You and Hank inspire me! Last year at 33 I just stepped into the world of hunting, wanting to learn and become a hunter. You both are really wonderful folks to learn from. This post was really excellent to read and understand deeper the roles we all play in keeping hunting alive and well. Thank you!!
As usual - a great piece Holly - I just went back and looked at the photos from the October 22 Montana pheasant season. A week of camping - seven guys - 12 Griffs - more than our fair share of birds - lots of laughs - and out of 35 photos I selected to keep - only four had birds in them. It's just not that important - it's more about the experience, the camaraderie, the food - and of course - the dogs...
A solid reprise of a fairly timeless topic... and I think you know I'm pretty much aligned with you on this. I believe hunting survives on the graces of public opinion and the democratic process (although I believe a general public apathy may play a frighteningly large part as well... one reason a vocal minority carries so much sway). It behooves us to consider our entire audience, intended or otherwise, when we share our stories. We should be honest, but being honest doesn't mean we can't be mindful.
But aside from that, you bring up interesting points re: the shotshells and wads, or more importantly, how that looks to non-hunters and non-shooters.
I'm "tangentially" involved with an organization called Plastic Ocean Project (POP), which as you probably deduced, is focused on removing plastic pollution from our oceans and waterways. Like most activist organizations, a large contingent of this one consists of idealistic young people. They are motivated and engaged and driven by the mission... but their world view is limited to their own experience (or lack thereof).
In a discussion on their Facebook page, someone started in on how some thoughtless, asshole, skeet shooters were littering the waterfront with shotgun shells and wads... and how if they couldn't be bothered to clean these up, they should be banned from shooting over water. Other voices chimed in with calls to ban plastic shotgun shells altogether.
It was an interesting, but unsurprising, opportunity to see this perspective. On the one hand, it's absolutely true that most shotgunners don't give a second thought to what happens to the plastic shot wads they send out into the environment. And I have to agree that shotgunners who can't be bothered to pick up their empties (when it's practicable) kind of are assholes. The more we learn about plastics in the marine environment, the more impactful these "little" things appear to be.
On the other hand, as I tried to explain in that conversation (with more success than you might expect), the picture is not quite as clear-cut as it may appear. Like you called out, Holly, it's not always possible to recover your empties when shooting over water. Collecting the spent wads is practically impossible... especially if you factor in wind and current, and the fact that the wads often sink pretty quickly. So finding the shot wads in the marsh is not de facto evidence of assholery.
I also explained sort of why we have plastic shotshells and some general challenges to switching away from plastic... but that's not my point.
The point is that these young people, activists, reacted to what they saw through the lens of their own experience. What they saw wasn't good. What's worse is that this "evidence" aligned with their preconceptions about guns and shooting.
What they're not seeing (enough) is examples like you have here... the guides cleaning up the waterway, trying to leave it a little better than they found it. They don't usually see hunters picking up trash along the trail, or cleaning up the trailheads after someone left a mess. They don't often see fishing boat captains out there plucking balloons, bottles, and other crap out of the ocean.
All of these things happen pretty regularly, but folks aren't seeing it.
I don't know, but maybe they should? Maybe we could start to share those trophy shots of the bag of trash we collected at the trailhead, or the string of mylar birthday balloons we pulled out of the ocean. Mix them in with the grip-n-grin hero shots on social media...
Thanks for this, Holly. I'm always super hesitant to post dead-animal shots on social media, and I recently had the vague idea that I could start posting food shots instead -- but I hadn't actually lined up the WHY until I read this post. It suddenly clicked for me that being extra-intentional in this way means I don't just avoid upsetting people, I also have a chance to actively shift perceptions of what hunting can mean. I appreciate the shift moment.
I follow a lot of wild game and hunting social media groups, and after a lengthy season of "grip'n'grin" shots crowding my feed, even I get turned off by seeing them. Add in a few questionable poses and goofy shots and I begin to lose faith that anyone is taking it seriously. I think it's just due to the sheer number of pictures I scroll past, but I can definitely see how it would affect a non-hunter, just seeing a few of those photos. People have even challenged me when I've posted venison recipes on these pages, because, in their minds, these groups are apparently just for showing off their hunting pictures... who cares what comes next?
When I shot my first deer this year (I've processed and butchered plenty, but hadn't shot one until this point), my hunting partner automatically told me to grab the deer and pose for a picture. I politely declined, instead taking a pretty picture of the deer in repose (which I shared with select friends and family), and a far away "scrunch your eyes to see what's happening" shot from the stand (that I shared on my social media).
I figured this showed that yes I do hunt to get the wild game that I cook, but hunting comes second to the food I make and isn't the point of my page. I'm not against posing with the animal per se, but I just didn't feel comfortable doing it. I've found that people following my stuff have responded well to my approach, accepting my acquisition of wild food with an open mind and even asking about doing it themselves. The hard core hunter-type followers usually get enough grip'n'grin posts on the other groups they follow to keep themselves happy.
I really enjoy the way you and Hank set up and share the shots of your hunting adventures. It doesn't stray away from the death dealt, but it paints a different and more welcoming picture to beginner and non-hunters - very important in this time when new hunters are coming from different places than what was once traditional!
