Do you even care about SM

[Ranger]

Yes and No.  Yes in that during a lunch break timeout in early Spring I'd enjoy a Shane Simpson video or in the earliest I remember a calling Champion from West Virginia Chris Walls had some great hunting videos with solid hen footage.
No in that its sickening in what's its become, and I've never bought a hoodie or a sticker or a hat from a YouTuber pimper outer.

[Dougas]

I used to watch Shane Simpson and learned a lot from the videos I saw. I watched Dave Owens for a while, but I don't like the state hopping thing, as well as other aspects of it, so I quit watching that. Other than that, I watched Dale outdoors and enjoyed those for a while, though state hopping was part of it. Now, I will watch a video about calling or set up or such on occasion, however, I don't watch much of them anymore. I think practicing woodsmanship in the woods and watching the critters is the best way to learn the skills needed to accomplish the goals. Failure is our friend out there. It makes success that much sweeter.

[CALLM2U]

Can't help but laugh at the irony of complaining about social media while on social media. 

Life is short, fellas.  Less than 100 days to go. 

[WV Flopper]

Can't help but laugh at the irony of complaining about social media while on social media. 

Life is short, fellas.  Less than 100 days to go.

[Dtrkyman]

I watch quite a bit, double edged sword I guess.

Seems many are trying to keep locations under wraps now but they didn't always.

I've seen first hand areas get hammered.

I adapt and still get on birds, but have run into more guys in the past few seasons than the prior 20!

I still think mapping has a bigger effect, gives guys traveling confidence on places to go, I kill multiple birds a year on places I've never been on pins I've dropped e scouting from the couch!


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[Greg Massey]

Cell phones and mapping apps have killed more turkeys in the last several years. More so now than Youtube videos .. IN MY Opinion ...

[GobbleNut]

I still think mapping has a bigger effect, gives guys traveling confidence on places to go, I kill multiple birds a year on places I've never been on pins I've dropped e scouting from the couch!

Ditto. Mapping apps like OnX have proven to be both a boon and a bane. I love the ability to easily research places I might decide to go hunt, but at the same time, I know there are a bunch of other folks just like me doing the same thing. As far as public-land hunting access goes, there are no secrets anymore.

On the other hand, those mapping apps don't just blurt out specific information about where to go hunting like way too many people do on the various forms of social media. Still, those apps have definitely impacted public land hunting to a significant degree.

[Greg Massey]

I still think mapping has a bigger effect, gives guys traveling confidence on places to go, I kill multiple birds a year on places I've never been on pins I've dropped e scouting from the couch!

Ditto. Mapping apps like OnX have proven to be both a boon and a bane. I love the ability to easily research places I might decide to go hunt, but at the same time, I know there are a bunch of other folks just like me doing the same thing. As far as public-land hunting access goes, there are no secrets anymore.

On the other hand, those mapping apps don't just blurt out specific information about where to go hunting like way too many people do on the various forms of social media. Still, those apps have definitely impacted public land hunting to a significant degree.

X2 ,,, Agree no secrets anymore with those mapping apps ... Those mapping apps give a novice hunter advantages.

[Dougas]

I have never found social media and hunting apps to be useful for MYSELF in finding turkey hunting opportunities. Scouting public land with boots on the ground and private land with knocking on doors have yielded successful outcomes.
I find social media to be very useful for learning techniques and nuances in turkey hunting that I can put in my bag of trix. But then, I only hunt locally.

[arkrem870]

The mapping apps paid the influencers to push their products early on and now. They were fast and loose with information turkey hunters kept close for generations  ....they wanted the money and we paid the piper. But like it's been said repeatedly what's done is done.  It's important to remember how we got where we are today....so we learn from others mistakes and try not to repeat them

LLSS

[silent tom]

You hit the nail on the head here. There is absolutely nothing positive that has came out of the the youtube and social media pimps.
ZERO. NOTHING.

Go kill a gobbler and tell no one. That will tell you if you are doing it for the right reasons or not.

People are waking up, but it's too late and the damage is done. All we can do from here is to mitigate what has happened.

I care about them, but not in a favorable manner. I care about them because this YouTube/social media era has cost us more turkey hunting opportunities than any anti-hunting group ever well. I refuse to watch any of the main YouTubers who make/supplement a living exploiting our public land resources for profit. However, on rare occasion, a buddy will tell me one is a must-see and I'll watch it. This summer, one YouTuber showed LEGIT turkey killing pins from his OnX while hunting Montana.. I couldn't believe it. I also enjoy being sent videos where the superstar complains about all the hunting pressure (that they brought on themselves) or their loss of hunting opportunity (thinking of a particular Alabama video where the star can't hunt public land until a certain date now).

I must confess, a guilty of pleasure of mine during boring endless hours of summertime cardio is to search for "*insert state* public land turkey" and watch the countless videos of YouTube wannabes idiotically pimping out their spots in hopes of fame. I make sure "thumbs down" every public land video I see that mentions the state.

As far as shadow banning, we can only hope! I'd fully support a YouTube/social media ban on hunting content at this point. Public support of hunting in the US is continually declining, and the dumb  posted on social media definitely has played a factor in it.
Source: https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/survey-public-approval-hunting/



The tide is turning for the hunting influencers. More and more hunters are waking up and realizing the damage that is being done. If we continue on our current trajectory, we will continually lose hunting opportunities (especially public land) and your average hunter will slowly be priced out of private land hunting.

[mtns2hunt]

It has its uses. Take what's useful and ignore the rest. Nice use getting upset about it.