The Freedom of the Outdoors

Today is January 29th 2021 and I've been doing a lot of reflecting on why I've let my blog go for so long.  I have written very few posts the last few years and have chalked it up to spending more time with my family.  Truth is, my time has always been filled with my family.  My free-time, my weekends, my evenings are consumed by their presence as that's what I have always prioritized and have chosen to occupy my time with.  So the question remains, if I was already spending time with my family, why have I stopped writing? Why did I use my family as the excuse for not continuing my blog.  

Truth is, it has all boiled down to passion.  When I started the blog, I had no expectations, no influences other than my upbringing, and no objective other than journaling to document the memories I wanted to hold onto.  I wrote freely, I expressed my thoughts, concerns, passions, as well as my fears.  I was myself and my writing reflected that.  Then came the, "stuff"... 

The "stuff", as I refer to it, is everything that changed for me once I started to write.  The stuff came in the form of physical things such as hunting or fishing gear, food, or other outdoor products.  The stuff was also attention from companies, other bloggers, or local outdoorsmen and women.  One other type of stuff was a following... Regardless of how small my following has been or is, it has been one thing that has left an impression on me.  From likes and follows on social media, or comments on videos or posts.  Each token of connection was interpreted as personal and intentional.  

The "stuff" has a way of changing a person. The stories I chose to share on my blog before the stuff were authentic, raw, and unadulterated.  They were full of feeling and had no purpose other than documentation for my own objectives.  When the "stuff" started showing up, there was an unintentional pressure placed on my by myself to meet someone else's needs.  I took the "stuff" in stride and ran with my passions while not recognizing the influence the "stuff" was having on myself.  Slowly but surely, my writings became less of me and more of "them".  

As I analyze my writings over the past few years, I search my post for my personality, passions, or any other inclination that I was the one who wrote those words.  Searching those posts brought the same feeling as staring into the dark cloudy night searching desperately for a glimpse of a shining star yet knowing what you're looking for has been covered up by all of the other "stuff" in the sky.   Being disappointed in my writings, I no longer felt the passion to write.  

As most of us do when we don't feel the connections we once did, I turned to the things in my life that brought me the satisfaction I was searching for.  I turned stronger toward my family.  Not that I had turned away from them, but more so that I was letting the "stuff" of social media cloud up my skies while complaining that the stars were becoming harder and harder to find.  I turned toward the outdoors.  Not the outdoor channel, Instagram hunting and fishing pages, or Facebook groups but the unadulterated natural influence of the Idaho wilderness!  I hunted to provide for my family and for the pure joy of being in God's canvas surrounded by his creations.  The further I got away from the "stuff" of the world and the influences of social media, the closer I became to who I once was.  Closer to who I was when I started this blog.  

This was a wonderful feeling, yet my new insight and clear sky was easily clouded over when I exited the outdoors and entered the grind of daily life.  I had "connections" that pulled me back to the cloudy skies and obligations to companies to promote products or influences readers.  My realization had to bring about change if I wanted it to become more than a feeling.  I cut ties and used the one excuse that was difficult for people to shame someone about.  I told them that I needed to focus on my family and that they needed my attention, while the truth was that I needed my attention.  I needed to find myself again.  

Now that it has been a few years of putting the blog on hold, I find myself in a better place.   Not in the sense that the place I was in was bad or wrong, but I was not being me in my writings.  I was letting the "stuff", as I've called it, control what I wrote and how I wrote it.  There was always a sliver of "me" in there, but not the full me... not the person I wanted to be.   I am glad to say that I am confident that no matter what "stuff" comes in the future, I am in a place where I have my foundation of who I am as a blogger and writer.  I will still promote products that I am passionate about and feel would benefit those who read and follow my blog, yet I will not let a company pressure me directly or indirectly to produce a review before I feel I've given the product a thorough review.  I won't write a post or review just to get more "stuff" as in the end stuff is just that... just stuff. 

To conclude, my heart leads me to ask myself which "stuff" is in our lives that distract us from the things that bring us closer to who we really are.  What are our purposes and passions that we wish to aspire to.  If you change to be a better version of yourself than the change is more of a conversion to our convictions rather than an adaptation to our surroundings.  The inward reflection rather than the outward influences is what should bring the changes in our future.  Both will have an influence on our decisions, as they should, while the bigger picture is being true to ourselves and who we are.  

My Everything 

Promoting Hunting, Not Yourself....