You and Hank inspire me! Last year at 33 I just stepped into the world of hunting, wanting to learn and become a hunter. You both are really wonderful folks to learn from. This post was really excellent to read and understand deeper the roles we all play in keeping hunting alive and well. Thank you!!
As usual - a great piece Holly - I just went back and looked at the photos from the October 22 Montana pheasant season. A week of camping - seven guys - 12 Griffs - more than our fair share of birds - lots of laughs - and out of 35 photos I selected to keep - only four had birds in them. It's just not that important - it's more about the experience, the camaraderie, the food - and of course - the dogs...
A solid reprise of a fairly timeless topic... and I think you know I'm pretty much aligned with you on this. I believe hunting survives on the graces of public opinion and the democratic process (although I believe a general public apathy may play a frighteningly large part as well... one reason a vocal minority carries so much sway). It behooves us to consider our entire audience, intended or otherwise, when we share our stories. We should be honest, but being honest doesn't mean we can't be mindful.
But aside from that, you bring up interesting points re: the shotshells and wads, or more importantly, how that looks to non-hunters and non-shooters.
I'm "tangentially" involved with an organization called Plastic Ocean Project (POP), which as you probably deduced, is focused on removing plastic pollution from our oceans and waterways. Like most activist organizations, a large contingent of this one consists of idealistic young people. They are motivated and engaged and driven by the mission... but their world view is limited to their own experience (or lack thereof).
In a discussion on their Facebook page, someone started in on how some thoughtless, asshole, skeet shooters were littering the waterfront with shotgun shells and wads... and how if they couldn't be bothered to clean these up, they should be banned from shooting over water. Other voices chimed in with calls to ban plastic shotgun shells altogether.
It was an interesting, but unsurprising, opportunity to see this perspective. On the one hand, it's absolutely true that most shotgunners don't give a second thought to what happens to the plastic shot wads they send out into the environment. And I have to agree that shotgunners who can't be bothered to pick up their empties (when it's practicable) kind of are assholes. The more we learn about plastics in the marine environment, the more impactful these "little" things appear to be.
On the other hand, as I tried to explain in that conversation (with more success than you might expect), the picture is not quite as clear-cut as it may appear. Like you called out, Holly, it's not always possible to recover your empties when shooting over water. Collecting the spent wads is practically impossible... especially if you factor in wind and current, and the fact that the wads often sink pretty quickly. So finding the shot wads in the marsh is not de facto evidence of assholery.
I also explained sort of why we have plastic shotshells and some general challenges to switching away from plastic... but that's not my point.
The point is that these young people, activists, reacted to what they saw through the lens of their own experience. What they saw wasn't good. What's worse is that this "evidence" aligned with their preconceptions about guns and shooting.
What they're not seeing (enough) is examples like you have here... the guides cleaning up the waterway, trying to leave it a little better than they found it. They don't usually see hunters picking up trash along the trail, or cleaning up the trailheads after someone left a mess. They don't often see fishing boat captains out there plucking balloons, bottles, and other crap out of the ocean.
All of these things happen pretty regularly, but folks aren't seeing it.
I don't know, but maybe they should? Maybe we could start to share those trophy shots of the bag of trash we collected at the trailhead, or the string of mylar birthday balloons we pulled out of the ocean. Mix them in with the grip-n-grin hero shots on social media...
Or something.
Thanks for this, Holly. I'm always super hesitant to post dead-animal shots on social media, and I recently had the vague idea that I could start posting food shots instead -- but I hadn't actually lined up the WHY until I read this post. It suddenly clicked for me that being extra-intentional in this way means I don't just avoid upsetting people, I also have a chance to actively shift perceptions of what hunting can mean. I appreciate the shift moment.
I follow a lot of wild game and hunting social media groups, and after a lengthy season of "grip'n'grin" shots crowding my feed, even I get turned off by seeing them. Add in a few questionable poses and goofy shots and I begin to lose faith that anyone is taking it seriously. I think it's just due to the sheer number of pictures I scroll past, but I can definitely see how it would affect a non-hunter, just seeing a few of those photos. People have even challenged me when I've posted venison recipes on these pages, because, in their minds, these groups are apparently just for showing off their hunting pictures... who cares what comes next?
When I shot my first deer this year (I've processed and butchered plenty, but hadn't shot one until this point), my hunting partner automatically told me to grab the deer and pose for a picture. I politely declined, instead taking a pretty picture of the deer in repose (which I shared with select friends and family), and a far away "scrunch your eyes to see what's happening" shot from the stand (that I shared on my social media).
I figured this showed that yes I do hunt to get the wild game that I cook, but hunting comes second to the food I make and isn't the point of my page. I'm not against posing with the animal per se, but I just didn't feel comfortable doing it. I've found that people following my stuff have responded well to my approach, accepting my acquisition of wild food with an open mind and even asking about doing it themselves. The hard core hunter-type followers usually get enough grip'n'grin posts on the other groups they follow to keep themselves happy.
I really enjoy the way you and Hank set up and share the shots of your hunting adventures. It doesn't stray away from the death dealt, but it paints a different and more welcoming picture to beginner and non-hunters - very important in this time when new hunters are coming from different places than what was once traditional!