Poser
WKR
Even living in and around the areas I elk hunt and scouting extensively (over 30 days this summer), I continue to be surprised at how much boots on the ground and topo scouting fail to reconcile with one another, how cumbersome and slow getting around off piste in elk country is and how endlessly difficult elk hunting is even when you have things figured out.
Now, I resent the entitlement of social media information. People who often have not invested the work (any work at all) ask questions looking for information that is shared publicly. Some other people, apparently who feel empowered by sharing details that they should not be sharing on public forums, tend to respond in great detail. In some sense, the layers of mystery are pulled back because all one has to do is ask a bunch of questions on the internet and they feel empowered enough to make plans that are well beyond their experience level. I am shocked by the amount of hunters who seem to know absolutely nothing, 0, about about backpacking, backcountry camping, cold weather etc who are planning “pack hunts” for elk, in some cases even into 3rd rifle season. I can only imagine what kind of disastrous failures that are going down in elk country, how many first hunts absolutely fall apart within the first couple of hours and how many people are experiencing the most humbling set of circumstances they will experience in their entire lives.
Silver lining? I can only speculate that many hunters who over extend themselves after feeling emboldened by easy accessible information are absolutely crushed by the reality and we will hit a tipping point where enough crushed aspirations result in the De romanticism of Western Hunting. I recall once walking by the bus station in Nashville and seeing a kid getting off a bus with a guitar case in hand and laughing out loud. That’s the state of social media hunting.
Now, I resent the entitlement of social media information. People who often have not invested the work (any work at all) ask questions looking for information that is shared publicly. Some other people, apparently who feel empowered by sharing details that they should not be sharing on public forums, tend to respond in great detail. In some sense, the layers of mystery are pulled back because all one has to do is ask a bunch of questions on the internet and they feel empowered enough to make plans that are well beyond their experience level. I am shocked by the amount of hunters who seem to know absolutely nothing, 0, about about backpacking, backcountry camping, cold weather etc who are planning “pack hunts” for elk, in some cases even into 3rd rifle season. I can only imagine what kind of disastrous failures that are going down in elk country, how many first hunts absolutely fall apart within the first couple of hours and how many people are experiencing the most humbling set of circumstances they will experience in their entire lives.
Silver lining? I can only speculate that many hunters who over extend themselves after feeling emboldened by easy accessible information are absolutely crushed by the reality and we will hit a tipping point where enough crushed aspirations result in the De romanticism of Western Hunting. I recall once walking by the bus station in Nashville and seeing a kid getting off a bus with a guitar case in hand and laughing out loud. That’s the state of social media hunting.
