It would be so easy to make a good hunting show, and yet these duetche bags always end up shooting Thompson Centers and talking about how they set up their food plots. WTF is up with this crap? I mean the shotgun guys aren't afraid to talk about what gun they used and what load. Why can't they mention what cartridge and what load? And while we are at it, quit showing us the same footage eight times while you tell us what a hard day you have had waiting (hunting) in the blind.

Now, I understand filming a canned hunt is a lot easier to do, but if you have nick named the particular deer you are waiting for, it totally ruins it for the viewer. I mean really, if there was a show that had a guy with a good personality (Jim Shockey comes to mind), that was not only hunting, but was talking about his gear and using different rifles in different cartridges, it would go huge! I can't be the only one?

I know what you mean! I`d like to know the cartridge their using and what rifle too.

I guess what one likes or dislikes, depends on what shows one will watch. Since I don`t hunt with a bow (which there seems to be alot of bow hunting shows), I`ll flip the channel when I see a bow. Same with a muzzleloader too, as I don`t shoot or hunt with one of those either.

I`ll watch Shockey, but only when he`s guiding someone using a centerfire.

I think it could be that activities like hunting and fishing just don't translate very well into TV shows. A 30 min TV show, less commercials is less than 20 min in length. During that time period, you have to describe and start the hunt, introduce guests, plug the guide/lodge, show some of the leg work, and finish it all up with you killing something interesting. What's missing are all the hours and days in between. The sitting in the rain, the missed shots, the lack of animals, etc. To fit this format, it almost has to be a canned hunt.

By condensing it down like that, I think it also cuts out some of the best parts of the sport. I can enjoy a hunting or fishing trip and not catch a fish or pull a trigger. I enjoy it mostly because of the people that I've met over the years that I hunt and fish with. You can't really show that aspect of it on a TV show. Sometimes its those days that you come back empty that make you better appreciate the days that everything goes right.

These shows also tend to make people believe that hunting and fishing are a lot easier than they really are. When I see someone catch a 120# + tarpon on the fly in the Keys, I know that it probably took a week, maybe two, of fishing everyday to pull that off.

yes your right, some of the shows really stink. one of the guys i don't care for is that micheal waddell. he's a bone collector all right, i think he smokes a few bones too.

One reason is that the shows are 20 minutes of commercials...3 minutes of self congratulatory stuff....2 minutes of riding a 4 wheeler or truck to the stand......13 seconds of hunting... 4 minutes and 47 seconds of looking for and posing with the deer.

Yep, I'd rather watch a rerun of
Three's Company" before watching 90% of the hunting shows on TV. When canned hunts full of self-promotion, strident dialogue and good ol' boy bonhommie are presented to the viewing public it's no small wonder the Anti's think of us all as a bunch of Elmer Fudd's.

To the producers of said shows: thanks for nothing.

So my question is, why bother to watch the stuff?

I don't watch a lot of TV. I'm fortunate enough to live in a place where I can walk out my door to do my own fishing and hunting. A couple of years ago, however, I was in a situation where I was exposed to some of these outdoor TV shows. It didn't take me long to get more than my fill of these animal snuff-flick informercials. In my opinion they rate right down there with soap operas as entertainment.

There are still a lot of great books out there I haven't read, still a lot of decoys I haven't carved, still a lot of ammo I haven't loaded, and on and on...

I'd like to see a hunting show put out that was the same caliber of the fishing show "Walkers Cay Chronicles"..which to me proves it CAN be done...just that no one has tried...apparently even a little....
Ingwe

I like Jim Shockey's show. I know Brad Farris that does Will Primos' show and I like him as well.

I don't watch many others.

I'm usually too busy cleaning my Win. Model 70 in .378 made in S. Carolina.

Ingwe has seen it.

Ego's of the guys doing them and $$ are what drives the shows. Most are pretty lame, but there are a few good ones.

canned hunts, phony whispers just before dispatching the tethered animal, and non stop product placement.

Its true, more than one "over .30" M70 got out of S.C. no one has seen the other one...or even pics of it...
But yeah, I've seen the .378...but can't remember if it was .378 Wby. or the new .378 WSM, or maybe even .378 WSSM.....
Ingwe

Yeah, they are pretty lame. I enjoy watching a few, such as "The Spanish Fly" with Jose Wajebe. I think he does a wonderful job of giving you a sense of the adventure where ever in the world he is for that show, and he often discusses his equipment to make you aware of what he is using and why. I feel Jim Shockey has done a good job on several of his shows but a few could be better. Not many other hunting shows compare as well as Shockey's.

I agree, I get agrivated when no one discusses their equipment. You hear so much anti-single shot drivel across the forum how people don't want to handi-cap themselves and then the majority of hunting shows feature Thompson Center as the firearm...but only because they are a major sponsor. If any other firears are featured, they are never discussed.

And to answer your question (Why do we watch?), I think it is because that is the only thing on that relates to what we want, even if the shows do suck. Occasionally somebody from a show will pipe up and ask what he/she/they can do to make it a better show, but in all honesty I think there is only so much that can be done once all the sponsers and investors in that show have their way. And maybe a large percentage of viewers just don't know any better to demand more...

Seems like it doesn't hurt it they have a hot wife too.

I'll watch Benelli's American Bird Hunter on occasion, I love it when Tom Knapp misses, then jokes about it. Sort of alibis my (many) misses. And it plays like a bunch of guys having fun.

Yeah, old Knapp isn't near as good on birds as he is on clays is he?

I started this post by naming names and whining about them, but decided there is nothing to be gained by getting personal. Suffice it to say that most of those programs make me wanna hurl.

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The only one I really care to watch is "Tracks Across Africa". It has the feel of the old hunting shows (such as "American Sportsman") that I used to watch on Saturday afternoons with my Dad way back when. Great music which really sets the mood and complements the scene being portrayed -not screaming electric guitars (which there is nothing wrong with except in the context of a hunting experience) -and no "fake drama". They allow the elements that we all love about hunting to be exhibited. And every show has 4 informative short segments by Boddington which are very well done 1.General Safari information 2.A conservation message 3.Shot placement on the specie being hunted on the show and 4.Trophy tips again on the specie being hunted.
I know that Craig Boddington draws his share of criticism which for the life of me I don't understand, but there is no denying his African esperience or his genuine enthusiasm for the hunt. And of course there is no denying the commercial element of the show, but they are very up front and straight forward about it. And you get the feeling Craig does not really exhibit products he would not otherwise use himself. And no Thompson Centers (which in itself sets the show apart from the herd). Very different show from the general Outdoor Channel fare and, to me, very well done.

Uh...yup.

-

Have to give you a thumbs up on that one, escpecially the no TC's part. I'm sick of them just from watching TV.

When I think of how foolish some of the folks on the hunting shows look, I can only imagine how stupid I'd look -- trying to make a hunting show better in my own way.

I really like the hunting shows from years ago. I can't remember the names correctly, but . . . American Sportsman (Curt Gowdy, Phil ?), Wild Kingdom, Marty Stouffer, etc. Nowadays, it seems to be all about advertising, the kill, the grip and grin photo ops, and the over-done thumbs up, "that was AWESOME", high-five crap.

I doubt if I could do any better, but I'd sure like to see someone make a hunting show like they used to in the good-ol'-days.

TC must give out a lot of ad money. I don't know anyone who owns an encore rifle, or admits it.

