Has upland hunting been abandoned?

[Hunshatt]

[i immediately get suspicious of anyone that uses the term "reinvent."  Bird hunting was good enough in its first incarnation; i can't imagine why we need to change it to make it more appealing.  It is what it is; people like it or they don't.  

That pretty well sums it up for me too.

Although............hmmmmm...............

Maybe if  Ffin  Brad could grow a ZZTop beard and if someone taller than me taught him to shoot, he could become the new Grouse Commander, now that Fritz has 2 palatial estates and a couple of kids to wet nurse the job will be open.... We could even give him a mascot. Possibly dress Hong up in Sumo outfit with the upturned fu manchu shoes and he could be the Woodcock Whisperer, I've got my old outfit laying around, now that Tim went to the barby and ken store and got me a new upland togs. Probably fit him fine height wise, though we'll have to add a couple of expansion panels so it'll be as wide as it is tall

Lotsa posibilities yessirree...

x100

[Brad Eden]

My first regurgitation on the subject:

The author is... "is a successful entrepreneur in outdoor enthusiast media." who has apparently made a living out of creating online hunting/outdoor businesses and then selling them. Smarter guy than me.

He also chose to misinterpret the following quote in order to then use it to mention or dangle a worm about his companies ".....great vision for what the upland market needs (brand, print, web, TV), and we're pursuing it."

From someone on a Field & Stream blog: "Now everyone is antler and gobbler crazy. It's what's on TV. It's what's hyped up in the ads. There is no record book or super slam for grouse. A fine morning of wingshooting isn't cool or awesome or fist-pumpy. You can't use the latest tech or signature gear. You have to like, walk around in the brush. That's no fun anymore."

That column is all about selling products and gear and ads and media in order to make as much money as possible and very little to do with promoting the upland bird hunting sport or conservation.

Gotta go digest some more. I'll be back.

[northern_hunting_mom]

My first regurgitation on the subject:

The author is... "is a successful entrepreneur in outdoor enthusiast media." who has apparently made a living out of creating online hunting/outdoor businesses and then selling them. Smarter guy than me.

He also chose to misinterpret the following quote in order to then use it to mention or dangle a worm about his companies ".....great vision for what the upland market needs (brand, print, web, TV), and we're pursuing it."

"Now everyone is antler and gobbler crazy. It's what's on TV. It's what's hyped up in the ads. There is no record book or super slam for grouse. A fine morning of wingshooting isn't cool or awesome or fist-pumpy. You can't use the latest tech or signature gear. You have to like, walk around in the brush. That's no fun anymore."

That column is all about selling products and gear and ads and media in order to make as much money as possible and very little to do with promoting the upland bird hunting sport or conservation.

Gotta go digest some more. I'll be back.

Another excellent point. It helps to look at the who is talking.

[prairierat]

Now in fairness to the author, he is writing the story from a marketing perspective and he's targeting an audience (remember, Outdoor Wire is an industry publication) that sees and thinks about things in those terms rather than from any kind of personal hunting or conservation angle.

It's just bidness...

And the part about everyone being antler or beard crazy actually wasn't him, that was a quote from a reader on the F&S blog, and was meant to be (at least that's how I took it) sarcastic and rhetorical.

Chad Love

http://mallardofdiscontent.blogspot.com/

[Brad Eden]

Now in fairness to the author, he is writing the story from a marketing perspective and he's targeting an audience (remember, Outdoor Wire is an industry publication) that sees and thinks about things in those terms rather than from any kind of personal hunting or conservation angle.

It's just bidness...

And the part about everyone being antler or beard crazy actually wasn't him, that was a quote from a reader on the F&S blog, and was meant to be (at least that's how I took it) sarcastic and rhetorical.

Chad Love

http://mallardofdiscontent.blogspot.com/

Exactly my point.

And I knew that was not his quote (I just added a reference to that on my last post), but still think he chose not to acknowledge that it was tongue in cheek in order to push his agenda.

You make a great point. It is "bidness". I have learned that when you try and make an upland endeavor a possible profit making business many get a real h across their a's.

This is great subject matter though and may even lead me to posting the obligatory UJBB Subscription/Donation page link.

[northern_hunting_mom]

Now in fairness to the author, he is writing the story from a marketing perspective and he's targeting an audience (remember, Outdoor Wire is an industry publication) that sees and thinks about things in those terms rather than from any kind of personal hunting or conservation angle.

It's just bidness...

And the part about everyone being antler or beard crazy actually wasn't him, that was a quote from a reader on the F&S blog, and was meant to be (at least that's how I took it) sarcastic and rhetorical.

Chad Love

http://mallardofdiscontent.blogspot.com/

The sarcasm is there but that is due to the fact its a true statement.

I hope upland hunting doesn't become the same as deer hunting.

[erik meade]

Taken as a whole (and ignoring certain exceptions) the less there is of a "hunting industry" the better off hunters and hunting is,  in my opinion.

[prairierat]

"Exactly my point. And I knew that was not his quote (I just added a reference to that on my last post), but still think he chose not to acknowledge that it was tongue in cheek in order to push his agenda."

OK, now I got ya...

Chad Love

http://mallardofdiscontent.blogspot.com/

[Wingman]

So new, exciting media is how it happens, and yes it does work. The asterisks here are that it can't be done by just anyone (a random website doesn't qualify, for example)[....]

Random websites don't qualify, Brad. Except BassFan.com, of course.

[Lars]

, and about how the scene needs to be re-made, re-invented and re-invigorated, perhaps through an "upland commander" type bird-hunting show.

That's nauseating.

[co_setter]

Taken as a whole (and ignoring certain exceptions) the less there is of a "hunting industry" the better off hunters and hunting is,  in my opinion.

+1

[prairierat]

Lars, I couldn't agree more...

Chad Love

http://mallardofdiscontent.blogspot.com/

[Hunshatt]

I have learned that when you try and make an upland endeavor a possible profit making business many get a real h across their a's.

Really?   ...... Bastards killed kenny

[frak]

This is a good thread, and it hits on what a lot of people get out of their walk in the woods.  I look forward to some others' ruminations.

As for my own views, there's a time for tailgating and whooping it up, and a time for running a little closer to the ground (as the great Chet Atkins once put it).  The upland deal is more of the latter.    

I fully agree that the reasons for the decline are complex, having to do with habitat as well as different more modern preferences.  

As for a firm that pushes the right marketing buttons (IMHO), check out the cover of the recent Filson's catalog.  Not a whole lot of holler'n going on there (as my wife said, "another middle age guy fooling around with his dog in the woods") :

Same for the Tri-Tronics print ads (couldn't find it on the web).

[Steve Hunts]

Maybe you could get Bob Redford to do a movie about bird hunting, that would "fix it".

No thanks.