Current state of affairs on HT

[Gerald Martin]

Just saw this and made me curious if any folks on HT have a secondary account to stir the pot or “agree with them”. Probably not, but amazing how far people go in the digital world to create noise.

#MeTooSTEM founder admits to creating Twitter persona who “died” of COVID-19

BethAnn McLaughlin invented @Sciencing_Bi, a Hopi anthropologist who died of COVID-19.

arstechnica.com

Guilty. I sometimes post under the alter-ego, Gerald Martin. Keeps people guessing.

 

[Sytes]

I'll happily meet anyone fitting the common folk on HT if the opportunity was available.
A world internet of public eyes is far from a place for people to share their first and last name... to each his / her own.

 

[HandgunHunter]

I just want to share hunting stories....

 

[406dn]

I'll happily meet anyone fitting the common folk on HT if the opportunity was available.
A world internet of public eyes is far from a place for people to share their first and last name... to each his / her own.

I concur.

The first bulletin board I ever participated on I used my name. That board was far more contentious than HT is on its worst day. I came to realize that having your name available to the world was not the smartest thing I ever did.

 

[longbow51]

As far as the use of real names goes, in an ideal world that would be great. In this one, not so much. One group I belong to is all about pistols; fairly expensive ones to boot. Folks not only use their real names, but give their actual locations, and, if you can believe it, list all their guns. SMH.

And, unfortunately, internet opinions, even quite mild ones, are getting people fired and ruining families. Never bothered me as I was almost always self employed, but some guy or gal making $20 an hour simply can't take a risk in this toxic environment. We can all hope it gets better soon.

 

[tzone]

Well truthfully, it's not very welcoming to be a newbie on here. Some come for help and get "welcome to the forum" as an answer to their questions. Not very often is someone looking for YOUR specific hunting spot. But, on the other hand some quesitons really are dumb. lol

For the most part you can help a guy with info without giving away your spot. Of if you didn't draw a tag, who cares if they hunt where you did in years prior. Who cares really...it's public land. Not all of us are out there to shoot a 189" deer or a 380" elk. Some us just want something different than what we hunt at home and to have a good time with friends and family.s

I'm lucky enough to have a good job that allows me time off to go scout and November off to hunt. I'm even luckier to have an awesome wife that doesn't care if I do it and won't squawk about it when I do.

 

[WyoDoug]

Way I see it is we all are responsible adults and can be responsible for our own actions. So many hide behind a computer screen and stir up things and do things and say things they would never say in a person to person contact. I came close to leaving because of some rudeness, but I made a few good friends in here and eventually let the rudeness pass on by ignored. I think the problem can be solved if everyone did assume responsibility of their own actions and quit worrying about what everyone else says or posts.

 

[BrentD]

Maybe I don't read enough threads here, but I really, truly don't see a problem. A very few threads here go south, at least in comparison to every other hunting/shooting related forum I've ever seen. I appreciate the effort that Randy takes to make this place happen. I do not imagine it is easy. Nor will it get better soon as November rolls up on us like a monster summer thunderstorm. But we will come out the other side, and with luck (and Randy's hard work), HT will still be there.

Meanwhile keep posting great photos, great stories, new plans. I learn a lot from you guys and gals.

Besides, it's only 21 days until squirrel and teal seasons open. Life will be good again (ain't so bad as it is right now in my opinion).

 

[VikingsGuy]

Well truthfully, it's not very welcoming to be a newbie on here. Some come for help and get "welcome to the forum" as an answer to their questions. Not very often is someone looking for YOUR specific hunting spot. But, on the other hand some quesitons really are dumb. lol

For the most part you can help a guy with info without giving away your spot. Of if you didn't draw a tag, who cares if they hunt where you did in years prior. Who cares really...it's public land. Not all of us are out there to shoot a 189" deer or a 380" elk. Some us just want something different than what we hunt at home and to have a good time with friends and family.s

I'm lucky enough to have a good job that allows me time off to go scout and November off to hunt. I'm even luckier to have an awesome wife that doesn't care if I do it and won't squawk about it when I do.

