In The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, author Jonathan Gottschall writes: “Story is the grease and glue of society: by encouraging us to behave well, story reduces social friction while uniting people around common values. Story homogenizes us; it makes us one.”
The earliest evidence of storytelling, especially the outdoor variety, traces back to the Lascaux Caves hollowed out in the Pyrenees Mountains of southern France.
Dating back to 17,000-15,000 B.C., historians believe the 600 paintings of mostly animals were inspired by “hunting magic” — a ritual practice by prehistoric people to overpower prey to foretell successful hunts. Experts believe the artwork displayed was the earliest form of communication before spoken word and writing took hold.
For the hook and bullet crowd, stories have united us spanning generations, geographic regions, socio-economic statuses, and changing times. Our outdoor heritage sustains itself by way of fish tales, hunting stories, and yes, even folklore. Without retelling these, our interconnectedness with wilderness and the creatures we pursue gets lost.
One project hoping to keep cherished hunting allegories alive is Blood Origins, a video storytelling endeavor led by Robbie Kroger. Their tagline reads: Every pulse has a story.
Photo Credit: Facebook—Blood Origins
Born in Brazil and raised in South Africa, Kroger found his way to the United States in pursuit of a PhD in biology. He ended up in Mississippi and firmly planted roots there after meeting his wife. A wildlife biologist by trade, the naturalized American works as a chief scientist in his day job, but hopes this side gig can continue to take off.
Robbie said his grandfather ignited his passion for hunting and the storytelling associated with it.
“The project was born out of a letter that my grandfather wrote to me in 1992, in which he typed on a piece of rice paper that hunting was in my blood,” Kroger said. “I could only understand what that meant when I came to the States and explored everything that essentially American outdoor lifestyle has to offer.”
He narrates and hosts Blood Origins, but he’s not the central figure—nor does he want to be. It’s about you, me, us: the blue collar hunter, their stories, their innermost thoughts, and even their vulnerabilities. Hunters, he said, are falsely painted as bloodthirsty killers, often to the point of wild exaggeration. The project, in turn, hopes to shed light on this and counter these misconceptions.
The goal of the series is to get to the heart of who the outdoorsman is: a community of conservationists, restorationists, and those with a connectedness to the animals they pursue.
There was also a great demand in storytelling not being sufficiently met, he believes, despite how plentiful outdoor programming is and how perfectly curated hunting social media feeds are.
“We pride ourselves on what you hear from people, and the stories you’re getting from people are true, authentic stories,” Kroger said. “They’re not scripted at all. They’re from the heart, and we pride ourselves in being able to dig a little bit and reveal some of those onion layers that some people might not be able to do on prior video storytelling projects.”
Observers will notice these videos aren’t conventional. They are absent of kill shots and harvests, and instead, center around the storyteller and their innermost thoughts.
The series is divided into “Episodes”, “Journeys”, and “Shorts.” A recent “Journey” released called “Unchartered Waters” on the rise of female waterfowlers in the U.S. was recently released.
As of this writing, recent episodes include those with Aaron Warbritton of The Hunting Public YouTube channel fame and Matt Ross of Quality Deer Management Association. Previous seasons featured wild game chef Jeremiah Doughty, the late KUIU founder Jason Hairston, and Johanna Dart of the National Wild Turkey Federation, for example. You can watch all three seasons here.
Kroger said the goal of the project is to communicate how hunting is for everyone—even those in mainstream industries.
He said, “It’s just amazing how when you start telling people’s stories, people start coming out the woodwork.”
If there is a dream interview, it would be actor and hunter Chris Pratt, he said, because he reaches millions of people and comes across as authentic and likeable. Upcoming features, Robbie added, will invite viewers to meet non-traditional consumptive participants, like a professional skateboarder and a professional surfer, who proudly hunt.
Authenticity, he said, is important for stories to have a lasting impact in changing hearts and minds about perceptions of hunting.
To learn more about Blood Origins, visit www.bloodorigins.com. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to never miss an episode.