You may not know this but your voice is powerful! Whether you have 100 followers or 100k followers on social media, super popular or keep to yourself, all of us interact on a daily basis with people who are non-Hunters and this is where the battle is won. Its on us to communicate with the non-hunting public and help change the current perception of hunters and hunting in the US.

Now more than ever it is important for us hunters to be activists or at least mindfully involved.

I know that word activism is a dirty word, because it is long associated with animal rights groups and extremists, but unfortunately times have changed and we can no longer be the stoic pillars of the wildlife conservation world…

In Pre-internet times it was easier to keep to ourselves and not be scrutinized in front of the masses. However, We are in a world right now that the content we produce is being weaponized against us and the enemy is in position to cause major damage to our world.

How so?

    The anti -hunting complex has played the long game an infiltrated the Main Stream Media infecting the non-hunting public with the idea that hunting is the pursuit of an animal just for its antlers or just for its head/hide and now they have even adopted photos as trophies.. They have painted a picture of blood thirsty hunters ravaging the woods, carelessly shooting animals just to take a picture, lop off their heads and leave the rest to waste.. The have humanized animals such as bears and lions as cuddly creatures and often refer to their human traits and social structures, to evoke emotion from the naïve.

Where hunters have been putting forth funding to put animals back on the mountain and develop habitat , Anti-hunting groups have formed alliances and have put 100’s of millions of dollars aside to pump out propaganda into urban areas to sway voters into siding with their agenda. Therefore, making it almost impossible for sportsmen and women to prevail when such initiatives reach the ballot.

We have been taught to be recluse, to not be vocal or attract attention, but the time to be silent is over! Too much of what we do is out there on the internet for the non-hunting public to see and even worst for the anti-hunter to weaponize. We cannot let the anti-hunters control the narrative any longer. We have truth, integrity and science on our side and it’s time for us to put the truth out there and educate the non-hunting public with our social media platforms, main stream media, and just by striking up conversations the people we interact with.  Let’s end the propaganda and lies and help us change the current perception of who we are…

How do we do that?

 First we educate ourselves on the North American model of conservation and the common myths that are pushed by animal activists. This way we can present a strong yet intelligent “argument”. The last thing we want to do is to say and do things that may offend people or be inaccurate.  We then take a look at what hunting means to us and why we are so passionate about it and formulate a way to easily express this to someone who may not understand. Then we take this knowledge and our passions and start communicating with our non-hunting friends, coworkers etc. Educate them on the truth….  By doing so we are planting seeds of our own and if and when there is a bill that reaches the ballot, you may have created a sympathetic voter for sportsmen.

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