Blogging in the Hunting Niche

by Steve Remington

For some of us who have been writing blogs in the hunting niche we can all find similarities and most will tell you it has been a long tough road. The truth of the matter is most hunters who come online enjoy forum based communities. The forum still seems to be the most entertaining, resourceful, and easiest script to understand. The word “blog” still can have a downside to what you are trying to achieve. The term “blog” is highly associated with myspace and people can only picture a troubled teen posting a nude picture of herself on her blog. Parents worry to the high heavens that their children don’t go to any pervert blogs.

But the nature of blogging is changing. The term “blog” takes on so many identities today. There is blogging and then there is “pro blogging”. Pro blogging is what we are aiming for, especially here at Skinny Moose Media. We sort of try to step out from behind the stereotypes and the daily diary type writing and work more towards writing resourceful information for readers. We are “new media” where we can report with commentary, the aspects of hunting we feel are most important to our readers, and update our blogs with this information.

I think some people are starting to figure it out. This is the wave of the future. Though we still may be reading newspapers and magazines, online blogs are a new form of media that you can log on and read any time. The Black Bear Blog was around before Skinny Moose Media even became a Network. The Black Bear Blog is one of the first major hunting blogs that we can consider “new media”. Well known magazine publications such as Field & Stream and Outdoor Life caught on early, that “blogs” are part of the online experience. People will always sit down and read their well known print publication but what is it they can get when they come online? The answer is articles and blogs.

But we have two things happening here. We have the well known print publications trying to expand their media into a new form while online. We also have blogs that are starting from scratch. People are learning that they can promote themselves and their business through blogging each day. Kristine Shreve, blogs at the Hunt Smart Think Safety blog to help promote her product and overall business. Blogging is a great way for businesses to reveal to the world who they are. They aren’t limited to geography or high costs.

We also have aspiring writers looking to point people to their writing and good reporting. Dan McLaughlin (aka Moose) reports news, takes pictures of his hunting trips, and produces great commentary at Moose Droppings. Dan has been blogging steady for over a year and his blog has become a highly visited hunting and outdoor blog.

But until we can get other hunters to really accept the blogging world we will continue to see some difficult times marketing who we are. So many times we resort back to online forums for our media. When you break out past the hunting niche, you see a vast majority of online readers and writers who have adopted blogging as their primary source of information and online media. Forums were a thing of the past, or more of a place to chat than receive news. The future is bright though. Everyday I see more and more hunting and fishing blogs being started and the communication between them all is extraordinary. We all face the same issues and are really in it together. From anti-hunting groups looking to tear down our way of life and heritage to preserving the outdoors we all share a common bond. And it is through blogging that we can really push the envelope, get our message across, and reveal ourselves as one large force.