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The only one I watch now is Jim Shockey.Tired of the muzzleloader but at least he has some interesting hunts. I can't stand watching shows where the "hunter" is sitting in a tree stand watching a food plot and whoops it up when he shoots something.

My hunting buddy has made 31 home-made hunting videos. You guys might like them. I am in quite a few of them. We film everything to do with real hunting. That's it. We film shots, talk about our guns and loads of the day, sighting in, camp, sunsets, storys at the end of the day - everything. We're not actors and we don't always act all giddy and foolish (but sometimes). The one he is putting together right now is about our cull shooting this summer. There are lots of impact shots and a couple misses (we don't miss often ). It's a blast!

-

I can't figure out the TC thing either. Everyone including their dog uses one on the shows, but I don't know anyone that has one either.

It irritates me to see the major bloopers that get no commentary.

like the guy who shot off one complete side of a moose rack with his first shot.

Or the navy seal sniper who missed a ranch raised elk at what looked like 100 yds, prone with bipod. Oh yeah, shooting a 338 lapua tactical rifle w/brake. Well... he did blame the camera man.

Or the poor shot placements you'll see and then seconds later there they are with their trophy when you know a long tracking job was involved.

I like Leupold's Big Game Profiles, anybody else watch it?

The one show that is always good and shows tihngs as they are, with good humor and good information, is the show by Ken Barrett of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. The show is called Life in the Open, and features a longer piece on hunting and a shorter piece on fishing, often in the same place where the hunt took place. Ken lives in Bozeman, MT, and has made shows there, and from Alaska to Africa. A friend of mine in Alaska helped him make two there, and they turned out really nice.

He's not only good at making the films; he's also a genuinely good guy, and fun to be around. And his advertising isn't by any of the companies selling firearms or other equipment, so none of that shows up to raise questions.

Other than Tracks Across Africa and maybe one or two others, I can't stand to watch any of the rest of them either.

Dennis

The music, get rid of the incessant heavy metal music!!! And that goes double for that suspenseful music they play when the shot is imminent. Just give me the actual sights and sounds of being out in the fields or woods with no staged scenes and just a minimum of TASTEFUL music thrown in every now and then. A little less high-fiving and hooting and hollering after the shot would be nice too.

And like some others have mentioned I'd appreciate some information on the rifle, cartridge and loads being used. Maybe talk about why they chose a particular bullet.

Did I mention I don't like the music?

The reason that most TV hunting shows are so bad is that apparently some hunters will watch anything.

One that is pretty good is Benelli On Assignment. Of course it's an infomercial, but they spend the money to make the show right--using two professional cameramen, for instance, instead of the single semi-amateur cameraman used on the the I-shot-a-whitetail-from-a-treestand shows. I did a couple of BOA shows last fall and they will air this season. One may be showing today at 5:00 Eastern Time (repeated on Sunday at 8:30 Eastern) on Versus. I can't tell for sure, even though I just got an e-mail about it. In one place it says that the first show of the season will be on Argentina dove shooting, and in another place it says the first show will be on Montana elk hunting, one of the shows I did!

I like to watch some of them to see the country, the game, and to see if they actually talk about rifles and loads (almost never). I lose it at the back slapping jmping up and down, and constantly reliving the shot. I find that I don't even enjoy seeing the "kill shots". I love to hunt, but it's a personal thing with me. If I'm there to participate, either as a shooter or observer, that's fine. But to watch remotely....But, that's why there's the History channel, and NCIS reruns on USA network.

The ones that really suck have the whitetail-whacker prove he can count up to 10, by pointing to each of the tines and saying (very slowly), "One, two, three, four....."

Had that moose been a camel, or wearing a turban, it would have been in serious trouble.

Agreed.

+1 on the hideous music that is played during the supposed high point of the show.

One of the worst scenes, which is widely shown, is the hunter and his/her guide slipping quietly up on the fallen trophy to make sure it's dead, rifle/bow pointed at it...with the cameraman on the other side of it filming the animal and them sneaking up on it!

Duh...

Dennis

X2 on the music. They pretty much all suck. I'll watch a fishing show before one of those hunting snuff-films, and I am a casual fisherman. Atleast in-fisherman will try to teach you something interesting. I've come to the opinion that somethings aernt meant for TV shows and hunting is one of them. Definetly gets be-littled, dumbed down, and info-mercialed when on TV. Looses all its value and becomes a "product". Now the Marty Stoufer series, some shows on discovery, etc have good content.

The ones that REALLY suck are the ones that shoot livestock in a pen under the pretense of actually hunting wild animals. Then the people have the gaul to actually complain about how "hard" they hunted, and say something like, "I hunted 'hard' for THREE DAYS to get this trophy." Or something like, "I really 'earned' this trophy." Many people who actually engage in real hunting in the wild never see what those TV shows describe as a "trophy-class animal." I actually know a guy who couldn't (or wouldn't) get away from his job to go to a fenced-in game ranch and shoot the animal he had reserved, so he paid another guy to go do it for him. What the he!! is that? It certainly is NOT hunting. There's more accomplishment and satisfaction in a cull doe I kill than any of those fenced-in livestock "trophies" killed on TV.

-

The one show I really like is Eastmans. At least they are not hunting elk in tennis shoes and no packs and he has used the same rifle for at least 3 years. I like the concept of no fences. There is a new show I saw for the first time last week called On your Own Adventures it looks interesting.

Most of the hunting and fishing shows are infomercials, where the producers rent 30 minutes of time, just like the TV pitchmen do for hair replacement and get rich quick schemes.

You took the words right out of my mouth. I would add get rid of the golf-tournament whispering and the "holding the head up" epilogue after the animal is down.

Most shows today aren't worth watching. The best ever was American Sportsman from the 60's with Curt Gowdy and Bing Crosby. The Best today that is actual hunting is Tracks Across Africa, Eastman Hunting, but i have to say i like Roger Raglan he is just fun to watch. The rest are just advertisement. I have a couple of Encores but don't use them all that much except my Encore Muzzle-Loader

Funny you mentioned "phony whispers" because during my 2006 SK Bear hunt, we were asked to do the same thing and whisper {felt kinda stupid} when no game was not even around. It was a fair chase hunt, so the camera was rolling 24/7 waiting to film a kill. Hunting shows are definitely not realistic sometimes.

Gmack: I think that is Littrel (sp?) that they've pulled in for one of those Texas hunting shows. He can throw a bunch of lead, and he has no qualms about shooting at running game, but he doesn't hit much. I read his book, and at that time thought of him as a man's man. On those hunting shows he comes across as an undisciplined, whinning, loose cannon. No way would I want to hunt with that guy.

As to the shows in general, they are commercial impregnated self promoting entertainment. Half the critters stay out overnight, and the antlers are likely the only portion retained in those instances.

There'll never be another show like American Sportsman 'cause there'll never be another Curt Gowdy. He was about as good as it gets.

I remember another show on years ago called Outdoors with Liberty Mutual. It was really good, although it mainly concentrated on fishing.

We waited for years to finally get the Sportsmen's and Outdoors channels here and now I wonder why some of us ever cared? Mostly just watch the shooting shows, not the ones on hunting.

Aside from the commercialism which was expected, what bothers me most are depictions of people routinely shooting whitetails, elk, muledeer, etc. with the latest/greatest thunder stick, only to watch the game run off full-tilt boogie when the shot is taken???

