Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Steve Rinella

Like him or hate him? Seems like a pretty good gig he has going but the whole touchy feely halfway millennial thing he has going gets tiresome. Just shoot a deer in the face and make dinner. No need for the whole “thank you deer for giving your life so we can make snack stick with cheddar cheese” bullschit. Seems like everything has to have deep meaning and a spiritual connection to nature these days. How about some “I need to get some meat in the freezer or starve, so fuch you deer?

None of those feelers ever crossed my mind over the years.

There are some dudes on the youtube that i watch for arrowheads. They find a good one and they get all emo and chit and drop to one knee and “thank thy great spirit”

lol



Thank ye thy great spirit now i can buy two rocks of crank

Slum, growing up it was venison, pork or pretty much nothing. It sure wasn’t a religious experience. It was dinner. Killing game had/has the same emotional impact as planting/digging a potato. Bambi seems to have ruined a bunch of [bleep].

In my years at Fort Benning, it was much the same for rural Alabama.

Reality is tough.

I don’t mind him getting touchy feely while sporting his Weatherby rifle, wearing his First Lite gear, sighting with his Vortex Binos and scope, trekking those miles in his Schnees boots, and gutting the critters with his signature Benchmade knife.

I still like his show, but the push to product brands on his website and social media pages is too much. Expected With success. Don’t fault him for making money. But the enjoyment of following an average Joe is gone.

I don't care for it...seems like some times he is trying to spew some Walden Pond type crap. I also think he is more pro conservation and not so much pro 2A. I'd rather he be pro 2A.

He do his thing, I do mine. Mine is take same old rifle, put a few rounds from that multiyear box of ammo in a jacket pocket, and hit the timber in my muck boots and jeans. Kill one or two deer, drag them to the truck, and its to the house for the real work. No real branding but Winchester and Wrangler. And I ain't taking no selfies or getting emotional. I am simply grocery shopping, with about the same level of excitement, only better because I am out in the woods.

To be honest! I don't even know who the man is. Never watch hunting shows. Rather go do it myself if I have that kind of time.

Guess I haven't seen his show enough to notice, but I do generally find the show to be decent. As to the touchy-feely thanking of spirits and animals, I've noticed that too and seen it mentioned by many people as something they do. If they actually do it or are just saying that to appear to be something more than just a hunter, I can't say. It has always seemed like nonsense to me, as no animal has ever sacrificed itself for me. In fact they've been downright stubborn and selfish about running away, hiding and generally just eluding me while hunting. Mind you, a few have tried to sacrifice themselves on the hood of my car, so maybe I should be thankful?

Guy at work this afternoon was asking a few questions since he’s about to go on his first elk hunt.
Said he’d seen Rinella wrap a heart and tenderloins in the gut of an elk and roast it over a campfire before eating it. I about pissed myself laughing and told him to have at it if he wanted to ruin the best part of his elk by wrapping it in shiit and burning it over a fire. I reminded him that this is the same dude that ate a coyote and gave himself trichinosis eating a rare bear steak, just who I look to for culinary advice.

I don’t watch the touchy feelings stuff. Blood on my hands has been a part of my entire adult life, both in work and and play.

I am thankful for the critters that go in my belly.

But none of that cosmic hippie chit.

I don't mind him yet, and don't mind people who are grateful and give thanks for an animal. I don't like it when they make a big deal out of it. The look at me I'm praying type are generally full of [bleep] people anyway. Kind-of like the pedo catholic priest. Can't say I watch his show but if it's on I will. His "cooking" isn't much different than lot's of people I hunt with anyway. Except I don't use gut's to cook in.

I don't mind Steve Rinella, if he wants to take a deep dive into fishing and hunting so be it. If he can make a living doing it more power to him. If you don't like him don't listen or buy his stuff.

His show, and podcast in particular, enriches my hunting experience in much the same way reading a good hunting book does. I can say the same for reading John Barsness's musings on hunting and shooting. Both add to my knowledge and experience.

I like to honor the animal I just killed. Smooth the hair a bit, a little pat on the shoulder and a quiet "thank you" before I slit it's belly.

Just me.

JFC at least get the story right. It wasn’t gut, it was caul fat.

Eastern tenderfeet need to learn a few things.

Hard to fault him for hawking First Lite- he (or Meat Eater, Inc) bought the company.

Read his American Buffalo book... it is a worthy read.

He does his homework and writes a decent story. I know Steve a little and his brother that lives locally a bit more. They seem to be tough, bright guys.

I like Rinella. He seems to thrive on working hard and enjoys the tough hunt. Great book also.

Much worse than him out there trying to make a living being TV hunters.

Heck, I appreciate every wild animal that goes into my freezer and can totally understand those that do. I like how he often ties history and early hunting cultures to modern day hunting and why we still have a drive to hunt within some of us.

About the only thing I don't get about Rinella is when he tries to cook something at the kill site. I think that stuff is more done to keep the "meateater" thing going.

Hey Lonny, hope you're getting some hunting in. Should be about time or close to peasant season. I miss that for sure.

maybe Rinella is cooking something on site so he doesn't have to show the folks how to eat a slice of raw liver or heart, like real meateaters do?