I’ve talked in the past about hunters oftentimes being hermits and living in their own world. We chat among ourselves, preaching to the choir in our little circles, but don’t extend much past that. In doing so, we generally don’t get any blow back from our beliefs. The stories we tell to each other are spoken of openly between us. There is no, “watch what you say” mentality when we do this. We don’t have to worry about how we posed a deer for a photo or if there was blood on our hands. When we tell tales of a bad shot we made and how the animal suffered a lot longer than we would have liked, you aren’t met with disgust. Your fellow hunter gives you remorse. More times than not, they know exactly how that feels and can sympathize. That is us though. Not everyone has this outlook.
The majority of people out there are not opposed to the things we do. In fact, studies show that they are in favor of regulated hunting. When they hear how folks like us go out in the fall and bring home organic free range meat, their eyes widen. The same happens when they hear of the journey to do so. Adventure is intoxicating for many people, even if they only like the idea of it and never do it themselves. People love a good story and an adventure hunt is nothing short of that. I think it’s extremely important that we entertain the uneducated and show them what we do and why we do it. Just because they might not be part of your “click,” don’t dismiss them. The more we turn away, the less backbone we will have as a community.
No matter how big of hermits we are, many of us these days are on social media. So is the rest of the world. It has become a normal part of life for us. A fantastic way to stay in touch with friends you never get to see, far away family, and to interact with new people. Even though most of your followers might be supporters of hunting and the hunting lifestyle, the things you say and photos you put up are in fact seen by others. It’s a never ending chain of comments and interaction. Because many other folks besides the crowd we run with can see our photos and comments, we need to make sure we are representing hunting in the light that we see it. Have respect for the game you have taken and photos/videos you are putting up for the world to see. On Social Media, we are not just “preaching to the choir.”
As avid hunters we accept the responsibility of being stewards of these vast lands and animals. If we don’t take the time to talk to those that are uneducated or represent our lifestyle in a good way, we are slowly chipping away at the foundation that was built from those before. The ball is in our court now and this is our time. A different time, but ours’ nonetheless. Teddy Roosevelt didn’t have to worry about anti-hunters sending death threats through Facebook. Sadly, hate from these folks is a common thing now with social media. Let’s not give them unnecessary fuel for their fire and remember that the world does not revolve around our choir. We can chat all we want with fellow hunters about our admiration for hunting or even about making a difference. The only way to make a difference though, is to make a change.
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