Youtubers ruin public hunting. Change my mind.

[Hnthrdr]

YouTube also gets people into hunting, people hunting keeps the sport alive and keeps funds coming in for conservation etc. My parents didn't hunt, I had no idea about anything hunting and always heard a elk hunt is too expensive for normal people to do. Come across videos 10 years ago explaining public land and buying otc licenses and it's like oh hey I actually can go hunt. Now it's something I do every year and I've gotten multiple friends into it. I understand the hate with alot of the YouTubers but there is also some pretty good ones.

Just my .02

People will get into hunting without YouTube, trust me I know because I did. No one in my immediate family has an ounce of outdoorsyness in their blood. I was obsessed as a toddler, my uncle helped out and got me into bird hunting, I started big game hunting when I could buy my own rifles and gear and go, YouTube didn’t make or break my decision to hunt

 

[Geewhiz]

I have started to hate it all. I'm as guilty as anyone of watching the you tube videos. There was a time that I think I had watched every single elk hunting video on the entire world wide web. After realizing the toll it was taking I quit and am proud to say that although I find the (tasteful) content interesting, I make a strong effort not to watch any hunting videos anymore. I can't tell you how many videos I watched that after a few minutes on google earth I could tell you exactly where the hunters were, even with discreet shots in places I have never been within 500 miles of. I know to the foot where randy newberg shot a bear on kuiu island and have never stepped foot there in my life. But he doesn't give a crap about spot burning, none of them do, just the content they put out. I'm sure the locals appreciated that.

But while we're at it, google earth and onx maps have taken at least as much of a toll as you tube people. Again guilty, but if I could make a decree that banned posting hunting content on you tube, and defunded google earth and onx maps I would in a heart beat.

Obviously my opinion.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I have started to hate it all. I'm as guilty as anyone of watching the you tube videos. There was a time that I think I had watched every single elk hunting video on the entire world wide web. After realizing the toll it was taking I quit and am proud to say that although I find the (tasteful) content interesting, I make a strong effort not to watch any hunting videos anymore. I can't tell you how many videos I watched that after a few minutes on google earth I could tell you exactly where the hunters were, even with discreet shots in places I have never been within 500 miles of. I know to the foot where randy newberg shot a bear on kuiu island and have never stepped foot there in my life. But he doesn't give a crap about spot burning, none of them do, just the content they put out. I'm sure the locals appreciated that.

But while we're at it, google earth and onx maps have taken at least as much of a toll as you tube people. Again guilty, but if I could make a decree that banned posting hunting content on you tube, and defunded google earth and onx maps I would in a heart beat.

Obviously my opinion.

Make map reading great again…

 

[cnelk]

A little off topic but YT dropped all gun channels.
Maybe that will help? Or hurt

 

[IBen]

A little off topic but YT dropped all gun channels.
Maybe that will help? Or hurt

It says it’s for videos with gun industry sponsors. You can post gun content without a sponsor

 

[MuleyFever]

A little off topic but YT dropped all gun channels.
Maybe that will help? Or hurt

There is too much demand. Someone will start a new site for it.

 

[ElGuapo]

Nothing has ‘ruined’ public hunting… Quit whining, and up your game.

Now…. The internet has definitely ruined draw odds in the West.

 

[WKR]

I'm glad that people are starting to realize this,

Although nothing is going to change until people stop watching, sponsors stop sponsoring, and consumers stop supporting the companies that do the sponsoring

 

[Will_m]

How is it any different than people posting pictures in magazines or here on rokslide? YouTube has nothing to do with it. It has been happening forever.

I have seen the same thing though guys putting screenshots into video of their onx and showing exactly where they were. I find it, note it and know to avoid those areas because every Tom Dick and Harry will be going there. I get it if its a once in a lifetime tag but for OTC or general tags you can get the story across without it. Same with the scenery pictures.

Ask anybody in marketing if they thought adding YouTube to their advertising base was a waste of time compared to running magazine ads.

More ads=more recruitment=less opportunity whether it be actual opportunity or quality of opportunity.

Not that you are this way but this whole “we need as many as we can get” is killing it. Maybe it will keep it from actually getting shut down (though I would suggest that constructively, it is doing the same thing) but there’s no way to actually the say the sky is going to fall if we don’t turn everybody into a license carrying hunter.

 

[mike.adams.467]

Wow, imagine hunting without a cell phone. Remember when a good map or GPS was the thing. Good times.

Still works for me. I have a land ownership app but only use it when I am in the rare situation where I might be encroaching on private land.

 

[CJohnson]

YouTube may “get people into hunting”, but the main goal is to expand a consumer base to sell gear to. There’s not a single gear company out there that wants less people buying their stuff.

 

[ndbuck09]

To the folks who say youtube helps get people into hunting.....

how did hunting ever survive for all the years previous to the 2000's when youtube came into existence???

 

[bucksnbirds]

Nothing has ‘ruined’ public hunting… Quit whining, and up your game.

Now…. The internet has definitely ruined draw odds in the West.

To say ruined is a bit of an exaggeration, but it has definitely increased crowding, made tags harder to come by, burned spots, increased questionable ethics, etc. Ruined, no. Watered down and diluted, yes. I'm fine without upping my game as I hunt undesirable places with less pressure and manage to hold my own.

 

[Stubborn_bowhunter]

Reverse image search on Google is an incredible thing. With a little too much landscapes and skylines it's just screenshot, keyword, and someone's got your spot.

 

[StuckoYota99]

Google earth has ruined western hunting. I can see all your honey holes.

 

[Hnthrdr]

A little off topic but YT dropped all gun channels.
Maybe that will help? Or hurt

Everyone that uses firearms should drop YouTube…

 

[gman82001]

It is absolutely causing major issues, and for what? So a bunch of unemployed people can avoid having a real job? It seems to be a pursuit of validation for individuals with no depth of purpose or meaning in their lives. The male version of daddy issues and OF accounts in a hollow attempt to bring themselves purpose and income. It's pathetic.
I've killed Colorado OTC bulls in an overlooked spot the last couple of seasons. It's by no means a secret, but overlooked enough to be consistent. Last season some attention-hungry morons made a video in the spot. Trailhead signs, overview of the entire area with unmistakable features in the background, everything. Absolute clown show shooting was the cherry on top. I tried to make the case in the comments that a great hunting spot was worth more than any attention they'd receive from strangers on YT. To them, the opposite is true. "Sharing their journey" as a method of garnering attention from the internet means more to them than hunting. People with such a skewed hierarchy of values shouldn't be hunting at all.
In my opinion, this sort of behavior should be shamed and shunned until it becomes extinct. Unfortunately their little fan clubs are equally useless, so the cycle of idiocy is likely to continue.

But did you at least order some merch?

 

[bucksnbirds]

But did you at least order some merch?

Mule Freak boxers for everyone!

 

[gman82001]

Mule Freak boxers for everyone!

I have the topo map pattern merino boxers so I always know where to trespass

 

[Steve300xcw]

Talk forums haven't helped anything either...................