MEDIA.
I think most of us get that we are in here, mostly in off seasons poking each other, throwing bombs, etc. However, look at the way the sport is presented. Look at the shows, the ads, the mags.
The shows: My first "hunting" show was Doug Miller. Not truly a hunting show, more of an outdoor show, but it was about seeing new people doing something outdoors related. It was about the kids, the old people, etc. It was about LOVING THE OPPORTUNITY we have to live(especially in the west) in a place where in 10 minutes we can be doing some of these things.
I started seeing more national shows, other than Realtree, they were mostly regional guys, doing regional shows, yeah chasing trophies, but usually with their buddies, again, ENJOYING THE OPPORTUNITY.
Now, good lord. NASCAR has less product placement. Because you have a camera, it apparently came with a PHD in biology with the ammount of time you "lecture". It is almost a near miracle for 99% of them to ever venture onto public land, and then NEVER without a guide. Enter the WOMAN. We aren't talking the women we hunt with. We are talking the sillicone injected, highlighted, skin tight eyecandy.
The mags. The mags in order to compete with the shows, have to go one step further. Look at how you took pics of your animals 10 years ago. Usually hanging in a tree, in the truck, or with you holding the horns kneeing down. Now look. There is no blood, the legs are curled nicely under the animal. Guys sit so far back and down hill you can hardly see them. The stories are more and more about the most extreme in everything, travel, guns, animals, etc.
Lastly, the ADS. No offense, MM takes money, but right next to this post as I am typing is a vortex ad. Somehow this dude hiked into the back country, killed a massive elk, strapped the horns to his back and is on his way out. Where is the meat? Where is the blood? If you don't have a deer feeder, food plot, and super mag, your not a hunter. The ADS no longer advertise a product, or even a lifestyle. They advertise a fairytale. One is which EVERY deer is 30". Every elk is a bugling 6 point. Everyone wears $500 camo.
Hunting media, intentionally or not, isn't about hunting anymore. Its not about the people. Not about the animals. Not about the opportunity. Hunting media is about a pretend world, where every dude talks loud, knows everything, shoots only the best guns, sharpest knifes. He travels the countryside with a chick fresh out of Hustler Magazine, who on top of being everybit the expert, loudmouth he is, finds time to be eyecandy on top of it. These two travel(by bus now) from high fence area to high fence area to hunt. Areas in which a deer goes from spotted fawn to 30" buck in a 2 month period. Around every corner is a bugling bull, and every bear in the forest is a charging grizzly.
We, myself included have bought into this crap. LR hunters, Sitka gear. Custom ammo. TROPHY HUNTING, unrealistic expectations, based not on what experience tells us, but on what "the experts" tell us have become common place. Years ago we went and hunted, talked to our buddies, talked to locals. Now we quote Jim Shockey, bone collectors, Tiffany, and forget that all of them are dependent on selling a fantasy. They don't just video themselves hunting, and show how satisfying it is to spend time outdoors with people we love, they sell you a unicorn, and like idiots we chase it. Then come throw bombs on the internet.
Hope all the guys I have yelled at, bitched at, teased, clowned, argued with, and yes even agreed with had a GREAT season, saw some critters, ate some good food, drank a good drink, spent time with the people they loved. Looking forward to the offseason, I personally have some new SFW lines, a rant on LR, and I even have a new complaint, which I will air when cabin fever sets in real bad.
Muley, I disagree, I think, that if guys come in here and enjoy each other, disagreeing or not, I think sites like this are a lot of fun, and sometimes even a slight bit educational. Plus, most of us have families now so we can't hang in the bar all the time talking crap, so now we sit in our basement, Diet Coke in hand, still every bit as bad as we once were!!
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"