136. The Human Side of Hunting with Mike Costello

Mike Costello is the host of the Hunting Ain't Easy Podcast, a hunter out of Northern California, and an advocate for hunting rights. Mike took some issue with the recent "Is Hunting Conservation" series I have been doing with Chris Roe and Guy Duplantier, which is part of our goal in doing the series. So I invited him back on the show to talk about it!

After catching up, we discuss his reaction to the series, where he feels like we went wrong, and what he thinks hunters should focus on as solutions to the current battle for the future of hunting. He describes what he means with the term "Hunting is Human(e)" and what kind of messaging hunters should be sending to non-hunters.

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As hunters, I strongly believe a course correction is necessary to build public support for what we do. We are getting hammered in the court of public opinion and have completely lost control of the narrative. While some may think that I, personally, would have been turned off by Mike's criticism, I would strongly encourage them to understand that I welcome it when it comes to this topic. We had a robust conversation, and I respect Mike for coming on and laying his perspective out. I cerainly don't have the answer as to what we as a community need to do, it's going to take a collective of voices united against one common enemy. We may disagree on how we get there, but getting there is what's important. If you have a comment, question, or input on the premise of these conversations, please don't hesitate to email me. jim@thewesternhuntsman.com

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