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

[slick]

Edit: this is in response to the Dall sheep video comments earlier.

I didn’t read the rest of the page, but this resonated with me.

Alaska is super tight lipped. Transporters, spots, etc I’ve been doing a bunch of research related to a potential job. All the videos on whatever platform with NR’s that go up there as a once in a lifetime experience spoil shit for all the residents with big fat mouths. Pointing directly at maps, showing exact ridges/peaks, exact GMU’s, Lakes, etc.

 

[KurtR]

Not to mention if you throw a couple of those critters in a backpack, snap a pic, and throw it up in instagram with 12 sponsor hashtags it sells a few more backpacks. Boy I really appreciate snyder out there doing all that population management for all us regular folks who just fill one or two tags a year.

Go to Texas and you can shoot a whole bunch of white tails. My brother used to get seven tags in North Carolina just for buying a hunting license . I can get 7 deer tags here no problem. Aoudad are an introduced species pretty sure there are no regulations on them other than what ranches enforce. A bunch of states you have to shoot a doe to get a buck tag just to get numbers down. So with time killing that many animals isn’t that hard but to do most of it with a stick bow is impressive I think. Do some looking the amount of animals killed by govt and left to rot will blow your mind. If you only have one or two tags a year that’s your choice don’t whine because others choose to have more and hunt more.

 

[Idaho_Potato]

Not whining in the slightest, just contributing my perspective. One or two notched tags for the species I hunt and the size of my family fills my freezer for more than 365 days. Since my income is not tied to the number of times I pull the trigger or post to instagram I stop there.

To be honest, I do fill out the depredation hunt applications in Idaho. I've been selected zero times for all the species I've applied for over 6 years. It seems a bit far fetched to think there are places all over the country where herds have to be forcibly culled year after year...I believe those places do exist, but I'm not going out of my way to seek them out and go fill a bunch of tags there. If I did, it definitely would not be plastered on the internet for likes.

 

[RMM]

Go to Texas and you can shoot a whole bunch of white tails. My brother used to get seven tags in North Carolina just for buying a hunting license . I can get 7 deer tags here no problem. Aoudad are an introduced species pretty sure there are no regulations on them other than what ranches enforce. A bunch of states you have to shoot a doe to get a buck tag just to get numbers down. So with time killing that many animals isn’t that hard but to do most of it with a stick bow is impressive I think. Do some looking the amount of animals killed by govt and left to rot will blow your mind. If you only have one or two tags a year that’s your choice don’t whine because others choose to have more and hunt more.

I don't think anyone is whining, but the whole point here is anyone that visits his Instagram can clearly see he is killing way more than he can consume. Be it in the name of "culling" or whatever title you want, its excessive and paints the average hunter in a negative light.

 

[Elkangle]

Point out where I hated on him. I wouldnt classify stating "I have a hard time wrapping my head around someone killing that many animals just to kill" as hating.

Instead of cherry picking statements from my quote, try to respond to the whole thing. I'll ask again because maybe you missed it in my last post, Is texas so overrun with aoudad and mule deer that they NEED to cull them? Refer back to my last post about "culling" in Texas.

I didn't respond to your question because it was pretty stupid...your lumping mule deer in with audad...two completely different situations...you also can't lump all of Texas into one category either...

Yes audad are way over populated in some areas but I don't know if Snyder does cull audad hunts...I was invited to a ranch this winter to help cut back a population that's doing a ton of damage and will most likely do it with my bow ..what does that make me ?

Can't speak for mule deer but I can't imagine Snyder is culling muledeer in Texas

Point is it Snyder stacking up high numbers of animals doesn't necessarily point to him being a blood thirsty ego driven crazy guy

 

[RMM]

I didn't respond to your question because it was pretty stupid...your lumping mule deer in with audad...two completely different situations...you also can't lump all of Texas into one category either...

Yes audad are way over populated in some areas but I don't know if Snyder does cull audad hunts...I was invited to a ranch this winter to help cut back a population that's doing a ton of damage and will most likely do it with my bow ..what does that make me ?

Can't speak for mule deer but I can't imagine Snyder is culling muledeer in Texas

Point is it Snyder stacking up high numbers of animals doesn't necessarily point to him being a blood thirsty ego driven crazy guy

I specifically named those two species because they are two that he kills multiple of while he's down there. Maybe they are overpopulated on that ranch. No one here knows for sure. But you honestly don't think posting the animals he kills on the internet for likes makes him ego driven? What do you classify that as then? Dont say he's doing it to sell product because most of his grip and grins dont even have a pack in them.

