Came across this article today via Facebook, and it certainly struck a chord with me. http://wiredtohunt.com/2013/05/08/jealous-hunters-and-the-negativity-elephant-in-the-room/ I can't say I've been on both sides of the fence on this issue, but unfortunately I can say that I have fallen into this trap in the past. It's not something I like to admit, in fact it's actually more embarrassing than anything. While I don't make excuses for why others are successful, or belittle others success (chalking it up to money, land access, location, etc.), my competitive side does get ugly at times. While I can honestly say I'm happy for everyone who has success in the field, I almost always wonder why I don't have the same success (especially if it's someone who hunts in a similar area or with similar deer densities). I have a terrible habit of making everything about being "good" or "not good" at something. Thank goodness for my wife whom brings me down to reality every now and then with a simple question like, "why are you making something [hunting] that's supposed to be fun into a competition?" I'm getting better at just hunting for myself, and doing what I enjoy for reasons that important to me. I'll never stop questioning my abilities, since it seems to be ingrained into my personality, but jealousy really has no place in this pursuit. So, where does everyone else stand? Have you been guilty of this in the past? Have you witnessed it among your own friends? Online friends? :D Sorry for the thread of admissions, but I really wanted to share with everyone. If anything, hopefully the article makes you think.
I get just as excited to see my friends shoot a deer as I do when I shoot one myself. Like you I get competitive during hunting season but not to the point that I hope some one wont shoot a deer or wont shoot a bigger deer. I think a lot of people who hunt have been involved in the outdoors most of their life and have been in sports, I do think that is where the competition comes from. As long as it is handled the right way I do think it helps make hunting so great. It is fun to have the big buck contests and a silly bet with your friends. I also enjoy the trash talking on the forum during the contest as long as you dont get to personal.
I'm just happy to be on a successful hunt. Like fishing, I'm just glad that someone catches a nice fish. Same with hunting.
I read the article and for me I'm always happy for a fellow hunter even if I am jealous of there success. As for the the tv shows and some of the people posting their deer on forums when there is a monster buck shot there is always a chance that it was taken in not so legal means. We hear the stories every year of people poaching deer or shooting it on a high fence ranch and trying to pawn it off as fair chase. That has nothing to do with jealousy it has to do with what we are conditioned to. Hunting can bring out the worst in men and their egos
Thanks for sharing this article Matt. As you said, the point of my writing this article was to hopefully get us all to think (myself included). There's a lot of negativity out there - not from everyone - but I'm sure we've all seen it from someone. Some of it's probably due to jealousy, and some of it comes from other places. But my point in general was that no matter the root cause, this kind of hunter bashing that often pops up online isn't doing anyone any good. I'd love to see the hunting community work to come together more often (doesn't mean we need to agree on everything), rather than tearing eachother apart. There's enough outside forces (ie PETA) who are trying to do that.
Negativity is not a hunting thing, it's a human thing. It will always be there and letting yourself be affected by it is solely up to you. Plenty of positive things to think about and I try to look on the bright side. Definitely isn't always easy, though
Jealousy can zap the fun right out of hunting. Without getting into too much, I am just glad to be healthy and able to walk into the woods with a bow each fall.
I personally do find myself being jealous of some of the trophies I see being taken but its a healthy kind of jealousy for me. I don't downgrade or bash or try and take their accomplishment from them. I am sincerely happy for them but still a tad jealous inside. I use that to try and better myself. Its a natural human feeling and emotion to envy once and awhile. But in my opinion when treated right and channeled with positive envy that's what helps us as humans evolve and progress at what we do. If treated bad or in a negative manner it drags us down and backwards. I truly think that the ratios of the positive people and negative people are about the same as they have been for years. Its just that with the technology we have with info sharing nowadays makes it so much easier to see the negatives on a much more grand scale and daily basis that it seems to be growing. Also for some reason we as humans tend to react and notice the negative more than positive.
20 years ago a friend of mine told me that deer hunting was the most jealous sport. Unfortunately, I believe he is right. Being raised to know right from wrong, I am shocked at the amount of jealousy and wrong doing that people stoop to when it comes to deer hunting. Sent from my Galaxy S3 and Tapatalk 2
I agree. I know that little bit of jealousy has pushed me to scout more, practice more, and spend more time in the stand. The negativity is caused by letting that jealousy get the best of us. Sent from my SGH-T959 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2
I can no doubt say I envy the people who get to hunt 24/7 In big buck country. Sure I'm jealous (In a good way) that I don't get to hunt area's like they do but I'm not going to be an *** about It either. The hunters that gloat and pretty much say look at me that hunt In great area's I have little time for. I have mucho respect for the hunters In these area's that have no problem In saying they have good hunting. I met 2 of them last year In Iowa and got to know them pretty well. Great guys. I met others that I didn't get to know as good but their were honest as the day that they had outstanding hunting. As for people being overly jealous that gets old.