I'm no great shakes as an outdoorsman nor a crack shot, but in the past 50 years of killin' stuff, can count on my fingers how many times I've had to "find" a deer that I'd dropped the hammer on. Factor in that most of my deer have been killed with an old M94, or cartridges like the 8x57, 25-06 or 35 Rem and not some tre-menjious uber-magnum and I wonder WTF is wrong with these people?

Mostly watch TV hunting shows with great dogs in 'em and I don't even have a proper bird dog. I tend to love dogs more than I do most people, these days. ;O)

Anybody could do it if it was easy.

It obviously is not easy to make a good hunting show, as there are only one or two out there. Locally I can only get Versus on my cable package (the provider had a $ fight with Outdoor Channel and dropped them).

The best show I see is the Safari Club's Expedition with Mike Rogers, Jr. I know Mike, he is a hunter and owns a video production business. He has also been involved in SCI since he was a kid (his Dad is a Past President).

The TC thing is due to TC paying and sponsoring the shows.

jim

One hunting show I forgot about (even though he often split the season up between hunting and fishing) was Tred Barta, a die hard longbow hunter. He could be a little rough around the edges, but he was all about the hunt-as evidenced by the times he didn't get a shot off and he still enjoyed himself. I saw one show where he tried goose hunting with his longbow and arrows fletched with flu-flu feathers; I don't think I ever laughed at him so much.

Yeah, they all pretty much suck, but I do like seeing Tiffany. Not for the content mind you.

Hey Big Readhead,

I have an Encore. 26 inch Bullberry, 338 Win Mag bbl., that's accounted for a big cow elk, a bou, and a few deer. A good platform with custom aftermarket bbl's. Luck of the draw on factory stuff. There! Now you know somebody.

Good morning Darrel...

Have you met Ken Barrett, from the TRCP? He lives in Bozeman; not too far from you.

DEnnis

I like Eastman's, and Shockey. The enthusiasm shows through and Shockey makes fun of himself.He goes to interesting places....

Tracks across Africa is OK,too.

Can't stand the ads,food plots,turkey hunting,or the waterfowl......

The more I watch bowhunting from tree stands the less enchanted I am with it.But this is the biggest issue I have always had with much whitetail hunting; they are great animals,but hunting from stands absolutely sucks;and watching people hunt from stands sucks even more.....

I'd rather watch the Benoits track something and not get it, than watch Tiffany and Waddel kill monster mid-western whitetails from tree stands. (Those poor midwestern bucks are so naive during the rut it ain't funny;plus they got nowhere to hide once the crops are harvested and the rut comes in....)

In the end, the problem with TV hunting shows is that hunting was never meant to be a spectator sport....

Those shows lose all credibility when they leave a shot animal out overnight to spoil, then go look for it the next day. If they aren't smart enough to carry a little flashlight, they aren't smart enough to be out in the woods with a gun or bow.

Let me add this: If you and I were out hunting and you shot a nice bull or buck and told me we should head for camp and come back in the morning to look for it, I'd tell you to go to camp and I'd find that animal and see you later. Only thing is; he'd be mine and I'd probably never hunt with you again, because you wouldn't like the way I talked to you.

I've had cable issues for the past two months and can't get Sportsman's Channel,etc. at the moment. Can't say that I miss not having them.

I, too, can't stand the music used nor the "good old boy" backslaps,yee-haws, and other over-the-top forms of celebrations so common. Wouldn't share a camp with someone that acted like that.

Bob - the places that they find to hide once the crops are out are incredible. Best, John

I like Shockey, Tred Barta, Track across Africa and a few others.

But agree pretty much with everything that's been said, especially the above post. WAY to many of the show's leave the animal over night these days for that ever so precious camera footage.

SO SICK of the TC Encores everywhere and even if that's what they're going to shoot, at least fill us in what their shooting.

On the archery shows, at least they're not all using Matthews anymore. Maybe some of these products would be a little cheaper if they didn't shove millions down everyone's throats to carry or endorse their product. One things about getting your name out there, another thing to put your name everywhere and anywhere.

Again this is the only writing I do� but I do watch TV.

There are a few hunting shows I do watch� �Tracks Across Africa� & �Dangerous Game� come to mind� most I don�t.

I would like to know more about the rifles and loads used� even why they were chosen.

I am unsure what it would take for me to become interested in the rest.

I do understand why they film on game ranches� few if any like to watch an �Unsuccessful Hunt�� one where they sit in a stand and nothing happens� a Game Ranch increases the odds.

The show itself often seems to be a gimmick for advertising all kinds of things. A few are good, but I get tired of the ones where all of the actors could be played by Larry the cable guy giving high fives and with over exagerated emotions to the point of being well, kind of fake.
Maybe some of the junk merchandise is marketed to people they feel would not buy their products if they had more than a fifth grade education, and the shows are tailored to fit!

Maybe this had been mentioned, but check out "On Your Own Adventures". It shows the host totally unguided and mostly on public land and of the 3 shows I have seen there wasn't one shameless plug for a product.

Amen. I don't have cable TV, but occasionally watch outdoor shows if I'm over at a friend's house who DOES have cable. I can't remember the names of any of the shows I've seen, but most of them range between being utterly comical and boring. Comical because of the staged whispering and "stalking." Boring because, for better than half the program, they simply show some guy sitting in a tree stand, waiting for something to happen. IMO, hunting programs would be immeasurably improved with tighter editing and, like many others on this post have remarked, by discussing rifles, loads, etc.

I suppose the reason there are so many lousy hunting shows on TV is that there are so many hunters willing to watch lousy hunting shows on TV.

It seems to me that 9 out of 10 shows are clones of one another in terms of the format. A few stand out for various reasons. Sometimes that reason is a strong personality. Jim Shockey is one that I like -- maybe because his type of hunting doesn't lend itself to sameness. He's not sitting in a tree stand in every show.

I think the biggest criticism of outdoor television is the redundant sameness that you see. But outdoor TV isn't the only TV that has that weakness. Sitcoms have their formula. Soap operas have their formula. "Reality" shows have their formula. Crime dramas have their formula. HGTV has its formula. There are exceptions in all of these, of course, as there is in outdoor TV. (D&DH TV is one of the exceptions for outdoor TV.)

My question is this: Why would we expect outdoor television to rise above the standards of other television programming?

Steve

I haven't watched a hunting show in years. Some of the poor gun handling I've seen would not make want to hunt with some of those guys.
T/C guns? Gimme a break. One of those huners, questionable I know with the initials L.W, sports a scraggly beard and hunts with T/C's has some of the pisspoor gun handling habits I've had to horror to watch. His giude must have ben in fear for his like the whole time they did the taping of the show. His muzle swept the guides, the camera crew and based on the picture on the tube as I watched, me.
I came to two conclusions. One, he would NEVER hunt with me and two, if I should be so unfortunate as to be on a hunt with him and he swept hiz muzzle across me,, he'd be wearing that scoped T/C as a hemmorhoidal suppository.
Paul B.

I can't stand watching them.

9 times out of 10- a fat, entitled guy put onto some big animal by guides who then shoots it on camera. They stand above it congratulating themselves. It catches NOTHING of the essence of hunting- which is putting in the hard work... the days in the woods you see squat, except it was a great day nonetheless... the animal that is a trophy not because of horn size but because you know you did everything right and EARNED it... etc.

Honestly, those shows make me feel bad for the animals involved. A great mature buck deserves better than to star in a snuff film.

I love the background music as well. Like watching an '80s action flick.

Or a really bad 80's porn film

I have posted this before but might as well again: The outdoor TV shows are not like regular programming in a major way that affects the product mentions.

