Headline News For Hunter And Anglers

© By Othmar Vohringer

As an outdoor writer I spend a considerable amount of time researching news headlines on the internet to gather information about topics I want to write about. It’s a tedious job. On my research rounds I come across many newspaper articles that cover issues that are of importance to hunters and anglers, such as conservation issues, government regulations and many other topics the informed sportsman and women should know about. I am also aware that many outdoor communicators spend as much time each day, or more, as I do searching the news.

This has given me the idea to create a new blog. The BC Headline Hunter is a convenient place where hunters, anglers and outdoor writers/journalists can find all the latest news pertaining to British Columbia hunting, fishing, conservation, related politics and legislation in one single place, gathered and compiled daily just for you.

Visit the BC Headline Hunter.

Five Years Outdoors With Othmar Vohringer

© By Othmar Vohringer

This week marks the fifth year since I wrote the first post on this blog. During that time the blog underwent many changes until it looked like now. The idea to start a blog came to me when I searched the Internet for some hunting information and came upon the Sportsman’s Blog, written by fellow outdoor writer Jim Braaten.

Immediately I thought that this is a great way to provide information and stay in touch with the readers. Over time I realized that a blog is the ideal vehicle to reach people that are not involved in hunting. To me that was an important issue amidst all the animal rights and anti hunting agenda cluttering the Internet I felt it is important to provide our view so non-hunters could make informed decision.

In the Top 50

© By Othmar Vohringer

It has been very hectic the last several months around here, but over Christmas I had time to take it a bit easier and relax. I spent a wonderful time with my wife and family and I even found time to visit a few of my outdoor blogging friends on the Internet. Imagine my surprise when I discovered on Dayne Shuda’s reputable blog Hunting Business Marketing that my blog column The Pink Wave was chosen as one of The Top 50 Hunting Blog Posts of 2009 on his blog.

Thank you Dayne for that unusual Christmas gift and let me return the favor of this honor by saying that Hunting Business Marketing is one of my more frequently visited blog. Dayne Shuda provides excellent advice on how to market your business on the Internet and certainly has helped my in that regard. He’s written a book about marketing strategies for the Internet and also provides his valuable tips through his Hunting Business Marketing Newsletter.

Reading through the top 50 list made me realize just how much information there is on the Internet about all aspects of outdoor activity. When I started this blog in 2005 - is it already that many years? - there were no more than a handful of outdoor bloggers. My blogroll had exactly 10 blogs listed. Boy has time changed! Today there are over 40 hunting and fishing blogs on my website and many more on the Internet. back then I would spend an hour to visit all the blogs. Today it has become hard for me to keep track of them all, let alone visit each one every day. It would take a week or more just to read them all.

It's a good thing to see that many blogs because bloggers, more than anyone else, are able to reach a huge and diverse readership. This in turn will make sure that the message we have to spread is widely read. In my article Youth Outdoor Participation Declines published on the Outdoor Bloggers Summit blog I outlined why it is more important than ever to promote hunting and fishing to the young people.

As an active and tireless promoter of our outdoor heritage I say thank you to all the hunting and fishing bloggers for doing such a great job. Most of you are probably not even aware of what an important role you play on the Internet. Keep it up and to all of you, and my readers, I wish a Happy New Year connected with my best wishes for good health and prosperity in whatever it is you do. Here is to a new year to which I look forward, bringing you more information, updates, news and tips about our great hunting and fishing heritage.

This blog post has been brought to you by Othmar Vohringer Outdoors

Outdoors with Othmar Vohringer Reviewed

© Othmar Vohringer

Actually I wanted to write about the fantastic weekend my wife and I had on our trip to eastern British Columbia and share some pictures with you from that trip. But then something happened this morning that changed my mind. I still will tell you all about that weekend but first this!

To say I was surprised when I checked my email this morning is an understatement when I read the email Dayne Shuda, editor of Hunting Business Marketing sent me.

Dayne wrote me to let me know that he has reviewed my column A muzzleloader by any name is still a muzzleloader. However, I had no idea that Dayne would use that particular column as an example of good article writing. He writes, “Othmar’s remarkable post covers a situation he encountered with someone where they discussed the issue of muzzleloaders. There are a few reasons I think this blog post became remarkable.” And then goes on explaining why he thinks that my column deserves to be a good example.

