And as for his character, I find him genuine, and highly entertaining.
Got an axe to grind, ultimag?
Why don't you tell us all the positive things you have done to promote public land hunting opportunities. So far, in your short time on the Bowsite, you've created a keyboard persona as sort of a jerk.
you know the circus is in town when a clown shows up on the forum
Too many grammatical errors and his sentence structure is "deplorable". Who's the joke? LOL
If Ulti has evidence to support his "facts," hopefully he'll post them. I’d be curious to know where we are filming to support his claim of “95% on exclusive ranches that I've conned.”
When we started On Your Own Adventures in 2008, it was self-guided hunting on "accessible lands." The idea being that it was hunting on your own, on accessible lands; those being lands we could hunt without paying fees for access, whether public or private. Four of those first-season hunts (out of ten) did include some private lands where we had permission. On three of those episodes, we shot animals on private land. In the YouTube descriptions we've stated when a hunt included some private land, in case it wasn’t clear in the video.
After that first season, it became clear that the public land gig was what got the most traction. So in 2009, we started the transition from the concept of “accessible lands” and started doing exclusively public land hunts, with two exceptions I can think of over the last 14 seasons and 150+ episodes. One, I took an 82-year-old Korean War vet, Ole, on his last deer hunt. A landowner let me build a blind and the guest shot a whitetail buck. Two, when Montana wolf seasons were opened in 2012, most working ranchers allowed anyone with a tag to hunt wolves. Parts of our Season 4 OYOA wolf hunt were filmed on some of those lands.
I posted a thread here on Bowsite a few years ago about a wolf I killed while hunting whitetail does on private land. Not having a videographer with me, I filmed me in the shooting position with my cell phone. I made it clear I was on private land and had permission for two things; whitetail does and wolves.
Since 2009, our second season of OYOA, and all eleven seasons of Fresh Tracks, we’ve done exclusively public land hunts. Not sure where the 95% claim comes from, but maybe we'll find out.
As to the claim that I have stated "I pay for this out on my own dime," he would struggle to find where I ever stated that. I have stated that the way I choose to operate the business has resulted in zero income to me over fifteen years. For the first two years, with the huge stock market crash in the year we started (2008), I did fund it out of my pocket and with some investment from minority investors who thought this would be a fun idea. Once the economy started to recover, I was able to attract sponsorship to help offset some of the costs. I personally funded the losses until 2016, since which time it has wobbled around break-even. I doubt I'll ever get that money back and that's fine. I kept my CPA gig, working both jobs, until two years ago. I still do a small bit of CPA work to fund what my wife says covers “bait and bullets.”
I get that folks will take their shots at me and our platforms. I don’t have any problem with that. Like Ulti said, everyone can have their own opinion. That’s just part of this gig. Critique can be beneficial, as sometimes the criticism gives me ideas to think about and possibly tweak what we do and how we do it.
As to how we do things, I choose to operate the business in the way we do. I had spent the prior fifteen years involved in hunting and access issues. I served on many non-profit boards, formed local groups, testified at legislatures and Congress, and I quickly realized the difficulty representing these issues. I started these platforms hoping to grow the voice of a group of hunters. That is built into our business model. At least half of our content must be 1) information, 2) education, 3) conservation, and/or 4) advocacy. That content doesn't get much attention and it doesn’t generate much, if any, revenue. Most folks don't see/hear that content we produce, as they mostly consume our hunting content. Those four topics are the core of why we do this. As long as I am involved in this operation, half of our content (and almost half of our costs) will be that type of content. That’s my choice and I'm happy with it.
When I say "We," we have seven great employees. Whatever voice this business has, it would be a lot less without them. They deserve to be paid as much as the business can afford. They put a lot of their personal time and effort into this message. They're a higher priority than my situation.
For me, turning 58 this week, I look at it this way. My financial obligations are behind me. Some people reach the point in their life where they spend their spare time and life savings by moving near the grandkids in the big city. Some choose to spend their time and life savings sitting on the beach of Florida. Some spend it on their hunting or fishing retirement. They do it because that is what gives them satisfaction and fulfillment. I choose to invest my time and money doing what gives me satisfaction and fulfillment - producing video and podcast content for platforms that advocate for hunting, shooting, conservation, and access. It's no more complicated than that.
It is amazing that we live in a great country where a kid from a small logging town can live a late-adult life that was his childhood dream. So long as my wife is on board with that idea, and we have employees committed to the same, I will do it until I run out of health, or I run out of money. If we do make a profit with the content sideboards I place on our business, I’m surely not going to apologize to anyone.
A couple points I’ll add as my own comments ….
If you have access to private land, you’d be a fool not to hunt there. If you want a hunt that requires an outfitter, do it and make no apologies. Our content of self-guided hunting on public land is to connect people to the value those public lands have for our hunting culture in this country and hopefully convince them to work toward access and conservation of those public lands. We support all types of hunting, whether on public or private, whether guided or on your own. I’ve done all of the above and I had a blast every time. Just go hunting and enjoy it. And if you can, give some of your time, talent, or money to the causes that allow hunting to continue.
Sorry for the long post. I hope everyone is having a great season. As one of my best friends says multiple times each day, and a statement I've borrowed from him, “What a country!” Go out and enjoy it.
As far as Ultranag, not coincidental he adopts a handle after a shotgun. Blasting away and hoping he hits something.
Respect is something you earn. You don’t ask for it.
I’m not “worshiping the clown”. I don’t have a “Randy” tattoo or a poster over my bed.
And he requires no assistance from me.
But… I can’t help observing differences between Randy’s post in this thread and others and the ones attacking him.
Count me with Nick, Brian, David and others… maybe “most” of Bowsite.
Class response Randy. Kudos.
You put out good stuff and a good message that many need to hear. Advocacy is horribly short staffed in Colorado, those who profit show up, not many more.
Randy haters are going to hate, it means you have done something they admire.
I'm just glad Sam didn't choose Bill Busbice, "Bill Jerdan" or "Jackie Bushmaster."
He'd love Randy to see his rifle buck he shot recently here in Montana so I'm posting it, ha.