In normal network programming, the network pays the producers of the show so much per episode or season. The network then sells advertising to pay for the show. This usually results in a variety of advertiser--and if one of the advertisers wants "product placement" in the show itself (such as people drinking a certain soft drink, or driving a certain brand of car) then they have to pay extra for it.

In outdoor TV, the producer of the show pays the network to put it on the air. The producer then has to go out and find the advertising to pay for the show--and whatever profit the producer can make.

The end result is often 3-4 advertisers, one from a gun company, one from an optics company, one from an ammo company, etc. Unlike in magazine or regaulr TV advertising, where several competing companies may advertise in the same issue or on the same show, one company normally wants exclusive rights to advertise firearms on that program. Not only that, they want everybody appearing in the show to carry that brand of firearm, and don't pay extra for it. Why should they, when hunting shows don't make all that much money anyway. and producers are often desperate for every ad dollar they can get.

The end result is often the Big Infomercial, a show actually produced and paid for by a single company like Ruger. The company actually regards such a show as, essentially, a half-hour commercial--or, if you want to look at it another way, the equivalent of a major magazine ad. The big company doesn't really care about making a profit on the show, since they regard the whole thing as advertising.

But with the smaller shows, this is why many of the same products show up in show after show. Some companies really believe in TV advertising, and some don't, preferring the Internet and/or magazines. Thompson-Center apparently believes in TV advertising, the reason so many T/C guns appear in show after show. And that is the reality of watching "free" cable TV. You are paying the cable company--and so is the producer of the hunting show. The price you pay is having to watch a lot of commercials and see hunters use the same products over and over again. In way, it really isn't any different than watching lots of Budweiser commercials on mainstream TV shows.

Red, I have no trouble in getting personal....
If one wants to put themselves in the public eye, and sell themselves as a brand, they best put on the big boy britches when it comes to criticism. Generally I like to keep things pretty civil but I have little tolerance for Keith Warren and Russell Thornberry. It's darn near laughable watching these douche bags in enclosures. I'll throw da' Nuge under the bus here too - you're one of them too Uncle Ted. Spin your mystical nonsense any way you like Ted, you're a "sportsman" when it suits you. You're the biggest whore in the industry.

I think the last show that I watched involving one of these knuckleheads, Douche Warren was responding to an email about why he thought high fences were such a good idea....."Good fences make for good neighbors" was the response. Fresh take Mr. Sportsman.

There, all better.

Except Budweiser commercials are better produced and more entertaining.:)

Well, as I read the original post to this thread and was getting ready to respond, I saw TomSmith's post above. I can't agree more nor say it any better than he does in the quote above.

Amen, brother.

5s: I believe it; they are resourceful animals.Hide under a postage stamp!I've hunted them in Montana and Colorado prairies;same kinda thing....

I read a while back about a buck in Louisiana that hid out in a culvert under a road somewhere. Not the big culverts that you could almost walk upright in, but one that was 32" in diameter.

The good news...Tonight is the Night!

Versus has hunting on tonight, the first of the season. Good, bad or indifferent I am watching.

I waved goodbye to bikes in France...jim

I always wonder about the guys on shows that get so excited after whacking a whitetail under a feeder.

I get excited when hunting, too (otherwise why do it?) But some of these guys look like they are about to drop to their knees and start treating themselves right on the spot...

Your answer is in your question. "Hunting" and "shows" don't belong in the same sentence...

Bill Heavey had a nice write up on hunting shows in this months field and stream. Check it out on the back page, will make you laugh, though Field and Stream isnt much better than cable network hunting shows anymore.

It was a sport, now it's a business.

That's enough to ruin most anything. Some mags included.

If it's not interesting or I can't learn anything from it, I go do something else.

I have no patience with boring. It's my time.

Yup. I can't stand to watch baseball, but it's fun to play.

Just a bunch of rednecks sitting in trees waiting to shoot a whitetail that happens to come walking by. If it weren't for all the manufacturers paying for their "private land" canned hunts and providing all their gear, those hosts wouldn't be doing schitt, as most of them are dumb as schitt.

My favorite is a guy named Bob Foulkrod. He always misses the shot. I've seen his program half a dozen times and he always misses the animal. Unreal.

Isn't all television pretty much ......... STOOPID?

I haven't had cable (or sat) for over 21yrs. Other than HNIC, there's nothin on.


.

I also like Walker's Cay, Spanish Fly is also pretty good. I like these shows because they usually are fly fishing in tropical places. A lot of guys aren't into that and would rather see a show focused on fishing in other places. Larry Dahlberg's show isn't bad either. I enjoy that he travels to a lot of really off the beaten track places to fish. Places that don't really even have guides, lodges, etc.

One of my favorites was Fly Fishing the World. I think this is now being run on the OLN network, which I don't get. It was sponsored, I think, by Ford and was really well done. They would have a guest actor and it usually took place at a top flight high end fishing lodge.

It all boils down to sponorship. If you have the backing, you can put something really nice together. I like the format of having a famous actor or sports star as a guest and I wouldn't mind seeing a good combination of top hunting and fishing trips.

I have never watched one "hunting show", so I guess I haven't missed anything. Never owned cable or satellite either. I hear a lot of family and friends complain there is "nothing on" and they have dozens of channels when I have 5.
The way of the world I guess.

Not much into the hunting shows either, but I am looking forward to see JB on Benelli's show. It was the dove show today so maybe next week I'll get to watch it. Off the subject but I got lucky at the bargian cave at Cabelas and picked up a pair of Burris 12x50 Signature Selects for a $180 that were demo models at the store. Pretty nice piece of glass for the money.

That is a heck of a deal on a good binocular!

I missed the BOA show myself. We were putting up about 3 gallons of cherries from the tree in our yard (which we planted 10 years ago), which seemed more important.

Working up cherries is quite a job, but the reward is well worth it. That brings back a lot of memories of from when I was a kid and we still had cherry trees. Dad was a slave driver!

We have pretty much converted the "vegetable" garden to fruit of some sort the past few years. There's not only
a cherry tree, but pear, apple and plum trees--and a big raspberry patch, which we'll pick tomorrow. We do still grow a big tomato patch, some beans and all the usual salad stuff. Also come corn and a BIG horseradish patch.

Mix them with some big game and we have a good meal!

Have you seen the new show, "On Your Own Adventures?" It is public land hunting with no guides, no canned hunts and the guy sometimes gets skunked. If you're complaining about the guided, high dollar hunts these guys all go on, check out this show. It's on the Outdoor Network, Friday night but I'm not sure of the time. And no, I am not connected with it in any way, shape or form. I just found it a nice change from all the other shows.

I like "On Your Own Adventures" as it's more like real hunting. Tom Knapp's, Jim Shockey's, Jim Zumbo's shows are enjoyable, but most of all I like "Obsession" by Mossy Oak where they discuss what went right and wrong on a hunt, pretty informative.
Most are just advertising. I get really tired of watching "celebrities" hunt with show hosts on game farms using guides. Like real people could ever afford that.
I realize there's no way to show the commaraderie, the personal enjoyment of a hunt in a 30 minute show, or even an hour. The old shows, Curt Gowdy and others as mentioned already, were so good because they were real life. Hunting shows today have multiple takes on a scene to get them right, and you can tell by looking that the game, when "found", has been "walked up on" and handled several time before the take got on the show. I think it would be better if they just shot it as it happens, and keep rolling when there's a goof-up. While they routinely leave the animal out over night, so they have light to film the "find", I would never do that in real life.
It's all just so contrived and fake as to cheapen the sport.
So glad to find this thread. I've had these feelings for years, but thought I was the only one since they keep doing the same stuff show after show. Don't they listen, or is no one telling them?

