Why is Seek Outside giving gun control advocate Ryan Busse air time?

[Dos XX]

If he really did delete his Twitter account, it says something.

 

[BarCO]

Doesn't describe any I know. I do live in the south, and I think I can accurately state it does not describe the majority of hunters here. Colorado, maybe? I have no idea about that.

Ask around, you might be surprised.

 

[BarCO]

If he really did delete his Twitter account, it says something.

Be a better world if everyone deleted their twitter account.

 

[h2so4]

Ok devils advocate here. So we wanted him to keep politics out of it but now we want him to profess 100% alliance?

Is it ok if he wants to stay neutral? What if he gave a pro 2A guest the same format that he gave Busse?

That way it’s “even” and he’s not picking sides?

He does not have to keep politics or his views out of it. I'm cool with people sharing their views. I know it's impossible to find someone with 100% identical views as myself or anyone else. We all have unique perspective. I'm not interested in sharing my dollars with people that have wildly opposing views on certain issues (2A being one of them) and likely are actively work against my rights. I prefer to support organizations that are not against my rights. It's impossible to know where every company owner stands and what their views are on every little thing. Unfortunately, I've supported people that I significantly disagree with in the past and will in the future as well- either knowingly or unknowingly.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 100% alliance.

It's not the platform to busse that was telling or the issue. I think it's actually great to have discussion & debate with folks of alternative views. (isn't there a podcast where a hunter debates with a vegan and they are friends?). I look forward to listening to more of the podcast, I'm about half way done at this moment.

It was all of his twitter posts. mostly, his support of banning " assault weapons". It the same as banning trapping by this method or that, or the spring bear hunt, or a million other little things. A big thanks to @Gutshotem to capturing these prior to the deletion of the twitter account.


Sorry for any grammar errors, cleaning kid puke in between thoughts.

 

[Dos XX]

Be a better world if everyone deleted their twitter account.

Hahahahah. Biggest truth of the day, right here.

 

[full choke]

Flush him out.
Start a thread on Kifaru packs, he'll be the first to respond touting SO as a better option...

 

[Dos XX]

Ask around, you might be surprised.

I can take a poll on the highway by counting the Molon Labe & Don't Tread on Me window and bumper stickers. They far outnumber the Coexist stickers. Even our Subarus are redneck.

 

[t_carlson]

The guy doesn't hate hunters. But he very clearly has a lot of disdain for an awful lot of people that happen to be hunters.

Specifically (and ironically) the kind of hunter who might voice an objection in this thread, no?

You're either at the table or on the menu

What does that even mean? How’s Colorado’s spring bear season doing by the way? Or Washington and Oregon’s hound seasons? I have no idea where you can and can’t set a trap these days.

Please show me where and how this “seat” has stopped the antis? And how supporting or not supporting SO has anything to do with it?

Outrage over a conversation. Think about that for a minute. Maybe some self introspection might be in order regardless of your views on the topic.

Joe Rogan has conversations on his podcast. That wasn’t a conversation. It was an amplification, and the message was clear: gun-loving conservatives are the problem in this country. They’re responsible for everything from school shootings to January 6th.

Robby - Kevin’s own behavior and posts don’t reflect what you are saying here. I hope you are right, buts lots and lots of evidence to the contrary. He may be a hunter on the surface but he comes across as anti 2A. I would love to hear Kevin defend himself.

If so, he certainly wouldn’t be the first lefty hunter.

 

[3forks]

So principled, so brave to speak out about all of the wrongs of our flawed society. That is until your phony bravery puts your bank account at risk.

What a joke. Hes on here reading the thread and deleting his Twitter account. Way up on that soapbox talking all that stuff, then delete your profile and hide. What happened to the big brave Twitter hero?

Well said.

 

[IdahoHunter57]

I love my seek outside tent but I still can't over the granola munching side of that company. That's why I'm selling my seek and gunna start running argalis 4p tent


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[Kevin_t]

Myself, and Seek in general have always been naturally curious. Being naturally curious leads us to experiment with fabrics and designs. This natural curiosity means we are open to discussing, learning, and deciding if it is useful to us.

In 2021, we recorded our second podcast with Ryan Busse, because we were curious about what he had to say. The first pod, he was a VP at Kimber and I had known him for several years when he had been a VP at Kimber. We understood he had written a book that many might find negative to the gun industry. That sounds interesting, why the shift? Maybe hunters want to hear why the shift ? We clearly stated we had not read the book, and by doing a podcast it did not mean agreement or approval. We couldn’t really push back, because we had not read the book. I am fine to have discussions with people I disagree with. Disagreements can help us learn and evolve, concrete our viewpoints, or challenge them. I am the type of person who can have a conversation with someone I disagree with, perhaps I come to value their viewpoint, or understand it, even if I disagree. I also think that our podcast is meant to be more exploratory rather than a place for a debate.

