After a long stretch of being inactive…I’m back. I do apologize
to my followers and readers, this was a very difficult summer for many reasons
and I needed to take a break. If anyone has any topics that they would like to
read about or if anyone has any stories to share, please contact me, djb602@hotmail.com or send a message on
the Blog.
Today’s hunt…
Animal vs man or Animal vs Tech.
I’m going to paint a picture for
you, it may be a little biased at first but I want you to open your mind to
both stories.
It’s 1973, Thanksgiving morning in
Upstate NY. John is sitting on a 2 by 6 15 feet in the air. There’s an old
wooden ladder leaning on the tree. He’s wearing multiple layers of long johns,
but on the outside he wears green khakis with a red and black Flannel and black
winter hat. His old Zephyr Woodlander Double Barrel Shotgun is sitting on his
lap and he’s surrounded by hemlocks. While working in the yard this fall he has
seen two nice bucks, but he hasn’t been to his tree stand to see where the deer
are moving too. This hunt is all about luck, the man vs the animal with a
million years of evolution leading up to this moment.
It’s now 2018, John the 3rd
is hunting on this cool Thanksgiving morning. His 20 foot lightweight tree
stand with gun rest is swaying in the breeze. 40 yards out John is looking at
his automatic deer feeder, it dispenses on a timer every night. He checks his
phone to see if his 2 new trail cams picked up any activity this morning. There
have been does caught on camera all summer but not much for bucks. His Leafy
one piece camo makes him almost invisible to the human eye. He has a brand new
Browning 30-06 with 180 grain in the chamber, and a bushnels high powered
tactical scope. Just then his phone goes off, and a 10 point buck is seen
passing his trail cam 50 yards to the right of the feeder, this is his moment.
It’s 2018, and we live in the
technology age, but which one of these scenarios seems more natural? There has
been a debate brewing for some time with question, how much technology is too
much in the hunting industry?
The pros
The hard truth is that baby boomers
are getting older…myself included. There are less and less hunters in the
woods, and more and more young adults doing other things. One of the draws to
modern hunting is the technology we have to do what we love. Young adults,
which we call digital born, can work a keyboard better than a wood splitter. So
it’s only natural for the hunting industry to resort to this tech to get
consumers to buy it. According to real tree business, 63.1 billion dollars was
spent in 2016 on outdoor retail spending. That’s a lot of money put into the economy
on a business that is said to be dying. Adults are willing to pay top dollar
for that added edge in the woods, whether it be a gps tracker or state of the
art trail cam. It’s keeping people interested in the sport
Another pro to tech in our outdoor
world is security. Having these trail cams placed around your property allows
land owners to see intruders, predators, and even animal in need of help. It’s
also allowing more hunters to pass on young bucks and go for trophies by
allowing us to see what is on our land.
The cons
PJ Reilly from bowhunting. Com asked
a very important question, “Are we ruining the sport of bow hunting by using
gadgets and techniques to bring deer to us – and to then stay hidden from them
– as opposed to simply going out after them with nothing but our bow and arrows
and our knowledge of the woods?
Joe Byers from the hunting page
suggests, “States are considering regulations concerning drones, self-sighting
rifles, and a host of other high-tech gizmos that affect the very hunting culture
we strive to protect”.
There are arguments out there that
technology is ruining the culture and lifestyle of the sport. Many argued about
the issue of technology when instant replay hit the NFL and then the MLB. We
find ourselves caught between a rock and battery…place. We have become
accustomed to this world, and we are losing sight of the old world. At what
point do the wildlife become too disadvantaged in the hunt? At what point is
the technology considered unethical when harvesting an animal? Hunting is unique
in that it is a sport and a way of living. But shouldn’t there be a balance of
both?
Social Media
Beyond the gizmos and gadgets of the
hunt itself, we also live in a world where we are connected online. Social
media has played a huge role in the outdoor lifestyle. Like anything else
online, there is a debate on using social media as a platform for hunting and
fishing.
In 2014 I started a Facebook page
called NYS hunting and Fishing Forum. After seeing a guy post a photo of his
trophy buck on craigslist, he was then harassed and threatened for killing the
animal. I know his intentions were pure, but to people who don’t understand the
culture and just see the dead animal it can be shocking. Knowing this, I created
a page for NY hunters and anglers to share photos, stories, and ideas with
others in the community. A safe haven from the anti-hunters. It was a huge
success for the first two years, but then I become involved with Instagram.
Using social media as an outlet for
hunting can be very positive. We have to go beyond the kill shot to get our
point across, which is where we fall to the anti-hunters. As conservationists
Hunters have done a lot of good getting the importance of conservation and acquiring
food through hunting. We as a society have done great things and converted many
anti hunters to hunters, but we still have more work to do. Using social media
for hunting also has its downside, some people are just liking for followers
and post questionable content. The gore, the half-naked girl with the deer, the
unnatural field dressing photo. Sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot, and
make ourselves out to be killers when the reality is the kill is only a small
part of what hunting is.
I want to know your thought on this
topic. Do you think technology has gone too far and is ruining the sport? Or do
you believe it is saving the sport and we should embrace it. let me know through blogger message, mail, or instagram
Either way…
plant your roots outdoors.
