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

[Pilarczyk85]

I think Matt was spot on. I can't attest for western backcountry hunting although cruising some of these forum topics seems to prove his point on overcrowding and from the sounds an absolute mess of public land management as well as financial gain from private land owners. I will say that in my neck of the woods I see it clearly. More people hunting. Less ethics being practiced. Over harvesting of deer due to the online tagging process. Mounds of garbage at public land spots that was never there before. Unfortunately it's only getting worse and maybe it sounds like one of the old guard preaching but the things I think a lot of us see and feel are just are not being reciprocated by the newer hunting culture. Add in the mix of those that participate in social media and you'll find down right illegal activities as well as ones most of us would probably frown upon, just for some likes on instagram. I saw this as a fly fishing guide years ago. The advent of social media suddenly put people in spots that I never used to see them. It made the work that others had forged over long hours of recon and hard work suddenly accessible at the click of a button. Then came the constant poor handling of fish to the point that the mortality rate sky rocketed and at first I would try to educate and help. But was met with a "**** you" attitude so I stopped and now the rivers are filled with trash. Fish are killed for no reason and spots are exploited. I think we're seeing this in hunting as well. I can't say I know the answer per say but I think a healthy discussion is needed. Sure guys like the meateater crew probably has good intentions but at what cost? I will say personally it leaves a sour taste in my mouth and I'm sure it does to a lot of people and matt had the balls to call it out. I think if we take out the "likes" culture and return to the roots of hunting and I'll say fishing as well and the ship will right is course but alas the cynic in me says that's not gonna happen anytime soon.

 

[TheTone]

I can agree with a ton of what Matt said. It’s amazing to many how many clowns are making a living off hunting related social media. I think my biggest gripe is the number that have wildlife violations and yet companies keep cutting them checks

 

[conley417]

If Instagram did away with the "like" feature I think it would help everyone

 

[Dirtbag]

I can agree with a ton of what Matt said. It’s amazing to many how many clowns are making a living off hunting related social media. I think my biggest gripe is the number that have wildlife violations and yet companies keep cutting them checks

Remember this thread?
flat brimmer shoots two german Shepherds and tries to pass them off as wolves. The worst part? he still has 22K followers. Its time to start hitting the unfollow...

Wolf Killer?

I figured somebody would of had this posted on here already, but is anybody else seen the posts made by @elkmagnet on instagram? It is the funniest thing I have been able to pay attention to in a long time. I just can't ever wait for the next post!

www.rokslide.com

 

[OR Archer]

His argument is very short sighted. Are there issues with social media? Sure. But to pigeon hole it as the downfall of hunting isn’t correct. Quite honestly he comes across as an elitist because his argument always comes back to how he thinks it’s affecting his hunting and ruining it for him.

 

[TheTone]

Remember this thread?
flat brimmer shoots two german Shepherds and tries to pass them off as wolves. The worst part? he still has 22K followers. Its time to start hitting the unfollow...

Wolf Killer?

I figured somebody would of had this posted on here already, but is anybody else seen the posts made by @elkmagnet on instagram? It is the funniest thing I have been able to pay attention to in a long time. I just can't ever wait for the next post!

www.rokslide.com

He’s also a convicted elk poacher, but yet people still buy his crummy merch

 

[wechmiester]

Unfortunately times are changing. Things will never go back to the way they were. This blowup of hunters could be blamed by social media, but it is happening for pretty much everything outdoors these days. The rivers and lakes are more crowded, ski hills are packed, more mountain bikers, hikers, trail runners, etc. As people get out of cities, they want to be outdoors. No one wants more expensive/limited access to the outdoors regardless of the activity, but this is the reality as more people come to explore them. This trend has been going on long before social media. As our population grows, so does the demand for land. This means that experienced outdoorsmen need to be smarter, explore new terrain, go deeper and put in more effort than before. Time is now spent outthinking the commonfolk you are competing with, not the animal. Accept it for what it is and move forward.

