Why register with a fake name?
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: Jaquomo
14-Jan-18
It's off-season, time for off-reservation topics.
Wondering what the excuses are for registering on the Bowsite with a fake name. Witness protection? LEOs who don't want anyone to know their identities? Trolls? Just wondering..
From: Scar Finga
14-Jan-18
No excuses, Cowards!
Mark Williams... Scar Finga
From: Bowboy
14-Jan-18
Trolls!
From: Buffalo1
14-Jan-18
Suffering from boanthropy- Buffalo1
From: PECO
14-Jan-18
scammers
From: skull
14-Jan-18
Sorry guys but that is my real name
From: TSI
14-Jan-18
Self promotion ,attack others anonymously,previously banned,unpopular opinions,be someone they are not,achieve a political agenda,advertise their services by pretending to be a customer.Post multiple reviews for their business.Avoid legal ramifications.
From: Killinstuff
14-Jan-18
Because I find the word "harvest" offensive to the what happens when an animal dies from hunting. Taking life is killing, plain and simple. There is no way to sugar coat that. We take life and harvest the meat, hide, horns, antlers or other parts of that dead animal.
From: bowbender77
14-Jan-18
JTV...... X2.
From: Jaquomo
14-Jan-18
killinstuff - huh?
You mean CJ Lacoste isn't your real name and you don't want anyone to know you kill stuff?
From: Killinstuff
14-Jan-18
Harveststuff sounded gay. LOL.
From: lawdy
14-Jan-18
People use the word"harvest" when talking about hunting, but not when slaughtering a hog or beef critter. Even if you kill one steer out of a herd of them, they still call it killing. When I pick my garden or fruit trees, that is harvesting, when I hunt I kill. In the Army we were taught to kill. I suppose the term harvest would sound benign but killing is killing.
From: SouthernILbowhunter
14-Jan-18
don't want people to know where they hunt
From: TSI
14-Jan-18
I always said Harvest as a respectful term in the company of non hunters so as not to raise any eye brows.
From: StickFlicker
14-Jan-18
I think he's talking about your the real name IN your profile, not your handle.
From: Jaquomo
14-Jan-18
Mr. Stickflicker, gotta get up pretty early in the morning to fool you! :-)
From: DL
14-Jan-18
Harvest sounds like a farmer Harvest Guy sounds like a vegan farmer.
From: Thornton
14-Jan-18
There are several on the Ks forum that like to jack threads
From: Redheadtwo
14-Jan-18
You harvest fruits and vegetables. You kill an animal when you take its life. Havesting an animal is a PC phrase. Nuff said...
From: Screwball
14-Jan-18
When I first registered I put my real name in and still have it in my profile. I was surprised or uneducated when I clicked on someone once and found no name or some bogus name. I figured then and still do, Cowards!
From: Ambush
14-Jan-18
To be a dick head and pretend they would talk like that to someone’s face.
From: drycreek
14-Jan-18
I'm still trying to figure out boanthropy..............what the symptoms are.............and if a massive shot of George Dickle will cure it.............
From: Corn bore
14-Jan-18
Ambush for the win...........and now a massive shot of Jim beam.
From: Duke
14-Jan-18
There’s a mess of them on the WI forum, albeit I believe it is probably the same guy that has some funky disorder and even posts to himself under different names.
From: Buffalo1
14-Jan-18
Boanthropy is a psychological disorder in which a human believes himself or herself to be a bovine or other animal. One day I was a bison.
Application of the psychological disorder is to be a successful hunter the hunter must take on the role of the animal hunted.
Killing the animal hunted, followed by fifth of Jack Daniels is the only known cure for this disorder.
From: Rustyshakleford
14-Jan-18
Why register with a real name? Seems ignorant. Or someone starving for attention to me. Just call me Caitlyn
From: Tonybear61
14-Jan-18
There are seven people with my name, just in my immediate area, plus a NPR/MPR journalist I really don't want to be confused with. My name isn't that common but Tony Bear sounds better..
From: RedBeard
14-Jan-18
I guess also it's none of anybody's damn business.. So there's that..
From: Irishman
14-Jan-18
I'm guessing that people who register under a fake name could be just extremely paranoid about giving out real information on themselves. Maybe on the run from the police, or the IRS. HA! I'm also surprised at how few of the regular contributors to the forums actually post photos of what they have killed in the Trophy feature of the site.
