What Started It All Hunting Shows of the Past / Television / Now YouTube

[arkrem870]

Look at me. Look at me. Social media gave everyone a platform. Driving humans competitive nature wether it's fancy vacations, cars/houses, tournament cheer/baseball/etc, live scope crappie piles, redfish in louisana, turkeys - slam, western hunting, tournament bass fishing. Everyone wants their 15 mins and excess is the flavor of the decade. Unfortunately many of these resources can't handle it. Hence more regulation/more to come

[El Pavo Grande]

I started with American Sportsman also.   Evolved into others most likely the Knight and Hale series on both TV and vcr tapes.  It isn't going to matter how many scream and kick their feet the YouTube and other "spot burners" are here to stay.  Live with it, ban everything you can possibly think of, or adapt.  Almost tired of arguing it.   It is a useless flight of fantasy to think that turkey hunting will ever return to the glory days.  I lived through the glory days.  Fun stuff to legally take multiple turkey in multiple states.  Now the one and two bird limits are just fine.  Maybe those one or two birds are a little more special.  Maybe "Whiner on Board" can be the bumper sticker for this new millennium crew of turkey hunters.  Pfft!

Here's a thought... Just maybe if rational discussions of substance were held there could be a change in attitudes towards protecting the resource and future of turkey hunting. Or we can just "adapt", call each other names, not call out spot burners, and watch it burn to the ground.  Make a list of pros and cons with sharing specifics.  There is a reason no sound justification or argument to support such actions is ever shared. It's because there are zero positives.   

The apathy to just "adapt" to times is enlightening.  Heaven forbid China ever invades us.... Just adapt. 

[joey46]

You win the award for the worst analogy of July 2023.  China invasion??? Really? LOL.
Please spare us the drama.

[FLGobstopper]

You win the award for the worst analogy of July 2023.  China invasion??? Please spare us the drama with this desperate response.

He actually has a really great point!

I'm pretty thankful when market hunting, habitat destruction and all the other issues going on with turkeys and many more wildlife species were in decline years ago some really amazing men and women didn't just sit around and watch it all disappear.

[joey46]

Different times.  Different attitudes.  Beating your head against the wall over YouTube/social media will give you an ulcer and not change a thing.  I don't expect to see buffalo from horizon to horizon like they did in the 1870s or turkey populations as I witnessed in the 1980s and 1990s.  Being a realist is my meaning of "adapt". No Chinese involved.  Those that want to fight YouTube and social media go for it.  Ban anything that tickles your fancy and then scratch your head and be amazed little changed. Reduced limits and quota hunts are your future. You will adapt to that or not.  Your choice.

[g8rvet]

The genie IS NOT going back in the bottle.  At some point, there will need to be changes to protect the resource.  When the redfish in my area went to 2 per day, everyone locally was happy, folks from further away were mad about their limit, but willing to make the drive to further strain our local resource.  After a while it went back to one, but lots of folks were mad.  As long as the changes are driven by science and not dollars, I am all for anything that protects the resource, be it turkey, duck, redfish, etc. 

A great example here in N Florida is black bear.  There is no doubt there is a sustainable, huntable population.  But the state screwed up the first attempt at a re-open and has not been willing to start it up again due to public pressure.  Forget that, if the science says it can be opened, open it up (and I have plenty of bear on my property and no desire to shoot one even if it opens). 

[El Pavo Grande]

Different times.  Different attitudes.  Beating your head against the wall over YouTube/social media will give you an ulcer and not change a thing.  I don't expect to see buffalo from horizon to horizon like they did in the 1870s or turkey populations as I witnessed in the 1980s and 1990s.  Being a realist is my meaning of "adapt". No Chinese involved.  Those that want to fight YouTube and social media go for it.  Ban anything that tickles your fancy and then scratch your head and be amazed little changed. Reduced limits and quota hunts are your future. You will adapt to that or not.  Your choice.