 

[ThisIsMyHandle]

Matt Rinella sounds like a moron, elitist and hypocrite. Saying that posting pictures of dead animals has only been around for 10 years makes him sound clueless. Hunters have been taking pictures of dead animals since the beginning of cameras. Its okay for hunters 60 years ago to take a picture of 10 deer hanging from a pole and putting up on the general store wall but bad that I post a picture of a dead buck on Instagram? That’s hypocritical. There’s definitely people out there depicting us in a bad light but there’s equal amount of people depicting us in a good light. But the same can be said for all things in life. Social media in hunting is not going to go away. It just isn’t. As long as people like Greg Ritz and Brandon Pitcher have a following and are selling merch, people will look at us with misconceptions. I think a equally big problem with us is the infighting and not supporting the people that do have a platform and use it in a good way.


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[ddd-shooter]

Unfortunately times are changing. Things will never go back to the way they were. This blowup of hunters could be blamed by social media, but it is happening for pretty much everything outdoors these days. The rivers and lakes are more crowded, ski hills are packed, more mountain bikers, hikers, trail runners, etc. As people get out of cities, they want to be outdoors. No one wants more expensive/limited access to the outdoors regardless of the activity, but this is the reality as more people come to explore them. This trend has been going on long before social media. As our population grows, so does the demand for land. This means that experienced outdoorsmen need to be smarter, explore new terrain, go deeper and put in more effort than before. Time is now spent outthinking the commonfolk you are competing with, not the animal. Accept it for what it is and move forward.

Uh, our "industry celebs" are pushing for more and more and more hunters. Eventually, EVERYBODY will be outthinking the "commonfolk" and standing next to each other 12 miles back....
The difference between all those other activities and hunting is you can have 1,000,000 people hike the same trail, but you cannot have two people shoot the same animal.
This was largely ignored on kifarucast, and I really wanted to point that out.
WE ARE NOT LIKE OTHER OUTDOOR SPORTS

 

[TreeStandAthlete]

Unfortunately times are changing. Things will never go back to the way they were. This blowup of hunters could be blamed by social media, but it is happening for pretty much everything outdoors these days. The rivers and lakes are more crowded, ski hills are packed, more mountain bikers, hikers, trail runners, etc. As people get out of cities, they want to be outdoors. No one wants more expensive/limited access to the outdoors regardless of the activity, but this is the reality as more people come to explore them. This trend has been going on long before social media. As our population grows, so does the demand for land. This means that experienced outdoorsmen need to be smarter, explore new terrain, go deeper and put in more effort than before. Time is now spent outthinking the commonfolk you are competing with, not the animal. Accept it for what it is and move forward.

Man I agree with you. It is what it is and there's still plenty of opportunity out there (unless you're bow hunting MI, that's a shit show). I think it's important to distinguish a few groups when we talk about this stuff.

New hunters who are hunting for horn/hide/meat/personal fulfillment - If you don't like these people hunting ethically and legally on public land you're just a selfish asshole.

New hunters who are hunting for "the gram" - These people suck and are the problem I believe Matt is referring too

People bringing in new hunters and producing content because they want to share their passion for the sport - You could argue they are responsible for some of the negative impact on hunting but the good they do for the community by cutting the learning curve and producing a more knowledgeable, well rounded hunter far outweighs any unintended side effects in my opinion. These are good folks with good intentions.

People bringing in new hunters and producing content to sell shit - These folks are the shit Sheppard's, guiding their flock of shit sheep (read new hunters in it for "the gram"), to shit all over all of us.

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[zacattack]

Man that podcast is really hard to listen to. I’ve got 15 more minutes left and unless something changes he just sounds like an elitist asshole. He only wants people to hunt his way for his reasons and to never show anyone what they killed. I mean people have been showing off their kills since we lived in caves.

