Rinella article.. CUT AND PASTED

Looking back on what I've said earlier on this topic. I'm retracting my previous opinions. My thoughts are slowly changing and I'm feeling less and less like I agree with Matt on many of these thoughts. I've come to the conclusion that some are great for hunting and some are terrible. We ultimately have the choice whom we give attention too. But eating our own is not the answer imo.

Yea I'm a flip flopper and I'm fine with that
Honestly I find myself loving most of Matt's comments... they kinda have a id sort of appeal. I think if I was picking someone to hunt with it would be Matt over Steve.

That I think he's totally wrong and we have to be better than our base instincts.

I absolutely have an internal hunt purity score, who doesn't. 100% I think about hunts I've done and then read about someone's hunt in ___ hunting ___ and then pssssh, thats not hunting. But you don't write that on their post. When a kid shows you their finger painting you don't trash it and say, yeah well you suck kid.

Crowds, hunt purity, social media sillyness, getting paid, etc.

Which is all to say @KB_ totally get what you mean.

IMHO Joe Rogan is a journalist, and honestly a very good one. He's just as much a reliable source about hunting as he is about climbing, politics or medicine... which is to say ABSOLUTLEY NOT an expert. He does elevate hunting and bring it into the public discourse and I think net net that's a good thing.

Matt Rinella is the Marc-Andre Leclerc of hunting philosophy. I'm glad his point of view makes it into the discourse.
 
I feel like there's enough hypocrisy in Matt's arguments that I bet Steve takes him to task every opportunity he gets.
I've got a feeling that Matt can hold his own quite nicely in a battle of opinions with Steve. I also feel like there is enough bending over time in Steve's views to allow Matt to throw a few haymakers as well.
 
I've got a feeling that Matt can hold his own quite nicely in a battle of opinions with Steve. I also feel like there is enough bending over time in Steve's views to allow Matt to throw a few haymakers as well.
One thing I think will figure in is that Matt has absolutely nothing to lose industry wise. Steve probably can't give you his honest opinion about Joe Rogan without ruffling things, but Matt sure will.

It's really tough to win an argument with someone like that.
 
We should find out soon when the podcast airs. I do expect Matt to have the best quotes
Am I the only one that finds Steve and Matts voice, cadence and vocabulary to be damn near identical? It will be tough to tell whose talking on the podcast. Hope they get it sorted out before Christmas dinner. Would hate for Matt to miss out on Steve's boiled antelope hoof and jack rabbit pancreas stuffing.

My name is Steve and my brother is Matt. We generally only argue about which one has lost more hair and who mom likes more. Theirs will be far more entertaining.
 
I agree with the point that Matt is trying to make, however, he will need to be a lot more articulate on the Meateater podcast than he was on the Blood Origins podcast if he wants to change any minds.
 
After they were shocked by seeing your picture of a dead duck did

I agree that showing more of the process of the hunt is great. I enjoy those pictures of others people's hunts and definitely enjoy looking back on my own photos that aren't just dead stuff. I do tend to get defensive of hunting when the hypocrisy is so blatant, however. I think there is a difference in not personally wanting to hunt versus showing disdain for those that do, especially while at the same time eating store-bought meat. To be fair, I do think that once people have gotten to the point where they will show shock and disgust at hunting and then eat meat within the next few minutes, they are probably not worth debating with. Simple logic is often worthless at that point, but everyone has a right to their opinion. Your method was probably better because I would have jumped to:

"The bird on the table that we are about to eat lived its life in a little cage for the sole purpose of killing. It never experienced a minute of freedom. The bird in the picture that I also ate spent its time flying between three different countries every year just living its life."

But I tend to be more confrontational than some and this doesn't always help with interpersonal relationships.... with those who are friends, coworkers, or as Ron Swanson would say, "workplace proximity associates" who are openly against hunting. I also know that I'd probably tone it down in front of a significant other's parents, at least before tying the knot 🙂...so good call on that.
I don't know. I've made a lot of people rethink their position by pointing out they do their killing with their check book. Another effective argument is using what I call the chicken nugget argument. The chicken nugget argument centers around the fact that one chicken nugget contains God knows how many chickens. 100? 1000? Who knows. Compare that to a couple of big game animals that can sustain a large portion of your protein for an entire year. Point out the conditions they live in and contrast that to a wild animal. If they point out that animals sometimes suffer when killed by a hunter, say yes, of course, but counter with the fact nearly no wild animal dies a nice death. Starvation, disease, eaten alive etc...