American Sportsman was the Best, the 1960's Bing Crosby and Phil Harris, they were fun to watch. The other night I could not sleep so I caught some hunting porn on Vs. It was Trea Barta, Best and Wost of Trea Barta. I should have just drank a half a pint of Jack Daniels. Man it was tough to watch him try to shoot a duck with a long bow.

Now that's the best show out there IMHO. One could actually learn something while watching it. And no screaching so called music!
I like Shockey and Tracks Across Africa also. Most others I have to be really bored to watch. Honestly, I have been known to watch Tiffany a time or two. Sometimes with the sound off.

As for those T/Cs. I got one last year and love it. Actually took two critters with it.

The quote of this thread

I think the key to these shows and these forums is moderation. Too much of anything will make you callus. I enjoy the shows but I probably don't watch more than 5 or 6 a year.

Terry

I've stated that if I could go hunting with one of the hunting show guys he would be the one. Good hunter.

Primos put out a video called Big Game Hunting Out West, or something along those lines. Brad spotted a huge mule deer bedded down about a mile away. Took a bow and walked right up to it in this wide open field. I mean he walked right up to it without so much as a sapling for cover. Then he missed the shot. :p

Still it was probably the most exciting footage I've seen on deer hunting in my life.

Will

If I remember right Jim Shockey was an Obama supporter and almost as bad, he mentions that roundballs simply don't kill well. He and Zumbo are on my can't watch list.

One show I do enjoy a lot is Eastman's. Those guys actually hunt some of the same ranges I have and it is a hoot recognizing landmarks while they are hunting. I think they have things seriously figured out for western hunting.

If some of these shows, that are done well, help to encourage some kids who would otherwise not get exposed to hunting then I am all for them. Don't like them, switch the channel.

I have a hard time watching Zumbo, even though I kind of like him, after he went on his AR bashing spree. If it weren't for military weapons we wouldn't have much to hunt with. Wonder where he thinks his beloved bolt rifle came from?

Shockey is a Canadian...

Zumbo is a Dumbo...

I still say Ken Barrett and Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership make the best hunting show, by quite a bit .

Dennis

I couldn't agree more. Those are my two faves too. I'll admit I watch an awful lot of 'em though, at least until college football starts there's really nothing much else I like.

I agree Bob, though I did enjoy the show where Tiffany was shooting flying carp with a bikini top on.

Shockey left me cold in the show where he let the PH go in and kill his wounded Leopard..I have not watched it since, however I will give him credit in the fact that he told it like it was and didn't hide it..most would have..

I curl up in a ball and go into convulsions sometimes as they pass up one shot after another on a true trophy class animal waiting for it to pose broadside, but then I suppose you can do that when your bushwacking!

I don't like most of the shows, the hunters are too silly, and come across as that when they get an animal down IMO..Maybe its just poor acting skills and hey, there is no need to whisper after the animal is shot!! Some of those shows sound like an obscene phone call!

Sometimes they are mildly entertaining at best, but all this is my personal opinnion and I don't mean to enflict it on anyone else, just my take on the posters question.

I have hunted deer in the Midwest with a bow for 25 years and I can tell you a mature buck is anything but naive, rut or not. Once the crops are out they pretty much go nocturnal. If you think that bowhunting big bucks from a tree stand is easy it's because you've watched to many shows where the deer are probably fenced in. Don't mean to offend anyone, but for the average bowhunter getting a mature buck on the limited land he is allowed to hunt aint easy. Took me 5 years to get my first one with a recurve.

Orion03, I'll second that. If someone has done it enough, they know it aint't easy. If their only experience is watching tv shows it may seem that way I guess. I am actually pretty impressed with the guys who can pull it off with a tv camera and a second person in the tree. Hard enough with just me up there.

Bow hunting from a treestand is not what it appears to be on television. I've spent plenty of seasons sitting in trees without ever drawing my bow. I do not consider the time so spent as wasted. I wish that my internal movie camera was well-developed enough to bring back all of the sights, sounds, and smells exactly as they happened.

All,

The real problem with hunting shows on TV is that there are few hunters that are actors, and few actors that are hunters.

Tom

One "hunting tactic" used by many of the whitetail shows is to lease private land exclusively for making shows. I don't know of any that are made on high-fenced properties, but do know of quite a few that are made on leased free-range land in various states. A few companies shave even purchased land just for whitetail bowhunting, some here in Montana. The Milk, Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers in eastern Montana are all fairly popular destinations for TV shows, because there are a lot of deer and many good bucks.

The top trophy-hunting area for whitetails in Montana, however, is in the western mountains, where deer are relatively few in number compared to the river-bottom deer in the eastern part of the state. Thus typical tree-stands simply don't work as well, because there isn't the concentrated movement of deer near crops. I don't know of ANY TV shows that have been made in the whitetail areas of the western mountains, even rifle-hunting shows, because the hunting is just too tough and unpredictable.

Not sure what you're talking about, whitetail don't leave the river bottoms in western MT... and surely don't wander onto public land
I actually did see one show where a guy was hunting whitetail on logging land, think it was taxidermy trails, the guy from PA.

Its kinda like hunting for coues, if they were big.

Oh, my mistake! I meant MULE deer....

Amen to that!

Don't watch hunting TV shows. Too much drawls and golly gee for me. I too dislike the 1,2,3,4,5, count on the danged deer, if you can tell he is "160 class buck" from the tree, you can tell he is 10 points without counting out loud.

I prefer hunting videos by Foiles, Robertson and Anderson. I watch them over and over. Dig their style. Can't like Drury - the way they do things isn't for me in the least.

Nothing like a good "I'll tell youuuuuuuuuu what" every 2 minutes as well.

Goooollllyyyy look at that buck Jiiim, he's a freak nasty buuuck. Golly. I tell youuuu what, we was hunting in horrible conditions all week. I bet it didn't get above 65 degrees, and then Stevie ran outta the special sauce for vitles. I can't believe we pulled it off. Son what a buck, Freak NASTYYY.

Hoss, check us out next week as we rough it at the Best Western while hunting for 160 class continental breakfast.

I hardly watch them either but dvr predator quest with Les Johnson. Les is a regular guy and puts together a good show. You can tell he has a bit more of the sponsorship infomercial these days compared to the first season but it pays the bills and his hunts are still interesting.

I also occasionally watch eastsmans and that's about it. Don't watch too much tv anyway.

I don't watch the hunting shows for all the reasons mentioned . But --- I was watching the History Channel awhile back [ beats hearing Hannity rant , OK ? ] ,one of the Monster Quest series . They were looking for a 1000 lb feral hog .

Some guys had designed a camera they could strap on a hog they had trapped and maybe it would lead them to a 1000 pounder . Also had GPS on him . Then they have the little side dramas like trail cameras and traps .

Then I recognized one of the hog guides . I've known him since he was born . Knew his Daddy and Mama . Then I recognized the terrain . They hadn't mentioned where all this activity is taking place except to say it was in Texas .

ALL the show was filmed in a high fenced pasture about fifteen miles from my house . It's doubtful there is 500 acres inside the fence . Typical scrub mesquite country . You can bet they know every hog in the pasture and his weight since as soon as they hit around 200 lbs . the clients get to shoot 'em .