I am very humbled by this review because I never expected such a favourable response to any of my blog posts, or the blog as a whole. Neither did I ever expect a comment such as left on Dayne’s blog by one of my favourite blog writers Albert Rash who wrote, “… Othmar’s OwOV is one of my favorite hunting blogs. He is a great educator and is involved with many activities that benefit all outdoorsmen.
I’m glad you picked that article in particular. I myself have used it and linked to it several times.” I am still blushing.

I had honestly no idea that my blog is that popular. From the moment I started this blog all I wanted is a place where I can speak my mind and how I truly feel about the issues within our hunting community while trying to remain as unbiased and fair as possible. Or to put it in other words. I regard my writing as Othmar Vohringer straight talk and opinions shaped by a lifelong of hunting and observations but still keep an open mind.

That my blog/s have become so popular with my readers, and as it seems with the hunting industry, is more then I ever hoped to achieve. That my writing helps and encourages others is humbling and yet at the same time is a commitment for me to do better and continue on this path.

All I can say is a simple but heartfelt thank you to all my readers, supporters and to Dayne Shuda.

Read Dayne Shuda's review.
Read "A muzlleloader by any name is still a muzzleloader".

Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

A new home for the OBS

© Othmar Vohringer

After weeks of hard work Kristine finally created a new home for the Outdoor Bloggers Summit. Today was official moving day and so I went and had a look at the new OBS blog. Wow is all I can say. The new OBS blog looks really good, coordinated in my favorite colors from brown to tan. Unlike the old blog where everything had to be crammed into the side panel – a bit like on this blog – the new blog features several independent pages. This makes for easy and quick access to relevant information.

If you haven’t seen the new home of the OBS go and check it out.

On my side of things I have been busy too with web design. Over the past few weeks I redesigned my website among other projects of which I will elaborate more in the coming days. Yesterday was the launch of the new improved website Othmar Vohringer Outdoors. I am confident that the new layout is easier to navigate and provides more information at a glance.

Othmar Vohringer Outdoors
Founding Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Tags: Outdoor Bloggers Summit, Blog, Website Design, Othmar Vohringer Outdoors

A note about outdoor blog links

© By Othmar Vohringer

When I started blogging about the outdoors in January of 2006 there were only a handful of us. It was easy to visit all blogs within an hour or two and leave a comment.

How things have changed since then. In just a little over three years there are now hundreds of blogs on the Internet, covering just about every imaginable aspect and interest of hunting and fishing. This is a wonderful thing and most likely does more to promot our outdoor heritage to the average person on the street than anything else.

I even would go as far as to say that it is due to the outdoors bloggers and the wealth of first hand reporting they do that has taken a huge bite out of the animal rights and anti hunting community. For the first time people have easy access to the truth about hunting and fishing.

On the downside it has become impossible for me to visit every blog. If I were to do that I easily would spend 24 hours doing just that.

This brings me to the point of this short note. It occurred to me on several occasions when I visit new blogs that the writer has linked to one of my blog(s). If I see that I will return the favor and link to that blog too. However, there might be any number of blogs out there that have linked to me and I do not know about it.

I am happy that many of you think enough of my blog(s) that you want to link to it. However, I am very much a person who believes in “one hand washes the other”.

With that said I would ask you all to help me out a bit. If you link to my blog(s) please drop me a quick note and let me know so I can return the favor by linking my blog to yours. My contact is available in the panel to the right in my profile and also further down above the blogroll where it says “Submit your Blog.”

Thanks!

What’s in a blog – This Blog!

© By Othmar Vohringer

A few weeks ago I read an interesting article written by Kristine on the OBS blog. “How do your readers see you and your blog?” In a nutshell the article deals with the relationship readers have with the writer of the blog.

“One question is what image do you, the blog writer, think your blog has? The other question deals with how your readers view your blog and you as the writer of that blog. Your view of who you are and what your blog is may differ sharply from your readers' views on the same subject.”

Is the writer simply passing along information, or does the writer reflect his or her own personality and thus strikes a personal note with his/her readers and what image does his/her blog convey to the readers?
It seems obvious that readers are more attracted to a blog with personality rather than a blog that has no personality. It is possible that the writer and readers have a completely different perception of the blogs image or the image the writers conveys.

