TreeWalker Posted July 10, 2021 Report Share Posted July 10, 2021 This is a shout out and a call out, who out there was part of the original Realtree Forums ?? I’m talking back when it was dial-up and cell phones were the size of a Honda !! Remember when there was only like 150 members, and I think we were on like Monster Bucks 6 lol…..then things just exploded…..when Realtree became HOT. Next thing the member tally was 5 figures and we were all made moderators/administrators to help keep up with the mayhem lol. Then I log into the Forums today….one of the first times since my divorce in 2008….which found me giving up my mod-status and falling off the face of the earth. But what is shocking to me is seeing the huge drop off in posts etc…..most alarming of which is the Youth Room, no posts in over 3 years. is hunting dying off, are we loosing youth hunters…..or is just with all the social media platforms, that this platform has become more of relic…..like us OG members ?? Happy to see a lot of familiar names, and hope you all are doing great. TreeWalker……alias Iminrut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkoholic Posted July 10, 2021 Report Share Posted July 10, 2021 5 hours ago, TreeWalker said: is hunting dying off, are we loosing youth hunters…..or is just with all the social media platforms, that this platform has become more of relic…..like us OG members ?? Well, I don't think hunting is dying off, nor are there less youth hunters. Multiple, somewhat frustrating, updates to this platform along with multiple social media options (Facebook for sure) have resulted in many moving on. Another factor is the effort to keep this forum a family friendly environment, which in today's world simply does not fit well with many people. Then, there are life altering happenings that you are well aware of, which changes one's focus. Even if a new member posts something, it will often not be responded to. Maybe, everything has already been said. It seems everything has a beginning and an end. Good to see you back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted July 10, 2021 Report Share Posted July 10, 2021 Good to see you check in Clay, right? Been a while since you had been on last. It is unfortunate this forum is not what it once was. As Dave mentioned above, don't think this forum being so slow is attributed to hunting dying out. Think it is a combination of factors. A lot of members got frustrated with the "upgrades". There were a lot of site issues that kept members from being able to login, happened more than once. Hope things are going well for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted July 11, 2021 Report Share Posted July 11, 2021 Hey Clay! Yes, sadly, this site has gone pretty silent. I've been here for 13 years, June 17th 2008 Came on as Oneida Man. I do remember dial up etc. This is the ONLY forum I actively visit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DowninWhiteys Posted July 22, 2021 Report Share Posted July 22, 2021 most forums have been dying or went belly up with the rise of facebook, which really took off in the early 2010's. A couple of Nebraska centric outdoors forums have went by the wayside in the last 10 or so years, and they were really popular, too. Now only one, and it is not too exciting right now either. I have seen many forums that used to have LOTS of activity like this one, only to dwindle to a trickle. Some good ones have disappeared too. It wouldnt be uncommon to see the same usernames on many different forums either. I think some people either grew out of posting and sharing because life took over, or became jaded by the ease of which people could attack someone for even the littlest of things, so it was easier to just log off and leave or lurk in the shadows and not get jumped on. I will admit that as some of these forums that have lost traffic, I stopped visiting them too, and while Im not a regular poster or visitor, I do recognize a handful of you from other places and going all the way back to when I joined in 2006. I can appreciate a tight knit community, as it keeps down a lot of the acrimony and bickering, and creates a more personal feel, where others can BS and knows everybody. It is a friendly place.?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted July 22, 2021 Report Share Posted July 22, 2021 Holy CRAP !!!!! I just looked. In about 3 weeks (Aug 12th) it'll be 20 years hanging out in the RT Forums for me.......... !!!! Where DO da time GO ????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted July 23, 2021 Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 It seems we are all "too busy" for the forums. It was once great, but somehow (I'm guessing facebook) things have changed. Yet, our love of the industry remains strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultradog Posted July 24, 2021 Report Share Posted July 24, 2021 I hang out on forums quite a lot. A couple of tractor forums mostly but also a few hobby machine shop and Airstream travel trailer forums. Have been on my main tractor board for over 20 years where I have more than 26K posts. I don't see a downturn in traffic there or at the other forums much at all. I had an alias on Fecebook for about 10 years but never followed any hunting stuff there so don't know if that place pulled any traffic from here. I do agree the software updates here were a huge cause of the loss of traffic. Also, I have said this before - and it wasn't recieved well then and likely won't be now but the focus here has always been on hunting big bucks. I have always thought that a greater acceptance of guys who just want a legal deer would have helped. It isn't like we here didn't accept that type of hunter but our enthusiasm for them wasn't there. And enthusiasm does show. Yeah I know, I sometimes get a bit weary with all the noobs and boobs who ask dumb questions about 8N Ford tractors but I learned to be patient, helpful and welcoming to those guys because from THEM the place has built a huge traffic base and and within that base is a solid cadre of really excellent members who have moved far beyond those antiquated 8Ns. Another analogy, this one from the retail shopping world would be: Guys who really are in to hunting spend a lot more on hunting stuff than the average weekend hunter. But if you are a retailer you know that it is all those thousands of weekend hunters that keep your doors open. I don't know how we here can ever get this board's mojo back. This place is hosted by a very fine company and is NOT laden with crappy advertising like so many other sites are. You would think the lack of advertising alone