It's not as much "Dave Owens" that is causing the issues. If you were to ask me this 3-4 years ago my answer would have been different, though.

Personally, I HATE the YouTube culture and the way hunting has become a part of it. I long for the days when you could only watch hunting via the outdoor channel or by buying videos at the store. There's no way in hell the hunting video folks (real tree, primos, mossy oak, etc) are putting out those videos on the shelf like they used to. They are all on YouTube now. It's a change that was coming and unfortunately, when it came to the hunting sector, I watched many creators targeting "click-bait" type content that simply wasn't beneficial for us as hunters. I saw "15 headshots in 15 seconds" type videos becoming routinely suggested videos when searching for anything hunting (they're still there). Hunters do not need that and I'm appreciative of channels like THP who stepped in to dominate a percentage of that market showcasing a realistic view of what the hunting culture encompasses. If anyone wanders into a video portraying hunters I'd much rather it be a THP video opposed to animals being blown to smithereens advertised as "hunting." Luckily the likes of MossyOak, Primos among others joined the fight and now have content available through YouTube (and their own streaming platforms) to help fend off the before mentioned distasteful content. Most of the old hunting footage has even been transferred over so we can enjoy the "old days" of the TRUTH and HUNTING the COUNTRY. In short, change was inevitable. Change isn't easily digested. It's hard for me to say whether hunting would be better off with or with out YouTube. We all have opinions on the matter. Many of the challenges the hunting culture faces now is due to the ease of access for anyone to distribute or receive content with very little filter. There had to be good to dilute the bad. The bad was there and coming whether we liked it or not.

I hate how the public land concept has been glorified and I hate the way Dave has done it along with all the other characters that are YouTube famous.

Some folks only have access to public land. Some folks have access to private land, but choose to spend their days hunting at the WMA's because its more fashionable to post your kill pics in front of the gate. Without saying "you shouldn't have done it at all," tell me how I was suppose to have done it better? I hunted, the same way I hunted for 20 years prior to YouTube, I just carried a camera and captured the how and the why. I have never had extensive private land opportunities. I worked with what I had, which was a WMA stamp and a hunting license. It showed people sitting at home that hunting opportunities were available across the country and the only requirement to be involved was effort. Through countless studies dating back well before YouTube, the number 1 issue given for the reason they didn't participate in hunting was access. It has always been available and they were just not exposed. I want everyone to experience the bliss the outdoors, specifically turkey hunting, has afforded me. And also, we can most definitely agree that hotspottin' a location with WMA signs or markers in pictures is bad medicine. I have never nor will ever do this.

Don't kid yourself. The majority of the videos is about THE KILL...and making sure everyone sees it, and how you do it. Turkey hunting is difficult and you are exceptionally good at it. I'm not saying you're not providing good insight regarding other topics along the way, but that really does not appear to be the focus of the videos from the ones I have seen. We can just agree to disagree on this topic I suppose. If you're looking to watch a kill shot my videos are typically not for you, especially on the self-filming days. If do happen to capture one it is normally wildly out of focus or incredibly zoomed out. I vowed to not let the camera interfere with the process so much as to cost me opportunities when the Pinhoti Project began. I continue to practice that today. But make no mistake, when I leave the truck each morning I aim to put a gobbler down the barrel but only while doing so within my self-imposed rules. I attempt to illustrate everything that goes into that process- and do so in a video that isn't 2 hours long. I try to include some type of train of thought as to set up and calling strategy coupled with weather, timing of season, etc. It's always been front and center on the objectives regardless of how well it's executed in each episode. Does the approach need another examination? possibly and I'll be diving into last years content soon in an attempt to find ways to improve upon what has already been done. As stated, I'm always up for critics on how I can become better at what I do. A closed mind is a dangerous thing.