Ego check

[Irrelevant]

I just went back through and read some of my hunting shares. My hunting is not that impressive so there’s no lying really.

Not to derail, but I do love when someone shares what they were thinking on a hunt or how it made them feel as opposed to simply a play-by-play. I suppose those things could be lies, but I think they are mostly often true.

Take for example Buzz’s most recent mountain Caribou Hunt share. Great play-by-play and photos and a big critter, but he wrote a short paragraph at the end that my brain has gotten more mileage out of than the rest of it all combined.

“If I had it to do over again after seeing that country, the wildlife, and opportunities that still exist in the Yukon, I would do whatever it would take to move there. No debate, no question. It's a lot like what the U.S. used to be and will absolutely never be again. I hope they continue to cherish and preserve/conserve what they have and not squander it like the U.S. has.”

That’s the stuff I like and it doesn’t really require embellishment or omitting. Though I value truth, I do suppose there are stories that from a strategical perspective could hurt hunting more than harm it.

NOt to derail, but you sir are my favorite HT author. The forky hunt recap was simply pure gold. whenever I'm down I read it, literally laugh our loud, and feel better.

 

[Gerald Martin]

While you may never lie, the result can be the same.

Or some of the facts may be irrelevant to the story. Does a person lie when they don’t include what they had for breakfast or how many miles they drove to the trailhead?

Does a person lie when they post a picture of an elk they shot and don’t mention whether the blood trail was 100 yards or 1/2 mile?

I agree with your assessment if the facts excluded or how they’re represented intentionally lead the reader to form a conclusion that is materially different than what took place.

On one of my hunt write ups, a person who also had the tag and was part of the group of us hunting the area did not have success and was so disgruntled with the experience that he left abruptly, was incredibly rude to me and the rest of our group and couldn’t even communicate any type of congratulations or happiness to any of those of us who experienced success. It was a huge setback to our relationship and set the tone for me to realize what I could reasonably expect from him in the future. I didn’t include any of that drama in my hunt recap because I didn’t want to give longevity to that part of the experience or share it on an open forum.

Does that omission mean I misrepresented the parts of the hunt that I wanted to share? Not at all, but it was a significant omission in that narrative of something that happened on the hunt.

Sometime in the future I may choose to highlight that experience and write a narrative that may exclude details from the same hunt that I mentioned in a different narrative.

Same hunt, same facts. Different focus for what I wanted to convey. All true.

I expect everyone else’s narratives to be similar when they tell their stories.

 

[Irrelevant]

Or some of the facts may be irrelevant to the story. Does a person lie when they don’t include what they had for breakfast or how many miles they drove to the trailhead?

Does a person lie when they post a picture of an elk they shot and don’t mention whether the blood trail was 100 yards or 1/2 mile?

I agree with your assessment if the facts excluded or how they’re represented intentionally lead the reader to form a conclusion that is materially different than what took place.

On one of my hunt write ups, a person who also had the tag and was part of the group of us hunting the area did not have success and was so disgruntled with the experience that he left abruptly, was incredibly rude to me and the rest of our group and couldn’t even communicate any type of congratulations or happiness to any of those of us who experienced success. It was a huge setback to our relationship and set the tone for me to realize what I could reasonably expect from him in the future. I didn’t include any of that drama in my hunt recap because I didn’t want to give longevity to that part of the experience or share it on an open forum.

Does that omission mean I misrepresented the parts of the hunt that I wanted to share? Not at all, but it was a significant omission in that narrative of something that happened on the hunt.

Sometime in the future I may choose to highlight that experience and write a narrative that may exclude details from the same hunt that I mentioned in a different narrative.

Same hunt, same facts. Different focus for what I wanted to convey. All true.

I expect everyone else’s narratives to be similar when they tell their stories.

Example.
If you shoot at 3 elk, wound one and never find it, then kill a giant bull. The difference between telling that entire story, and just providing the end results "Look at this giant bull I killed" are completely different. You are correct, you never lied. But, in my mind, that's irrelevant, because you implied a completely different reality.

 

[rjthehunter]

Nothing to do with matt, but I don't share stories online for the most part. I just don't get gratification from posting online. I'll post photos, but rarely a story.

In my personal hunt recap journal, I keep detailed notes on every piece.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Example.
If you shoot at 3 elk, wound one and never find it, then kill a giant bull. The difference between telling that entire story, and just providing the end results "Look at this giant bull I killed" are completely different. You are correct, you never lied. But, in my mind, that's irrelevant, because you implied a completely different reality.

