Blurring hunters faces on trophy photos

[morioc]

I always ask permission to the client before I post any picture.
More and more are saying NO. I understand and respect. So, I post my face !!! I get insult every week and I am use to it... unfortunately I am behind my computer... and they are too...

 

[Royal27]

I always ask permission to the client before I post any picture.
More and more are saying NO. I understand and respect. So, I post my face !!! I get insult every week and I am use to it... unfortunately I am behind my computer... and they are too...

I just don't understand why people insult how we look. I think buffalo are purdy.....

 

[rookhawk]

I think its a pretty good idea to not show your pictures around hunted animals on the Internet but I must confess I've made a few omissions to that rule myself. (I'd love to undo the 3-4 that I've done personally with the time machine and delete key)

There is a fair chance that you will be persecuted, lose your career and be humiliated needlessly for the picture taking.

The left has figured out how to win and they WILL win the war. If you fight without ethics you can always beat those with rules of engagement.

Some examples that happen frequently:

"Sock Puppetry" - This is where one troll puke animals rights person finds your photos and they create thousands of accounts on various forums about the outrage. They then banter back and forth fomenting outrage between these thousands of people demanding something be done about YOU and your hate towards animals. Before you know it, your mid-market to large corporate employer decides they do not want to be involved in this offense and they let you part ways. Do you believe this happens? It does with great frequency. Remember the Rush Limbaugh debacle where he said that Sandra Fluke was unchaste, etc? Remember the outrage and the pulling of national advertisements from his program? Do you know it was actually three people and a sock puppet army that cost tens of millions of dollars for him and pushed through the goals and directions of Sandra Fluke's political ideology? How about Eric and Donald Trump Jr's photos of Elephant and Lion hunting that are sparking outrage now that Trump Sr. is running for president? It wasn't a big deal until a couple people could make it look like a national outrage.

Classic extortion - Pay us or we send this photo to your boss and coworkers and clients. You might even pay. They won't send it now, they'll save it for say a decade and whip it out when foaming outrage over the next Cecil event happens.

Revenge - Have a general business deal that no one left satisfied with? In the old days it was live and let live and "we'll not do busy again in the future". Now, don't be surprised if your pictures are part of a false narrative that will cost you something.

Last, our pictures don't really win us over with the ignorant uninformed majority that keeps us legally able to hunt globally. Trophy pictures need to be tactful and a small part of the overall hunting picture collection whether you have a face in the shot or not because people don't understand what they are looking at with their eyes.

Never forget that there is an archive of EVERYTHING on the internet. Even when you delete it or you think its 15 years old news, its still there. I recently found a couple of archived Internet posts I made to a forum in 1994 that was defunct before 2000! 22 year old information still out there. (and that was when storage was expensive...now everything can be saved practically for free)

Good for you if you're independently wealthy, own your own firm, live in a rural state, won't run for office, don't need Fortune 500 contracts and just don't care about showing your face on your photos. If the former descriptions apply to you I'm sincerely happy for you and envious of your situation. For those of us in bluestates with reliance on leftist markets and clients we must tread carefully.

 

[rinehart0050]

I think we can say we have a consensus on the following:

1. Outfitters should ask for the client's permission before posing pictures of the client for any purpose.

2. Many of us don't give a damn what the anti's have to say, and we say, bring it on.

2. Good for those who don't give a damn, but we need to recognize that not everyone is in a similar position, and those with family or other responsibilities could take a different, less confrontational, perspective, and that's all right with us don't give a damn types. We understand your perspective, and we are with you. We look forward to the day when none of us has to worry about our pictures appearing on the internet.

Does that about sum it up?

Well said @Hank2211

 

[siml]

I am not sure where I stand on the point of blurred photo's. Few reasons, rather post a photo of the animal alone or with PH. When I see a pic of a blurred pic, the alarm bells always go up, is the pic from another outfitter, not your own or is it s straight out illlegal hunt. Not reference to JWK, just always leaves a sh@t taste in my mouth.

 

[firehuntfish]

Interesting thread... I was commenting on this very thing to Jerome about a week before this was posted..... For me, the blurred or symbol covered faces remind me of the cards that get handed out on the Strip in Vegas by who I am certain are legal immigrants just trying to make a living... Blurring/blocking faces sends the wrong message in my humble opinion....

Still, I can completely empathize with those folks who fear repercussions from employers, clients, customers, etc., that would take more than offense by attempting to affect the very livelihood of those who post or display their trophy pictures. It is a sad statement on the drastic cultural shift this country seems to have taken to the far left of PC. It sickens me personally that there are so many folks out there that have to cower to these types out of fear of such reactions. I guess I am lucky in that respect because my clients are hunters and fisherman.

My wife and I always have, and will continue to be proud of the hunting and fishing lifestyle that we live. We have lots of hunting friends, some non-hunting friends, but we don't have any anti-hunting, sandal wearing, smart-car driving, bunny hugging, kale eating vegetarian friends... Why would we? What would we possibly have in common?

