Meat Eater - Steve Rinella in Africa

[mdwest]

You mean, he’s pandering to the millions of us who love Safari in Africa?! I think that we are, in total, a rounding error in terms of our influence on the American hunting community.

He definitely isnt pandering to the typical international hunter (Africa or otherwise).. Americans that even bother to hunt outside of their home state are a tiny fraction of the total hunting population.. his primary audience are the whitetail, dove, turkey, etc guys that rarely if ever venture further than a few counties over from where they live to hunt, but dream of spending a week out west or on kodiak, or in british columbia chasing an elk or a moose, etc..

whats cool about these episodes is not just that he himself may now be a convert.. but that that primary audience of his that has never thought twice about hunting outside of north america, may now start thinking about it..

I only wish he had picked a more affordable location to expose his primary audience to initially..

when that middle class office worker guy in Jackson, Mississippi or that small farm owner/operator in Nebraska sees these episodes and thinks "holy shit this is cool! I want to go to Tanzania and hunt roan!".. theyre going to choke on their own tongues when they see the associated price tag...

had that audiences first exposure been Steve doing PG in Namibia.. or a buffalo in South Africa I think the chances of creating a couple thousand new Safari hunters would have been much greater..

All of that said.. so far what I have seen has been extremely well executed... Im glad for what it has the potential to accomplish for our beloved sport and thankful that he finally made a trip to Africa at all...

 

[375Fox]

He definitely isnt pandering to the typical international hunter (Africa or otherwise).. Americans that even bother to hunt outside of their home state are a tiny fraction of the total hunting population.. his primary audience are the whitetail, dove, turkey, etc guys that rarely if ever venture further than a few counties over from where they live to hunt, but dream of spending a week out west or on kodiak, or in british columbia chasing an elk or a moose, etc..

whats cool about these episodes is not just that he himself may now be a convert.. but that that primary audience of his that has never thought twice about hunting outside of north america, may now start thinking about it..

I only wish he had picked a more affordable location to expose his primary audience to initially..

when that middle class office worker guy in Jackson, Mississippi or that small farm owner/operator in Nebraska sees these episodes and thinks "holy shit this is cool! I want to go to Tanzania and hunt roan!".. theyre going to choke on their own tongues when they see the associated price tag...

had that audiences first exposure been Steve doing PG in Namibia.. or a buffalo in South Africa I think the chances of creating a couple thousand new Safari hunters would have been much greater..

All of that said.. so far what I have seen has been extremely well executed... Im glad for what it has the potential to accomplish for our beloved sport and thankful that he finally made a trip to Africa at all...

My exact thoughts too. I think many people that never considered Africa before will now, but I hope they look into South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe before writing off the idea over Tanzanian pricing. Definitely one of his highest watched shows. Over a million on a week on first episode. Approaching 500,000 in a day on 2nd episode so far on YouTube.

 

[Doug3006]

I thought exactly the same thing. I know that I can’t afford TZ but these episodes make me want to go.

 

[Doug3006]

The hunter might not be all that many.
But what do African hunters spend?
What do company’s spend to get there share of the marketing pie?
And I know deer hunters that do not watch deer hunting shows. They watch African hunting, bear etc because they don’t hunt them.
I Guess I am one of them I hardly ever watch a deer , elk antelope hunting show.
I watch all most every traveling hunt I can
As far as watching American hunting shows gator, bear, hog, and pest are about it for me.

So yea there is a market for African hunting shows
And the marketing of sponsors and outfitters.

Free or discount hunts to put on your show
And the possibility of a new sponsor market.

Yep money a good reason to Chang your mind.

The hunting shows make their money off of ads. The average Meateater fan won’t ever hunt Africa. So the relatively few purveyors of Safari-related stuff don’t advertise on those shows. A couple of annual hunts to Africa won’t change their ad strategy.

The money for most of the whitetail, turkey, elk, hunting shows is in selling ad time to outfits like Realtree. They sell more shirts in size medium than TAG safari sells everything they make!