From: Rustyshakleford
14-Jan-18
From: Franklin
14-Jan-18
I didn`t think you could get on without a legit name in the profile....I always use handles of my past dogs.
From: Woods Walker
14-Jan-18
Irishman: I personally am only interested in seeing "hero" shots that involve friends or family. Many others like to see these kinds or pics and that's great, so post them. But just because some don't feel the need to doesn't mean they haven't killed their share of game, not by a long shot.
From: Irishman
14-Jan-18
Woods Walker: I didn't suggest anywhere that people aren't posting because they didn't kill anything. On the contrary, I'm assuming that they have killed lots of animals. That is why I'm surprised that they don't post. By the way, what do you mean by "hero" shots?
From: Jaquomo
14-Jan-18
Seems like some confusion about the intent. I meant the name in the profile, not the handle. Like one guy is "Big Sexy", for instance. Wonder why he didn't just use that for a handle, too??
I'm a writer and banquet/seminar speaker, so people already know who I am. I don't write or speak under a fake name. Just curious to find out from some who do. Thanks, RedBeard, for at least being honest. I don't care who you are either unless you come after me, like the anonymous prick who accused me of being a liar and wanted to fight me for some reason years ago. He went away but I'd still like to know who he was.
From: Woods Walker
14-Jan-18
A hero shot is the typical posed shot of someone with their kill.
And once again, some people just don't care to post pics of themselves. I know quite a few hunters that are that way. In fact the people I'm referring to HAVE killed lots of game. With a lot of them if I want to see a pic of them with their kill I have to nag them for it!
From: Huntcell
14-Jan-18
I know a guy who registers a western state rather than his home state east of the Mississippi . He thinks he will get more sincere responses to his inquiries about tags he draws if he list himself being from out west and sadly he ownly posts when he is looking for info about units he has drawn never follows up after the hunt and never chimes in when someone else is seeking a general tidbit of info. Funny stuff and funny peculiar how people think.
From: TD
14-Jan-18
How do you know it's NOT my real name..... heheheheh....
In all honesty...... if you're NOT registering with your real name...... you're pretty much all BS right outta the gate anyway. No real need to post any more...... it's known where to file it without even reading it......sorry, that's the way it is..... ya cowards.....
From: Irishman
14-Jan-18
How do you know that anyone is using their real name? Ha!
From: Bowriter
15-Jan-18
Been my "handle" on many sites for over 25-years. At my age, I can't remember my real name.
The man formerly known as...known as. Well, they call me Mother...something???
From: ELKMAN
15-Jan-18
LOL! This one went in thirty directions. I'm pretty sure Jaq was referring to your actual name? Not your handle, for those that went that way. I guess I never know who is who they say, and who isn't, but then again really I don't care, and would never spend a minute of my life trying to figure it out. I judge people by what they do in life, not what they say on some stupid web site. I will say: "what are you hiding" this stuff is about 50% fun and poking the bear anyway... JMO
From: HDE
15-Jan-18
But don't your thoughts (words) portray who you really are?
Most all forums require registration with your name. This is just the only one I've seen that displays it, publicly. So, the question was asked why register with a fake name? I wonder...
From: Franzen
15-Jan-18
What TD said. Nobody's damn business? Leave the site if you don't want to play by the rules. I suggest you read them. It's a free country just like this site is free for your use. 'Course based on your posting it doesn't matter if you are here or not, 'cause your input is likely worthless.
From: yooper89
15-Jan-18
I tried to get some help from Pat on one particular user referring me to an outfitter. His registered name was "Monster Bull," can't think of his user offhand, but haven't heard from Pat in about 2 weeks since asking. Just trying to figure out if it's a legitimate source or if it's the outfitter himself. I guess anonymity plays.
From: Bou'bound
15-Jan-18
What’s more amazing than some using a false Name is the factual information of a personal nature some share. I think sometimes comfort creates a false sense of security online
From: Woods Walker
15-Jan-18
"I honking sometimes comfort creates a false sense of security online"
?????? Sounds like smartphone-ese!
From: x-man
15-Jan-18
I think I had been on this site for more than five years before I realized you could click on someones handle and see their profile. That was about the time a co-worker of mine stole my Bowsite Identity (didn't have a PC at home yet in the 90's). Since then I've been x-man.
I have to admit that my respect for others on this site diminishes with every hero shot of themselves they post. I love pictures of friends and loved ones, but hunters who keep patting themselves on the back are a big turnoff.
