Born Primitive has cut ties with hunting personality Aron Snyder after a graphic coyote video resurfaced online and drew public criticism.
The video, which has circulated across social media, involves Snyder and a wounded coyote. Northbound News isn’t embedding the video or describing it in graphic detail. The footage has been widely criticized by hunters, animal welfare groups, and other outdoor users who said it showed behavior that had no place in hunting.
Born Primitive Outdoor posted a public statement saying it supports ethical hunting and that the behavior shown in the video involving Snyder didn’t align with that standard. The company said Snyder is no longer an employee.
Snyder also posted a response video after the backlash. He acknowledged the footage, said he was wrong, and said he takes responsibility for what happened.
A Prominent Voice in Hunting
Snyder is a well-known figure in the hunting and gear world. He previously led Kifaru International, hosted hunting podcasts, and became a visible part of Born Primitive Outdoor’s hunting and gear content.
The video spread quickly because Snyder already had a large audience, a long history in the hunting industry, and business relationships tied to outdoor brands. For Born Primitive, the issue became bigger than one old video. Once the footage resurfaced, the company had to decide whether Snyder still represented the standard it wanted attached to its outdoor brand.
Why Predator Hunting Draws Scrutiny
Predator hunting already draws more public scrutiny than many other forms of hunting.
Coyotes are hunted across much of the country for many reasons, including livestock protection, fawn recruitment, fur, recreation, and predator management. Those arguments are familiar inside hunting circles. They’re much harder to explain to the general public when the image attached to predator hunting is a wounded animal being mishandled on video.
For hunters who defend predator hunting as legitimate wildlife management or recreation, videos like this make that argument harder. Hunters can argue over predator management, ethics, regulations, and whether coyote hunting gets judged more harshly than other forms of hunting. Those are real debates. But the basic expectation should be simple: if an animal is wounded, the job is to end it quickly and cleanly.
The Brand Response
Born Primitive’s response was direct.
The company said Snyder was no longer an employee. Snyder didn’t deny the video or but did mention it hadn’t been representative of what actually happened that day. He said the footage was from years ago, said he was wrong, and said he takes responsibility for what happened.
That didn’t end the fallout. Brands increasingly have to answer for the actions of the people they sponsor, employ, platform, or build content around. That’s especially true in hunting, where public perception can affect more than one person’s reputation.
Videos like this rarely stay limited to the people involved. They often get used to judge hunters more broadly, including hunters who handle animals responsibly.
The Standard Hunters Set
This controversy isn’t only about Snyder or Born Primitive. It’s also about the standard hunters set for themselves.
Most hunters understand that killing an animal comes with responsibility. That responsibility doesn’t end because the animal is a predator. It doesn’t end because the animal isn’t popular. It doesn’t end because coyotes are treated differently under many state wildlife laws.
There’s a line between hunting and cruelty, and hunters should be willing to say where that line is. Sometimes, a hunt isn’t clean and isn’t fast. Things change, and things happen fast. In this case, it shows how devastating the optics of that can be.
The Snyder video crossed that line for a lot of people, including hunters who otherwise support predator hunting.