 

[Flbt]

The hunting shows make their money off of ads. The average Meateater fan won’t ever hunt Africa. So the relatively few purveyors of Safari-related stuff don’t advertise on those shows. A couple of annual hunts to Africa won’t change their ad strategy.

The money for most of the whitetail, turkey, elk, hunting shows is in selling ad time to outfits like Realtree. They sell more shirts in size medium than TAG safari sells everything they make!

How many views did that episode get them?
More views more money from adds

 

[375Fox]

The hunting shows make their money off of ads. The average Meateater fan won’t ever hunt Africa. So the relatively few purveyors of Safari-related stuff don’t advertise on those shows. A couple of annual hunts to Africa won’t change their ad strategy.

The money for most of the whitetail, turkey, elk, hunting shows is in selling ad time to outfits like Realtree. They sell more shirts in size medium than TAG safari sells everything they make!

You are arguing with someone that will never hunt Africa. One of the first guided hunts I did after college was a Sitka blacktail hunt on prince of wales island in Alaska. I never considered it before seeing a hunting show for that hunt. Who cares if they make a hunting show a business? Many hunters wouldn’t know what’s possible otherwise or have reason to look into going themselves. If the hunt is well presented and done ethically it’s a good thing.

 

[Scott CWO]

You put it more diplomatically than I could. Never did care for him - Steve is far from conservative. He just found a market he could make a lot of money off of and the public lapped it up. Kinda like Randy Newburg.

Another person posted here about not seeing Rinella being the typical 'high fiving, Sitka wearing crowd'. Well, Rinella has his own line from First Lite that he pimps. No more First Lite for me.

These guys definitely put out a narrative about themselves and their beliefs. Overall, I think Randy Newburg’s heart is in the right place but it irks me a bit that he acts like he only hunts public land without outfitters. The truth is he hunted guided pronghorn with my outfit on private land. I suspect he has hunted with other outfitters as well.

 

[Scott CWO]

I understand that point but you have equal access to the land just not the game. Non-migratory animals like elk belong to the people of state rather than the nation. At least that would be the argument.

Which does beg the question why they are allowed to charge more for announcing state migratory bird license.

Migratory birds are where I have a conflict about guided hunting. Limits were set to end market gunning. But we allow a guide or outfitter to plant food plots on their land to attract and hold the public resource of birds and run group after group of hunters through that property. They are killing much higher numbers of birds than would be taken for personal use and profiting off of it. But it isn’t market hunting because multiple people are pulling the trigger rather than one person. I know if one well known operation that took close to 10,000 birds off a single property in one season.

Yes they are maintaining habitat but almost always in the wintering grounds which are not nearly as critical to the population as nesting grounds up north.

Sorry but wildlife does not belong to the State. If the State screws up and an animal becomes threatened, the Feds take over. The States “manage” wildlife with the limited permission of/from the Feds.

 

[dchum]

I thought exactly the same thing. I know that I can’t afford TZ but these episodes make me want to go.

Doug! Saying you can’t hunt TZ with a leopard in your profile pic is funny!

If you make a certain trip (TZ) a priority then you most certainly can make it happen. You have done multiple safaris as well.

Does that mean you might not get go hunt international for 3-4 years? Maybe. But could be worth it.

I only say this to motivate you. All friendly!!

Just like the guys that say they can’t hunt out side of SA because free range Zim is to expensive. But have gone to SA 7 or 8 times lol. Makes me scratch my head.

Cheers Doug. I bet you get to TZ one day.

 

[Doug3006]

Thanks for the positive vibes, @dchum! I hope you are right. However, I’m not willing to delay satisfying my safari addiction for years so I can afford TZ. Oh, and BTW, my leopard hunt was very reasonably priced by leopard hunting standards.

 

[J.Ogilvie]

You mean, he’s pandering to the millions of us who love Safari in Africa?! I think that we are, in total, a rounding error in terms of our influence on the American hunting community.

Don't forget that not every international/safari hunter is American.

Up until now, most of Meateater's content has been focused on North America. This move will help to broaden the appeal of the Meateater brand internationally.

