Contest
 

I have decided not to run the turkey contest this year. With all the work that goes in to making the contest, and with the numbers in decline, I regret the contest has ran its course. My apologies to all.

I can certainly respect that decision.

Thanks for all the hard work and time spent in the past years

It's certainly been fun the few years I've been involved.

-Jake

That's too bad. At least I can say I was on the last winning team of the turkey contest. Maybe we can still have a show your kill thread. We can at least see each others success.

For whats its worth thank you for all the fun years doing this contest. Hate to see it go. Have a great and safe turkey season all. Jeff

Thanks for they years of fun. The contest will be missed.
Dean

Don't just fade into HNI history y'all.... Just cause the contest is gone doesn't mean the stories and fun have to go to.

Start a thread about your season and your hunts. Share your photos and your score. The fun can still be had if we all post and share our hunts

-Jake

No offense but that decision could have been announced 8 days ago instead of saying you debating whether to have the contest or not. Not saying you shouldn't have put thought into it but posting that you're debating when you're making a solo decision doesn't come across as fair. It's like you're fishing for people to ask you to keep the contest instead of discontinuing it. If you wanted input or even debate, you could have asked for either and let people voice their opinion. At least that way, people could have helped move the discussion towards a decision. As it is, this way just makes people feel like the outcome was already decided and they wasted their time voicing their opinion. Not trying to be disrespectful but this kind of stuff is frustrating for a member.

You're welcome to run it elkman.

These guys put allot of time and effort into this contest. Especially when it was full of people.

They asked about continuing the contest to see what the response level was. And a grand total of 6 people replied saying that they would definitely participate.

This factored into their decision I'm certain. They didn't ask, and then ignore a bunch of people's opinions.

This site used to run many contests. We've had everything from squirrel, furbearer, turkey and deer contests in my memory. Even youth only deer contests with 20+ participants. I believe there was a waterfowl contest for a while as well..

Simply put, the participation and the numbers just aren't there to support these anymore. Unfortunate, but it is what it is


-Jake

Okay, agree to disagree. I pointed out how it would have given more people a chance to voice their opinion on if they wanted to see the contest continue. Maybe somebody was willing to step up and help run it. I'm not in everybody else's mind, just offered some ideas and thoughts. I didn't criticize or bash a mod and even said "no offense." Just because I disagree doesn't make it bashing or criticizing or anything other than a different opinion or viewpoint. That's part of what this country is about. Being able to have and voice a different opinion. You on the other hand, just called me a big mouth blasting people. Which is kind of making it personal and like you're bashing. If you disagree, say why. There's no need to make it personal or throw out some insult.

I'm just not sure what you think could have been done differently elkman. They made a post asking "who all wants a contest this year?"

And a total of 6 people said they would definitely be involved. It seems to me like they did exactly what you are suggesting that they should have done.

They asked the opinion of the members, got some input, and based their decision on that.

-Jake

The contest has been in decline for years and not many showed an interest in the contest. That decision was not determined until the other day and then I felt horrible about it..

You do realize your statement about freedom of speech is pretty hollow. You disagree with my opinion and therefore are bad mouthing my speaking and freedom to do so. Read the statement below in quotes. That's what you posted. I think anybody reading the statement below would logically conclude you were talking about me. There's no disclaimer in the original statement telling me (and everyone else) that I am not in that category and every inference that I am. Apparently we do agree on something at least--"no one wants to ask a question on a forum, just to get criticized are blasted by some big mouth." That's kinda how I feel about this whole exchange with you. You honestly may be feeling something different but if you look back through your actual post, your meaning was different.

Ok so I'm a little confused Arrowmaster puts out a post asking about the contest . The only comment from elkman30 was" Don't know a forum named OG but this place has been slowing down for a while. Prolly a lot of reasons why."
Then when Arrowmasters tells us he isn't going to continue with the contest and you now want to complain about his decision !

For Arrowmaster and Bocajnala, I am honestly not trying to "bash" either one of you or any of that other crap that bornagain guy is claiming. He's upset about something that sounds like it's from other people. I posted "no offense" and meant it. I've been here for a while and have watched the site's changes and slowdown. For people like bornagain, I am not implying you're the cause of it. Just because I don't participate in the turkey contests or any of the other contests doesn't mean I don't read about them and enjoy the posting. IIRC, Arrowmaster, you were a Contest Mod before becoming a SuperMod. I am sure being a SuperMod has lots of other duties involved for what is not a paid position. Again for bornagain, this is not meant as criticism, just an acknowledgement that your job prolly got a lot harder with a lot more stuff added to your duties. I am sure running a contest is a lot of work behind the scenes and not just posting here and there. Again for bornagain, not a criticism.

