Is social media hurting the great outdoors experience?

wllm1313 said:
To play devils advocate, but also asking a legitimate question, is there a parallel with anything else?

I read @BuzzH comment, and it's totally legitimate, but at the same time... why is that the expectation?

As far as other quasi-similar things say gun ownership, the folks want more owners, but do they expect them to call their legislators or show up to things? or just that they will be sympathetic and vote in favor of those issues?
*couldn't come up with a lot of examples that are also semi political

You get into gardening, now you need to fight Monsanto? Buy a dirtbike, so now you should pay dues at a club and show up at meetings for more trails? Adopt a dog, now you should support local shelters, and call your senator about XYZ.

Kinda seems like we set our expectations high for beginners... and if anything we should be impressed by how many folks with only a couple seasons under their belt are engaging. I mean I get what buzz is rolling his eyes but I mean there are a pile of folks who have hunted 2 seasons talking about conservation on social media. I think that's pretty amazing, I would be curious to hear when @BuzzH , @Oak, bigfin, @Ben Lamb etc first started engaging seriously?

My assumption is that you grew up hunting as kids and either did it with your parents or started as adults, but in either case had hunted for a decade? Maybe more?
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There is a parallel with almost everything else related to wildlife and natural resources, if you want your use to continue. It doesn't matter if you want to continue to graze your domestic sheep on national forest, you want more mountain bike trails, you want more backcountry skiing so you can shred the gnar, or you want to protect critical wildlife habitats from all of those things. You need to show up...or lose.

To your point about new users getting involved: I didn't start advocating strongly until I had hunted big game for 20+ years. But to be fair, we didn't have access to information back in the 80s like we do today. If you didn't grow up in a family that advocated, or didn't have a good advocate to mentor you, you likely didn't even know how the system worked. That's not the case any more. I became an advocate because I saw so many others here on HT and (gasp) others social media outlets.

Every newbie that shows up on this site and posts in the Who I Am section can read 20 recent threads on issues they can get involved in today. Over 40,000 people applied for a sheep tag in CO this year. If only 1% of them got involved and started writing letters we would crush the issues. Yet I attend public meetings about sheep issues and am the ONLY non-agency person in the room.
 
wllm1313 said:
To play devils advocate, but also asking a legitimate question, is there a parallel with anything else?

I read @BuzzH comment, and it's totally legitimate, but at the same time... why is that the expectation?

As far as other quasi-similar things say gun ownership, the folks want more owners, but do they expect them to call their legislators or show up to things? or just that they will be sympathetic and vote in favor of those issues?
*couldn't come up with a lot of examples that are also semi political

You get into gardening, now you need to fight Monsanto? Buy a dirtbike, so now you should pay dues at a club and show up at meetings for more trails? Adopt a dog, now you should support local shelters, and call your senator about XYZ.

Kinda seems like we set our expectations high for beginners... and if anything we should be impressed by how many folks with only a couple seasons under their belt are engaging. I mean I get what buzz is rolling his eyes but I mean there are a pile of folks who have hunted 2 seasons talking about conservation on social media. I think that's pretty amazing, I would be curious to hear when @BuzzH , @Oak, bigfin, @Ben Lamb etc first started engaging seriously?

My assumption is that you grew up hunting as kids and either did it with your parents or started as adults, but in either case had hunted for a decade? Maybe more?
Click to expand...
To lump on another layer, I don't think you can really discuss this issue that Buzz raised without also adding in the changing expectations on how much of our lives should be taken up with work, parenting, etc. There's a large number of people out there who are working two jobs and struggling to reach any kind of financial security. There's also a decent number of people who are financially secure at the expense of nearly all their free time. Not to mention the third group of folks who would have retired by now, in another era, but don't feel like they can now. Even when folks have a few spare hours, their mental energy level has taken a hit.
 
This was a good topic and a lot to sift through. I have seen first hand how social media can bring in troves of people here in little old ND. Ice fishing is a good example, Influencers will post pictures the same day or a day later of their catch and that next weekend the lake is overrun with crowds. I see the frustration it can bring when that was "your secret spot" for years now everyone knows. But at the end of the day i dont see a problem in people making content or being an influencer. More people are out enjoying the outdoors. The only time i have a problem with it if the influencers are doing things illegal.

Social media is not going anywhere and companies have realized that and have adapted accordingly. I rarely see paper ads sent to me now, everything is an email. As long as people respect the land and the animals i have no problem in it. If people can make a living by doing something they enjoy and are respectful at it i got nothing against someone posting pictures with a dozen # behind it.
 