And they got this pig with a camera mounted on him " trying to locate a thousand pounder "!

That's another thing that really irritates me. The host/hunter is in a stand and sees a nice buck or bull come up and says, something about "he's a nice, mature animal about (insert score here) but not what I'M looking for." That's the kind of thing that makes it look easy and misleads so many hunters. They don't show the months of scouting done by the guide/outfitter to locate the big animal for the host/hunter, and make it look like the guy just walks out and shoots it. As hard as I've worked for animals, I shoot the first legal one I can.
I've never been impressed by antlers, anyway. They're hard to cook, and tast terrible. Whenever I have a choice, I put in for antlerless tags.

Muledeer,
I think "most" of the filmed Whitetail hunts in Texas are fenced deer, as they usually discuss managment at the end of the show, and I personally know some of the owners also, and some of the Eastern hunts are fenced also.

However, I don't see a lot of difference in shooting a whitetail from a blind on open land or on a 10,000 to 50,000 acre fenced ranch in Texas..Lots of elk and deer are shot over salt licks and at water holes, rattled or bugled up, in the North so not a heck of a lot of differnce in my mind. Killing a bull elk in the rut with a bugle is about as easy of hunt as I know of. I know a rancher that bugles his elk up every year and shoots him from his barn loft.:)

I have an aquaintence that can show you pictures of huge bucks on his fenced ranch taken at blinds with cameras, but they never kill these really big bucks as they are totally nocturnal..I was amazed..My son hunted there by invitation and shot a nice buck but never saw one of those monsters and they got pictures of them during the time he was there. They tried really hard but no monsters showed..In five years the owner shot one and that was basically a fluke..For what it's worth and I thought it interesting.

There seems to be a influx of television fishermen coming in off the water to hunt.

Ray,

I have hunted some high-fenced places, both in the U.S. and Africa, though not for whitetails. (I've only hunted whitetails in Texas twice, both times on free-range properties, the King Ranch and another place in the Hill Country.) I decided to try it because I at least play at being a serious journalist, so figured instead of pre-judging fenced hunting I'd find out about it for myself.

I agree that fences don't guarantee anything--as long as the place is big enough and the animals are bred and born there. I also agree that often fenced animals are at least as hard to hunt as are free-range animals, and sometimes even harder, simply because they are hunted more or less constantly and get to know their hiding places VERY well.

Still, I don't go hunting just to get something. I also go hunting to get out amid whatever passes for nature these days, and fenced properties just don't pass that test. Too often the animals are specifically bred for big horns or antlers, or don't even live in anything like their native habitat. In both Africa and Texas they are also often brought to a property specifically to be shot. One of the recent problems in South Africa is that some places in the Eastern Cape are importing kudu from further north, so that hunters can claim to kill a "Cape kudu" with larger horns than any real Cape kudu will ever grow.

I get more out of hunting here in Montana, especially on public land, even if all I'm after is a doe deer or pronghorn, or a cow elk. I don't object to anybody else hunting fenced properties, but I discovered what I wanted to about them and have no more curiousity about them.

I saw one show where the fella was hunting in western MT although I cannot recall exactly where. He was hunting public land and the host (normally a bowhunter) carried a rifle on this hunt and finally did take a whitetail buck. He made mention several times the difficulty in hunting the area and that the deer weren't concentrated like other areas of the state. I believe the show is called The Huntley Way. It's one of the few shows that aren't 20 minutes of advertising and 10 minutes of hunting.

The big difference to me is that fenced deer, elk, etc are inside the fence, no matter how big it is. Just because you may not see them every day doesn't mean there not there. There are many pieces of public land with little or no game. Big difference to me. I can assure you any lard ass can kill big whitetails at the Sanctuary, or big bulls at the Jicarilla, etc.

I miss Colorado Buck...

Ray I won't argue that there are a lot of places fenced here and hunted.

But FWIW managment is starting to be a statewide issue, trying to get to older bucks, which actually allows more deer in areas and so on. We hunt on one place thats not fenced, and they manage on their small tract, but do so because the neighbors do too... Franks wife Ann killed a 173 there this last season.

Point is you don't have to be fenced to be managed. I know I've managed our small place for years now. I've shot one mature buck on it because I never had.. since I was old enough to hunt in the 70s, and beyond that its harvest does and kill the cull bucks. My boss has property less than a quarter mile away and it paid off for him this year shooting a nice mature 8 point pushing 150, had we not been managing,IE years ago, he shot the first legal buck he saw every year.....

Fences abound but managment is spread much further than that.

"Management" is fine for those whose carving is for inches of antler. I prefer to just hunt and enjoy the outdoors, and put meat in the freezer for my family.
Hunting behind fences is to me like shooting cattle in a corral, even if the corral is huge. The quest for inches of antler, and the corresponding increase in "genetic engineering" with food plots, breeding, culling, etc. is, to me, just an ego-maniacal quest to be "better" than others. I don't care that much about others to bother comparing them to myself. Then too there's the huge amounts of money some willingly pay for a "trophy".
No, thanks. I'll just keep hunting public land, taking whatever legal animal I can in what is to me an ethical manner. And, yes, I still prefer antlerless hunts.

Huntings shows
are to real honest-to-God-hunting as pornography is is to love.

I just spent a complete half hour reading every post on this thread and didn't find one supporter of food plots and high fences. I posted a similar topic on this several months ago and the only thing saving me from the Texans was bad geography, none of them knew where Montana is located.

I still can't believe the time spent over bait, then the hunter claims victory when the hungry critter comes in. I suggested that Quaker Boy make a call that sounds like a feeder and maybe they could call the deer much cheaper than actually buying and using a feeder.

I still watch quite a bit of the 3 outdoor/hunting channels I have, I guess I just love looking at the outdoors. Even the feeders are out in the woods.

Most of the so called hunting shows on TV are so boring I'd rather listen to chess on the radio! A true hunt, on the ground, on public land is almost a thing of the past.
I appreciate JB's honesty about hunting & journalism, in many ways he reminds me of Jim Carmichael, organized, honest, technical, raises a garden, how about that, and I"m not even a rifle hunter, handguns only.
Someone mentioned a bearded Texan that shoots/hunts for TC, a while back I watched him hunting whitetails in Iowa, he was packing a 15" scoped TC in 460 magnum, he rested the gun across a tree limb & missed a buck at 40 yds, on the replay you could see the bullet miss the buck so bad I felt sorry for the producers, he had to shoot 18" under that buck! True story!

Dick

i think it was mentioned, but you guys should check out " on your own adventures" on the outdoor channel. no guids or outfitters and done on public lands.

I totally agree with everything thats been said in previous posts. The part about holding their hand up to see if it's shaking will make me puke. I also like the shooting deer over corn that's been thrown on the ground. Or on the "Hero Shot" where they have kicked snow up around the deer so no one can see the green blood from the gut shot. Greg Ritz is a savy owner of TC and knows how to sell his product. I don't necessarly like all the TC stuff on the shows, but it puts $s in his pocket.

That same bearded Texas was guided by my buddy about 10 years ago (maybe a little more) in the sandhills of West Texas on a mule deer hunt. He wound up killing a 140" buck because he wouldn't put forth the effort to get out of the truck and do some very tough hiking through the shinnery-choked sandhills. He made the story out to be one of finding a track and following it for a few miles, then making a killing shot. My buddy said he litterally crawled up in the back of a jeep and shot the deer coming from a windmill water hole because he was too lazy to walk. He is apparently a pretty good liar also.

