“Killing for Content”: The 2022 Hunting Industry Company Worst Offenders & Self-Promoter Enablers
By Mountain Pursuit
Far fewer Western-Hunting Self Promoters would exist without the financial and other support of hunting industry sponsors.
In terms of “killing for content,” hunting industry companies and organizations use instagram dead animal trophy shots and over glamorized western hunting YouTube and other videos to advertise products. Sometimes these companies have on staff hunting “Pro” self-promoters and make their own movies/content. Often the “sponsor” Western-hunting self promoters who go out on their own and kill for content and then self-publish the movies/videos making sure give their sponsor’s clothing/gear/equipment plenty of screen time.
We’ve been demonstrating the damage this over-glofification and over-monetization of Western-hunting has done to the hunting experience, herd health, and hunting’s political future for several years. Now, many more Western-state resident hunter are wising up to the damage being done by the hunting industry’s “killing for content” marketing.
While we understand hunting industry companies need to market their products, “killing for content” crosses the line. Glorified hunting vidoes/movies, slow-motion kill shots, and Instagram post after Instagram post of dead-animal trophy photos damages present Western hunting through over-monetization and overcrowding, and future Western-hunting by creating more anti-hunters.
This is the first year we’ve put together this list and it’s not comprehensive. Included are only the major hunting-industry companies and organizations which have a focus or major presence in western-state hunting. This leaves out, for example, companies/organizations which market to the huge Midwest and Eastern whitetail deer hunting market. Also left our were most accessory gear producers like knife makers, broached manufactuerers, and smaller clothing makers.
Our effort here is a start to take a critical look at the Western-state hunting industry and the damage it’s marketing is doing to Western-state hunting. For the companies listed, hopefully its a harsh wake-up call from Western-state resident hunters that we are on to your game, and don’t appreciate it. Being on this list is nothing to be proud of.
For Western-state resident hunters and others who share our “hunt quietly” ethic, we hope our list here informs your gear and membership purchasing decisions. Which companies aren’t on on this list is just as telling as those that are. Many western-hunting companies manage to market their gear and clothing without “killing content” and sponsoring hunting self-promoters.
Our goal with this list and other efforts is to change behavior. Specifically for the hunting industry - end the production of “killing content,” over-glorified hunting videos, and the sponsorship of western-hunting self promoters. Examples include Remington, Ruger and Winchester.
How These Rankings Were Calculated
There are four components which went into a company or organizations final score:
Combined Instagram Followers and YouTube Subscribers
Number of Western Hunting Self-Promoters on our 2022 Top 20 List
YouTube Hunting Videos in the past year
Whether or Not the Company/Organization has Dead-Animal Trophy Pictures in it’s Instagram Feed
We then developed a formula to weight these categories and develop an overall score:
The Combined Instagram Follower and YouTube Subscriber number was divided by 5,000
The number of Top 20 Self-Promoters sponsored by the company was multiplied by 10
Each YouTube hunting video in the past year was multiplied by 10
If the Company has Dead Animal Trophy Photos in the Instagram Feed it was given 10 points
Next, the “subtotals” from above were added up, and the list generated, with the company who had the highest total score being the worst offender (Sig Sauer). See the table below.
Ranks #1-#5
Sig Sauer’s 1.6 million Followers and 203,000 YouTube Subscribers pushed this firearm manufacture to #1 in our Rankings - and the dishonorable position as the worst “killing for content” offender. Sig stood out amongst the hunting rifle manufactures in that it had 5 hunting videos on its website, several of which included kill shots. Neither Ruger, Remington, or Winchester had anything near this type of video content and we were surprised that Sig isn’t more politically astute given the nationwide controversy over firearms in general. As well, we found that Sig sponsored at lease one Western-hunting self-promoter, Jordan Budd.
Hoyt’s (#2) large social media following, plus it’s extensive library of over glorified hunting videos published on YouTube in the past year account for it’s #2 ranking on this list. As well, Hoyt sponsors Cameron Hanes, our #2 ranked Western-Hunting self promoter.
Vortex (#3) seems to give out self-promoter sponsorships like candy. We found at least 5 of the self-promoters on our Top 20 list, were sponsored by Vortex and we assume countless other less well-known self-promoters receive Vortex marketing money or gear, as weak.