Everywhere you turn on social media you get bombarded with gear promotions.  People telling other people what camo to wear, what weapon to shoot, what caliber is the best, bla bla bla... Regardless of how helpful this information may be, the consistent feeling of being stuck in a commercial on the Outdoor Channel gets pretty old pretty fast.

Now we are seeing lots of pages, social media accounts, and even outdoor industry TV show producers putting out content condemning, mocking, or even humiliating people who promote hunting related products.  The semi-recent trend even addresses the culture of the "hunting industry" for belittling hunters who do not shoot big deer, who don't have the fancy gear, and the gym rat hunter phenomenon that has seemed to take over many of our social media feeds.  Topics such as these are being addressed and combated as being detrimental to the purpose and focus of what hunting truly is.  

In efforts to protecting "what hunting truly is" unfortunately many of these advocates are being hostile, confrontational, and belittling those who are doing a lot of good.  Now anyone who promotes any product is a "product pusher" or "part of the problem".  It is beginning to create a culture where if someone doesn't like something then automatically they are put down and talked bad about in attempts to establish a more elite group of hunters who all agree on the same thing 100% of the time.  If you don't agree with them or if you feel the product they promote is useless in your eyes then they are pathetic and shouldn't even be allowed on the internet!  haha come on people, how old are we? 

Hunting needs spokesmen and women... As much as we would love to hope and believe that Hunting is going to be around for ever just because it has always been part of our history, we have to accept the reality that Hunting is under attack and politicized for good and bad... Hunting celebrities play an important roll in advocating for hunting.  As much as you and I love it and depend on it for food, admit it...these hunting celebrities literally make a living, their whole career, through hunting.  I'm not talking about the few bad apples in the "hunting industry" who break hunting laws to shoot certain animals to get more views/likes/sponsors/etc. I'm talking about those who put their money where their mouth is.  They fight (in a professional way) with the anti-hunters, the politicians, the animal rights activists, and all of the other groups and people who are trying to take public land, gun rights, and hunting away from us.  So do you really think they are evil for having a commercial on an outdoor channel promoting a product they use? Yeah that person probably has a sponsorship... they get paid to use that products and say what that company wants them to say... but how else do you expect the hunting celebrities to create the status and career they need to advocate for the hunting community.

Now let me be clear here, there are A LOT of the hunting celebrities who have gotten into the habit of promoting themselves more than they are promoting hunting.  That is what Michael Waddell talks about on his social media rant he has posted.  This is the focus of my post... There is a HUGE difference between promoting a product and promoting yourself.  If the focus is to get likes, views, followers, or to push your views/standards onto someone else (such as size/age of the animal etc.) then it would be falling under the category of promoting yourself.  If the focus is to share a cool product, share information, share items that promote and support the hunting life style, then that would be the promotions that are conducive to the hunting community.  Check out Michael's video bellow:

Lets get a few things straight, if you promote a product and present it as it is the absolute best there is and EVERY OTHER PRODUCT SUCKS.... then what kind of standard/culture is being created?  I love my Game Gear camo but will be the first to admit it is what I choose to wear and use, but it isn't right for everyone.  As a hunting community we need to support, or at least tolerate, the fact that we are all different, we all have different needs and standards, as well as we all live differently.  I will never be able to afford SITKA gear nor do I have any desire to wear it.  Does that mean everyone who wears SITKA gear is stuck up, rich snob, egocentric d-bag? NO!!!! But this is what is happening on social media! To play the devils advocate, if you act like a stuck up, rich snob, or a egocentric d-bag, then people are going to be put off by you and how you act.  There are two sides to every situation and we have seen multiple examples of hunting celebrities who have let their ego get in the way of whats important.  Lets no pretend that everything is roses... Lets admit there are hunting celebrities and people on social media who are using certain products to promote themselves rather than promoting for the hunting community.  There are also ruthless keyboard warriors who belittle others who they don't agree with.

The facts are, you and I can't change what the hunting celebrities do or how they act.  What we do have control over is what you and I do on social media.  So, if your focus is to promote yourself, use products/companies to get YOUR name out there, or if you belittle others in attempts to make yourself look superior/better/or in some way better than the person you are making fun, then just know YOU are the one that is being a detriment in the hunting community.  It's not just one side or the other... It is both of you... You can promote gear without promoting yourself.  Yes you may gain followers through these promotional posts, but if it is your primary focus on social media to gain followers no matter the cost, then don't get upset when others call you out on it.  This includes the insta-famous accounts AND the meme pages... It is ALL for attention and regardless of how many followers you have on your side of the situation to back up your point, you know what you post and why you post it... Grow up, OWN YOUR ACTIONS past and present, and stop being so negative... 