Shrapnel,

There have been calls that mimic the sound of an electric feeder on the market for a few years now.

Didn't see you at the Missoula gun show. Did you go?

I like tracks across africa and Eastmans. Can't stand the thought of waddell. What a complete tool!
It's hard for me to get hot and bothered watching a show with some guy sitting over a food plot. All the camp scenes with the "good ole boys" makes me want to go postal with a dull machete.

hate the tc nonsense aswell. LW acts alittle to smug for my taste.
the realtree and mossy oak stuff is just garbage.

Mule Deer,

I didn't go, a cowboy shoot in Logan stopped me. There is a gun show in Livingston this weekend, I might stop by Friday afternoon...How about you?

There were some nice guns at the Missoula show (I bought a couple of rifles, and my wife bought a shotgun) and we sold some books. We also shared a corner with a very interesting older guy who had some very fine old books, and one of the best Sharps at the show, which was bougth new by his grandfather!

I would sure go to Livingston (it has always been a good small show) but fortunately or unfortunately I am headed to Alaska on Sunday....

Didn't read every post here, but...

Who here remembers "The American Sportsman" with Kurt Gowdy???

Used to watch that all the time when I was a kid!

Modern shows are so over-the-top commercial, makes 'em real hard to take seriously any more.

Didn't' mind Bill Jordan's show when it was available here, but the "Buckmaster" series was fairly awful.

Here in Canada cable TV offers pretty much nothing on hunting and shooting. Would love to get Shockey's program.

I watched the American Sportsman every week. It was great.

Yet it was also "celebrity sportsmen" doing things most of us will never be able to do. Why no bitching about it? Maybe because it was well made enough to appeal to our dreams, instead of just our credit cards.

Exactly!

I have noticed a trend for some of the younger kids on TV outdoor shows to try to turn the outdoor experience into a rock concert. I also do not care for the freaky camera action some people use, quickly flashing pictures, stop action/jerky slow motion, strange angles, and such. I feel it detracts from the viewing experience.

I enjoyed American Sportsman a great deal. It was one of the things that inspired me to set my life up so that I could afford to do some of the things I saw these folks doing.

I enjoy several of the current shows that give good information about the area hunted and what is involved in hunting there. They give me ideas about where to go on future hunts. North To Alaska is a favorite because each hunting or fishing trip could be duplicated by just about anybody.

"Here in Canada cable TV offers pretty much nothing on hunting and shooting. Would love to get Shockey's program."

You must have Shaw cable like I do. Only provider in Canada that won't carry Wild TV. They have Shockey's show, he is pretty good. There are a few other Canadian shows on there that are good as well but for the most part they have the same stuff as the US outdoor channels. (I used to watch it at my mother in law's as she had Bell)Actually got the channel for me so I had something to watch when we visited.
Global carries Canada in the Rough, not bad, the guy goes some nice places, dosen't cover up his mistakes and he does make some. Has a certain passion for the hunt though.
Most pathetic episode, he shot the moose in the lake after the guide told him not too. DUH!
Fairly funny episode, camera guy got to hunt, shot a nice black bear, it died on a hornets nest. He "manned up" and went after it though.
I buy Shockey's videos, he gets some great film of bears up close and personal.

I must say that I am glad there are so many shows these days that cover so many topics and methods. If you don't care for one show you can generally find one that you do like without too much effort. I don't have to watch some old fat man kiss a fish any more because I can change the channel and watch a man hunting elk.

Has anyone watched "Duck Commander"? It's on the outdoor channel and is far and away the best outdoor show. If you haven't seen it it worth giving it a try.

Not a TV show or a gun hunt, now that they have enough footage for a full DVD of bow hunting, but I can highly recommend any of the three DVDs from a small outfit called WhiteKnuckle Productions. It is bow hunting whitetails but is good stuff. My kids love them and they have a good blend of how the setup is made, down to the real emotion of a big finish to a long hunting season, or a tag eaten in hopes of a real corker. Actually show setups that didnt work, or deer that could not be found.

Must admit one of the dreaded "How I can count" has been recorded but it is not that bad.

A bunch of guys who love to hunt deer and film the whole year of anticipation.

For a guy trapped in the NE with plenty of prime examples of brown to hunt with a bow it is good off season candy.

Dont watch the boob tube much at all any more due to the frustration with the low aiming point of most of it. Have laughed at my old Tuna Fishing Buddy Tred a time or two, but only cause I fished the same waters he used to for EyeBalls.

I can tolerate most of the hunting shows out there just because I enjoy anything outdoors. One of my favorite shows is Real Adventures. I really enjoy the shows were Bob Foulkrod is hunting. He seems to tell it like it is. But associated with the same show is the hunter I can't stand. Brenda Valentine has got to be the worst person to watch on TV as far as hunting goes. I have no problem with women in the hunting industry, as I encourage women to get out and hunt. But Brenda Valentine is almost unbearable to watch. Every show she misses at least once. Why do you need make up on to kill a mule deer? I dunno that is my little rant. The show would be alot better without her in my view.

For one look at the arseholes in them.Most wouldn't know how to hunt if they weren't being guided to sit in a tree.4 minutes of chitty hunting followed by 20 of pimping products..Sounds about right.

Watched a husband and wife hunting show last night.

The intro to the show looked like something you would see on an episode of reality tv, loud music, crazy graphics going 5 different ways, ect.

I realized that these shows aren't trying to reach folks in their 40's and older, they are aimed at kids.

I think it's a big mistake. Kids don't have the disposable income to buy all the products they push down your throat. They may realize alot of this stuff they push doesn't pass the smell test with older hunters, so they are aiming it at the younger crowd.

The whole thing is becoming too "Over the top" for me.

I appreciate anything that shows hunting in a positive light, but not at the expense of the ethics and morals that are a vital part of our sport.

If I would have behaved after my first buck like they do after killing their 100th Deer, my dad would have knocked me out.

Too much play station generation for me, what a shame.

JM

During my guide duties had lots of sports jump scream and carry on after a kill.Used to just walk away till screaming was over.To me it showed a lack of respect for the animal.I can see being happy but some of these guys were worst than children.

I saw her "miss" an easy shot on a mule deer. It looked like a crawl off and die hit to me in slow mo..... but she was happy with not having wounded an animal. I don't think they even looked for it. I would have not used that footage, a game warden might watch it!

Getting Close with Lee and Tiffany sucks something fierce.So does..

The Choice
Eastons Bow world
Noslers magnum T.V
World of Whitetal
Canada in the Rough

And on and on.

Plus 10 on this show sucking , it is the worst of them all. I switch channels as soon as this show comes on.

I was told by a VERY reputable source in the industry that there are now so many corn freeders in Texas that there is a "deer call" that makes the sound of one of those noxious things spinning and spilling out the corn - and the deer come running. This is destroying our sport becauese this ain't hunting.

Next on my list of "who came up with that idea" is the "Hunting Competition" shows wherein several widely known, and once respected "hunters" draw sections of a Texas ranch and go out to see who can kill the biggest deer. This, also, is NOT hunting, it is a competition that is designed to get good ratings and sell "stuff" - especially the casnned deer hunts that Texas has become famous for creating and nurturing. We all need to remember that hunting was the first grocery store, it was NOT a competition. We hunted, and many, many of us still do, to put food on the table - to retain the bond to our past - and to, God willing, pass on a REAL hunting heritasge to our kids, grand-kids, and their kids.

