Be Careful What You Say On Social Media About Hunting
“#BowHunt Cuz any monkey can hunt with a gun.”
Seriously?!! This is what I read today on my Twitter feed this morning. I gotta tell you I have a growing pet peeve that I need to rant about. It’s sportsmen who make such disparaging remarks about other sportsmen just because they can be such a smart ass on social media.
The problem is this flawed thinking doesn’t always end while sitting with some electronic device in-hand tweeting nonsense. In fact, for some it seems to be an underlying belief how the way they do something is better than how others hunters may opt to do it. Quite frankly, such an attitude really rubs me the wrong way.
In my younger days I spent many years hunting with a bow. A bow, I might add, that is a far cry from the sophisticated mechanical equipment many folks employ in the woods today. So, if these days I choose to hunt with a shotgun, a rifle or any other legal instrument to kill game, why should I listen to some judgmental person who thinks they are holier than thou talk to me in such a condescending manner?
Personally, I don’t judge an animal killed by a sportsman on the basis of what mechanism was used to accomplish the task. Oh, sure, it takes greater skill to achieve the end result by using one method over another method. I get that! I can appreciate that! But I would never belittle another sportsman for killing a critter in some manner that might differ from how I currently choose to hunt.
Honestly, it is time for all sportsmen to do some introspection and if you determine you are guilty of this, then learn to grow up. The downright silly, sarcastic, and sometimes very demeaning speak used by some folks has no place in our online social exchanges. It’s one thing if the talk is friendly banter among friends inside a small social circle at deer camp. But such words uttered in the realm of social media where many strangers read and form opinions about our sport only feeds negative attitudes. It’s totally irresponsible.
If you hunt with a bow and you have synapse activity in your brain that prompts you to believe bowhunting is the only honorable way to hunt, this post has been written for you. On the same token, if you do anything outdoors and can not show tolerance and respect for other individuals who participate differently, it is time to change your attitude.
We are all sportsmen in a tight community of individuals who love the thrill of the chase. Just because you deem an extra challenge and excitement by one means of hunting (or fishing, for that matter) in comparison to another way…doesn’t make your way any better.
It’s high time we all do a better job thinking about the meaning behind the words we post in social media. It used to be our actions were only on display to the non-hunting public when we were afield participating in our beloved sports. Not so true today. In fact, many non-hunters are more apt to form opinions of what we do by reading and watching our interactions online…whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, you name it.
If you truly believe any monkey can hunt with a gun and want to stand behind the validity of that asinine statement, well…then say goodbye to being included within the sportsmen ranks. We don’t need such rhetoric now or at any time ever. A true sportsman always displays tolerance and respect to his/her comrades both online and in the hunting fields.
©2013 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.