I get this question often, “What is the difference between hunters and poachers?”

For someone that is not familiar with hunting, that is a fair question. The difference between hunters and poachers is two totally different things. The term “poachers” is used as a negative undertone that people use to describe hunters. Hunters are, in fact, NOT poachers.

I found this video from an outdoor media page, Blood Origins, that does an excellent job explaining the difference between the two:

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Blood Origins’ caption for this video is so important to understand! It states:

“Hunting ≠ Poaching…The term that is used against us to denote a negative connotation is calling hunters poachers. This mistruth couldn’t be further from the truth. Just this past week, two articles were written, one in Barstool Sports reaching millions of people and one in unpopular science (which was essentially a hit piece) that conflated hunting and poaching together. There are naturally some fundamental differences between hunting and poaching, and more often than not, it comes down to some pretty simple ethics-related questions. So next time someone says or you read somewhere hunting is poaching, here’s the #truth…”

For those that are not in the hunting or outdoor space, start educating yourself! The more you learn, the more your eyes will open to what is going on worldwide. This is a great video to start with! Hunting is a crucial part of our ecosystem and maintaining our wildlife, and it’s essential for us to all understand.