How to Survive on Social Media

Embrace it, social media is not going away and it's influence on the hunting community is just going to become more pervasive.  If anything in the hunting realm of social media is inevitable these days, it would be that you're going to see something or someone on social media who you either absolutely can not stand or someone you want to slap upside the head... For a while, I started getting quite negative about social media because I felt it was filling up with nobodies trying to be somebodies at any expense.  You would have one person make a name for themselves and then hundreds of others follow and almost copy exactly what their social media role model had done.   After seeing this over and over, it got to the point where I had negative feelings toward many of the posts and people I would see on social media.  I realized I had to stop being so negative as well as I realized I didn't want other people's stupidity have as much of an effect on my enjoyment on social media.  Sooo, I made a short list as advice on how to survive on social media! Enjoy:

1. Be yourself! Regardless if it's Cameron Hanes, Michael Waddell, or some local somebody that has a following on social media, they all have the same message that you need to do what works for you.  Of course they have their sponsorships they push, of course they feel they are the coolest person in the world, but they in no way want you to be anything other than yourself.  If one of them inspires you to do something like they do, that is great, but also take that motivation and personalize it! In other words, even if you do exactly what "so and so" says, realize that doesn't change who you are.  It just means you are still yourself but now do things like someone else...

2. Don't do things for attention.  Let's be clear... Almost all of social media is the, "look at me" mentality.  You share photos or events because you want others to see what your doing, or what has happened.  You share because you feel what you experienced is worth sharing.  I am in no way saying not to share. What I am saying is, if you go out to experience something SO that you can share it, then you have lost your purpose and reasoning behind why we do what we do.  Experience the world and the outdoors out of a love for the world and the outdoors.  Experience life because you love what you get out of it.  If you go through life looking for attention and praise of others, then you'll be disappointed when you don't get as many likes or shares... This is what motivates those egocentric bucket heads to shoot high fenced elk then claim they are fair chase animals on public land... We have seen too many incidences of TV hunters breaking laws or Instagram wannabe's who poach just to get a little bit of fame... Don't be "That guy"

3. Have integrity.  All of us would love a sponsorship of some sort that would get us free gear or some other benefit.  A question you have to ask yourself is, at what expense would you be willing to gain that benefit?  If you do have a following, understand that you are being watched by all those who follow you.  If one minute you say one things because one of your sponsors tells you to, then don't be surprised if you get called out when you turn around and say something contradictory a short time later.  If you are willing to change everything you stand for just to gain a sponsorship or affiliation with a certain group or company, understand that a person is only as good as their word... Don't lower your standards in hopes of gaining fame.

4. Don't be afraid to unfollow or unfriend.  I'll be the first to admit, I know I have been unfriended and unfollowed by some.  As much as I want to have a decent following on social media, I also am not offended or upset if someone chooses not to follow me.  You have your standards, your style, and your likings.  Let those be your guidelines on who you follow.  Regardless of how many followers a person has, how many shout outs, or what criteria a person may have, if you don't agree with what they post then unfriend or unfollow them.   Think for yourself and follow who you want to follow.  Even if you unfollow the "popular kids" you will still have other follow you for your content.  You will also enjoy your news feed a lot more once you purge your friend lists of those you dislike seeing.

Once I took my own advice and started following these simple four steps, I really did start to enjoy social media a lot more.  I didn't get annoyed any time I got on and saw multiple posts of people trying to be someone else.  I saw less work out/gym selfies, more family posts, hunting videos, and less high school drama.   Take ownership of your life in every aspect and be yourself.  Don't let social media have a negative impart on your hunting or create an culture of competition.  Share because what you experience is worth sharing.  Regardless of how many likes you get, love the memories you create and live!  Remember you make far more friends becoming interested in other people's lives than you ever will trying to convince other to be interested in your's.

One of my best memories I've shared yet one with very few "likes"

The Topic of Two Points...

The two points my dad and I tagged this year!

We all know how ruthless and unfiltered social media can be.  We see time after time how "anti-hunters" attack hunters when they post pictures of an animal they harvested.  I myself have had multiple "anti-hunters" comment on some of my Instagram pictures.  I had one particular person start talking about my daughter who was in a picture with me with a deer I had harvested...  As much as I could prepare myself for this type of interaction, when this individual started talking about my daughter I will admit I bought into the drama and "fought back" with this person trying to convince them that I was right in the way I was choosing to raise my daughter.