And, although I'm sure that there are some on here that would appreciate it if I blurred my face, it's never going to happen on our photos.... As far as outfitters' posting client photos, they should obviously only post photos with the clients' consent, and they should post them proudly. Otherwise, don't post them at all....

 

[Nyati]

I don´t like blurred photos, it makes me think of criminals, of something illegal, and we are neither. Personally I couldn´t care less if my face is shown with a dead animal, and have given my permission to the outfitters to use as they wish.

However, I do agree it´s not wise for everybody to do so, in this case, I would rather see a pic of the trophy alone.

 

[Mekaniks]

I don't like pics with blurred faces. Just take a picture of the animal without the hunter, I think is better than blurring faces.
I personally really don't care if my pic is used and think it's kinda cool if my outfitter uses some of my pictures or hunting buddy posts my pics. That said, I probebly wouldn't be to keen on some other outfitter that I never met or hunted with poaching my picture for his advertising, Thats not so cool.
And I also understand how someone might not want their pic all over the Internet in these days of social media with photo editing and meme generators. Even just a pic without a trophy, can be concerning to some folks. So I agree with most others on this thread, that it's really up to the individual and we should be asking permission before posting pics for the world to see.

 

[zippy21]

I personally am very torn on this as I am an avid Hunter and proud of my Sport and the conservation it provides. I also know there's a very real risk to posting pictures and names as seen in my home state. I like the proposals of ensuring that Outfitters are not doing any HTML name associations or tagging and photos without express permission from the client.

RJ

 

[Hank2211]

This came today from SCI. While - and I repeat this - I have no issue with people wanting to take me on, at my age and stage of life, I completely understand why some might.

"Animal rights and anti-hunting groups have made public records requests of state and federal agencies to get personal information about hunters. On some occasions, the groups used the information to harass hunters – sending ugly and even threatening e-mails and letters, and sometimes worse. For example, in Florida last year, after the state announced its first black bear hunt in many years, anti-hunters requested and obtained from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission a list of all individuals who had received permits to hunt bears. After receiving the names, the anti-hunters sent e-mails to all permit holders, comparing them to Nazis and attempting to shame them into not participating in the hunt.

Last year, anti-hunting organizations like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Humane Society International (HSI) published, in their anti-hunting publications, information about hunters obtained from internet resources, including Facebook and the SCI Record Book. Other organizations and individuals have utilized the internet both to obtain information about hunters and to harass or threaten hunters.

Recently, HSI filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) challenging the FWS’s refusal to release the names of all individuals who have imported hunting trophies into the United States. In the complaint they filed in federal court in D.C., HSI offered no direct explanation as to why they needed the names or what they would do with that personal information upon receiving it. SCI has serious concerns about this inquiry and the outcome of this lawsuit."​

SCI goes on to ay: "SCI’s Litigation staff needs your help. Are you an SCI member whose name or personal information was released or published by a federal or state agency in response to a records request or other inquiry about hunters or hunting? Were you contacted by an individual or organization that requested and/or received your information? Did they annoy, harass or threaten you in any way? If so, we want to hear from you. Please contact Anna Seidman, Director of Litigation, at aseidman@safariclub.org and tell us about it."

I think anyone who has been affected should take MS. Sideman up on her offer. This is getting way out of hand. Hunters need to find a way to stop this sort of thing, and hopefully SCI will be able to get something done.

 

[rinehart0050]

@Hank2211 thank you for sharing this unfortunate and unsettling news. Its really unfortunate when we have a legal system that allows the sharing of personal information so that others can misuse the information to harass and intimidate.

If ISIS submitted a FOIA request for names and contact information of all of our military personnel, would we grant that request?? Obviously not. So why do we release information to other groups where there is an equal potential and expectation of misuse? While the anti groups may not try to kill us, they can certainly use information in the public domain to damage or ruin our reputations and livelihoods. A certain dentist comes to mind.

 

[adriw]

@Hank2211 - good share, Thank you.

I think hunters need to be aware what the anti's are up to.

One of the reasons we decided not to show hunters faces in photos is due to not knowing whats going to happen in the future and would rather want to safe guard them even though permission has been given to publish the photos.


Regards,
Adriaan

 

[LivingTheDream]

So I don't want my face blurred unless it is with one of the big 5, then I feel like I need to have my face blurred. People get emotional about them but not so much about deer, elk, moose, plains game (well maybe zebra or giraffes). If I was completely single I would say have at it. But with a family I just don't want them going through all of the drama due to my decision.

 

[siml]

@LivingTheDream , buff are part of the big 5, buffalo don't seem to stir too much emotion. But do understand your point.

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

I think the easiest thing to do is simply ask the hunter if you may use his picture. Failing the hunter giving that permission .....take some pictures of the trophy without the hunter in the picture.

+1
Witold

 

[LivingTheDream]

@LivingTheDream , buff are part of the big 5, buffalo don't seem to stir too much emotion. But do understand your point.

Your are Right! Buff are ugly, dirty and mean. Therefore PETA does not care about them. They are more concerned about cute animals!