By Kate Harrold
MEET THE fashion influencer who fell in love with a HUNTER and now shares their kills on social media â but her followers arenât sure about her âdisgustingâ new passion.
Influencer and blogger Kristyn Higdon (28) from Lexington, Kentucky, USA, was perhaps originally favoured by her followers for her lifestyle and fashion tips but over the past four years, Kristyn has interwoven a new passion of hers into her online content â hunting.
Both Kristynâs father and grandfather are keen hunters too, but it was fiancĂ© Chad (33) who introduced Kristyn to hunting â and itâs an activity thatâs bought the couple closer together. Using a double tree-stand set up, the hunting duo have mastered their tag-team tactics but most of all, hunting provides them the chance to spend quality time together.
Like many hunters, Kristyn is keen to show that hunting is an important act of conservation. Animal herds such as deer need culling in order to control population numbers. Without this control, the speciesâ available vegetation and habitat could be overwhelmed.
To convey the importance of this, Kristyn began posting hunting content to her social media feeds and blog. Initially, she was met with the resistance she expected. Naysayers commented, âYou are a disgusting excuse for a human. Hopefully, one day soon karma finds you,â and âmeat is murder.â
Supported by fiancĂ© Chad, Kristyn continued to persevere and soon noticed a new flurry of responses. Whilst some remained sceptical â âI could never kill an animal myself, but I sure do love some venison after my dad goes huntingâ â others gained a new outlook telling Kristyn that they understood hunting in a way they didnât previously.
Kristyn and Chad plan to continue their happy hunts for many years to come and are due to get married in December 2021.
âI began hunting four years ago. Itâs a passion that both I and my fiancĂ© share,â Kristyn said.
âJust this year, we hunted a double tree-stand setup together and I harvested a buck which was awesome. Itâs also something I get to do with my dad and papaw.
âI predominantly hunt during the early fall for compound bow deer season â and usually only for whitetail deer. I also love turkey hunting in the spring with my dad.
âIâve been using my platform for several years to post fashion and lifestyle content, but I wondered if I could get people to see hunting in a different way.
âFor me, itâs one-hundred percent about conversation and wildlife management. We also process and eat what we harvest so our meat consumption is sustainable.
âI canât even remember the last time I brought shop-produced ground beef because I use our ground venison for everything. The bucks are usually mounted after the meat is processed.â
When Kristyn decided to add hunting content into the mix, she received a mixed response.
âSome people responded positively â especially those who hunt themselves,â Kristyn said.
âThey told me, âEnjoy some of the most nutrient dense meat on the planet.â
âOthers said some nasty things such as âmeat is murder,â and âYou are a disgusting excuse for a human. Hopefully one day soon, karma finds you.â
âI honestly try not to pay attention to the negative ones. I donât even respond. There are some people that will never see hunting any other way so itâs not worth trying to argue with them.
âMy blogging friends saw the way I mixed my sustainable hunting message alongside my regular lifestyle content and they thought it was really cool how I tied the two together.
âSince then, people have definitely started to see hunting in a different way. People tell me all the time that even though they may not hunt, they understand why we do it and respect our reasoning.
âWe definitely plan to continue passing the hunting tradition down through our family. Weâre scheduled to get married in December of 2021 next year.
âThereâs no plans for children just yet but we do have two nieces weâd love to take some day.â