would bring people in. I bought the RT MB vids for a dozen years but now am pretty far removed from anything RT is doing on TV or video. Does the old David, Bill and Michael bunch still make tv programs and vids these days? If they are, all it would take is a few mentions of this place to bring the traffic back. But we old timers would have to reach out more and do our part to keep folks coming back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosierhunter Posted August 16, 2021 Report Share Posted August 16, 2021 Yeah it’s been 21 years for me this fall on the forum. Certainly a downturn in activity for the last 10 years or so. I don’t do social media, but getting married and having 4 kids certainly takes up time. I have shown up for the deer context every year, but not much time spent outside of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowhunter97 Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 This is my first time logging in in probably 3 years, I’ve been here for 11 years which is nuts. I used to pop in once in a while but it seems my last post was 2015. Now I have to figure out how to change my picture from when I was 16 to one more accurate (24 now lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted September 3, 2021 Report Share Posted September 3, 2021 (edited) I have recently been joining FB hunting pages and see many young hunters posting. They are still hunting. Forums are old school - in time the current popularity of youth using FB will give way to whatever latest and greatest new way to post pictures and get information comes along. Edited September 3, 2021 by fly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NS whitetail Posted September 3, 2021 Report Share Posted September 3, 2021 Howdy , yup I was one of the original members many many moons ago lol. I peek and pop in every once in a great while. I think that a lot of the social media sites is what caused the collapse of this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogwild63 Posted September 3, 2021 Report Share Posted September 3, 2021 Wow. I just looked at my activity stream and I haven't posted since Nov. 2020 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted September 24, 2021 Report Share Posted September 24, 2021 I'm into my 19th year here now so not really part of the "original" forum crew that was considered for a moderator spot. Never have been but I'm fine with it. With the amount of time people spend on social media or answering/reading group text, it's no wonder people have gotten away from forums over the years. Think about it...how often to you see people wrapped up in their phone for hours now doing one or the other...or both at the same time. Especially those under 25! There's only so many hours in a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted October 4, 2021 Report Share Posted October 4, 2021 Some of the Best Memories of my life are because of Realtree, and many of the Members here. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted October 5, 2021 Report Share Posted October 5, 2021 19 hours ago, buckee said: Some of the Best Memories of my life are because of Realtree, and many of the Members here. ? Good to see you check in here Steve. Yep, some great memories made with members of this site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drkillemquick Posted October 12, 2021 Report Share Posted October 12, 2021 Nice to see some familiar names from the past. Started on here almost 16 years ago. This was a hoping place back in the day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg Posted October 12, 2021 Report Share Posted October 12, 2021 I'm not sure what qualifies one being an OG but I'm in my 14th year on these forums. Original username was hogdawg, then The_Dawg (a play on The_Kat's username) and now it's just Dawg. I don't frequent the forums as much as I used to. Between my full time job, my personal business I started last year and family there's not much time for anything else. This was the very first forum I joined and still get the "home" feeling when I log in. You guys were the first to go along on my first muley hunt in Colorado and the hunts in the following years. The forums aren't what they used to be but that's alright. Sometimes the camaraderie gets lost when there's too much going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 (edited) Yep, I am probably one of the OG. Lord knows how long I have been around here. ( Just looked, 21 years). My biggest reason for dropping off is I changed jobs in 2010, and went from an office environment to being on the road for the next two years, with little down time. That continued for another 11 years, until Aug of this year, to which I am jow retired. I thing technology, ie FACEBOOK and such are a big reason for forums dying off. Also, with all the members that came along, there was the "politics" as well, and that may have been an issue as well. And, as well all know, life goes on, many of us have probably gotten busier in our day to day lives, keeping us from logging in as much Edited October 14, 2021 by Gator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hutchies Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 Do I count as OG? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 12 minutes ago, hutchies said: Do I count as OG? ? Looking at your post count, I'd say no, as you still have milk on your lips. How you been? Been awhile! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hutchies Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 Doing well. Live in Ardmore now. Not a lot of time to hunt. I run over the road trucking. Started my own company. Middle daughter is a senior and my boy is in 8th grade. Doesn’t seem like many years ago I was posting pics of him sitting in my lap fletching arrows as a toddler with me. Where has time gone? One of these days we need to all get together. Get Kyle, Kev, Dale, and everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 3 minutes ago, hutchies said: Doing well. Live in Ardmore now. Not a lot of time to hunt. I run over the road trucking. Started my own company. Middle daughter is a senior and my boy is in 8th grade. Doesn’t seem like many years ago I was posting pics of him sitting in my lap fletching arrows as a toddler with me. Where has time gone? One of these days we need to all get together. Get Kyle, Kev, Dale, and everyone. Time sure flies, that's for sure. That would be a great idea. Bout the only person I ever talk to anymore is Trey, and that isn't often enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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