Just an observation, since you mentioned millennials previously.   Your attitude on the subject is more along the lines of a new age turkey hunter, not one of however many long years it is.  I find that interesting.  "Adapting" in this case is apathy.  110% apathy and that doesn't bode well for the future.  "Oh, shucks Barbara.  They done breached the gate. Oh, well". 

While I take issues with some millennial type attitudes, I'll admit many don't adhere to norms they are labeled with.  I know some young guys that "get it" while long time participants of the sport don't.  Age and longevity aren't always the best gauge.... in various walks of life.

[joey46]

HoW misguided you are.  Apathy is not adapting. Nor is a adapting apathy. Adapting is accepting the hand you are dealt and either playing it, bluffing or folding. You won't get to call for a misdeal or reshuffle since as was just posted The Genie is Out of the Bottle. Of course the systems nationwide state to state could be scrapped and that won't happen.I hope to not spend my remaining turkey chasing years concerned what others are doing or whether the current group of banners are actively attempting to influence lawmakers and game commissioners into foolish short sighted knee jerk rules and regulations.  What's the plan?  Shame others into not watching YouTube? Ban OnX? Restrict forum post? That won't happen either.  The First Amendment takes care of most of that nonsense. Living in fantasy land is no solution to anything.  IMO you are doomed to very frustrating turkey chasing experiences.  Worry about how you hunt and not worry about others viewing habits or any legal tactic they choose to use.

If you haven't been paying attention I'll play this game as long as you wish.
P.S. - you forgot to disclose your age and state of residence.

[El Pavo Grande]

"Hi, my name is......"

46 years old.  Arkansas.  My dad was a turkey hunter, so I've been turkey hunting since old enough to remember.  I grew up both fall and spring hunting.  Killed my first turkey 35 years ago. 

We can agree to disagree.  Apathy by definition is "the lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern".  So, to suggest we should just ADAPT, accepting the practices of burning specific spots and other concerning trends while populations struggle in many areas and hunter opportunities dwindle, is being apathetic.  In my opinion.  It's not about destroying social media, it's about maybe influencing the mindset of hunters to place turkey populations #1 and hunting opportunities #2 on the priority list.  The issue within the current culture is that many place Self as #1.  That's not sustainable.  It's compounding at an alarming rate with new hunters.   Unfortunately, it's an issue influenced greatly by those that have influence... YouTubers, hunting celebrities, companies marketing products, etc.  All that profit in some way, whether it's personal notoriety or $$.   It's not about banning, it's about realigning the mindset.  What should be priority #1?   It's not debatable.  The actions of many speak otherwise.

It's not about Arkansas.  It's not about chasing a #.  It's not about lost honey holes or jealousy.  I have been fortunate to hunt several states, and I will likely never step foot on ground in multiple states, I want turkeys to thrive on every inch of ground possible, from coast to coast. 

Accepting it?  Playing it?  Bluffing it?  Folding (giving up)?   That's a hard pass for me. 

[joey46]

Very frustrating isn't it?  Many here are attempting to change both attitudes and behavior.  Seldom happens. Should work on behavior it will be the easier of the two.  A ban here a ban there and a censoring of social media could turn the country into a turkey utopia. Of course censoring social media isn't possible and the vast majority of hunters that are just glad to be out hunting legally won't really care about any forum gurus' opinions.  It will however give some a warm fuzzy feelings to have at least done something. By the time any mindset changing occurs shorter seasons and reduced limits may have solved the crisis anyway. Adapt to that.

