Waddell puts the latest incidents of the outdoor industry into words like no one else can. We couldn't agree more.
Michael Waddell is never short on words. He never has been and never will be. Thankfully, what comes from his mouth is usually spot on to what the outdoor world needs to hear. Passionate about hunting and fishing, Michael will often sound off on matters and provide us with sound logic and inspiration.
As a person who is involved in the industry and someone who deeply loves everything that hunting and fishing stands for, it was a breath of fresh air to hear Waddell release this video.
I think people often forget about how we all represent a community as a "team" that fights to protect the great outdoors. Waddell admits he and Chris Brackett have had their differences, almost coming to blows at one point. However, that doesn't mean he doesn't respect the guy and wish the best for him after the recent news of his poaching allegations.
Social media has driven me nuts over the last few days. Did Brackett mess up? Clearly! Should he be punished? Yes! Is he still human? Yup! Have I messed up before? You bet.
Hunters everywhere have done things they aren't proud of, myself included. Maybe you've slipped onto property when you didn't have permission, or you didn't properly tag your harvest, or you shot too many does. Maybe you shot after legal shooting time by a couple minutes or accidentally shot too many birds. It's easy to make a mistake.
Unfortunately we are a sinful species, and if that buck walked out in front of you in the same situation, many of you would've done the same or at least given it a thought. You know how I know? Because it would've been tempting for me as well. Would I have shot it? No, I'd like to think not. But I sure would've wanted too. Waddell is very clear on that matter too.
For people to point fingers and throw insults and disgust at Brackett for what he did begins to irritate me. Of course he was wrong and it's sickening, but do not throw such hate on an individual because he got caught, and you never did. Beyond that, I hope he can figure things out and learn from the mistake. The man will pay for what he did, as he's already ruined everything he worked so hard for over the last decade in a matter of days. Unfortunately, he'd burnt many bridges by treating people poorly over the years, so he doesn't have much support. But, we should still wish him the best, we're still one big family of hunters.
While Brackett has left a black eye on the hunting community, it still isn't our place to judge him. Beyond just the Brackett situation, Waddell goes a little further into some problems he's seeing and I couldn't agree more.
It's a strange world we live in today. Social media will quickly bring everything to the forefront. If you slip up, you're going to hear a lot about it.
With that said, let us hunters remain positive and get things back to the way they used to be. There was a time when the people of this industry were here to teach on another and encourage each other to be better outdoorsmen. Now, everyone is fighting for the top spot.
We should encourage every hunter that someday you can be successful in the woods, rather than owning and protecting a better hunting status.
Leave it to Waddell to lay it all out there.
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