As an example, we have also done a podcast with the North American Non-Lead Partnership. It was about knowledge and learning but we didn’t go on a crusade to ban lead. No one has tried to cancel us because of the podcast. It was about learning, and what we can better be done from his perspective.

That being said, I find questioning our support to the hunting community a bit misguided. We donate often to small archery clubs, small hunting clubs, LE, and many small groups, not including large donations BHA, Wild Sheep, Trout Unlimited, Sportsman for the Boundary waters, TWS, TRCP, the Arctic National Refuge, Pheasants Forever ….and generally, these aren’t small donations.

I also find interesting parallels in some of the comments expressed here, from hunters, and those from other customer segments. I am aware that some Rec. people try to dismiss us as a hunting brand, and some hunters try to dismiss us as a rec brand. We do support some rec groups like American Packrafting Association but in any recreational setting, we still unequivocally support public land fair chase hunting. It’s not like we change who we are when communicating to groups. We just want to be who we are and understand there is market overlap.

There is also no political litmus test to work at Seek. I know we have some people, that are fairly conservative, and likely some that are not. I literally do not care. The only real litmus test is you have to be hunting-friendly, pro outdoors, show up for work, and do a good job. We have taught and mentored several of our employees who enjoyed the outdoors in non-hunting ways on how to hunt. We don’t force them to hunt by any means but if they want to learn we are happy to help and have directly added to our hunter population.

Overall, I feel this division and cancellation culture has gotten out of hand. Every topic or debate should allow for more nuanced opinions. I personally am an avid hunter, but I don’t want to do every type of hunting just to hunt. I like big wild places, and the experience, so I’m unlikely to be hunting over a feeder. However, I also don’t try to take away any type of hunting, some types just aren’t my gig and don’t align with what I want to experience. Likewise, when it comes to guns, you can be pro-ownership but want less gun-related crime. On this specific topic, I don't have any answers but my nature is to learn the perspectives of those who think that they do. Discussion can be more nuanced. Opinions can be more nuanced

Regarding Twitter, I have been meaning to distance myself from almost all forms of social. I even communicated that to Robby at the Western Hunting Expo (saying I was far less involved with RS as well .. until today) I mostly used twitter for football. I also have been an occasional agitator for fun … a little bit of both sides. So it feels fair, I am not a fan of the far left either. However, I have followed from both sides ..to see what is said. You could probably cherry pick things followed on both sides if you wanted. Last night, I had removed twitter from my phone (not because of this thread, but to get away from social.. at that time I had no idea of this thread) .. so today, I saw posts, screenshots in this thread, so I deactivated it period. After all football season ended last week and that was my main reason on twitter. Just to be clear, I am not a fan of Trump, though I actually mostly followed the Republican debates in 2016 and wasn’t a fan of Hillary either. I’m fairly in the middle. I like to get outside, I like to hunt. I like talking adventures with people. I like big wild places.

 

[h2so4]

@Kevin_t thanks for thoughtful response. If you don’t mind, can you clarify your stance on “assault weapons” per the tweet that screen shot on page 10?

 

[LoggerDan]

@Kevin_t
whats your stance on AR rifles, magazine capacity laws and the like? You addresssed many things, but this. Do you believe in “…..shall not be infringed “?

 

[3forks]

Myself, and Seek in general have always been naturally curious. Being naturally curious leads us to experiment with fabrics and designs. This natural curiosity means we are open to discussing, learning, and deciding if it is useful to us.

In 2021, we recorded our second podcast with Ryan Busse, because we were curious about what he had to say. The first pod, he was a VP at Kimber and I had known him for several years when he had been a VP at Kimber. We understood he had written a book that many might find negative to the gun industry. That sounds interesting, why the shift? Maybe hunters want to hear why the shift ? We clearly stated we had not read the book, and by doing a podcast it did not mean agreement or approval. We couldn’t really push back, because we had not read the book. I am fine to have discussions with people I disagree with. Disagreements can help us learn and evolve, concrete our viewpoints, or challenge them. I am the type of person who can have a conversation with someone I disagree with, perhaps I come to value their viewpoint, or understand it, even if I disagree. I also think that our podcast is meant to be more exploratory rather than a place for a debate.

As an example, we have also done a podcast with the North American Non-Lead Partnership. It was about knowledge and learning but we didn’t go on a crusade to ban lead. No one has tried to cancel us because of the podcast. It was about learning, and what we can better be done from his perspective.

That being said, I find questioning our support to the hunting community a bit misguided. We donate often to small archery clubs, small hunting clubs, LE, and many small groups, not including large donations BHA, Wild Sheep, Trout Unlimited, Sportsman for the Boundary waters, TWS, TRCP, the Arctic National Refuge, Pheasants Forever ….and generally, these aren’t small donations.