Lots of good advice is readily shared with HT newbies (I was one of the beneficiaries not that far back) - gear, species info, firearms, public lands advocacy, various trespass rules, road conditions, herd conditions, where to get a decent pizza in NE Wyoming, etc etc etc. The place where we see the rub is when first 5 message posters are asking for "which unit to apply" during application season.

The problem is not protecting a secret spot you hunted 10 years ago and it is not a reluctance to help one hunttalk newbie, it is that literally thousands of internet viewers see the answers and the answers show up on thousands of google searches and those high volume views can screw with the draw odds for everybody else. Lots of times the thread that shows little in the way of direct responses has a number of helpful PMs behind the scenes -- willing to help, but not willing to give to 10,000 googlers - seems reasonable to me.

There is also the fact that people prefer to help those who help themselves and are invested in the site/community and its various discussions more than first-timers or those too lazy to even try the search feature.

I think any hunter who joins HT, shares a little personal background, constructively joins in a few non-unit/location threads here and there, and uses search before asking for best $500 youth rifle will receive a (mostly) friendly welcome and a wealth of useful general information and even a few "unit specific" advice PMs. And if they repay the kindness by letting the info provider know how their hunt went they will get more in the future. Seems like a super fair and welcoming trade-off. I don't see it welcoming or beneficial to anyone to be the "western hunting info kiosk" for hundreds of random uninvested one time visitors. YMMV.

 

[WyoDoug]

Maybe I don't read enough threads here, but I really, truly don't see a problem. A very few threads here go south, at least in comparison to every other hunting/shooting related forum I've ever seen. I appreciate the effort that Randy takes to make this place happen. I do not imagine it is easy. Nor will it get better soon as November rolls up on us like a monster summer thunderstorm. But we will come out the other side, and with luck (and Randy's hard work), HT will still be there.

Meanwhile keep posting great photos, great stories, new plans. I learn a lot from you guys and gals.

Besides, it's only 21 days until squirrel and teal seasons open. Life will be good again (ain't so bad as it is right now in my opinion).

Only 45 days until my retirement and antelope hunt the very next day.

 

[Shangobango]

Only 45 days until my retirement and antelope hunt the very next day.

Great way to celebrate your retirement! Congrats!

 

[Nameless Range]

I joined over 7 years ago. When I first was here, the forum seemed populated with a lot of badass hunters, who shot big critters in beautiful places, and they often told their stories. I certainly wasn't one of them. Maybe there is a little bit of a regression to the mean occurring in respect to that. How much different was the world in 2013? How different was the internet?

If you've ever delved into the world of philosophy, they use the term "States of Affairs" , and refer to them as sorts of objects, and they can either obtain or be nonobtaining. I've kind of thought about that in light of the title of the thread. I'm a cheesy guy so humor me.

Right now what is the State of Affairs on HuntTalk? In the physical world of its virtual members, nights are getting longer, the air in the mornings has been cool, and we pretty much all know what tags we will be hunting with. Folks have been cooped and riled up. Hunters particularly, are excited to get outside in this beautiful world.

Not just the shadowy existence of an object proposed, I hope the State of Affairs of HuntTalk obtains in the coming months and will be one of health and experiences and hunting stories and family and photos of places you don't know but you can feel. The forum is a lot of things, but stories are its foundation and the more members that contribute to that, the more grounded the underpinnings of this community will be.

 

[Buschy]

This. If you think HuntTalk has been bad....spend some time on Facebook. My goodness, just terrible. Spend some time reading Facebook comments once and it will make you lose faith in the human race pretty quick

Wife and I closed our Facebook and other social media accounts years ago, I highly recommend it. Hell, we don't even watch the local or national news on TV anymore. Too much drama and negativity on both. HuntTalk is really the only reason I get on the computer anymore. Thank you Randy for all you put up with. It is appreciated!!