Wrote that last night before bed will finish it up now as the sun rises.  As much as I enjoy these exchanges (was once on a debate team) if the "solution" is that a mindset change is needed it may not be worth either of our time to continue this dance.  We are in a era of instant gratification and any hope of changing the mindset of hundreds of thousands is a fantasy.  When I lived nine years near Nashville I attended the NWTF Convention several times until the crowds had become so large it was no longer enjoyable.  Very little mindset changing occurred there.  It was a bunch of exhibitors selling stuff that's sole purpose was to kill turkeys. 
It is very obvious to me that when a state or region feels their turkey population can no longer sustain their current harvest numbers they will have to do something.  Shorter seasons and reduced limits is the only logical choice.  A return to quota hunts on some public lands may be necessary.  The "local boys" will do everything they can to blame and restrict the non-resident for their plight (go through these comments on various similar threads to confirm). That will weed out the casual hunter that saw something on a YouTube show that looked like fun but now isn't worth their time and effort. 
I am truly appalled to see the "knee jerk" regulations some of the southern states near you are implementing or considering in response to what I will continue to refer to as "whiner complaints".  IMO they just won't work and are obviously politically motivated.  The public land hunter will bear the brunt of these while those that have private land won't care less.  The non-resident is more than likely screwed.
We'll see how this all shakes out.  I have other things to do this weekend so my participation here will end for a while.  You do need a new dictionary.  "adapt" and "apathy" are not synonyms.  I'll add a LOL to this sentence that doesn't apply to the rest of this very long exchange. LOL.
Good luck in the future.

[GobbleNut]

I may be wrong in my interpretation of many of the comments above, but it appears to me that many of us are just arguing the same points from the same side of the fence.  The bottom line is that THE RESOURCE (i.e...turkey populations everywhere) should ALWAYS come first.  After stating that fact that ALL OF US should agree on, the question then becomes how to we go about ensuring the welfare of the resource?

There are a number of ways of achieving that goal, and that discussion seems to be where the debate is.  Choose your poison as to what position you want to take on it.  All of them come down to the simple formula that we can't continue to take more turkeys out of the population than are being replaced through reproduction (or other means). 

Until that happens, wildlife managers have no choice but to try to address the problem.  The path they choose to do that may or may not be the ones each of us might prefer.  The ultimate result of leaving obviously failing management strategies in place with fingers crossed that things will magically turn around by themselves could be one that none of us wants to see. 

[Greg Massey]

It's about making changes in our overall attitudes and making adjustments in how we were influenced and now making changes to protect the resources for future generations. Nothing wrong with good debate about the issues we see facing the wild turkeys for the future of all states...  The post was started by me to bring about what influenced some of us to begin hunting in the first place ... We were all influenced by someone or something to want to hunt. So now it's our turn to try and change attitudes and make adjustments for the future ... Save the RESOURCE .... Great Post ... GobbleNut .... 

So again, it's not about who's at Fault or who's right or wrong it's about coming together to help with finding solutions, even if it's only for your state or multiple states public or private grounds included in saving the resource...

[WV Flopper]

 To The OP:

I remember those shows when I was young. I tried to watch all I could! I remember Field and Stream and Outdoor Life, they were the Bible to me. I also recognized in the 90's that Turkey hunting was being commercialized and that the commercialization would be the ruination of Turkey hunting. Thank you for the reminder, Oh, and Marty Stauffer, loved his show!

That is all it is, people are making money from the turkey.

Do I like it, No. No, I do not. But, as stated, there is not a reverse for this. The only slow down for this issue would be the Bud Light syndrome. Us harping about it here continually does nothing to help the situation. Not watching You Tube Vids may help, by a large joint effort from sportspeople globally.

Lots of these guys are trying to do what a lot of us have said and heard all our lives. "Do what you love to do and you'll never work a day in your life." I am not sure that's a true statement once money is introduced to what you love. Has anyone here not heard this statement before?

[Happy]

Yep, I have heard it. But then there is the flip side of the coin. If you're forced to do what you love all of the time, then you may grow to hate it. The truth is, the explosion of social media has caused three main problems as i see it. A desire to be constantly getting attention, a possible loophole to avoid actually working, and being a productive member of society, and giving everyone a fake perception of reality. That's gonna bode well for the future

[WV Flopper]

 I realized in "About" 2000 I didn't want to do what I love for money. I am happy that I realized that, once money is introduced it's a job. Same as all the other jobs.

The do what you love saying is stupid today. Do what you can to make a good living and enjoy your time off. That should be the saying for today.