For What It's Worth...Thoughts on Matt Rinella's Campaign Against Social Media

 

  

I recently listened to the MeatEater podcast episode that highlighted the debate and disagreement between Matt and his brother Steve. I know I'm a fair bit late to the discussion on this, but the debate sparked by Matt Rinnela concerning social media's place in the hunting community should be talked about as much as possible. I'm also well aware that I'm no subject matter expert. I'm just a guy that has been hunting for nearly 30 years, has a deep appreciation for the outdoors lifestyle, and is trying to bring common sense to this debate. 

    With Steve having such a visible presence, and large following, in the hunting community, this was a massive stage for Matt to present his arguments. For those of you that are not familiar with Matt's position, I will attempt to summarize it here.

    Matt is concerned with the overcrowding in regards to public land hunting. He feels that social media has drawn higher numbers of people into hunting and other outdoor pursuits, leading to more and more people trying to utilize/access the same land/opportunities. He also feels these people are entering into these activities largely for the purpose of seeking internet recognition. While I understand his sentiment, he offered no data that supports any of his concerns. The only actual data he offered was "lack of access/opportunities" is consistently given as the number one reason people LEAVE hunting. He correlates this response with the amount of people he encounters while hunting. He may be right, but he may not be. This is something that is extremely hard to measure in tangible numbers. Estimates for licensed hunters in the U.S. are vague at best as each state uses different methods to tally hunter numbers. Without hard data, any arguments for or against social media's place in the outdoors is purely based on anecdotal evidence and emotion, neither of which are valid foundations on which to build an argument of this nature. I will say that, as far as my home state of Michigan is concerned, there are an estimated 250,000 less hunters than there were 25 years ago. 

    For the record, I mostly disagree with Matt. The real issue isn't coming from social media. It's coming from shrinking access. While progress has been made in the realm of public land availability, there have been huge losses in the private land sector. Many of these properties have been leased off to those willing to pay for exclusive opportunities. Others have been lost due to landowners restricting access because of disrespect from those they have allowed to hunt their property in the past. Still others have been lost when property is sold to those who have no interest in hunting or allowing others to hunt their land. I do not argue Matt's position that social media has been a contributing factor in this area. It would be dishonest.  But I feel it's also dishonest to claim it is the greatest evil hunting faces today. 

    One of the biggest things I feel Matt has overlooked is the fact that the smaller the percentage of hunters becomes, the easier it will be for the anti-hunting agenda to get laws passed that infringe upon the lifestyle we currently enjoy. Listening to his debate with Steve, it's clear that he doesn't feel this is a legitimate concern. I feel this is the greatest area of concern and the hunting community should be deeply afraid of what will happen if we lose the numbers needed to sway legislatures to pass laws that favor the pastimes we love. 

    Should hunting and fishing be about taking a trophy that you can post online to garner internet coolness points? I think we all agree that it shouldn't. But if content creators like Steve Rinella, Randy Newberg, The Hunting Public, Jay Siemens, Tom Boley, and so many others, help bring new members to the outdoor community, we all owe it to ourselves to embrace that benefit. 

    Inherent with that benefit, though, is a responsibility to police our own and call out behavior that IS truly detrimental to the public perception of hunting. By and large I feel our community steps up to that challenge fairly well. There will always be the fringe element that wants the "Only Kill Shots Compilation" videos and the like, regardless of how that might appear to the non-hunting populace. We owe it to our traditions and the future of our lifestyle to refuse our patronage/views to those that aren't doing all they can to ensure that hunting, fishing, trapping, and other outdoor pursuits continue to thrive for the next generations. 

    Like it or not, there is a perception among a large part of the non-hunting population that hunters just want to kill something. We have to present ourselves in a way that contradicts that stereotype. Separating ourselves from social media and not posting pics of our successes is not the answer. All that will do is remove us from the public eye, making it much easier to marginalize our lifestyle. Society needs to see us enjoying our passions, living a life that brings us closer to the natural world, feeding ourselves in a more sustainable manner, and respecting the land, wildlife, and people we encounter. 

    If our way of life is to persist, we MUST remove the divisiveness that is so prevalent in our community. If we are not unified in the need to preserve a lifestyle that includes the ability to hunt, fish, trap, etc., we will see more and more stripped away. And arguments like this one from Matt Rinella, who has such high visibility in our community, only serve to sow discord among us. 

    I'm sorry, Matt. But the fact that there are too many people where you want to hunt isn't a good enough reason to jeopardize the future of hunting and fishing for the next generation. Instead of attacking fellow hunters, why not work to promote initiatives that open up more land for everyone? Campaign for greater public access. Promote private land access programs at the state levels. Educate other hunters on how to properly respect the land others so generously allow them to use. Push for harsher punishment for those who abuse our natural resources. 

    If we allow debates like this to distract us from finding real solutions, we might as well hang up our guns and rods right now.