One of my hunting videos went viral, but so much hate…

[Wishfulthinker580]

@Tanks did you use a CEB Raptor on him?

 

[Tanks]

@Tanks did you use a CEB Raptor on him?

Yes, tipped 335 grain CEB raptor at 2,950 fps. We opened him up, his heart was soup.

 

[geoff rath]

I'd bet NONE of the critics use their own, real name under their posts ...

 

[PeteG]

I had to stop reading at this comment


@TheGREENSQRL I’ve been hunting for 5 years. Don’t need a lecture about how shooting African trophy animals out of trees right above you shows “survival abilities”.


It has personally changed me and my outlook on hunting. You are all terrible people on this forum with no respect for the african trophy animals in trees in America...


Posts such as those just prove that this world has too many muppets...
@Tanks try not to lose any sleep over the comments

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Yes, tipped 335 grain CEB raptor at 2,950 fps. We opened him up, his heart was soup.

Nice. I’m speaking anecdotally here, but it seems like most of the bear hunts I’ve seen (tv/YT) don’t often result in DRT bears. That may run counter to reality but it’s been my observation. Looks like the Raptor did the job!

 

[Nhhunter]

I thought it was awesome. What people don’t realize is without bear dogs the population would be out of control.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Yes, without hounds and baiting and trapping bear numbers might get out of control. But I see no glory in chasing and terrorizing an animal, sometimes for hours, before finally killing it (hopefully). It has to be done and I let others do it without complaint. But it's not my thing. No, I didn't watch the video. It was clear enough just looking at the still shot what it was about. I can certainly understand why there would be so many negative comments. I mean, what did you expect? You're shooting a bear out of a tree. I have seen YouTube videos of guys shooting buffalo multiple times (as many as seven or eight times) and have to wonder why someone would put that out there for people to see. Yeah, sometimes shit happens ... but you flush it. Don't stink up the internet with it.

Ours is a bloody nasty business. There's no getting around that fact. The PETA types will say it's cruel. It can be, even in spite of our best efforts. We know that. I can see nothing good coming from glorifying that aspect of our sport.

My lodge owner's wife once asked why I don't smile in any if the posed shots with trophies. Doesn't look good on their gallery if the hunter doesn't appear elated. I explained that I had just destroyed one of God's most beautiful creations (warthogs excepted). I won, it lost. The game is over. The animal is to be admired ... and respected. Being "happy" that it's dead? Maybe that borders on disrespectful. For me anyway. I think as some of us get older and closer to our own demise, our outlook on these things changes.

 

[Tanks]

I thought it was awesome. What people don’t realize is without bear dogs the population would be out of control.

Yep. CA banned hunting bears with dogs and the population is out of control. The only way they get hunted is if during deer season they run into a hunter that also has a bear tag.

 

[Newboomer]

I had to stop reading at this comment


@TheGREENSQRL I’ve been hunting for 5 years. Don’t need a lecture about how shooting African trophy animals out of trees right above you shows “survival abilities”.


It has personally changed me and my outlook on hunting. You are all terrible people on this forum with no respect for the african trophy animals in trees in America...


Posts such as those just prove that this world has too many muppets...
@Tanks try not to lose any sleep over the comments

Hmm. Very interesting, African trophy animals in trees in America. Who'd a thunk it. Wonder what that squirrel will come up with next.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Almost 30 million views, a lot of negative comments from all over the world. I am crushed

@Tanks
I give the bear a 10 for the double backwards summersault but have to deduct 8 points for the landing.
Who cares what keyboard jerks think it's YOUR LIFE not theirs.
The haters can go screw themselves.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I had to stop reading at this comment


@TheGREENSQRL I’ve been hunting for 5 years. Don’t need a lecture about how shooting African trophy animals out of trees right above you shows “survival abilities”.


It has personally changed me and my outlook on hunting. You are all terrible people on this forum with no respect for the african trophy animals in trees in America...