 

[ThisIsMyHandle]

Unfollowing hunting social media, influencers, gear manufacturers etc will only serve to take ourselves out of the fight for what we love. Anti hunting groups and people aren’t going to leave social media. In fact, I’d be will to bet that they’d double down on their anti hunting posts knowing full well that there’s no one there to counter them. A better use of our time, resources and energy would be to police our own. Unfollow the people, pages and brands that do us a disservice. They hurt us more than some influencer shooting a bull elk on a private ranch and making it seem like it’s public.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KurtR]

I specifically named those two species because they are two that he kills multiple of while he's down there. Maybe they are overpopulated on that ranch. No one here knows for sure. But you honestly don't think posting the animals he kills on the internet for likes makes him ego driven? What do you classify that as then? Dont say he's doing it to sell product because most of his grip and grins dont even have a pack in them.

It’s fun shooting stuff. What’s wrong with that.

 

[Elkangle]

I specifically named those two species because they are two that he kills multiple of while he's down there. Maybe they are overpopulated on that ranch. No one here knows for sure. But you honestly don't think posting the animals he kills on the internet for likes makes him ego driven? What do you classify that as then? Dont say he's doing it to sell product because most of his grip and grins dont even have a pack in them.

To be honest i don't care, he enjoys hunting...he paves the way to giving these animals value..he does it legally & respectfully...his reason for why prolly change all the time..I'm not his mother or moral coach

This is a renewable resource

 

[RMM]

It’s fun shooting stuff. What’s wrong with that.

I never said its not. I would agree with you, but as stated in my post, you dont have to post a picture of every animal you kill. We get it, Aron is a great hunter and a good shot with his trad bow. That being said, you dont think someone who is on the fence about hunting and comes across his page and sees way more animals than a family can consume in a whole year is going to be turned off by that?

 

[KurtR]

I never said its not. I would agree with you, but as stated in my post, you dont have to post a picture of every animal you kill. We get it, Aron is a great hunter and a good shot with his trad bow. That being said, you dont think someone who is on the fence about hunting and comes across his page and sees way more animals than a family can consume in a whole year is going to be turned off by that?

Not really. If they cared that much maybe they contact him and learn stuff and why he has that many animals dead. I thought this was about over crowding and to many people hunting in the west.

 

[BigDog00]

I never said its not. I would agree with you, but as stated in my post, you dont have to post a picture of every animal you kill. We get it, Aron is a great hunter and a good shot with his trad bow. That being said, you dont think someone who is on the fence about hunting and comes across his page and sees way more animals than a family can consume in a whole year is going to be turned off by that?

Do you think that person on the fence would be turned off knowing he donated the extra meat to friends, family, and other people in need?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[realunlucky]

...he paves the way to giving these animals value..

Interesting way to look at what's valuable.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[RMM]

Not really. If they cared that much maybe they contact him and learn stuff and why he has that many animals dead. I thought this was about over crowding and to many people hunting in the west.

Its about social media in general. Be intellectually honest with yourself, do you think people are going to reach out and ask why he kills so many animals? No, they're going to pass judgement.

 

[RMM]

Do you think that person on the fence would be turned off knowing he donated the extra meat to friends, family, and other people in need?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hard to say since I'm not in their shoes. But its not like he openly states that. I'm talking about going to his page, seeing a bunch of dead animals and the impression it makes without doing any digging, which lets be honest, the majority of people are not going to do.

 

[BigDog00]

Hard to say since I'm not in their shoes. But its not like he openly states that. I'm talking about going to his page, seeing a bunch of dead animals and the impression it makes without doing any digging, which lets be honest, the majority of people are not going to do.

You’re making an assumption either way you look at it. They may actually think he would be a good resource since he’s so successful. I believe in general nonhunters who don’t actively search out someone in the hunting community would never know they existed due to the algorithms each platform uses.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Muledeerhunter406]

There's some hardcore influencer fan boys in here that's for sure

 

[RMM]

You’re making an assumption either way you look at it. They may actually think he would be a good resource since he’s so successful. I believe in general nonhunters who don’t actively search out someone in the hunting community would never know they existed due to the algorithms each platform uses.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I can tell you from my own personal experiences that people who don't hunt often times say something along the lines of "I have no problem with hunting as long as people eat what they kill".

What do you think an anti hunter would say if they actively searched out his page? I know anti's hate all hunters but an anti could easily use Aron as a case study on hunters being bloodthirsty who kill more than they can eat.

 

[cnelk]

If Aron is gonna shoot all those animals and post pics, the least he could do is smile

 

[cnelk]

There's some hardcore influencer fan boys in here that's for sure

Ain’t that the truth