For bornagain, this entire paragraph below isn't criticism nor an attack either. this is what you call discussing an idea. Arrowmaster, maybe it's time for one of the other guys who do participate in the contest to consider becoming a contest mod and running the contest. I honestly don't know if any of them are interested or willing to do so. You could make the offer and none of them accept. But you would have made the offer and maybe a tradition on this website that we all spend so much time on would still continue. Maybe it would only run for another year or 2. Maybe it would take off. I don't know. I've been on this site for over a decade now. I lurked a lot and used to read it daily. It has slowed down. And that's not the fault of any of the current mods. People have stopped being mods for various reasons. New mods have come on board. Maybe, it's time to see if there's interest in a few members to become a contest mod. That was my original point which got lost with all the bashing by bornagain. If you guys are able to recruit a few new contest mods, maybe in time they will become Super Mods like both of you have. Again, for bornagain, that's not bashing and is actually a compliment. Your feelings tend to misconstrue a lot of my comments so I am "clarifying" them in advance so you don't drag the conversation downhill again.

So Arrowmaster, if you think there's merit in offering contest mod positions, maybe that will end of keeping a tradition alive around here. Which would be a good result.

I sort of answered you in the above post but didn't want to seem rude or like I was ignoring you. You are easily one of the best mods on this site and have always bent over backwards to be fair to members. In fairness though, Arrowmaster did ask for input from members. And they did provide input, exactly as he asked. They were very understanding and respectful too. He didn't ask if anybody wanted to step up and be a replacement contest mod though. That's probably something that admin would have to approve. I don't know. But it would be neat if that happened and another tradition in this place was to continue. I originally stated "no offense" but that seemed to be taken out of context by one member. For that one member who interprets things differently, I have made the above suggestion and reasons for it with absolute respect for the job both you and ArrowMaster do. I am merely suggesting a way for you guys to perhaps get a little more help in running the place and continuing the fun parts of this place.

Somebody else is welcome to step up and run it .

But it's not going to be much of a contest with 6 people interested. If there was continued interest, they'd still be having it.

No offense was taken. Just saying that I think they made an informed decision based on member interest. And the amount of people that they would have.


-Jake

I'll also add that I ran the youth deer contest and the squirrel contest long before becoming a mod or contest mod.

But it requires assistance from a mod to sticky posts etc. But if somebody wants to step up and run a contest, they are welcome to. As long as it follows HNI rules and reflects well on the hunting community.

-Jake

Just so you know bornagain has always been respectful. I did not see any problems with his post or it would have been deleted by myself or another mod. As for the contest there is a contest mod and if he wants to run the contest I support him fully. This issue JW and myself have talked about for years and I mean years. We went from over 200 contestants down to around 30 contestants. WE have known for years the contest was doomed and you don't realize how much this contest meant to me.

I,d luv to be in a contest.I,m gonna see if my question was answered in the other thread.

By not gettin any response after a couple requests on the other thread my question has been answered.:nonono2:

All good things must end. Thanks again to everyone who has put this together over the years, I've really enjoyed participating and watching. :cool2:

Arrow I KNOW first hand how much goes into running contests. You get no thanks and get all the whiners. It's a personal pain and if you are done I stand 100% beside you. I hate to see it gone, but absolutely know your character and the man you are.

Sorry to see this contest go, it's been fun over the years. Being a long time participant, I too have seen the drop off of people entering this contest. I figured this day was coming. Most of the hunting forums that I belong to I seldom log on anymore, due to all the put downs and bickering that goes on. I've stayed with this site the longest, overall this is a good site with a lot of good people here. I'm not afraid to ask a question on here with fear of being attacked like on other sites.

Gonna miss the contest, my team even won once! Thanks to all the past Captains and Moderators for all their hard work. And to all my fellow turkey hunting fanatics...may your gun go boom and not click!

That's unfortunate. At least I was on the winning team for the first time last year. Thanks a bunch for running the contest as long as you did. It was fun.

I enjoyed the contest while it lasted. Thank you so much for all of the effort that you've put into it over the years! As it turns out, I was gonna hunt turkeys and enjoy it regardless of if there was a contest here or not...

I'm also sad to see this contest go. I am not particularly active on this forum and never really intended to be (I'm a reader, not a writer) but when I noticed this fun little contest was in obvious decline and I finally had a patch of land to myself for turkey hunting a few years back, I decided to join up and participate... if for nothing more than you guys knowing you had one more little supporter of your efforts out there. I was late to the game last year but still got in with no success. I was late to the game this year as well (again, not active here, and I don't let turkeys cross my mind until at least mid-March or I start losing too much sleep over the season) but I suppose this time it didn't really matter. It's a shame to know you guys used to run such a successful competition only to have watch it wane through the years. Forums as a whole are not what they used to be-- most people travel to social media now to discuss topics that forums were once built strongly around. Niche communities are hurt by this the most and it's not like hunting has been rapidly increasing in popularity through the years. It's a shame to think, but I doubt the contest will ever see entry numbers like you used to unless it starts getting advertised elsewhere.

I'll continue to do what I always have and watch this forum from the sidelines. Just know I've always appreciated the efforts of the guys who've put this great contest on for the community. It's been awesome to see what people have harvested through the years and it'll be great to see them continue posting success-- contest or not. Best of luck to everyone this spring season. Stay safe out there.

I,m confused.How do you travel to social media?