The Anti-Hunters...

[dan maule]

I'll start out by saying I haven't watch a TV hunting show in over 6 years so maybe something had changed. Put yourself in their shoes you have zero knowledge of hunting, you have no one to provide a hunt experience to you, so you turn on your TV to get the only hunting experience you have available to you and in 18 minutes there's some jack off chest bumping, fist pumping, scream about the rack on whatever he/she just shot. I can see how if that's your experience with hunting how you could be turned off a little bit, because some of those very people turn me off by there total lack of respect of the sport, and the animal. I think if the TV shows would spend a little more time addressing herd management, and the animal was talked about more in a feed my family, than it'll score whatever and never have the animal addressed as actual food, it may help some.

I guess what I'm saying is there is a fine line in looking like hunting and looking like a frat party out to kill stuff to hang on the wall.

Well said I have 4 channels dedicated to hunting and fishing and I can count on one hand the number of shows that I will take the time to watch

 

[okielite]

Many hunters themselves are anti-hunters IMO. Seems that a small portion of western hunters like to look down their nose at the way other people hunt in different parts of the country. After speeding time on some of the hunting forums its has become blatantly obvious that some people believe the way they hunt in their state is better than the way other people in other states hunt. Some topics such as lighted knocks, crossbows, tree stands, feeders, hunting with dogs, hunting over bait, etc can bring this out. Seems like hunters are constantly trying to make themselves feel better about themselves by making comments such as "eastern tenderfoots" or "flatlanders" when they talk negatively about other hunters in other places. Seems like not being united is likely the biggest obstacle hunters face moving forward when trying to be heard.

 

[okielite]

Well said I have 4 channels dedicated to hunting and fishing and I can count on one hand the number of shows that I will take the time to watch

It is really interesting how the programming has changed in the last couple of years. It seems that there are so many more fishing shows as well as other things like gold panning and gun related programs as opposed to hunting shows. I rarely even find something I want to watch. I've also noticed there are a couple of all fishing networks and even networks like CBSSN show some fishing programs.

The reality is that the most popular hunting shows are "Alaska bush people" or "life below zero" or "Alaska the last Frontier".

 

[CrimsonArrow]

We need to forget about the anti-hunters as a whole. There may be a few who can be brought over to our way of thinking, but the majority are happily ignorant and set in their beliefs. The folks we need to recruit are the ones who weren't brought up hunting, don't know anything about hunting, and most importantly, don't have an opinion about hunting. These are the people who are intelligent, friendly, and may own 40 acres of prime whitetail or turkey habitat. I currently hunt on at least 5 properties owned by people who are either non-hunters, or by people who don't happen to hunt what I hunt on their property. I let them know that all the meat will be processed by myself, and go directly into my freezer to feed my family. They appreciate and feel good about that. Then I'll bring them a couple bags of fish fillets to thank them for granting me permission. Everyone wins.