I also find interesting parallels in some of the comments expressed here, from hunters, and those from other customer segments. I am aware that some Rec. people try to dismiss us as a hunting brand, and some hunters try to dismiss us as a rec brand. We do support some rec groups like American Packrafting Association but in any recreational setting, we still unequivocally support public land fair chase hunting. It’s not like we change who we are when communicating to groups. We just want to be who we are and understand there is market overlap.

There is also no political litmus test to work at Seek. I know we have some people, that are fairly conservative, and likely some that are not. I literally do not care. The only real litmus test is you have to be hunting-friendly, pro outdoors, show up for work, and do a good job. We have taught and mentored several of our employees who enjoyed the outdoors in non-hunting ways on how to hunt. We don’t force them to hunt by any means but if they want to learn we are happy to help and have directly added to our hunter population.

Overall, I feel this division and cancellation culture has gotten out of hand. Every topic or debate should allow for more nuanced opinions. I personally am an avid hunter, but I don’t want to do every type of hunting just to hunt. I like big wild places, and the experience, so I’m unlikely to be hunting over a feeder. However, I also don’t try to take away any type of hunting, some types just aren’t my gig and don’t align with what I want to experience. Likewise, when it comes to guns, you can be pro-ownership but want less gun-related crime. On this specific topic, I don't have any answers but my nature is to learn the perspectives of those who think that they do. Discussion can be more nuanced. Opinions can be more nuanced

Regarding Twitter, I have been meaning to distance myself from almost all forms of social. I even communicated that to Robby at the Western Hunting Expo (saying I was far less involved with RS as well .. until today) I mostly used twitter for football. I also have been an occasional agitator for fun … a little bit of both sides. So it feels fair, I am not a fan of the far left either. However, I have followed from both sides ..to see what is said. You could probably cherry pick things followed on both sides if you wanted. Last night, I had removed twitter from my phone (not because of this thread, but to get away from social.. at that time I had no idea of this thread) .. so today, I saw posts, screenshots in this thread, so I deactivated it period. After all football season ended last week and that was my main reason on twitter. Just to be clear, I am not a fan of Trump, though I actually mostly followed the Republican debates in 2016 and wasn’t a fan of Hillary either. I’m fairly in the middle. I like to get outside, I like to hunt. I like talking adventures with people. I like big wild places.

You’re entitled to your beliefs, but your actions of editing your FaceBook ”likes” and deleting your Twitter account certainly seem like more of an attempt to distance yourself and protect SO’s revenue stream rather than you personally just stepping away from social media.

I’d have more respect for you and your comments regarding this situation if you hadn’t removed your likes and deleted your Twitter account.

 

[Mtnman84]

I’ve seen what I needed so see. I will be seeking other outdoor products. I’m sure you think cancel culture has become out of hand especially now that it’s coming for you. I am a hunter and supported the second amendment for all law abiding citizens.

 

[Dos XX]

Should run for office. That was 8 paragraphs of saying nothing of substance and committing to nothing. It was awesome.

 

[snowymtnwolf]

I think SO response was solid. Nobody is perfect and businesses can never have 100% of customers loving them 100% of the time.

I give them the benefit of doubt.

And I’m putting down phone to actually enjoy some fresh air and sunshine with the kids outside before sunset - which I think we all need to do more of.

Life’s too short to get caught up in everything around us, especially when the outdoors is so grandiose.


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[Szwampdonkey]

This thread certainly was revealing. Will definitely be giving my hard earned money to a company other than SO despite the above damage control.

 

[Gutshotem]

I'd like to be the first to call out your cowardice response. You're Twitter account didn't give one iota of a hint that you were politically positioned "in the middle". You attacked one side and promoted the other side in 100% of your tweets and likes. It was nowhere remotely near apolitical and you don't get to come on here and whine about division after seeing some of the stuff you posted.

You're the white guy living in your lilly white little bubble who never misses a chance to let the world know how progressive you think you are. Flexing your superior intellect by mocking a large part of your customer base. It was all good laughs for awhile until it wasn't huh?

May as well just delete thar wall of words you just wrote and retype "I am a coward" because you didn't say anything. Have some balls and stand by your principals man. The Twitter stuff wasn't some error in judgment, it was consistent over a period of time.

 

[gabenzeke]

Yeah, not going to lie, that statement doesn't line up with the things said on that podcast or what social media would have lead one to conclude about his views. The timing of deleting the Twitter account may just be a coincidence, but man, what a coincidence if that's the case. At least it's all out there for people to judge for themselves now. My mind is made up. Thanks mods for not nuking this thread.

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