Hunting & Social Media - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: PART 1
Logan Anderson
Social Media - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Ugly
Mainstream media has presented vast opportunities around the world in the outdoors industry. Millions of people have access to the World Wide Web, enabling them to have access to essentially any type of content that pops into their brain. Having such knowledge at the click of a button can be useful, but can also be harmful. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of websites, pages on Facebook/Instagram and YouTube channels that provide detailed information when it comes to any type of hunting. A hunter’s image has changed drastically in the last decade. I am going to go into what I feel is The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly when it comes to social media and hunting.
Checking out the scenery early September 2019… P.S.-Elk don’t exist in Alberta.
Part 1-The Ugly
Acceptance. My social media feeds are roughly 99.9% hunting content or outdoorsman related content. With so many different groups or pages, you yourself have probably encountered some of the ugliness I am about to talk about. Every hunting season I always see someone post “Sorry, it’s not the biggest, but here is the buck I shot”. I believe that every animal someone harvests legally is a trophy, regardless of the size of the animal. Everyone should feel proud of themselves for putting in the effort and receiving bounty for it. Of course, a beautiful 180-inch typical whitetail deer or an extravagant 350-inch bull elk will get any hunters heart racing, but to me the experience and the memories I take out of my hunts are what means the most. In this day and age, it seems that many people only consider themselves successful hunters if they shoot that “giant” or “the big one”. In reality, meat is meat. There is nothing wrong with strictly hunting for mature animals, but it seems the tone of social media encourages this trend. The average hunter may feel embarrassed or even ashamed when posting their harvest, if it isn’t up to a certain standard. Don’t. Try not to feel that way. Be proud. A lot of people go home at the end of the season with tag soup. At the end of the day, your freezer is full, this means you’re successful, regardless of the size of antlers on the wall. Walking up to your downed animal, and placing your tag, should be a feeling that every hunter should be allowed to cherish.
A buck I harvested in 2015.
A lot of companies are now offering people a chance to become field or pro staff, brand ambassadors and so on. In many cases, it can be a symbiotic relationship that helps both the company and the hunter to be successful. If you choose to become a part of a company, one of your roles may be to create content, which in return you may receive benefits for. I have chosen to work with select companies, those of which I support, and try my best to create quality content for. But, through personal experiences, I have learned to set boundaries and not let those roles begin to negatively interfere with my passion. This year I waited until December to post anything hunting related online, just to take a break from it all. I find the consumerism that social media pushes, has taken some of the authenticity away from being a hunter.
A quick picture I snapped through the range finder of a Mule Deer buck-2019
I often see people posting about their harvest as if it is an advertisement - photos of the 50 different products they used placed with the animal. To me, this doesn’t reflect the purpose of hunting and can be disrespectful to the animal. This animal has been sacrificed for you to consume, not only to be used for clever product placement. Harvesting an animal shouldn’t be about pushing products down throats, more emphasis should be put on sharing knowledge and experiences.
It’s a product-driven industry, and people who take advantage of that appear to have lost the true meaning of hunting. Guilty as charged. When I first became involved with companies, I succumbed to the hype they sold me. At first, I wanted to be a part of every company I could, striving to break into the industry. With plenty of wasted time, energy, and money, I quickly realized that if I wanted to take this route, I needed to partner with companies that aren’t pushing you to do all of their work for little compensation. I also looked for companies that supported their staff. Most of the organizations I staff for now are local here to Alberta and some are south of the border. I don’t mind spending time and money on products that work for me and I know will help me in the field, knowing it will also help their company succeed. At the end of the day, the goal should be to enjoy the great outdoors. Snap a few pictures, post some stories, and go ahead a partner with companies if you want - just don’t let advertising consume you as a hunter.
