Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 492 is my conversation with Chris Avena, a longtime outdoor industry figure, founder of the digital magazine American Outdoor News, and creator of the SeeMeHunt social network. Chris built American Outdoor News from scratch after deciding he could start his own magazine rather than buy someone else's, and we get into why he bet on digital over print, what it takes to build outdoor media brands, and the lifetime in hunting and fishing that led him here.
Listen now: YouTube · Megaphone · Spotify.
Chris Avena is a longtime figure in the outdoor industry, the founder of the digital magazine American Outdoor News, and the creator of the SeeMeHunt social network. Based in New York, he grew up in the outdoors through hunting and camping and has built his career around outdoor media and community.
American Outdoor News is a digital outdoor magazine founded by Chris Avena. He launched it as a digital publication rather than print because the margins and the way people consume content favored digital. It covers hunting, fishing, and the outdoors broadly, and Chris built it from the ground up after deciding to start his own magazine.
SeeMeHunt is a social network for the outdoor community created by Chris Avena. The platform includes forums, blogs, and the ability to upload videos and photos, giving hunters and outdoors people a place to connect and share their experiences.
Chris Avena founded American Outdoor News as a digital magazine because print margins are tight and readers' habits have shifted toward digital, mobile content. In the episode he explains how people engage differently with digital, how advertisers have followed, and why he sees digital as the future of outdoor media.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 492 with Chris Avena is available on Megaphone, Spotify, YouTube, and the Tom Rowland Podcast feed. The video version is embedded at the top of this page.
I came up reading the outdoor magazines my dad kept around the house, Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, American Rifleman, so a guy who decided to build a modern outdoor magazine from scratch is someone I wanted to talk to. Chris Avena founded American Outdoor News and the SeeMeHunt social network, and he did it by betting on digital at a moment when a lot of people still clung to print. I wanted to hear how he built it and why he saw the shift coming.
Press play in the YouTube player at the top of this page to hear the full conversation.
Chris's origin story is great: he looked at buying an existing magazine, decided the numbers were more emotional than financial, and started his own instead. He walks through that decision and the early days of building American Outdoor News from nothing. Listen to him tell it in the episode.
Chris is clear-eyed about why he went digital. He talks about tight print margins, how readers actually consume content now, and how a digital magazine lets you share articles and advertiser content across multiple platforms. Hear his case for digital in the episode.
Listen to the full conversation: Megaphone · Spotify · or watch in the YouTube player at the top of this page.
Beyond the magazine, Chris created SeeMeHunt, a social network for the outdoor community with forums, blogs, and media sharing. He talks about the vision behind it and the work of building an outdoor platform. Press play in the YouTube player above to hear about it.
Chris grew up in New York and credits an uncle with taking him camping and on his first hunts, sparking a love of the outdoors that runs through everything he builds. He talks about how that foundation shaped American Outdoor News and his refusal to pigeonhole it to one pursuit. Listen to that part of the conversation.
What stood out to me about Chris is his willingness to bet on himself. He did not wait for permission, he started his own magazine and his own platform, and he built them around where the industry was going rather than where it had been.
The lesson underneath his story is about reading the change before everyone else does. Chris saw the shift from print to digital and built for it. That kind of conviction, plus a lifetime of genuine love for the outdoors, is what makes American Outdoor News work.
Press play in the player above, or grab Episode 492 on Megaphone or Spotify.
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Chris Avena (guest, founder of American Outdoor News and SeeMeHunt) · American Outdoor News · SeeMeHunt · New York · Tom Rowland (host)
Chris Avena is a longtime figure in the outdoor industry, the founder of the digital magazine American Outdoor News, and the creator of the SeeMeHunt social network. Based in New York and introduced to the outdoors through hunting and camping as a kid, he built his career around outdoor media and community. He launched American Outdoor News as a digital-first publication, betting on the shift away from print, and continues to develop platforms that connect hunters and outdoors people.
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