 

[375Fox]

These guys definitely put out a narrative about themselves and their beliefs. Overall, I think Randy Newburg’s heart is in the right place but it irks me a bit that he acts like he only hunts public land without outfitters. The truth is he hunted guided pronghorn with my outfit on private land. I suspect he has hunted with other outfitters as well.

I really enjoy Randy Newberg’s content. I like the image Steve Rinella puts out but don’t necessarily enjoy the format of all his shows. I don’t understand why the unguided public land narrative has been so important. These two Tanzania episodes really show there is a lot to learn from a PH and trackers that you might never learn on your own and doesn’t degrade the hunting experience. Even with a guide it’s still a team effort.

 

[Adam Stevens]

Thoroughly enjoys the shows. As I knew I would. Always enjoyed the shows but not the podcast.

Just glad he went with a great operation and guys.

say what you want about popularity or anything, this is a net positive for the industry and future of African hunting.

Glad it happened

 

[Corey0372]

I don’t understand why the unguided public land narrative has been so important.

There's people who hunt public land without guides who look down on guided hunts, private ranch hunts, Africa hunts, etc. But I don't think thats really the overall message from the Meateater Podcast (at least in my opinion having been a long time listener). Their main thing is trying to figure out the best ways to keep the solo/public land experience as an option and ensuring those places continue to exist and are protected (not sold off by Mike Lee).

I understand the frustration of some of the guys in this thread who feel like they aren't getting a fair shake because they don't have the same access to tags as people who live in the West, but ultimately wildlife is managed at the state level.... would we rather see it managed at the federal level nationwide? I don't think I would personally. I'd prefer the residents of Portland, Seattle, DC, Austin, San Francisco and NYC have as little influence over hunting in my state as possible.

Also.... perhaps if it frustrates someone that much, and access to animals in the West are that important, just move out to a Western State? That's what I did.

Anyway, that was a long way of saying they talk about it a lot because its one of the most unique aspects of hunting in the world (the ability for anyone to buy some tags and hunt VAST areas) its also one of the more fragile aspects of hunting. Between the anti-hunting crowd, the Mike Lee "sell it" crowd, and others in between it's open to more exploitation as well as being closed off. The North American model of Wildlife Conservation is one of the few things that are still amazing about this country, I think it's worth advocating for at any opportunity.

Also for the guys who want to hunt out west there's lots of OTC black bear opportunities in basically every state.

 

[Corey0372]

He definitely isnt pandering to the typical international hunter (Africa or otherwise).. Americans that even bother to hunt outside of their home state are a tiny fraction of the total hunting population.. his primary audience are the whitetail, dove, turkey, etc guys that rarely if ever venture further than a few counties over from where they live to hunt, but dream of spending a week out west or on kodiak, or in british columbia chasing an elk or a moose, etc..

whats cool about these episodes is not just that he himself may now be a convert.. but that that primary audience of his that has never thought twice about hunting outside of north america, may now start thinking about it..

I only wish he had picked a more affordable location to expose his primary audience to initially..

when that middle class office worker guy in Jackson, Mississippi or that small farm owner/operator in Nebraska sees these episodes and thinks "holy shit this is cool! I want to go to Tanzania and hunt roan!".. theyre going to choke on their own tongues when they see the associated price tag...

had that audiences first exposure been Steve doing PG in Namibia.. or a buffalo in South Africa I think the chances of creating a couple thousand new Safari hunters would have been much greater..

All of that said.. so far what I have seen has been extremely well executed... Im glad for what it has the potential to accomplish for our beloved sport and thankful that he finally made a trip to Africa at all...

The PH was a genius for getting the meateater crew to do a hunt there in my opinion. The meateater audience has a lot of people who barely hunt at all (some literally not at all), and may have a completely skewed view of African hunting.

Rinella isn't Ted Nugent, but that's okay. It's a bigger audience, a different audience, and now that audience may view Africa hunting in a completely different and more positive light.

Rinella and Newberg may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they're definitely a positive image of hunters in the eyes of people who don't hunt.

They're also both running silencers more often now, and again regardless of your views on using silencers while hunting, they're at least helping to normalize silencer ownership. "Oh Steve Rinella uses a silencer? Hm, maybe its not just some thing assassins and radical gun nuts own."