If that doesn't change their mind, there's no changing it. It's pure emotion and sheltering themselves from reality at that point.
 
I wonder...if your Legislature suddenly listened to PETA and shut down hunting in your state, would you start screaming that it is your right to hunt?

I know you would like to be the only one out there, but that's selfish. I only got into hunting 7 years ago. Nobody would help me because everyone wants to "keep their honey holes a secret" (ironically it's public land I DO have a RIGHT to use) and because hunting is a clique. Since no one would help me out, I turned to Randy Newberg, The Meateater and YouTube to figure out how to do it. Now I hunt alone and enjoy being successful all on my own. And I thank them because it has enriched my life (and freezer) beyond expectations. Also, I've killed my fair share (elk, deer, pronghorn, turkeys, pheasants, and coyotes) even though there are "too many hunters." I'm just glad that people like you couldn't keep me from hunting. Social media isn't going anywhere. It's the reality we live in.

One last thought; I'm sure you would prefer if hunter numbers were lower. Sure, it benefits you in the short term. But the more society is disconnected from hunting and trapping, the easier it is for anti-hunting groups to persuade people that hunting and trapping should be stopped. So you have the choice of spreading the word, bringing more hunters in and sharing or having hunting taken away. Hunter numbers won't matter if they take away your right to hunt.
You obviously keep dodging my questions and points. You see social media as the only problem to the exclusion of all other factors. It's a narrow minded, one scapegoat solution to all of the problems you can see. You're going to cling to your selfish beliefs and you will continue to drive down the path that excludes others. I will on the other hand welcome anyone who wants to enjoy hunting and will continue hunting and enjoying myself without trying to "keep it all to myself." Happy hunting.
 
My primary takeaway is those two are both mostly full of crap. And their rants are way more fun individually.
 
Should I bother, or is it just the same stuff, different day?
If you have been around small children and listened to them fight about a toy for an hour, you've pretty much heard it before. Everything was less coherent than any other iteration, IMO.
 
The more I listen to Matt Rinella's' argument(s) the more conflicted I feel about the whole agenda he's trying to push
  • "Recruit, Retain & Reactivate,” should only be done by friends and family members
    • He thinks there should be 50% less hunters
  • Blames the proliferance of trucks at the trail head is due to social media (est. 25% of hunters / trucks are there due to social media)
  • Social media is okay
    • But not if you're making money, influencing anyone, pushing products, showing pics of dead animals, not showing wounded/dying animals (the whole process)
  • Thinks that hunters only encompass 'traditional - public land hunters' like himself
  • Believes more animals would be harvested if there was less hunting pressure
  • No good comes of publishing pictures of dead animals
  • Assumes everyone (and companies) who posts pictures of hunted animals is 'wrong'
My thoughts: Hunting/shooting is still a fringe sport IMHO - his concern that social media is a gateway to mainstream is unfounded. I don't think that taking hunting off social media (keep in mind this Forum is a form of non-traditional social media) is a good idea. Rogan is not a traditional hunter but he's also expanded the audience and creating new allies to our cause. Matt's' belief that you show nothing or show everything (wounding, etc.) is the only options - is blatently poor commentary. Futhermore - blasting his brother and the production crew about how they're bad people and/or liars is tasteless.

We all had to start somewhere in our hunting career, I did not have social media, friends, or family to get me introduced to hunting back in the 90's. I watched Primo hunting videos that came w/ duck calls and read Field and Stream - but if I was a teenager in this day and age I would not fault the MeatEater, Randy Newburg crew for getting people excited about Western Big Game hunting, etc by posting on social media. A lot of the content is educational - and it also gets us excited about the next season.
 
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The more I listen to Matt Rinella's' argument(s) the more conflicted I feel about the whole agenda he's trying to push
  • "Recruit, Retain & Reactivate,” should only be done by friends and family members
    • He thinks there should be 50% less hunters
  • Blames the proliferance of trucks at the trail head is due to social media\
  • Social media is okay
    • But not if you're making money, influencing anyone, pushing products, showing pics of dead animals, not showing wounded/dying animals (the whole process)
  • Thinks that hunters only encompass 'traditional - public land hunters'
  • Believes more animals would be harvested if there was less hunting press
  • No good comes of publishing pictures of dead animals
  • Assumes everyone (and companies) who posts pictures of hunted animals is 'wrong'
Here's
It's what happens when you try to fit "hunting" into a box. Everyone has a their own view of what hunting is, and what it should be.
 
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