Luke Nichols, creator of the popular YouTube channel Outdoor Boys, has decided to end the decade-long run of the channel on May 17, despite its millions of followers. Here's what made him pull the plug.
Who are the Outdoor Boys? What's Their Channel About?
For the uninformed, the Outdoor Boys was launched by Luke Nichols, who posted videos of his extreme camping, fishing, and hunting adventures in the Alaska wilderness for eleven years, starting in May 2015.
In those 11 years, he would often include his three boys, Tom, Nathan and Jacob, and his wife, Rebecca.
Over the decade, he not only entertained but also gained 15.3 million subscribers, starting with their first year with Catfish and Carp.
Luke said that his channel gained 12 million subs in the past 18 months. He noted that while people were "stealing" his content to post on other platforms, their channel has been viewed 4 billion times, in addition to the 2.8 billion on YouTube.
However, as good things go, the Outdoor Boys will be logging off for a while.
Outdoor Boys Creator Declares End of YouTube Channel "For a While"
The news came as a shock on May 17 with a 5-minute YouTube video titled Goodbye. It was then, as Luke Nichols trekked his last trek, that he announced that he'll be shutting down the channel "for a while."
"This is going to be my last video for a while," he said in the video, "It's been a wild ride." Despite having the YouTube blowout content provide for his family while making "wonderful" memories, he added that they have shifted priorities.
"But even good things can be taken too far, and I think I'm starting to reach that point," he clarifies that it's not just about the "time and energy" put into making the videos, it's also about the "attention" it brings to their family.
"The sheer volume of fans trying to contact me, trying to take pictures with me, or just trying to come up and talk to me in public can be overwhelming at times," he explained that this brought real concerns about the potential danger if the channel kept "growing at this pace."
"And the time to stop is before this problem gets so out of hand that my family and I can't live normal lives."
What Happens to the Outdoor Boys Now?
Now, here's the good bit. Even though Luke bid farewell to the Outdoor Boys doesn't mean it'll stop there.
In fact, he brought up that all three of his sons want to become YouTubers, with the oldest already having his own channel called "Outdoor Tom." As of writing, it has already reached 876,000 subscribers with 10 videos and 8 shorts.
Luke admits he wants to spend more time helping Tom with his channel and "prepare him to be an adult", that being less than six years away.
But don't worry, the Outdoor Boys channel will still be up and running. As Luke reassured, he still has "half-finished videos" with "the homestead project", "travel adventures", and "extreme camping trips" he had planned for the past six months.
Should he decide to finish them, he can post them all in one big dump at the end of 2025. So stay tuned for the Outdoor Boys then!
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