Bo knows hunting. So do the rest of us.

The guiding and outfitting industry has been in existence since man first had an interest in exploring and hunting new lands and for different species of game than one could hunt locally. In North America, the exploration and opening of the West primarily rode on the backs of three things: the fur trade, the gold rush, and big game hunting.

While all the buzz lately has been about public land access, let’s not overlook the undeniable reality that many of us will be seeking to obtain or maintain permission to hunt private land this fall. It’s simply a matter of logistics and percentages.

We’ve all seen it—a group of hunters sitting around a table for a meal or afterward around a fire back at camp or maybe after opening morning in a local café, gathered at a deer check station or at the taxidermist. Mood is jovial and expectations high.

The overwhelming majority of hunters truly care about and respect wildlife and the game animals and birds we hunt.

The lines between hunting and poaching are being blurred.

What this means is the non-hunting public is increasingly not making a clear distinction between hunting and poaching. Increasingly, the two are being used interchangeably. Even the media is getting it wrong.

Maybe it’s because the media has long taken potshots at hunters. Maybe it’s because social media invites inflammatory, soundbite headlines and unfiltered keyboard terrorists. Maybe it’s because animal rights and anti-hunting groups never seem to let the facts get in the way of a good argument. Maybe it’s all of the above and more.