The article appeals to me for several reasons. First, when I started blogging I just wanted to communicate my thoughts about hunting with little thought as to what image I may portray to the readers. However, as time went on and the blog got more popular and readers started to comment on my writings I started to take note of what was expressed in the comments and emails I got in response.

My mission with this blog is best summarized in its subtitle: “Promoting the Outdoor Heritage.” Not the hunting or fishing heritage and neither a particular segment of hunting. “Outdoors” is all-inclusive, hunting, fishing, and trapping in all its legal forms. Over time it has become apparent to me that this neutral approach is particularly appealing to my readers. The readers know that they can come to my blog and read unbiased opinion on all topics relating to our hunting heritage without the soapbox mentality and preaching. This is not as easy to do as it may appear. There are of course certain aspects in our outdoor heritage that I have reservations about, yet I try to remain neutral on the subject.

I do this for two reasons. First I do not want to offend readers that subscribe to a particular choice in hunting or fishing. And second, I do not, under any circumstances, want to give our opposition any material that they can use to make a case against hunting or fishing. Promoting the outdoor heritage and unity among the different factions is at the very top of my agenda.

Another reason why the article appeals to me is that it made me think about where I am heading with the blog and the image the readers have of me. I am pretty confident about the direction my blog is heading, and so far I feel that I have stayed in tune with the mission I set out on.

While I am certain about the direction I am not so confident about the image the readers have of me as a writer. As my regular readers know English is not my native language and I have no formal education in English. This fact at times creates a vacuum in expressing my thoughts the way I would like. The image of me as a writer that I would like to convey is the one where I am sitting opposite my reader engaged in a casual but meaningful conversation. In other words I am aiming to write in a conversational style. Eventually, as my confidence to write combined with the will to get a full grasp of English and experiment with creative writing grows, I will achieve that goal too.

I have taken Kristine’s point well and it made me think. It’s a good thing as a blogger to read articles that make you think about your mission and image. It is easy to get lost and deviate from the mission, which at times is not a bad thing as long as one finds one’s way back on track.
If I were to give any advice to a beginning blogger it would be this:
Have a mission- a clear idea of what your blog should be about.
Stay with a topic you’re familiar with.
Above all be aware of your reader’s reactions to your posts.
Comments can be a good indicator, if you learn to read between the lines, of how your readers perceive you as a writer.

I love blogging and expect to be around for a long time. I might change the blogs now and then or write something that is not exactly in line with the mission statement. But one thing is for sure: it will always be about the important part we hunters and fishers play in wildlife and habitat conservation and the protection and promotion of our treasured outdoor heritage and the unity within our own ranks.

What Blog Statistics Can Tell You.

© By Othmar Vohringer

Yesterday evening I took an evening off, meaning I did not spend two to three hours working and writing on the computer as usual. Well not quite, I did post two new articles, one on Whitetail Deer Passion about public land hunting strategies that have worked time and time again for me, and another article with fall turkey hunting strategies on the Wild Turkey Fever blog. Both articles feature a video clip to prove the point I am making in the article. I had the articles written a few days ahead so it was a simple copy/ paste affair.

For ones I spent time with my family and with my new rifle. I went shooting last Sunday and then the rifle went back to the gunsmith for a few minor customization changes before I shot some more on the range (more about that soon to come).

Since I had a bit time left I thought that it would be neat to explore my web statistic account and check out all the features it offers. You would be surprised to learn what information I can pull from the statistics about my visitors. One feature I came across is really neat. It tells me on hand of a map where my visitors come from and I thought it might interest you to too.

Outdoors with Othmar Vohringer receives visitor’s form around the world from as far as China and India. No big surprise here since this blog covers a lot of different topics that appeal to many different interest groups and not only hunters and fishers.

However, were it does get quite interesting is on Whitetail Deer Passion and Wild Turkey Fever

Most visitors on Whitetail Deer Passion come from America and Canada, but not from across the country. The bulk of the visitors are concentrated east of the Mississippi. A much smaller concentration of visitors comes from the west coast, California and British Columbia. In the middle of the map is a wide empty space. These are the prairie states of American and Canadia. I found that highly interesting. Could it be that most of my articles deal with public land hunting and the fact that east of the Mississippi are more hunters and deer than in the rest of America and Canada?

