I was thinking back to the original hunting, shooting website that created the desire to make this one. That was a very long time ago. During that time people could post opinions and make claims about nearly anything. Nobody could really figure out if you were a 16 year old posting a quote from Jack O'conner or if you were a 30 year veteran big game hunting guide in the Yukon.
Wild stories and experiences were endless from across the globe! It took a bit to figure out who the real experience was, and who the "wannabes" were when these discussions were going on. I can recall some of the evolution of this site as the diverse population of folks came on board. People that would make a statement about some amazing power level and distant accuracy claims were questioned by Physics professors and math geniuses that also visit the site. Pretty soon the original post was busted and the person that posted the "story" could be seen through. It was so bad in the early years that one fella said he killed a cougar that was killing his neighbors horses. The cougar was so big he was finding horses pulled up into the trees where the cougar would feed on them away from Predators. I think he unfortunately must have just watched a Animal Plant segment about leopards pulling antelopes into the trees in Africa. Lions don't do this and certainly a 150, lb lion is not pulling a 1400 lb horse up into a tree!
Same can be said about the way bullets kill animals. Pretty soon we have a coroner, and a Veterinarian posting in the thread to explain the reality of trauma. These folks that want to come on board and make some wild claim were being busted almost as soon as they hit the submit button.
However Google grew to a point that even a troll with evil intent to stir the pot could in only a few minutes craft a factual story with proper terminology and interesting vernacular. Somebody else did the work, he just pulled a few statements or paragraphs from another site and Bingo instant outdoorsman hero! ( in his mind) These events happened here quite a lot in the early years.
There became a fairly good group of folks that would PM one another asking if " so and so" could possibly be real? Eventually the trolls got thinned down and this site really became a great site for people from every background imaginable. Because of my work, I have had the pleasure of meeting a lot of folks from this site in person. I have also had the pleasure of hunting with them in Africa for 20 years now.
The skills from NFL and MLB players that I have hunted with, to television and News folks. Doctors, Lawyers, diesel mechanics, commercial pilots. Security folks, and a fair number of Seals and Rangers that have hunted with me, A father and son both in the CIA. Many of these talented folks simply PM'd me to talk off line.
One thing for sure. You can never be 100% certain who you are engaged with on this site. There are a few that I know of that are simply bad ass at levels that cannot be imagined. Government trained at doing some really bad stuff to get the job done. You won't see them write a single word about this background EVER. They are just a regular guy when here. One now works as a high school girls volleyball coach. If they only knew who he really was. I hope some idiot tries to cause havoc in this school while he is there. If there could ever be a cross between Superman and Rambo this is the guy! Yet I have seen people post a rude disrespectful comment to him now and then. I can only image the difference in the way that would happen with knowledge of his back ground and in a face to face conversation!
A Psychiatrist that has hunted with me once told me this is a site filled with medical marvels that somehow have made it through life with serious social issues! Somehow these guys can see the traits just from reading the posts. Also interesting that he was able to see the traits and digest the content of posts to identify the same guy posting under multiple names!
I would bet that no matter what the issue in your life, there is an astonishing member with skill to solve the problem. You would not even imagine somebody like this is available on a chat forum. No matter if it's a plumbing issue, HVAC, welding, dental, marriage counselor, football coach barber, etc etc, there is a wealth of accumulated knowledge visiting this site today that eliminates I dare say 99.9% of the hoaxes and trolls if that is a visitors interest.
I'm glad to be part of this site, and to have been here from the beginning. It's been pretty cool to see it grow and evolve into what must be the premier place for outdoorsman to visit on the web
Wild stories and experiences were endless from across the globe! It took a bit to figure out who the real experience was, and who the "wannabes" were when these discussions were going on. I can recall some of the evolution of this site as the diverse population of folks came on board. People that would make a statement about some amazing power level and distant accuracy claims were questioned by Physics professors and math geniuses that also visit the site. Pretty soon the original post was busted and the person that posted the "story" could be seen through. It was so bad in the early years that one fella said he killed a cougar that was killing his neighbors horses. The cougar was so big he was finding horses pulled up into the trees where the cougar would feed on them away from Predators. I think he unfortunately must have just watched a Animal Plant segment about leopards pulling antelopes into the trees in Africa. Lions don't do this and certainly a 150, lb lion is not pulling a 1400 lb horse up into a tree!
Same can be said about the way bullets kill animals. Pretty soon we have a coroner, and a Veterinarian posting in the thread to explain the reality of trauma. These folks that want to come on board and make some wild claim were being busted almost as soon as they hit the submit button.
However Google grew to a point that even a troll with evil intent to stir the pot could in only a few minutes craft a factual story with proper terminology and interesting vernacular. Somebody else did the work, he just pulled a few statements or paragraphs from another site and Bingo instant outdoorsman hero! ( in his mind) These events happened here quite a lot in the early years.
There became a fairly good group of folks that would PM one another asking if " so and so" could possibly be real? Eventually the trolls got thinned down and this site really became a great site for people from every background imaginable. Because of my work, I have had the pleasure of meeting a lot of folks from this site in person. I have also had the pleasure of hunting with them in Africa for 20 years now.
The skills from NFL and MLB players that I have hunted with, to television and News folks. Doctors, Lawyers, diesel mechanics, commercial pilots. Security folks, and a fair number of Seals and Rangers that have hunted with me, A father and son both in the CIA. Many of these talented folks simply PM'd me to talk off line.
One thing for sure. You can never be 100% certain who you are engaged with on this site. There are a few that I know of that are simply bad ass at levels that cannot be imagined. Government trained at doing some really bad stuff to get the job done. You won't see them write a single word about this background EVER. They are just a regular guy when here. One now works as a high school girls volleyball coach. If they only knew who he really was. I hope some idiot tries to cause havoc in this school while he is there. If there could ever be a cross between Superman and Rambo this is the guy! Yet I have seen people post a rude disrespectful comment to him now and then. I can only image the difference in the way that would happen with knowledge of his back ground and in a face to face conversation!
A Psychiatrist that has hunted with me once told me this is a site filled with medical marvels that somehow have made it through life with serious social issues! Somehow these guys can see the traits just from reading the posts. Also interesting that he was able to see the traits and digest the content of posts to identify the same guy posting under multiple names!
I would bet that no matter what the issue in your life, there is an astonishing member with skill to solve the problem. You would not even imagine somebody like this is available on a chat forum. No matter if it's a plumbing issue, HVAC, welding, dental, marriage counselor, football coach barber, etc etc, there is a wealth of accumulated knowledge visiting this site today that eliminates I dare say 99.9% of the hoaxes and trolls if that is a visitors interest.
I'm glad to be part of this site, and to have been here from the beginning. It's been pretty cool to see it grow and evolve into what must be the premier place for outdoorsman to visit on the web
