Public lands and social media likes

[deerkiller300wsm]

This may have already been covered, but I was wondering how many of you guys are aware of the conflict between Steve Rinella aka "the meat eater," and his brother Matt?
I'm sure most of you are aware of what Steve does. He has the meat eater brand and owns first lite. Most of his episodes are all revolving around public lands, such as Randy Newburgh. However, he was recently on a podcast with his brother, Matt, and there was a conflict between the two. Basically, Matt stated that Steve was using public lands to gain likes and ultimately for his financial gain. Just thought this would be a topic to hear more about. Personally, I am all for Hunter recruitment. Population (people) keeps increasing and our access to public lands is not getting any better. They only make so much land. Now, it seems the areas that I used to hunt are overrun by "public land Hunters." How much do the big social media platform brands really benefit the sport of hunting? My personal belief is that if they weren't making a significant amount of profit, they probably would want to keep public lands and access a relative secret. I really don't know where I stand on the issue. Thoughts?

 

[Ski]

I'm in the camp of not cutting off my nose to spite my face. If public lands aren't utilized then they go away. Sure it sucks having a crowded hunt, but it beats not having any hunt at all.

As for Rinella capitalizing on public land advertising, he is in the business of showing folks how and where to hunt, then selling them gear for it. His brother is correct, although I don't agree with his perspective of it. Meateater has undoubtedly played a not insignificant role in public land awareness and conservation. Again I'm not a fan of seeing more hunters than game, but it's better than not having a place to hunt at all.

 

[killingtime 41]

State of Tn public has had lots of land taken back by the state for development. And in my estimation is only purchased for future development by the state to begin with. National forests not owned by the state so different deal. Now these public land hunting shows have certainly overcrowded the public lands. But in Tn when public land hunting was laughed at some years ago we actually had more of it to hunt on. So I really don't know how to look at it. Less people hunting public land we had more to hunt. Lots of people hunting public today now we have less land to hunt and more people.

 

[Kmushrooman]

Some public areas are pretty crowded. I still see a lot of deer in those areas. Other public I don't see anybody hardly. In unit L part of the state deer are pretty much infested. You go hunting much at all you are going to get one. If it is hard walking most hunters stay on the edge. Sometimes I use other hunters to my advantage. Most seem to hunt the fields or obvious good spots. Steve Rinella and all the other public land deer hunting shows. A lot of times they get big bucks. They are showing you it can be done and how to do it. I have never used a camera and I am not fancy. Others use all the gadgets and that is cool also. I wish I could have the public land all to myself. Sometimes it adds to the challenge, managing your hunt around other hunters. It is pretty satisfying getting a Big buck on public land.

 

[squirrel_hunter]

I live in Arkansas. Same here but most people dont get off the road that far. I squirrel hunt alot. Fount some good places farther from them.. Deeper u go less people u see. Plus deeper u go harder the walking gets. Thats why they hunt by the road.

 

[Kmushrooman]

I live in Arkansas. Same here but most people dont get off the road that far. I squirrel hunt alot. Fount some good places farther from them.. Deeper u go less people u see. Plus deeper u go harder the walking gets. Thats why they hunt by the road.

We have those big red fox squirrels in TN. I have seen them but not anywhere I hunt. Just the grey ones where I go. Greys are good but I want to get into those Big red ones. What kind of squirrels do you get? Yeah I don't usually have much problems getting back in there away from other people.

 

[MickThompson]

We have those big red fox squirrels in TN. I have seen them but not anywhere I hunt. Just the grey ones where I go. Greys are good but I want to get into those Big red ones. What kind of squirrels do you get? Yeah I don't usually have much problems getting back in there away from other people.

If you want fox squirrels you need to be around field edges and thin woods with an understory