Matt Rinella has a famous last name and a passion for hunting.
He also has a message.
In addition to being a research ecologist and lifelong hunter, Rinella is also the brother of Steve Rinella, host of the popular Netflix series MeatEater. While Matt has some television experience himself, his latest venture, Hunt Quietly, takes aim at hunting TV and the commercialization of the sport he loves.
Matt decided to speak up after he noticed public lands in his home state of Montana, as well as other areas throughout the country, were becoming increasingly crowded with hunters. As a former board member of Montana Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Matt watched as the organization championed the R3 movement, but he questioned if the sport really needs to recruit if there aren’t enough places to accommodate more hunters. The trend of public lands becoming overcrowded is a problem that has developed in just about every state, Matt said, including areas of Pennsylvania. Without ample space to accommodate everyone, is it wise to put so much emphasis on recruiting new hunters?
“I just couldn’t understand why we’re recruiting more hunters. I talk to hunters across the country and overcrowding on public lands is a major issue,” he said. “The truth is, there are a lot of hunters out there that don’t want to see more hunters, especially if we don’t have the space on public lands to accommodate it.”
The R3 initiative, coupled with hunting television and social media – which Matt says are disingenuous – compelled him to launch his own website and podcast called Hunt Quietly. In challenging the norm when it comes to recruiting more hunters, Matt said he knows there will be opposition from game agencies and the hunting entertainment industry, but he isn’t backing down.
The problem with R3, he said, is the concept is financially driven by the financial interests of hunting non-profit organizations and industry sponsors. Even though public lands may not be able to withstand an increase in numbers, the non-profits continue to push R3 because it increases the pool of dues-paying members, according to Matt. In turn, new hunters represent new customers for manufacturers of hunting equipment, and that’s why they loft sponsorship dollars at the non-profits that continue to push the R3 narrative.
“I’ve heard people at the non-profits say they can’t do away with their R3 work because they fundraise off it. Their sponsors wouldn’t like it if they backed off from R3,” Matt said. “But who are the non-profits serving when they push R3? Is it the hunting community or their own bottom line and the industry sponsors?
“R3 lacks a goal. No one can tell me how many hunters they want to recruit or how many more our public lands can withstand. At what point does the quality of the hunting experience become a consideration instead of profits?”
Matt also doesn’t hold back when it comes to criticizing the hunting entertainment industry and social media influencers. Those groups are also campaigning to attract new hunters in the name of financial benefit rather than what’s best for the sport. As hunting celebrities spend enormous sums to hunt and film on private ranches or fly in to remote locations, they’re actually out of touch with the common hunter who battles crowds on public land. Those crowds were attracted to the sport, in part, from watching hunting television and social media, he said.
“Television and social media are bringing more people into hunting under false pretenses,” Matt said. “They show it when it goes good, but not when it goes bad.
“People in hunting entertainment and R3 have ulterior motives for wanting more hunters.”
Matt isn’t convinced that more hunters equals more money for wildlife conservation via an increase in license sales. The benefits of additional hunting license revenue is outweighed by the downside of crowded hunting areas. In fact, Matt believes overcrowding on public lands is a form of habitat destruction.
“Overcrowding renders these places inhospitable to wildlife. You can take the most beautiful piece of country with feed, water and cover, but if you have a guy behind every tree it’s not suitable habitat,” he said. “The game isn’t there when there are people all over the place, it’s uninhabitable for wildlife, and that’s a form of habitat destruction.”
The commercialization of hunting through television and social media is a problem driven by sponsorship money, Matt said. Hunting celebrities and influencers are financially-driven to bring more people to the sport in order to increase viewership clicks on social media, which means a growing customer base for their industry sponsors, he added.
“I’ve watched hunting shows where there’s a nice deer, elk or turkey walking in and on the bottom of the screen is a scroll telling me every product the person on camera is using,” Matt said. “I don’t like seeing wildlife used as a prop for advertising. It cheapens the sport that’s very near and dear to my heart.”
He also worries about the impact the hunting entertainment world is having on the next generation. Matt said hunting is something that should be spiritual, private and sacred, but hunting personalities often come across as greedy as they shoot multiple animals just to create content.
“What about leaving some for somebody else? Is this how the next generation of hunters is going to be – kill as much as they can to keep their Instagram feed going?” he said. “I don’t like that aesthetic and I don’t want to be associated with it as a hunter.”
Despite his concerns, Matt said he is supportive of teaching others the correct way to get involved in the sport. He thinks recruitment should be grassroots, however, and not a concerted effort from non-profits pushing R3 without any consideration of the harmful impacts from overcrowding.
Matt has written several columns taking on R3 and the hunting entertainment industry, and he started the Hunt Quietly podcast in May. Reaction was greater than he expected and split evenly for and against, and he knew some of his positions would hit a nerve.
Still, Matt hopes to continue expanding his message and broaden its reach because he knows there are plenty of hunters that feel the same way.
“What gave me the courage to do this is I have a lot of concern for the hunters who have been at it a long time, do it behind the scenes and don’t make a big show about their passion for the sport,” Matt said. “It doesn’t seem like anyone’s looking out for them, and that’s why I wanted to have the discussion no one else is willing to have.”
