Originally Posted By: AWSI personally see the need for political correctness in some instances. Any picture that doesn't show respect for the animals we kill can come back and used against us. I always try and pose kills so there is little to complain about other than it is dead. Desert Rams last post about his first coyote of the season is a perfect example it was a great picture of a dead coyote posed to show the equipment he used and how really handsome the coyote was.
This is the internet the pictures aren't just between us they are there for the whole world to see and can help form an image of us as predator hunters. You might not care how others feel about a gruesome photo of a dead coyote but if it helps to end coyote hunting I sure do.
I really don't care what Anti's think, they want to ban firearms and hunting no matter what the cause. I do agree we need to have level of respect when posting pictures / vids etc. and I agree with the forum rules correlating to this topic.
This is a new era, and many in the next gen don't understand a lot of things, especially hunting related. If we can educate them, I've found a lot of them will accept and are willing to at least try to understand what we do.
Originally Posted By: AWS As far as equipment bias buy the management, sponsors are paying the bills and more than once I've seen people trying to use discussions to promote their products without having to pay for the advertising. I will say that it that the censorship is not as bad as it was 15 years ago. You can actually discuss different products just don't try and promote the sales. How would you feel if you owned a business and one of your competitors put a sign advertising his company on your front lawn.
I also agree with this, BUT I've talked with many people who don't participate here because of a lot of the topics previously discussed, most of which forgot more about this lifestyle than any will ever know.
This forum has been a great place, full of very very good people, I enjoy it, and hope it continues to grow. I was fortunate to be a mod, and got some first hand on how certain things go.
I know since I've started a hobby business, I can't advertise anything without paying for a sponsorship, I've done it in the past, and would love to continue to do so, IF the numbers added up, but they don't on my end. Especially with social media and the ease of getting content out there for people to soak up.
One of the most enjoyable things for me to do is give fellas advice based on my experience with product. Some guys appreciate it, some frown upon, and some could care less.
I've been very blessed in this life to get my hands on equipment most will never have the chance to use. Everything from 50 different suppressors to over 30 different NV and Thermal devices. Not to sell, not to promote, but to use, hunting, and shooting.
I talk to people daily who don't know where to start, whether it be the difference between monocore vs. baffles, or a 17 ULIS vs. a 12 BAE, to "what's better to spend my money on" the more affordable Wilcox Modular Folding Bridge arm or the Red Queen Effect Dual Bridge.
I've said this in our podcast and I'll say it again, I learn from my failures, not only from my personal decisions, but from getting my hands on equipment that will not work for what I do. I enjoy passing that onto people who can't get their hands on what we can. Over the past years I've concluded it's not a smart business decision for me to pay for a sponsorship here just so I can talk about what I use, and how I use it, there seems to be too many conflicts. I know that's one of the main reasons I've been a lurker, and not a poster lately.
I'm not the smartest person out there, but I've messaged mods, and asked if they would like to exchange advertising. I would love to help promote them, we've been a part of a 40 million hit video, I would think we could put a link to this forum out there, and drive a few subscribers here... I just had 2 Elk Hunting clients, both avid Coyote hunters, guys who know what they are doing, watch our vids, and facebook, but they had never heard of Predator Masters, so I told them to get an account.
We could do some neat and fun stuff, but it seems a lot of the sponsors here don't allow the mods to like the idea.
