Social Media's Influence on Hunters

I am a sponge when it comes to my passion for the outdoors and learn something new every opportunity-by any means available. I am intellectually curious about the balance of nature, my role in it and my passion for hunting, fishing and the deep human connections that accompany them. I have walked this earth for half a century and have been hunting and fishing for 38 of those years and I remember a time when the window to the wider world of the outdoors was through print media that came out monthly. I read many Field & Stream magazines cover to cover taking in every adventure. The game changed for me in 1994 when ESPN aired a hunting show called Suzuki Outdoors with Steve Bartkowski. I set my alarm every Saturday morning so I could watch the 6:00 am airing and was opened to a new way to gobble up access to a greater outdoor opportunity. My hunting knowledge over the years has been much more personal and conversational. I looked forward to the hotel parking lot conversation with a group of hunters from another state sharing stories, successes, dog training advice and a mutual joy for the opportunities to connect. These were rich yet brief encounters that were lost outside the rooms of motels and hotels to never be picked up where they left off.

I’m of the Facebook generation. I use it as a way to stay connected to friends and family. It is a private way to stay connected. It is basically useful to me for staying connected but bypasses the conversational connection. Outside of a work Twitter and a personal Facebook I am a social media novice maybe by choice or uneasiness of being that public. I am equally conflicted with why would some perfect stranger care about my photos or posts?

The last weekend of the season- after urging by my 20 something son- we loaded up the truck and drove to Elkhart, KS to hunt the Cimarron National Grassland for the elusive Blue quail. The urging to hunt from my son was not new, but this hunt was different. We were going to join a hunting party we have never met. I was a little anxious as this meeting was not the random connection in a café or hotel parking lot rather something much different for me. My son nurtured this meeting through his connection and footprint with the brother and sisterhood of fellow hunters through his social media connections. The Instagram pictures, short conversations and common interests conjoined to produce our meeting. We met up with these four kindred spirts and their dogs and enjoyed a day in a place that time has forgotten. We hunted, shared a tailgate lunch, talked about dogs and shot a few birds along the way. It was almost like the connection found through social media created a common bond- a shared starting point for this interesting gathering. It felt as if we had been acquaintances for many more days afield than one.

In retrospect, I saw a glimpse of how social media can be a connecting between new and experienced hunters. It can connect people from far away on shared levels of passion and love of time afield, good dogs and human connection. I see how these connections can bring younger- more social media connected- hunters into this fraternity of fellow hunters and I for one can’t see a downside to it. The more the upcoming generations can be connected the stronger the future looks for conservation, stewardship of the land and the continuation of the very special privilege we hunters must never take for granted.

I enjoyed my time afield with these new people who I felt I already knew. I broadened my life experiences, made new friends and look forward to chasing birds and stories with them again in the future should I be so lucky. In the meantime, I am busy trying to figure out how to sign up with Instagram.

"If you consider an unsuccessful hunt to be a waste of time, then the true meaning of the chase eludes you all together.”– Fred Bear