This one and TFF are having a pretty good run.
I think it's bad form to reference current active forums that may be in competition on here - so i won't mention any current ones that are any real competition.

My question is what do you think keeps one going strong.

For instance, one that is gone and almost forgotten but was superb with some real serious shooters was GoGoVarmintGo - called a message board back in the day.
I think they were around a good while before THF. They are long gone now. A guy named Mike and the other guy was maybe Steve or Bill ran the place?
anyhow, there was a ton of knowledgeable people on there and I mean some really good folks.

A guy from Abilene - retired TPWD wildlife biologist named Bill D. Probably killed more deer and bobcats with a .222 than anyone else I ever heard of.
A guy from Tennesee who was obsesive with his handloading to the gnats eyelash grade and could give some of our own handloading guys a run for their money on
splitting hairs with there fastidiousness. If anyone here used to hang out there you may remember Bill D and OneHole's Excellent Adventure - an epic prairie dog hunt. A lot of those guys may have passed on by now. There was a guy from CA who I think may be still around who was a darn intelligent person and did helluva lot of good for getting varmint hunting out in the public and could go head to head with anyone on the impact of varmint control where needed.

Poor Al - a true gentleman, made the mistake of visiting a Duck Board that had some of the most foul mouth bunch of a-holes you could ever possibly imagine. I bet that place is long gone too.

A couple of airgun forums that have went downhill over time that at one time was home to some of the most dedicated interesting and top notch airgunners you could imagine. A few who were some of the most intelligent people I've ever run across.

It's like nothing stays the same or something. This place and TFF have evolved - just take a peak at the way back machine for some blasts from the past sometime. But still trucking on down the road just fine and keep things rolling smooth with a diverse but great bunch of members.

Just wondering what you guys think makes THF and TFF so successful. Other than a really great janitor who obviously knows what he's doing.
Thanks JP and the mods for keeping this a nice place to hang out. I read more than I post but still enjoy the place.

The TFF started out with a good set of core guys who actually used to get together for Bass tournaments and social events and was basically based in D/FW area. It has grown and evolved from there.

The THF was an off shoot from the TFF, which also has grown and evolved.

It has been ran very well, which has made it successful and long running, and also D/FW is a large area and many Fisherman/Hunters in the area, and it has spread out to other parts of the large state of Texas.

Ice chests.

Hump day!

Remember the different tumbler comparison experiments?

Yes!
I wanted the one that was so cold it made it's own ice.

Winner, winners chicken diner.

Boobs and hunting are a great combination to keep me interested.

Ox's randomness and old pics and posts that just quotes others and same reply to posts over and over

Like the random post on the hurricane where I was the only one to produce a link? Look it up.

A broader scope than say varmit hunting. Bow hunting, bass fishing etc.

Something jp has done well was not let one mind set rule. It's ruffled feathers and mine a time or two. But you can't let the majority bully out the minority. That probably has more to do with the longevity than anything.

Revenue stream. Its a business.

Close to proper moderation and like minded people IMO. I joined two offshoots that are defunct now, and the loose moderation allowed for some discussion that got too harsh for some, so they simply posted here as the topics are essentially the same. There were some very good guys on those forums and some are friends of mine to this day.

I found THF while searching for the quail forecast. The upland forum, the recipes forum, as well as the gardening threat are still among my favorites. Also, I like beer.

HumpDay was a hard fight. It was started in 2007 on the TFF and it kept getting pulled down and deleted or locked after a few hours, Back then the OT was full of politics and religious threads, there was no Bunker for that stuff.

After about 2 months of posting "HumpDay Wednesday" threads JP finally decided it could stay, with certain rules, which I agree are very fair.

So know you know the story behind "Humpday Wednesday"

I agree. I found that some other shooting forums are so strict that they are smothering & some are so loose that you hate reading all the back-n-forth drivel. The THF has great info, helpful people & a lot of fun too! I do believe it is a Texas "thing".

Another one you can take to the bank.

Looks like DC did a good job helping here.

Ive never been on any other forums. I dont do any other kind of social media. I dont have much to compare it to and I dont know of any others to even try. I started a thread in OT a few weeks ago about "Reason to be on this forum" and it goes a long ways to help explain why this one is popular(look it up as Bill says). I assume other forums allow more griping back and forth so I wouldnt want to be on those. The single biggest problem for me on this forum is all the griping back and forth and guys trying to bash other guys and make fun of them. I dont think theres a place in our society for that so I dont know why its not discouraged more on here. In fairness to the MODs, I think they stop it when it gets real bad but to me I would draw the line differently.

Stats shows this is the most popular forum topic, which is

Good management and good members.

Short, sweet, to the point.

Run off the bad ones.