I agree. That’s what I would characterize as materially misrepresenting events to lead the reader to believe something different than what actually happened.

 

[Bulldog0156]

I can't tell a story for shit.

 

[cgasner1]

Honestly I don’t do the threads on here for others I do them for myself more as a diary. I don’t really leave anything out because that’s part of my story. It’s cool to go back and read it again. I re read my audad write up a few months ago back in glad I did the write up.

 

[El Jason]

Honestly I don’t do the threads on here for others I do them for myself more as a diary. I don’t really leave anything out because that’s part of my story. It’s cool to go back and read it again. I re read my audad write up a few months ago back in glad I did the write up.

I’ve done the same.

 

[Khunter]

Honestly I don’t do the threads on here for others I do them for myself more as a diary. I don’t really leave anything out because that’s part of my story. It’s cool to go back and read it again. I re read my audad write up a few months ago back in glad I did the write up.

same here, it is my diary and a recap for me. I take a ton of photos during hunts which I find enjoyable and like seeing those and notes on the hunt. Guys who maybe don’t like what and how I recap or appreciate how I hunt is meaningless to me, it is my recap for me and happy to share but I recap mostly for me. Likes is not the point, so I err on sharing the truth good, bad, ugly and smart and foolish choices made because that is what I (and we all even the judgmental SOBs on here) experience.

 

[Nick87]

Honestly I don’t do the threads on here for others I do them for myself more as a diary. I don’t really leave anything out because that’s part of my story. It’s cool to go back and read it again. I re read my audad write up a few months ago back in glad I did the write up.

Yup

 

[noharleyyet]

I sleep like a baby
I never show up late for work
I don’t drink whiskey
I don’t know what it’s like to hurt
Oh, and I ain’t been lonely, since you said goodbye
Wish I could say I missed you
But you know I never lie

 

[BuckhunterBen]

Honestly I don’t do the threads on here for others I do them for myself more as a diary. I don’t really leave anything out because that’s part of my story. It’s cool to go back and read it again. I re read my audad write up a few months ago back in glad I did the write up.

I think this is why I want to start doing it

 

[beagle001]

Somewhere between #1 and #2

To quote Jim in AB Guthrie’s The Big Sky
“What’s talk without a little seasoning?”
He was referencing cursing, but when telling a story, I don’t mind small embellishments and hyperbole.

 

[Robert N]

As a rule, I don’t like.

As a reality, I’ve found most of the stories I tell really are just that crazy. They never needed any embellishment. Somehow, that’s just how life gives me adventures.

 

[bigsky2]

The only thing I lie about is where I was at.

I don’t ever lie about where I was hunting, I just don’t give up that info if I don’t want people to know. Some people get upset by that, which I find odd. I don’t feel like it’s my business to know where someone was hunting and I feel the same about someone asking me.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

As they say in the movies….i have always told some version of the truth… grip and grin …

 

[Ben Lamb]

I agree with this. I don't really care about what someone had for breakfast before they went hunting, unless it is important to the story. Concise writing is more fun to read. So I voted for 2.

Though for the most part I don't feel a strong need to share, but it doesn't have anything to do with Matt Rinella or any other hunting influencer. Lots of hunting stories are simply better shared around a campfire with those who remember it too.

I'm shocked that the guy w/Hemmingway for an avatar likes concise writing.

The key to any story isn't the story itself, it's the craft in the telling. That means editing, changing tiny details, embellishing on the proper points and being true to what actually happened. Every piece of non-fiction has some fiction in it, and vice-versa.

Who would have thought a marmot in the truck would have become the stuff of legends? It was the writing.

Shank a tent? - The honesty of that writing was epic and it showed that taking chances and being vulnerable can be humorous, especially if you make sure to not take yourself seriously.

How that story is told is far more important than the finite truths that ground it to reality.

Writing is every bit an artform and skill. If you write stories for your hunts, use your own voice and write like you are enjoying the re-telling. Write in a way that makes your story relatable, for example: I don't care to watch baseball, but I'll sit through 900 hours of Ken Burns talking about it because the writing is great.

And for #*^@#*'s sake, don't use AI.

 

[BuckhunterBen]

All right all this write up talk has inspired me

 

[Irrelevant]

I revised my take after some morning coffee. 100% support embellishing a story to make it funnier, but never to paint the story teller in a better light, or as Gerald said, materially change the story

 

[RealMuddyboots]

Simple, add fishing into this question and then "Holy Hannah"!