Posts such as those just prove that this world has too many muppets...
@Tanks try not to lose any sleep over the comments

@PeteG
All I can say is what a Muppet.
Thank God elephants don't climb trees, now that would make some interesting hunting.
Bob

 

[geoff rath]

I couldn't help laughing when trekking through the Afrikan bus to Giraffe staring down on us from above the treetops. Just couldn't bring myself to shoot one, especially considering one of my nicknames in the past was G Raffe

 

[deewayne2003]

It went viral middle of March. No idea why or how. It was actually a 2014 Spring hunt in New Mexico.

Who cares why!… 30Mil views means those hater idiots just paid for your next elephant hunt and or Rigby!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Who cares why!… 30Mil views means those hater idiots just paid for your next elephant hunt and or Rigby!

Wow! I should strip naked, cover myself with dog crap, and video myself doing an Irish jig. That should be worth 20M views? I'd gladly humiliate myself if it'll pay for another buffalo hunt.

 

[deewayne2003]

Wow! I should strip naked, cover myself with dog crap, and video myself doing an Irish jig. That should be worth 20M views? I'd gladly humiliate myself if it'll pay for another buffalo hunt.

You still wouldn’t be as entertaining and I doubt you would look as good in a hat as Tanks.

 

[DieJager]

30Mil views means those hater idiots just paid for your next elephant hunt and or Rigby!

It is probably demonitized.

 

[HENRY GRIFFITHS SAFARIS]

don't pay attention to them , they live a live very boring life and very far from reality,

I post hunting videos and pictures all the time and get surprisingly little keyboard worriers, what I have seen is though that some of these social sites will push a certain video to a certain audience to create more opportunity for them the to sell ad revenue,

we as hunters should keep posting ethical and legal hunts and not hide who we are my experience is if you hide something it make people even more curious....

 

[Ontario Hunter]

You still wouldn’t be as entertaining and I doubt you would look as good in a hat as Tanks.

I said only 20M views. Tough to top Tanks' act.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

don't pay attention to them , they live a live very boring life and very far from reality,

I post hunting videos and pictures all the time and get surprisingly little keyboard worriers, what I have seen is though that some of these social sites will push a certain video to a certain audience to create more opportunity for them the to sell ad revenue,

we as hunters should keep posting ethical and legal hunts and not hide who we are my experience is if you hide something it make people even more curious....

We should also be careful about posting hunting videos with content that, while it may be legal, might also be easily interpreted as unethical. Like guys laughing because one of them blew a goose to feather confetti at close range. Or someone shooting a Cape buffalo seven times then all whooping, smiles, and high fives. Or shooting animals with way too much gun, then filming the crater of an exit wound with guts hanging out and laughing about it. Wounding an animal and having to finish it off is a fact of life in our occupation but personally I see no reason to keep that kind of memory on film, let alone publish it on the net. Not a matter of ethics ... just a lack of respect. And any hunter who thinks game doesn't deserve respect deserves to have his guns taken away.

Many of the African hunting videos I see on YouTube are stuff a rich client has paid for to record as a personal memoir. So why is a personal memoir thrown onto the internet? Besides being overly burdened with clients and staff talking about themselves (yawn) and the stalk (we just watched that so what's the point in fifteen minutes of post mortem?), the actual hunting footage is very often unquestionably bad form (client following PH with gun pointed at him, terrible shooting, shooting too far, etc). Not all of it is bad form. There are two outfitters who post a ton of videos that are usually very classy.

Anyway, though shooting animals over bait or treed by dogs is legal in many jurisdictions, it is easily seen by many (including myself) as questionably ethical. Yes, in some cases with some species in some environments it's the only practical way to manage the animals. But even if the video producer devoted the time and footage to explain that to viewers, it would still be a tough sell. So why risk causing collateral damage for the rest of us by publishing that stuff? Keep it to yourself. Afterall, they're YOUR memories. Unless of course the purpose of publication is to generate controversy ... and personally profit from it.