From: IdyllwildArcher
15-Jan-18
x-man, a minority of people post to boost ego. Sharing something that is momentous in your life is not necessarily boasting. And personally, I love seeing pictures of people on Bowsite with their dead animals.
From: LINK
15-Jan-18
Mine is real, always has been. A guy I know once clicked on my handle and told me he was surprised I had my name on there. I have never thought about an alias and have thought how weird it would be to get invited to hunt with someone and have to explain the name change. I sometimes say things I later wish I didn’t have my name on but having my name on my comments helps me stay in bounds.
From: elk yinzer
15-Jan-18
There was a time I didn't want to mix hunting with my professional life, to be googleable so to speak, should it be a turnoff to clients or prospective employers. Those shits are no longer given, I am a hunter and stand by what I type on the internets.
From: x-man
15-Jan-18
"x-man, a minority of people post to boost ego. Sharing something that is momentous in your life is not necessarily boasting. And personally, I love seeing pictures of people on Bowsite with their dead animals."
Okay, I may have failed to explain that. Pictures in the hunting forum posted after a successful hunt are fine for me. The ones I don't like are the ones who post their picture almost everytime they post on someones elses thread just to boast their own ego. For example: a thread in the equipment forum about quivers, and some guy posts a picture of himself from two years ago with a trophy animal, because that success directly relates to his expertise on the current thread topic or something.
Proud, happy pictures are one thing, "needing" to post pictures just to prove how great you are is something else.
From: Bake
15-Jan-18
I like being accountable, personally. I frequently write something and go back and delete. I remind myself to think whether everything I write is something I would want a client or prospective client to read. Or a friend or general acquaintance.
I don't do Facebook, but I do Instagram. Same thing on there. Is everything I post something I want everyone to know about me. It goes a little further there though. . . Is everything I "Like" something I would want people to know that I support?
Being accountable for everything you say and do is the way it should be
From: TD
15-Jan-18
Bake x2.
If you are going to post something that you don't want anyone to know who it is that posted it or don't want to stand behind it personally...... likely shouldn't have been posted in the first place.....
From: drycreek
15-Jan-18
Woods Walker, I'm checking to see if Bou's prints are on my jug of Dickle ! :-)
From: Mr.C
15-Jan-18
I used my name and my handle is actually my initials .. do i get a prize for staying on topic lol MikeC
From: APauls
15-Jan-18
I love pictures. more the merrier, hero photos whatever anything. Post them everywhere. Unless you post the same dang picture over and over and over again. I love it when guys post their hero shots and especially when they have them in their profile. love looking at those.
From: lawdy
15-Jan-18
I like using my own name, that way I will remember it. Had a DI scream in my face and demand my name. I was so messed up I forgot it. Never forgot my military ID though.
From: loesshillsarcher
15-Jan-18
I dont post pics much anymore because I heard people saying I am looking for attention. Whatever. I was looking to share with like minded individuals. Receiving crap about shooting a sow polar bear really did me in. But i have never hid behind a false identity. and no, i am not a cross dresser either. hehe
From: smarba
15-Jan-18
My handle matches my name...if you think about it for a while LOL
From: TreeWalker
15-Jan-18
Doxxing is real. If you think only avid hunters venture here then are naïve. You don't have to be a dentist in the upper Midwest to have your business targeted by protests. Is a serious threat for anyone who owns a business or works for a business or entity that frowns when TV vans are parked outside and people making threats are calling every few minutes. That is a spotlight some can weather but not most without loss of income, privacy and security. I have lived with death threats related to a role I had for a few years. Carrying a 9mm to the mailbox and checking every odd-looking person and vehicle as walk with your kids is not as fun as might seem. Stress kills. Why make it easy?
From: JL
15-Jan-18
If you have someone's name or partial name, it's easy to locate where someone lives and other personal info with a little detective work using certain websites. I do it all the time with great success trying to locate family members of WWI/WWII military members when doing historical research. Being located could be why folks choose to use names/handles other than their own. I can see some folks not wanting their ex-spouse to locate them or snoop on what they post. I know DNR and F&G officers will troll hunting and fishing websites looking for business in their area or nearby areas. Which leads to......I do not do, nor have ever done Facebook. That is a sure fire way to have things come back to haunt you that you did not expect.