On the other hand the visitors on the Wild turkey Fever blog come from all over America and the west coast of Canada. To me that looks more obvious. British Columbia has a turkey hunting season for two years now and slowly it catches on with the hunters, hence the many visitors from my home province of hunters looking for turkey hunting information. It also shows the huge success of the turkey preservation program. Today the American wild turkey can be found across North America, even in states where they never had turkeys.

To me this discovery was quite helpful in that I now know what topic of seminars I have to promote in a particular area. I definitely will pay more attention in the future to my home province in promoting my turkey hunting seminars.

Why I Blog

This is the title of an article I read on the Hunt Smart Think Safety blog. Kristine pointed out that she enjoys writing and uses the blog to bring a human face to the company. She said: “I blog to help people get to know, and hopefully like, Gun Safety Innovations. Companies are often sterile entities, and I didn’t want this company to join that group.” This is a very noble attitude and one I wish more companies would subscribe too.

Among other reasons, Kristine also blogs to establish credibility in the outdoor community as a person that has yet to pick up a gun and shoot it. Although grown up in a hunter family she herself has never hunted but is slowly getting into it. In that sense the blog is for Kristine also a vehicle to communicate with hunters.

About half way through the superbly written article I heard a tiny voice inside me asking; “and why are you blogging?” So here it is.

I am not complaining but blogging is hard work. After a long days work I often find that I really do not want to sit on the computer and rack my brain to come up with something interesting to write. Yet here I am every day or every other day blogging away. So what is it?

Kristine gave one part of the answer on her blog when she wrote: “It’s fun, and exciting and frustrating and sometimes exasperating, but I keep doing it because it satisfies something in me.” But that is not the only reason for me to sit here in front of my computer pounding the keyboard. When I started blogging I saw it as a good tool to improve my English grammar and spelling. As my seasoned readers know English is not my native language, German is and the two couldn’t be more different. Over the past year my grammar has improved partly because I blog and partly because my wife is a very patient teacher.

Another reason why I blog is to get my name in front of people and a blog is a good way to achieve this. You may ask why is it important for me to get my name in front of people and my answer is that I have a business interest in hunting through my seminars, promotion and hunting strategy consulting. The blog is a good promotion tool for a business. But the main reason why I blog is because a blog can and often will reach more people then a normal website or hunting magazine ever can.

It is the efficiency and far reaching capacity of the blog that gives me the opportunity to reach many people with a message that is very dear to me. I am dedicated to the promotion of our hunting heritage and the recruitment of more hunters to our ranks. It is important to me that I do my bit to secure the future of hunting for future generations. My blog gives me the possibility to do that and that alone to me is worth spending the time to write and research topics. As a nice side benefit my blogging has given me many new friends that I have never personally met but they come here every day and read what I have to say, many leave a comment or even send me an email telling me how much they like what I have to say and that is very gratifying in itself.

Such friendships can go very far and achieve great things. Let me give just one example of such far-reaching prospects. A few blogger friends and I got together and laid the cornerstone of, what very well could become the first outdoor blogging organization in history, the Outdoor Bloggers Summit.


Tags: Blog, Writing, Outdoors Blog, Outdoor Bloggers Summit

Blog Award Nomination

Outdoors with Othmar Vohringer has been nominated for “Best Sports Blog” by BloggersChoiceAwards. The award winners will be announced on November 10th at the PostieCon in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Of course I am thrilled to be nominated. But more important to me, than winning this thing, is that a nomination and your votes will take my message to many more people. I am appreciative to my many loyal readers but I want to carry my message further to folks that do not hunt and fish.

As the subtitle of this blog “Promoting the Hunting Heritage and Outdoor Sport” states I am dedicated to the promotion of our legacy. In light of the animal rights and anti hunting pressure plus waning hunter numbers, it has become more important than ever before to spread our message to the non-hunting part of society.

The nomination for this award will give me that important opportunity to reach these reader groups. However, to be noticed I need your votes to get this blog in front of as many readers as possible. So please vote for me.

Thank you for your support.

Tags: Blog Award, Award Nomination, Outdoor Blogs, Bloggers Choice Award