Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Luke Nichols, creator of "Outdoor Boys," is ending his YouTube channel.
- Nichols cites family privacy concerns and overwhelming attention as reasons for stopping.
- After amassing 15.3 million subscribers, Nichols plans to focus on family and faith.
SALT LAKE CITY — Luke Nichols has entertained millions of people with his extreme camping, fishing and hunting exploits in the Alaska wilderness for a decade.
But the creator of the wildly popular "Outdoor Boys" on YouTube announced he's shutting down the channel for several reasons, including the unwanted attention it brings to his family as its audience continues to explode.
"This is going to be my last video for a while," Nichols said in a video this past weekend. "It's been a wild ride."
Nichols' videos often include his three boys — Tom, Nathan and Jacob — and his wife Rebecca Nichols.
In the 11 years he has created online content — the first year with "Catfish and Carp" and the last 10 with "Outdoor Boys," he said he has made 1,110 videos. "Outdoor Boys" has 15.3 million YouTube subscribers.
Nichols said it's hard to communicate the amount of time and energy it takes to make videos, including late-night editing, packing and unpacking for trips, camping with pneumonia and rebuilding a homestead while injured. Creating content, he said, has allowed him to provide for his family while making "wonderful" memories with them.
"But even good things can be taken too far, and I think I'm starting to reach that point. But I'm not just talking about the time and energy I spend making YouTube videos. I'm mostly talking about the attention it brings," he said, sitting on a log next to a stream with snow-covered mountains in the background.
He noted his channel has gained 12 million subscribers in just the past 18 months. And because of people "stealing" his content and posting on other platforms, he and his family has been viewed 4 billion times. That's in addition to the 2.5 billion views on YouTube.
"The sheer volume of fans trying to contact me, trying to take pictures with or just trying to come up and talk to me in public can be a bit overwhelming at times," Nichols said.
"My wife and I, we both have real concerns about what this will do to our family if I keep growing my YouTube channel 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," he said.
Nichols was born in Anchorage, Alaska, where he developed a love for the outdoors from an early age. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and earned a political science degree from church-owned Brigham Young University. He earned a law degree at George Mason University and practiced law in Virginia for 10 years, specializing in criminal defense, before moving his family to Alaska.
A few years ago, the Nichols talked about their faith and family in a YouTube video that received 1.4 million views and more than 3,000 comments.
The sheer volume of fans trying to contact me, trying to take pictures with or just trying to come up and talk to me in public can be a bit overwhelming at times.
–Luke Nichols, YouTuber
In the post, Nichols talks about his missionary service in Japan and meeting Rebecca Nichols at church after he returned.
Nichols started posting fishing videos while still working as an attorney. Traveling and fishing became bigger than his law practice. While some might see it as a dream job, he said he had other priorities in life.
"Fishing's not the most important thing in my life by a long shot. I enjoy fishing, and it's a hobby, but my faith and my family are much more important to me. It's what brings me happiness," he said.
"I enjoy getting out and catching a big fish or going out on a great adventure and doing these things. But what makes me happy, what gives me satisfaction and joy in my life is waking up in the morning and knowing that I'm serving the Lord and I'm doing his will and that I'm right with God," he said.
Following Jesus Christ, he said, has made him a better man, husband and father.
It's time to step back and start focusing on other people for a change.
–Luke Nichols, YouTuber
In his farewell video, Nichols said all three of his sons want to be YouTubers. The oldest already has a channel called "Outdoor Tom." It already has 832,000 subscribers.
He said he wants to spend more time helping Tom with his channel and "preparing him to be an adult," which is less than six years away.
"I've spent so much time focusing on me and my family and growing my business. It's time to step back and start focusing on other people for a change. I'm excited to see where that take me," Nichols said.
Nichols said he has a lot of half-finished videos, including the homestead project and travel adventures and extreme camping trips he has been planning for the past six month. If he decided to finished them, he said he would post them in one big dump at the end of the year.
"But no matter what," he said, "this is going to be my last video for a while."