I agree that there's jealousy in deer hunting, but if you step back and take a look at the bigger picture of life there's jealousy everywhere you look. From how much money you make and how big your house is to what kind of car you drive, clothes you wear, etc. It's really nothing new. I believe humans are competitive, and therefore jealous, by nature. Do I think it's really a problem in the hunting world? Not really. For the most part the only time you hear about this stuff is on the Internet. Only a small percentage of total hunters are really on the web, and then only a portion of those are voicing their jealous opinions for us to read. My personal belief is that you hear a lot more negative stuff on the Internet than you do positive. A good example is people leaving reviews of places, products, etc. They're much more inclined to bash a product if they had a negative experience than to praise it if they had a positive one. The same goes with hunting - it's easier to bash Lee & Tiff by saying it's easy to kill bucks on thousands of acres in Iowa than it is to congratulate them on their hard work. But let's face facts - if it was really that big of a problem you wouldn't have people waiting in line to get some of these celeb's autographs or meet them at a deer expo. Once again proving the "naysayers" are but a small percentage of the total hunting population. What I do find ironic is that some of the same people who bash others on the Internet are the first to come out and say that jealousy in hunting is a bad thing when asked about it. Sometimes I wonder if people are delusional or simply have no idea what they're typing. As for me personally, I honestly don't care what everyone else does. I have enough problems in life to worry about which are so much bigger than deer hunting that I ain't got time fo' that. :D
I think a lot of it has to do with how documented hunting has become. Everyone with a camera puts pics, videos, or trail cam pics all over internet. A lot of the newer or even weekend hunters think they'll see huge bucks running everywhere, or that they will go to Iowa, Kansas, or Illinois and have a giant walk in front of them. It does acthally take a little work and effort to make that happen and sometimes you still won't get those results. Yea there's a lot of high fence and deer farm deer that are taken but every trophy animal doesn't come from that enviorment yet that's what half the comments or people say whenever someone takes a big animal. Heck I'm sure if I put a lot of pics I get up all over internet there'd be peopld saying the same crap because 90% of the farm I hunt is surrounded by barbwire and some people in all honesty are just dumb and don't know any better. Like others have said there's jealousy everywhere in life from the people that don't have what you do. I personally don't hunt to impress anybody else and no matter what you do somebody is gonna do it better and have more success.
The biggest thing I hate reading about is how much time others have to hunt. I read on FB about how some good people are out there hunting all day, every day while I am sitting in my office at work. And when I am not at work I have a family and other responsibilities. That makes it hard for me to see and read about other people hunting a lot when I just don't have the time to do it nearly as much as I would like. As far as jealous of other people’s trophies, long ago I excepted that I won’t be as successful as many others and I am fine with that. What I do hate is when those other successful hunters look down their nose at others that might not have as much success. That irks me big-time. Humbleness is a trait I wish more hunters had.
The backlash from my brothers 199" buck was unbelievable. Game Wardens were involved...and they still question its legality to this day...3 years later Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2
Great article a little off of what the article says but it does have to do with jealousy. I have a close friend that just shot his 3rd 200+ inch buck and every one loved him and thought he was the best most ethical deer hunter on the planet and every one came to him for advice because he had consistently killed mature deer every year. Then one day they saw his face on the front of a magazine and he became a no good down right dirty deer poacher in a lot of peoples eyes and he is not that by any stretch. I talked to him about the most recent deer and he shared sheds and trail cam pics with me he was so excited because he had the bucks patterns figured out after hunting him for so long and he finally sealed the deal and he was criticized for it. People defiantly like to spread rumors when they're jealous and it is ridiculous why can't we as fellow sportsmen be happy and encouraging of someone that has had that kind of success and maybe take some notes and learn why and how they do what the do instead of flying off the handle and ruining someones reputation they probably don't even know. I know some guys have killed some big deer in high fence or poached them off the road with a rifle and put their bow tag on it but is it right for us to automatically assume thats what happened? I don't think so I know we have to be on our guard at all times because people will pull the wool over our eyes, but is it right to jump to conclusions without the facts? I think not.