He has some good points about social media and what gets posted that maybe shouldn’t, but then he whines because someone else got a tag he wanted and his message just gets lost.

 

[Mtnboy]

Not surprised that the Kifarucast guys don't agree.

A quick scan of their Instagrams shows they are fully onboard with grip and grins for self promotion all the while killing WAY more animals than they could possibly eat.

F'n laughable they play it off as "we are doing it to motivate people".....ok......

Snyder even had to take a dig at people who didn't agree with him with a "small penis" joke.

It'd been a few years since I listened to that podcast and now I remember why.

Flame away....I'm well aware this is Rokslide and Kifaru/Snyder are untouchable here.

 

[JustinPNW]

Unfortunately times are changing. Things will never go back to the way they were. This blowup of hunters could be blamed by social media, but it is happening for pretty much everything outdoors these days. The rivers and lakes are more crowded, ski hills are packed, more mountain bikers, hikers, trail runners, etc. As people get out of cities, they want to be outdoors. No one wants more expensive/limited access to the outdoors regardless of the activity, but this is the reality as more people come to explore them. This trend has been going on long before social media. As our population grows, so does the demand for land. This means that experienced outdoorsmen need to be smarter, explore new terrain, go deeper and put in more effort than before. Time is now spent outthinking the commonfolk you are competing with, not the animal. Accept it for what it is and move forward.

This right here.

In addition to hunting, I am an avid cliimber, mountaineer, and hiker. The influx of people to climbing and hiking destinations has been incredible in the last several years. I do believe that social media plays a role, but I don't think it's the only reason or even the majority reason - at least not directly. Lots of the new people tell me that it's because they want to get outside or are looking for a lifestyle change that incorporates more of nature.

As a new hunter myself, I can say that social media did not play a role at all. In fact, COVID caused me to consider it, as I have always wanted to move towards a more sustainable and responsible means of consumption where I hold myself accountable for my impact. COVID gave me the opportunity to spend more time at home, which resulted in building an amazing garden that sustained the family for all of the last year or so and it was a natural next step to me to break away from store bought protein and attempt to harvest deer.

Having just finished my first season here in Washington public land and not harvesting anything, I agree with your sentiment... As long as I'm close to road, hunting seems as much about the strategy surrounding other hunters as it does with the animal itself. It is unfortunate, but then I'm happy to go out into the mountains and deeper in to the backcountry if that's what it takes.

 

[KurtR]

We need a set of rules put out it gets confusing.

 

[robby denning]

Flame away....I'm well aware this is Rokslide and Kifaru/Snyder are untouchable here.

not true, we leave up posts about Aron all the time, just look around.

 

[robby denning]

... I mean people have been showing off their kills since we lived in caves.

...

the original social media

 

[Mtnboy]

not true, we leave up posts about Aron all the time, just look around.

Oh I know, I was referring more to the defensive fan boys

 

[robby denning]

Oh I know, I was referring more to the defensive fan boys

easy now, this thread has lasted quite a while, considering...

 

[LongWayAround]

Not surprised that the Kifarucast guys don't agree.

A quick scan of their Instagrams shows they are fully onboard with grip and grins for self promotion all the while killing WAY more animals than they could possibly eat.

F'n laughable they play it off as "we are doing it to motivate people".....ok......

Snyder even had to take a dig at people who didn't agree with him with a "small penis" joke.

It'd been a few years since I listened to that podcast and now I remember why.

Flame away....I'm well aware this is Rokslide and Kifaru/Snyder are untouchable here.

I got a few minutes in and wasn't surprised a bunch of social media posting guys weren't happy with the message.

Their podcast used to be enjoyable. It's hard to listen to now. It's either an acceptance speech at the huge pecker awards or just rambling nonsense. Their new guys sound like they just went hunting for the first time. I suppose you can only talk about the same gear and tactics so many times but man...

 

[Mtnboy]

easy now, this thread has lasted quite a while, considering...

Noted sir.