget and an unlimited demand that is only getting worse.


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No but you were the one who for some reason argued with that instead of the point.
Your second paragraph is the issue, why does that have to be true? Why is the only way to make it better to restrict it? There are no other options? - that's absurd

 

[ndayton]

I haven't thought of it this before this thread. Off the top of my head-Expanding game opportunities i.e elk hunting in states like Tennessee and VA, increasing game lands, working with landowners to create more access.
Again I am a new hunter maybe I am entitled (no clue how but maybe) but the answer to overcrowding should not be a blanket answer of we should reduce our numbers. Blaming social media is hysterical, it sou ds like a boogeyman

This is only to give perspective about the social media issue. As a new hunter this information is invaluable by cutting down the learning curve in every aspect of hunting. Watch a video from Randy on how to use Onx to find public land honey holes or Born and raised doing videos on how to hunt Colorado elk. To the individual this is great but when 100,000 people get this information well I liken it to the toilet paper frenzy of 2020, everyone is rushing to enjoy the experience i.e. Colorado seeing an increase of 18000 new (non-resident) elk hunting applications from 2020 to 2021.
My position on social media is use it wisely dont go out there and say hey 100,000 subscribers you can hunt OTC AZ Coues deer all you have to do is buy my sponsors membership to find out how. To me this needs address with hunting culture.

 

[kfili]

You deffinantly sound like one of those entitled and I'm better then you people that just started hunting

This is 100% accurate

This is actually one of the most ignorant comments, I'm entitled for wanting to increase opportunities for new hunters? Or is it because I want to hunt and went out and learned to scout and paid for a tag and my own gear and figured it out?

 

[Poser]

As a resident of one of America’s top 5 destination mountain biking towns, I’m going to say the mountain biking analogy is just stupid. It’s so stupid, I’m not going to even dignify an argument.

 

[Squamch]

As a resident of one of America’s top 5 destination mountain biking towns, I’m going to say the mountain biking analogy is just stupid. It’s so stupid, I’m not going to even dignify an argument.

New slow riders slow you down, so you can't carry enough speed to clear jumps. That ruins the experience. The goal of a jump trail is to hit jumps. If everyone has a $10,000 bike and is clogging up A-line when they don't have the skill to clear a 3' gap, that wrecks EVERYONE else's ride who can hit the 15' gaps on the trail.

Those same new riders don't understand trail etiquette, and don't move over fast enough when someone calls out from behind them, ruining that guy's climb. So that's now both up, and down the mountain that the crowds have wrecked the ride.

Know how I avoid that? Weeknight rides, night rides, riding when it's crappy out....I have expanded the sandbox I'm playing in, not just sunny Saturdays from 10-2. I deal with less crowding this way.

The analogy isn't bulletproof, but it's not as bad as a bunch of people who don't understand mountain biking think it is!

 

[3forks]

This is only to give perspective about the social media issue. As a new hunter this information is invaluable by cutting down the learning curve in every aspect of hunting. Watch a video from Randy on how to use Onx to find public land honey holes or Born and raised doing videos on how to hunt Colorado elk. To the individual this is great but when 100,000 people get this information well I liken it to the toilet paper frenzy of 2020, everyone is rushing to enjoy the experience i.e. Colorado seeing an increase of 18000 new (non-resident) elk hunting applications from 2020 to 2021.
My position on social media is use it wisely dont go out there and say hey 100,000 subscribers you can hunt OTC AZ Coues deer all you have to do is buy my sponsors membership to find out how. To me this needs address with hunting culture.

I‘ve posted this before, but here’s what happens when you have an unlimited number of people flocking to the ski area that got the best snow after a storm.

I would say it’s not too far of a comparison as to what can occur when some influencer promotes a unit or hunt in their social media page. You suddenly will have way too many people trying to replicate the experience, which leads to overcrowding and worse experience for everyone.

Do these lift lines look like they’d be worth waiting in?

Of course not, The only people who would choose to wait in these lines are people who don’t know any better and think it’s the norm, or vacationers who already invested too much in their trip not to endure the lines.

 

[Sourdough]

WOW....A sad and depressing, yet "educational" thread for me. It has enlightened me as to how good I have it now, and for the last 65+ years of hunting.

 

[coloyooper]

WOW....A sad and depressing, yet "educational" thread for me. It has enlightened me as to how good I have it now, and for the last 65+ years of hunting.

Could you tell us about it?

 

[Sourdough]

Could you tell us about it?

Best that I do not do that. This thread has helped me understand why the things I have posted in the past upset people. Some get a fair bet more then simply upset, they get pissed.

 

[kfili]

It's scary to think about how many people in the hunting community, the same people who are hopefully(not) part of organizations that lobby for hunting rights think the answer is to reduce hunters and discourage new hunters from getting started.
I'm coming for your spots, and bringing all my kids and friends with me.
See you at the trail head, ill be the guy with the out of state plates

 

[KurtR]

It's scary to think about how many people in the hunting community, the same people who are hopefully(not) part of organizations that lobby for hunting rights think the answer is to reduce hunters and discourage new hunters from getting started.
I'm coming for your spots, and bringing all my kids and friends with me.
See you at the trail head, ill be the guy with the out of state plates

Are you from Utah

 

[Poser]

New slow riders slow you down, so you can't carry enough speed to clear jumps. That ruins the experience. The goal of a jump trail is to hit jumps. If everyone has a $10,000 bike and is clogging up A-line when they don't have the skill to clear a 3' gap, that wrecks EVERYONE else's ride who can hit the 15' gaps on the trail.

Those same new riders don't understand trail etiquette, and don't move over fast enough when someone calls out from behind them, ruining that guy's climb. So that's now both up, and down the mountain that the crowds have wrecked the ride.

Know how I avoid that? Weeknight rides, night rides, riding when it's crappy out....I have expanded the sandbox I'm playing in, not just sunny Saturdays from 10-2. I deal with less crowding this way.

The analogy isn't bulletproof, but it's not as bad as a bunch of people who don't understand mountain biking think it is!

I’ve done the Monarch Crest Trail, dumped off by a shuttle with 49 other Mtn bikers, waves of 50 hitting the trail at the same time. I don’t feel sorry for other Mtn biker. I feel sorry for the poor CDT and CO Trail thru hikers having to contend with waves of 50 bikes.

The only way this analogy works if it a certain % of cyclists are removing some part of the trail when they go out and that trail does not regenerate at a proportional rate. Also if there were a handful of Mtn bike influencers taking pick axes to rocks and other features and doing that 75-100 times a year for the purposes of content… and that’s why this analogy, as presented, doesn’t work.

On a related note, Mtn bikes in particular are leading the pack of non motorized user groups most responsible for over pressuring animals in the west. In fact, if there is analogy, it lies here: Mtn bike influencers are attracting crowds by riding certain trails and certain area and further fragmenting the habitat, thus indirectly killing animals, all to support their social channels.

And, nobody even gives any of the meat of aborted elk fetus (due to stress and poor nutrition from fragmentation) to their real estate clients. Mtn bikers in the west have literal gallons of blood all over their hands and stole videos are a driving factor. There is your Mtn bike analogy, it has nothing to do with bike x bike trail etiquette or clogged jump lines, it’s habitat fragmentation, disrespect for winter and spring wildlife habitat closures, illegal trail building and a booming bike culture resulting in massive numbers of bikes everywhere.