 

[HandgunHunter]

Wife and I closed our Facebook and other social media accounts years ago, I highly recommend it. Hell, we don't even watch the local or national news on TV anymore. Too much drama and negativity on both. HuntTalk is really the only reason I get on the computer anymore. Thank you Randy for all you put up with. It is appreciated!!

If it wasn’t for my shop I’d left social media a long time ago too.....it’s the crotch of the web...

 

[406dn]

Only 45 days until my retirement and antelope hunt the very next day.

Congrats to you on achieving your retirement. I hope you enjoy a long healthy one.

 

[hank4elk]

Met several HTers. Good folks. Some were trolls I never heard from again. Some have only posted a few times here and gave me more than I gave them in intel.
Cushman is an experience in itself. Love ya bro!
Then there is this Randy guy. Real odd duck,but a nice guy. Funny. Has a collection of strays he travels with.....
In all truthfulness he never stopped spinning the plates when we met up 2 times . Always working for a good outcome,it would seem.

 

[WyoDoug]

This forum has never gotten really bad to the point it was uncivil totally. Yall should try Twitter. I have very conservative views and I got locked out of twitter because my views don't jive with what they want plus the way they interpret "fake news" seems to be whatever they do not agree with. So I don't use Twitter at all anymore.

 

[tzone]

There is also the fact that people prefer to help those who help themselves and are invested in the site/community and its various discussions more than first-timers or those too lazy to even try the search feature.

I think any hunter who joins HT, shares a little personal background, constructively joins in a few non-unit/location threads here and there, and uses search before asking for best $500 youth rifle will receive a (mostly) friendly welcome and a wealth of useful general information and even a few "unit specific" advice PMs. And if they repay the kindness by letting the info provider know how their hunt went they will get more in the future. Seems like a super fair and welcoming trade-off. I don't see it welcoming or beneficial to anyone to be the "western hunting info kiosk" for hundreds of random uninvested one time visitors. YMMV.

For most part I agree with you. People do need to do their own research. And they are by asking questions on sites like this. They may very have been looking here for some time before asking. Many of the states do have confusing applications. They could be one time visitors because they didn't get the info or help they were looking for.

I know I wouldn't have started hunting where I do without help. Yep...I do things on my own, but you have to start somewhere.

 

[WyoDoug]

For them most part I agree with you. People do need to do their own research. And they are by asking questions on sites like this. They may very well be looking for some time before asking. Many of the states do have confusing applications. They could be one time visitors because they didn't get the info or help they were looking for.

I know I wouldn't have started hunting where I do without help. Yep...I do things on my own, but you have to start somewhere.

I know I would have never broken the "wall" I had around myself hunting elk. I grew up hunting deer and antelope so I do have expertise in that but in elk I consider myself a novice. I was filling my license maybe once every 4-5 years. Now thanks to help I received from another elk hunter way younger than me, I now fill my tags nearly every year, especially the cow tags.

Even with the 45+ years experience I have with deer and antelope, the quality of my hunts have improved in part thanks to Randy and his videos giving me a new way of thinking and some ideas I tried that happened to work. Plus a few videos from other hunters really helped to give a new perspective on my thinking and ways of doing business with venison and speed goats.

A 21 year old whipersnapper taught me how to hunt bear and I have gotten one about every 3rd to 4th year hunting them since then.

A 30 year old ranchhand's daughter taught me how to hunt mountain lion without using dogs. She got hers ever year. I got mine every 4-5 years unless the landowner gave me some hints on fresh kills where I could track them. I have never hunted using dogs and don't believe in it myself other than retrieving birds so I hunt without dogs.

 

[Randi]

A 21 year old whipersnapper taught me how to hunt bear and I have gotten one about every 3rd to 4th year hunting them since then.

A 30 year old ranchhand's daughter taught me how to hunt mountain lion without using dogs. She got hers ever year. I got mine every 4-5 years unless the landowner gave me some hints on fresh kills where I could track them.

Love WyoDoug