From: cnelk
15-Jan-18
zabasearch.com
From: JL
15-Jan-18
pipl.com is a good one.
From: RutnStrut
15-Jan-18
I will tell you why I do it. I have been through hell after being the victim of identity theft TWICE. I have been on various hunting/archery forums as RutnStrut pretty much since there was an internet. I don't hide my name if someone asks me for it in a PM. Also I spend most my time on the WI forum and most there know me. If I was trying to hide anything I wouldn't post pics. I just don't post my real name anymore where everyone can see it.
From: IdyllwildArcher
15-Jan-18
"Doxxing is real. If you think only avid hunters venture here then are naïve. You don't have to be a dentist in the upper Midwest to have your business targeted by protests."
Good thing I work in Kotzebue and 100% of the local population lives off of game meat. A common shirt I see in town reads, "Vegetarian - Eskimo word for 'bad hunter.' " If you don't hunt up here, you're viewed as an oddball. Up here, if you put anti-hunting stuff on your FB page, you'd probably be fired.
From: sticksender
16-Jan-18
How would posting your real name on bowsite lead to identity theft? There's no personal information connected to your name on this site, except for what you post in threads, which is totally up to you. If a thief only needed your name, it's already out there in a wide range of public venues, like voting records, land deeds, tax rolls, court records, newspaper files, DMV, social media, mailing lists, etc.
From: smarba
16-Jan-18
Thx Pat!
And I concur with sticksender, my name is already all over the place. With only a name (that in most cases probably isn't even unique to an individual) I don't see any risk of registering with ones real name.
From: Z Barebow
16-Jan-18
I use my real name. But as TreeWalker noted, if someone wants to target you they can make your life a living hell. I know what the law enforcement folks went through with the DAPL "protestors". The "protestors" had a social media arm. Not only did they post misinformation, these folks trolled the net/social media for officer names. Once found, they threatened their families, posted their home addresses, etc. Officers were instructed to remove their name tags. And then the protestors had the gall to scream "transparency!"
From: IdyllwildArcher
16-Jan-18
Yup. Your info is actually more secure on Bowsite than most message boards because they all use Bulletin Board which every hack job has been trying and often times succeeding at hacking. Pat coded Bowsite from the ground up, which makes it more secure by nature of some idiot not being able to cut and paste code from a real hacker and take down or infiltrate the site.
From: Jaquomo
16-Jan-18
Cracks me up that someone would be concerned about identity theft here, but have no problem handing a credit card to somebody from Somalia in a store or using it on an online e-commerce site.
From: Buyse
16-Jan-18
It's that only way people like TBM can get back on the site after being 86'd. lol...
From: Woods Walker
16-Jan-18
X2 Jaq!
From: JL
16-Jan-18
Identity theft is small stuff. Like on Craigslist, if someone with nefarious intent knows you and where you live, that is a large part of the stalking effort. Someone can put the pieces of the puzzle together and paint an accurate profile of you. Using a variety of websites, it's very possible they can find out where you live, work, birthdays, family members, photo's, when you're on hunting trips away from the house, some purchases you make, etc. There are people out there who are proficient at e-stalking for whatever intent. It's one of those things you would want to be aware of when posting info....even info you think is harmless.
From: RutnStrut
16-Jan-18
I wasn't referring to Bowsite as the place it happened. I just don't put my real name out there any more than I have to.
From: JL
16-Jan-18
I wasn't singling out Bowsite either, just pointing out what can be done out there in internet land with some basic search engines and a few other websites. As I alluded to earlier I have done most of what I posted above doing historical research on old WWI / WWII military veterans.....mainly USCG folks. I'm far from an expert but during the course of researching for family member contact info I have located all sorts of pieces of personal info. Most I do not need or care about but when you're going thru a generation or two of a family, stuff will come to the surface. Point being....be careful what you or someone else makes public electronically....especially your kids!!
From: Highlife
16-Jan-18
I'm not supposed to give my credit card to someone in Somalia? ......Oh crap I also gave the guy my bank account number. This ain't gonna be good. .......
From: Jaquomo
16-Jan-18
JL is right, if someone wants to find out about you and track you down, it will happen even if you live in a cave, only trade or barter, and wear a disguise.