INSTA-FAME hurts what people define at "their secret spots". The younger generation sees themselves as "influencers" and "socialytes" until they mature a little more and determine it was all for naught.

Public lands are just that, public. If you have had a good run for 20+ years in a specific lake, fishin hole, drainage, or saddle that is great. Yes, there are examples of hunts being "ruined" by social media and youtube influencers. But were the hunts really "ruined" or just highlighted to facilitate a greater hunting opportunity?

If you were a jackrabbit hunter your whole life with an OTC tag, then all of a sudden you had to draw a tag because of an uptick in hunter participation, is that really a bad thing for the wildlife, or just for you? Quotas are written for the betterment of the animals and hunter opportunity, not for your personal enjoyment. Do I think it is a downer to no longer be able to do all things I want, when I want, sure. But I also see hunter recruitment and advocacy programs increasing year to year.

So in the end, what you really have to ask yourself is, are you upset because your guaranteed opportunity isn't guaranteed, or because you are thinking of the wildlife and improper conservation?
 
I draw a clear distinction between what people do with their own personal social media accounts and for-profit commercial activity on public lands. It is the latter that I have some concerns should be better regulated via film permits and/or state tag allocation rules. The monetization of western big game hunting draws a bigger crowd of entrepreneurs every year...and although we have some great content and producers like Fresh Tracks, there are a lot that do far more harm than good IMO...and I don't want to get to the point we have camera crews at every trail head. I certainly do not advocate some cessation of this activity...just tighter regulation. No different than I would advocate a careful regulation of commercial outfitters on public lands.
 
Oak said:
Over 40,000 people applied for a sheep tag in CO this year. If only 1% of them got involved and started writing letters we would crush the issues. Yet I attend public meetings about sheep issues and am the ONLY non-agency person in the room.
Click to expand...
Are you hinting that the guys that don't have time to show up are the same guys that take a week off to go to Reno every winter for a vacation and "advocate" through their wallet?
 
  • Wow
Reactions: Oak
wllm1313 said:
To play devils advocate, but also asking a legitimate question, is there a parallel with anything else?

I read @BuzzH comment, and it's totally legitimate, but at the same time... why is that the expectation?

As far as other quasi-similar things say gun ownership, the folks want more owners, but do they expect them to call their legislators or show up to things? or just that they will be sympathetic and vote in favor of those issues?
*couldn't come up with a lot of examples that are also semi political

You get into gardening, now you need to fight Monsanto? Buy a dirtbike, so now you should pay dues at a club and show up at meetings for more trails? Adopt a dog, now you should support local shelters, and call your senator about XYZ.

Kinda seems like we set our expectations high for beginners... and if anything we should be impressed by how many folks with only a couple seasons under their belt are engaging. I mean I get what buzz is rolling his eyes but I mean there are a pile of folks who have hunted 2 seasons talking about conservation on social media. I think that's pretty amazing, I would be curious to hear when @BuzzH , @Oak, bigfin, @Ben Lamb etc first started engaging seriously?

My assumption is that you grew up hunting as kids and either did it with your parents or started as adults, but in either case had hunted for a decade? Maybe more?
Click to expand...
Great point! @wllm1313 It makes sense that one would have to me through the initial thrills and adventure stage as a beginning hunter to a point that they have accomplished enough to sit back and take a look around and see their favorite hobby or lifestyle as something in danger that needs protecting before they would begin to be politically involved. To grow up and mature over time as a hunter and outdoorsman to the point of becoming and advocate for the sport and way of life so to speak. I second that I would love to hear the stories of how some of the long time hunters on here moved into a role of advocacy.
 
BenInMT said:
The recent HBO documentary Fake Famous goes a long way explaining the sickness and narcissism that these wanna be influencers are plagued with. I’ll take the insta-huntress-hoes over all the rest, at least their version of prostitution of our pastime is easy to look at.
Click to expand...
#runnersmotivation
 
TN_Rifle_Junkie said:
If you were a jackrabbit hunter your whole life with an OTC tag, then all of a sudden you had to draw a tag because of an uptick in hunter participation, is that really a bad thing for the wildlife, or just for you?
Click to expand...
👏👏 Yeah, we are talking about public land and everyone says, it’s “my secret spot”. You can’t advocate for people getting involved in hunting, conservation, public land issues, etc and then be upset when people show up.
 
timmy said:
Maybe we aren’t talking the same tag. Maybe you have done it to more than one tag. 2020 shows max in regular and special. Blowing up areas has long term consequences.
Click to expand...

A non resident hasn't needed max points for that hunt, ever.
 
In my opinion it’s not just hunting and outdoors. SM has effectively had negative influences on every aspect of life.

As well as some positive too I suppose
 
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