Argali is a small, up and coming hunting industry company who’s founder and CEO Brad Brooks, stated openly that he began Argali as a way to fund making self-promoting hunting movies. What pushed this small company to #4 on our list is the 27 YouTube videos Brooks has published in the past year. Brooks is also a ubiquitous guest on the western-hunting podcast “circle jerk” circuit.
First Lite (#5) is owned by the same private equity firm that purchased Meateater a couple years ago. This hunt clothing company sponsors four of the Top 20 hunting self-promoters on this year’s list including #1 Steven Rinella, #7 Remi Warren and #13 (tie) Janis Putellis and Ryan Callaghan.
Ranks #6-#10
OnX Maps (#6), like Vortex, seems to have a low bar in terms of sponsorships and by our count, sponsors at least 3 of the self-promoting hunters on this year’s Top-20 list. This, plus the 15 YouTube hunting videos it published in the past year account for its high ranking.
Matthews Archery (#7) sponsors at least three of the Western Hunting Self Promoters on the Top 20 List - Dan Staton, Levi Morgan and Chris Bee. By our count, it published 8 YouTube hunting videos in the past year.
We’re not sure why a self-professed elk conservation nonprofit organization like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (#8) needs to publish hunting videos on YouTube complete with kill shots, or sponsor hunting self-promoters like Corey Jacobsen and Randy Newberg, but they do - and this is the reason RMEF made the list.
Sitka Gear (#9) is the original high-end, hunting clothing manufacturer and perhaps as responsible as any company for the over-glorification of Western state hunting. Over the past two years we’ve seen a fairly dramatic decrease in Instagram dead animal photos and hunting videos on Sitka’s social media accounts, and while this is positive, the company unfortunately still sponsors several hunting self-promoters, including Randy Newberg, Corey Jacobsen and John Dudley.
Gohunt.com (#10) is similar to Vortex and OnX Maps in being “loose” with its sponsorship of individual hunting self-promoters and/or hunting YouTube videos. In addition, it’s seems to be growing self-promoters on its own staff including Brady Miller and John Kirchner - both of whom make this years Top 20 list. Finally, it published 10 hunting videos on its YouTube channel this past year.
Ranks #7-#15
Phelps Game Calls (#11) is another hunting company under the “Meateater” umbrella.
Kuiu’s (#12) large social media following, pushed it up the rankings despite only sponsoring one Top 20 hunting self-promoter (Chad Mendez). However, the company did publish 3 hunting videos to it’s YouTube channel.
Backpack and clothing manufacture, Stone Glacier’s (#13) nine YouTube hunting videos are what caused it to make the list. However, the company disappointingly appears to be putting more effort and marketing dollars toward “killing content” and sponsoring self-promoters.
MTN Ops (#14) is a typical fitness supplement company marketed toward hunters. Similar to OnX and Vortex, for a while Mtn Ops seemed to try to sponsor every established and up and coming self-promoter, and even has a special mix/flavor co-marketed with Cameron Hanes. However, the company seems to have fallen out of favor this past year.
Kifaru (#15) makes backpacks, tents and other hunting gear and last year, it’s CEO, Aron Snyder was on our Top 25 list of self-promoters. In the year since, Mr. Snyder has deleted his instagram page, but Kifaru is still producing YouTube hunting videos staring Mr. Snyder and others.
Ranks #16-#20
Black Ovis (#16) is an internet hunting e-commerce company based in Utah that has gotten into the game of producing its own hunting YouTube Videos.
Hunting Boot Manufacturer, Crispi (#17), sponsored at least one Western hunting Top 20 Self Promoter (Dan Staton) and published two glorified western-hunting YouTube videos in the past year.
Steve Speck, Exo Mtn Gear (#18) founder, was on our hunting self-promoter list last year. In the year since, he and Exo have not published a YouTube hunting movie, but Exo does sponsor two of the self-promoters on this year’s Top 20 list, including co-marketing a backpack with Born & Raised Outdoors - who’s whole game is producing hunting movies.
#19 Wilderness Athlete is another typical fitness supplement company which markets to hunters.
#20 Seek Outside began as an ultralight backpacking gear manufacturer which found a following in the western-hunting community and now markets backpacks and tents directly to western hunters and is beginning to sponsor self promoters.