I once had guy at the Denver Airport parking memorize my CC# as I was paying to escape. I saw him do it as he was studying the card. Called my wife right away and told her to watch the card. Next morning I got a call from Cabelas Visa security. He had bought a bunch of gift cards online from Old Navy, Target, etc.. so they wouldn't be traced, in small enough amounts so as not to raise a red flag if someone wasn't paying attention to their statement. I notified Denver Police and the Sergeant laughed and told me, "That happens every day out there. If we tried to track them down it would take up all of our time". Said with a donut in his mouth...
The DIA parking manager tracked it down with the time and booth number I provided, and fired the guy after turning him in to Denver PD. She said there's a ring of Somalis who work at DIA who steal CC numbers and use them to buy gift cards. They'd been trying to catch them for awhile but nobody ever identified a specific person before.
From: Rut Nut
17-Jan-18
I didn't even know you could register with a fake name. Just assumed you had to use your real name.
From: Zone10HNTR
17-Jan-18
Zone10HNTR's Link
Okay hear me out before you "hate:" I'm a professional salesman and have long term relationships with many people opposed to hunting or who "don't get it." I rely on these people for business to support my family. I know now it's difficult to trace accounts but technology changes and in the future maybe everything will be searchable more easily. I don't want in 5 years my customers or job prospect reading through all my posts and my blog and getting an impression of me before they get to know me. As a rule I think using names is best - it holds you accountable. BUT sometimes it's comforting to know all your comments aren't traceable under your own name. They might be anyway, I guess, if there's some IP address technology or whatever that will be easier to use in the future. Anyway I created a fake name to chronicle my first year hunting. I'm 40 and don't know much and I'm not an expert but I'm want to keep a journal of my first year to enjoy in the future and maybe someone else would enjoy reading it, too. I'm not a writer or author and I don't want any judgement of me on the quality of the work so that's why I made a fake account. I don't troll and don't cause trouble - just saying for me I feel this is a legit reason to make the fake name account. If I feel more comfortable in the future I'll just put my name on my blog but once you do that I feel it's forever.
From: Jaquomo
17-Jan-18
Interesting - I never thought of that. I was a professional salesman for 27 years in the "big leagues" of business - Silicon Valley technology. I was a true "jet-setter". When appropriate I didn't hide the fact that I hunted because I was not ashamed of it, but I never wore it on my sleeve. Some others just knew. I found it sometimes spurred a polite conversation that swayed some folks' thinking. Some non-hunters (and a few anti-hunters) wanted to read my articles and essays when they found out I write. I strengthened some relationships because they fished and so do I. Some others didn't hunt but had dads that did or knew others who did. My name is out there in the hunting world and on the Google because I write. I never hid that. No one ever seemed to care, even those in Cali and New York and elsewhere who HATED hunting.
Maybe I just got lucky?
From: StickFlicker
17-Jan-18
I don't typically post kill photos on my personal Facebook page for the same reason, employment. There is a fair percentage of liberal people in my industry, and I have had supervisors check my Facebook page and complain in the past. I do think I have likely been discriminated against when seeking new employment. There isn't much I can do about my hunting "footprint" on the internet, but if they just go to Facebook I figure I'm safer not posting things there. I did once go to a final job interview (it was down to two of us, a woman and myself) and the interviewer had Googled me and printed out a stack of hunting related items. I don't know if it hurt me or not on that one, but I didn't get the position despite having more experience. Google searches of your name will bring up things you have posted on Bowsite, if you used your real name, so it is possible that things you say on here could come back to hurt you in areas you wouldn't normally consider.
From: Zone10HNTR
17-Jan-18
Wow thanks for posting that. It's a strange world and being a salesman is like being a politician (pre Trump I guess)- you really have to please everybody and prevent any negativity from seeping into a relationship. I have some customers I know who hunt and we've talked about it - my interest has strengthened our friendship and I trust eventually our business together. As the world is today I wouldn't have a problem at all writing in my blog under my name but technology changes so fast and so does public opinion. I have 25 more earning years and I want to maximize those. I would feel foolish missing out on a job and seeing the interviewer with that stack of Facebook/blog posts. I'd always have a doubt. STILL I have a bow site login under my real name and chat in the my regional forum under my real name. The guys in Massachusetts have been super helpful. I have found a ton of public land, Mass Audubon and sanctuaries are opening up bow hunting I think these are the glory days of opportunity. In the '30s people were starving there were no deer. Now, wildlife sanctuaries are letting us bow hunt because they have too many huge bucks killing their forests- AWESOME.
