The intersection of the outdoors and social media can be a tricky space to navigate, as demonstrated by the downfall of a prominent hunting influencer.
Some Wyomingites with growing social media audiences said it’s important to stay humble and keep it real, to avoid the sort of downfall facing Ryan Lampers, also known as the StHealthy Hunter.
Lampers, charged Sept. 2, faces two felonies for alleged grand theft by deception and the unlawful killing and possession of a trophy-class mule deer buck, Meat Eater reported.
He also faces six misdemeanor charges stemming from other accusations including allegedly lying about where he killed a wolf and killing a mountain lion in the wrong designated hunt area. Lampers allegedly killed the mountain lion, deer and wolf in Idaho in December 2024.
The grand-theft-by-deception charge carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The charge of unlawfully possessing a trophy buck carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison, a $2,000 fine and a lifetime loss of hunting privileges.
Keep It Real
Lacelynn Seibel of Wilson and Owen Miller, a northeast Wyoming resident, told Cowboy State Daily that they appreciate their audiences on social media, but they’ve tried to avoid the sort of one-upmanship that might have tempted Lampers to push past ethical and legal boundaries.
Seibel said she tries to keep her content grounded and not trying to get dragged into online contests over who can kill the biggest trophy animals.
“It’s great to get a giant buck or a giant bull, but it’s not that common,” she said.
She said her content is “more realistic, to say, look, I’m out here.”
And in doing so, she hopes to inspire others to do the same.
Seibel started off hunting white-tailed deer in the Midwest before relocating to Wyoming a few years ago, and falling in love with archery elk hunting.
Her hook is that she learned everything on her own. So, she hopes her content conveys the message that if she did it, others can do the same.
“I’m self-taught. Nobody in my family hunted. I taught myself how to use a bow. How to track game, and all of that,” Seibel said.
Not By Intent
Miller said he didn’t start off trying to snag a large social media following. He started posting photos and short stories about his hunts on social media at his brother’s suggestion.
“I’m fairly good at what I do, and I guess people noticed that, and it built from there,” he said.
He thinks it’s his stories that did the trick.
“A lot of people have a three-second rule on social media. They’ll look at something for three seconds and then scroll past it,” Miller said.
“If you have an interesting story behind your photo, people will stop and read that,” he added.
Say Inside The Lines
Some hunters caught up in a social media high might be tempted to start pushing the envelope to get more followers and engagement.
Miller said his social media influence has had the opposite effect on him.
“It actually pushes me to be more ethical. I go the extra mile to be legal and not do something stupid,” he said.
He said he understands how some hunters could let notoriety start going to their heads, and end up in the sort of pickle that Lampers allegedly got himself into.
“They want to make themselves look good and keep the wheel rolling,” he said.
Seibel said she tries to make it more about where she is, and less about who she is.
She hunts almost exclusively on public land and hopes to inspire others to do the same.
“The positive side (to social media) is showing people what’s out there, and what you can do,” she said.
No More Secrets
Along with the potential pitfalls of inflated ego and trying to out-do everybody else, Seibel and Miller said one downside of social media is that it makes it difficult to keep prime hunting spots under wraps.
“I feel like a lot of ‘secret’ spots aren’t too secret anymore,” Seibel said.
Miller agreed. That’s why he scrutinizes photos or videos before he posts them, in case there are any recognizable landmarks in the backgrounds.
“It (social media) is a negative if you want to hide your hunting areas. I’ve got some incredible photos that I won’t post, because everyone will know where it is,” he said.
He said he kept the framing tight on video footage he recently captured of a moose somewhere in Wyoming.
“I couldn’t zoom out, because the mountains in the background would have made the location instantly identifiable,” Miller said.
Miller said he’s met up with and helped mentor some of the hunters he’s met through social media.
But that has boundaries too. He said he once ended a friendship because a hunter who he was trying to help started sending “pins” (GPS locations) of some of Miller’s coveted elk hunting spots to others.
Seibel said she tries to always remember why she started hunting to begin with; to put food on the table.
“For me, it is amazing to have nice buck or bull, but I spent years just shooting does, because it was about supplying myself with game meat,” she said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