I share this story with you to set the stage of the topic I want to bring up.  Almost every hunter everywhere can relate to this story to some degree... Not only can every hunter relate, but I would also put my pay check on the fact that I believe that 99.9% (if not more) of the hunters out there would also support me and my daughter celebrating over a legally harvested deer.  I can honestly say that I don't know a single hunter who would tell me that I am a bad father for raising my daughter in an environment where she sees me bring home legally harvested animals.  Sooo.... my point that I am getting to is, if we are all willing to back each other up when it comes to defending our rights, privileges, actions, and passions why then do we criticize each other the same way the "anti-hunters" do? Let me explain...

On social media last week I saw multiple posts stating things such as this:

These are only two of the many posts and pics that I have seen sharing similar messages.  The conversations and comments on these posts varied from research based theories backing up both sides of the argument, to flippant vulgarity criticizing individuals for thinking/believing in something a little different than the person making the comment.  When I took a moment to sit back and read these posts (which I really regretted) I was overcome with such a negative impression on sportsmen and women today... I was full of hate, anger, sadness, frustration, and confusion all because of what I was reading.  Then it dawned on me that this hostility and approach seemed a little bit to familiar to me... I felt this same way when the "anti-hunter" attacked my post with my daughter and I celebrating over a deer I had just legally harvested...  I took a moment to look back on some of the past "arguments" I could find on social media between hunters and "anti-hunters" and I realized that the same strategies, attitudes, and biases were present in both of these conversations.  The only difference between the two was that one was from a non-hunting individual aimed at a hunter for the way they choose to live the sport, while the other was from a fellow hunter aimed at another hunter for the way they choose to live the sport.  If I am the only one who sees the hypocritical theme in these two scenarios please feel free to tell me I'm crazy in the comments below!

I find it quite hypocritical to have a social media individual "take on" the anti-hunters for attacking a person's post or picture, yet turn around and do the same thing the anti-hunter is doing with another fellow hunter.  The authors of these posts would justify their actions by saying comments like, "thats just my opinion so don't get upset..." As we well know, just because you have an opinion about someone or something, it doesn't mean that it is best to voice that opinion, especially when that opinion puts down another person.  I am all for having an opinion and standing up for what you believe in so don't get me wrong.  I am also just as much a believer that our opinions and beliefs do not have to be, nor should they ever be, forced upon someone else or used to make someone feel bad about their own decisions. 
 
When it comes to hunting, each state has it's own management plan which is specifically adapted to that state.  Even though these plans may be far from perfect, it is important to remember that we all live in different areas, hunt differently, and have different regulations which shape our hunting experience.  We cannot expect every state and every hunter to hunt in the exact same way regardless of their situation.  Some people can spend weeks or months in the outdoors while others only have a couple hours the whole season. 

These are some of the reasons I was upset reading comments where hunters were putting down other hunters for the way they hunt, and even making comments like, "Sucks to be those kind of dudes"...

Comments that discredited the topic of providing meat for your family implying that every hunter spends far more than what it would cost to go buy the same amount of meat....

I myself have a very hard time this this argument seems how I save A LOT of money every year when we harvest the animals we do.  I could see how it would not save you any money if you are the type who gets all new gear (or even some new gear depending on the brands and gear) every year.  When I am still using the camo, gun, and gear I used 10 years ago, believe me I save a lot of money when we harvest an animal and process it ourselves!
 
In the end after being disappointed in the way us hunters were treating one another I decided I would focus on the positive comments which often focused around sportsmanship and treating other people with respect.  I will admit I got pretty involved arguing with people on the posts about the way they treated other hunters rather than about the topic they were discussing.  Once again I find it very hypocritical to complain about people who put down hunters and then turn around and exhibit the same behavior we are combating.

On the lighter side, I did see posts and pictures that circulated social media shortly after which had a much more pleasant message such as:

I believe that this is what we need to focus on.  No matter where you sit on the topics of two points, management, maturity, or any other hunting topic, our efforts need to be focused on supporting one another.  This goes for those making the posts as well as those, like myself, who bought into the drama and "fought back" to defend other hunters... We are all on the same team and need to show each other support! But once again, that's just my opinion so don't get upset :)