And last, but not least, are the shows that are so transparently fake that I literally can't watch them. You know what I mean; when the "hunter" and guide kill the game, it runs off and they "track it" until they "find" it on camera. Then there are several minutes of back slapping and congratulatory "nice shot," great shot" or "perfect shot."

It is sad that the producers can't see past a quicki buck and actually add value to the hunt by TEACHING many of the difficult to learn parts of hunting - TRACKING comes to mind - GUTTING an ungulate also comes to mind, over my fifty plus years of hunting I can not remember how many deer I have eviscerated because the guy that5 shot the deer didn't know ONE step in the simple process and would have either left the meat to rot, or destroyed the meat while removing the entrails.

We deserve better.


Terry

After seeing this topic lots of times, I've got to throw in my 2 cents. After being in the woods and having a grouse explode at your toes, making your heart momentarily stop beating. After making a perfect shot on a pheasant, or hearing duck wings coming overhead. After hearing a buck grunt in the dark, or watching him rubbing his antlers or sparring with another buck just out of range and hoping he'll come closer. After spending years chasing a deer that you know by name through trail pics and shed antlers. After feeling the rain and cold when everyone else you know is home in bed and returning with a trophy that is not measured by points or spread, but in hours, seasons maybe and sweat, bug bites, and campfire stories. How can someone who has lived it watch it on television and not think it is a shabby rendition?

To be perfectly honest, these "hunting" shows are one of the main reasons I just can't get into camos. Like, everybody is camos from head to toe, doesn't matter what they're doing! Walk 10 yards to a literal cabin perched in a tree and peer out a slot in the wall all day, camoed to the nines. Give it a freakin' rest already! Is anyone even allowed in these programs without camos???

Just sayin'.

Dan Fitzgerald uses to hunt sans cammo. Was an early guy in the hunting VHS deal. Dunno what happened to him. Last I heard his kid was doing something but haven't watched.

all hunting shows sucks. They go to some ranch were they more or less farm riase deer. They uses a bunch of useless equiptment because they get paid to use it and advertise it while they are hunting stupid farm raised deer.

Had fun reading the many posts here and have to agree with most of them but 1 Minute I agree with you, the shows I saw Luttrell blasting away diminshed who was portrayed in his book, whoever produced the show if they have such a thing on these flicks didnt do anything but to make him an everyday city blaster,

teal:
They still have a show callled Team Fitzgerald, it's pretty good.

Rost and all,
I agree 100% the word managed is abused from time to time..The elk of Wyoming are mangaged, and to a lesser degree also in Idaho..I managed my Mule deer and Coues deer herd on 75,000 acres for a number of years in the Big Bend as does everyone else in that area. In todays world all game is managed and if that were not so then we would have no game..

To the bow hunters and rifle hunters for that matter, the point I make is killing the deer from a stand is not a particularly big deal, I don't know that its hunting persay or just patience and fortatude, the ability to sit for hours in one spot and wait for the shot that may or may not ever come. Don't get me wrong I have shot plenty of Whitetail from a stand, and some Mule deer, elk and whitetail from my pickup, always does or cows or smaller bucks, I'm not that picky if I'm meat hunting and just want to get it over with. I still hunt for meat only sometimes, and I mostly take high neck or head shots. Ont the other hand when trophy hunting I like to get out after them on their terms and cover a lot of ground or slow stalk them in the thick stuff.If I am trophy hunting I want to earn it and I have passed some pretty big bucks because they were standing beside the dirt road and I was in the truck. I usually return later and try to walk them up however.

As to fenced deer being fenced deer, that is just wrong and an assumption..Hunting deer on a fenced 50,000 ac. ranch in the Texas lower Rio Grande Valley is a fair chase hunt and like some have said the big bucks go nocturnal and some of them die of old age and the horns become pickups for decorating the gate.

As to the original posts, I watched a goat hunt yesterdays and the kid shooting shot his goat twice at over 900 yards with a rifle disigned to do that, its also designed to wound and it takes hunting out of the spectrum IMO..I don't care how good a shot you are, or how many animals you kill at long range you will wound them from time to time, too many varibles can come into play..I don't see that as sportsmanship, but it sure is an ego trip and at the expense of a fine game animal that you fail to respect IMO...

Most of the shows I see as unrealistic to the sport of hunting.

All tv shows suck, why would the hunting shows be any different?

I can vouch for that!!

I just got rid of TV all together last year - and it improved my life. I never hear Obama's voice!

As for hunting shows - to PC for one thing, if a guy doesnt have abeer now and then it isnt hunting.

I own an Encore but I agree with most if not all of the posts on this thread. Especially hunting over bait (Texas style?) The other day I was watching a show about hunting whitetails in which the person taking the shot was on a ridge or hillside. You could see the buck winding through the barren trees below. It had a nice WIDE rack, well beyond the ears. The shot seemed to be a little far back on the buck and it ran off. In the next scene (next morning) the hunter was admiring the great trophy he had "recovered". Problem was this deer had a heavy TALL atypical rack which was well within the width of the extended ears. Anyone else notice that often the "recovered" animal doesn't seem to match the animal that was shot?

The problem I see with hunting shows is not really a mystery. A good story well told, is always good. Same with writing. The hunting shows I have seen lack a good story and the story is poorly told. I did see a show where Craig Boddington was in Africa and I enjoyed it. I don't remember the name, though.

So why is it that everyone assumes that all hunting in Texas is done from blinds over feeders? I grew up hunting some big ranches and the standard practice was to use a sling to chunk rocks down in the headers and arroyos and shoot the deer when they ran out.

Our ranch is not high fenced but I have a Dr. neighbor that has a small place fenced. Oddly enough they don't hunt much, but they must have one of the largest herds of Scimtar Horned Oryx in the world. Maybe fifty animals and the bulls are HUGE. I mean old age, dying of old age, grizzled old crooked horn mossy backs. Beautiful animals an almost pure white coat with a golden tint. One of those old guys hunted fairly on his own turf would make one of the best trophies I can imagine. Problem is these are just semi-tame, not huntable at all.

Oh well.

ss

I think they need to Bring back Ted Nugent, and pair him with Jeff Foxworthy, that would be interesting. Enough with the farms and ranches too. Go out in a real forest and do a real hunt. I do lke how ever, that on one of the shows, Mr. Whitetail often misses. Thats reality. Good for him. I hope they read these blogs and change something.

i luv it they drive up to the field in their 4 wheel pickup unload their 4 wheeler drive 50 yards across the field put on their 50 pound backpack check their gps their cell phone their 2 way radios its 75 degrees and they are in winter camo toe to head walk 20feet in the woods and climb in a climate controlled tree house with their lazyboy, and coffee pot and face the riggers of the hunt. shoot the deer dead 20 foot away then whisper the replay of the hunt. if it isnt a thompson center fire you will never know what was used( pleeeeese)

Neither do I. I'm sick of their ads.

I own one of their handugns, but I haven't shot it in a year. Very accurate, but I wouldn't own one of their rifles.

I can't stand Waddel or however you spell it. I love on his show when they went to Africa and everyone in sight had a T/C but when they dropped the Elephant. the hunter had a bolt rifle and the PH had his Double. But I really enjoy Jim Shockey. The gleam in his eye can't be put on. I think he would be a great time around a campfire. My wife will sit down and watch his show and she hates hunting on TV. Most shows blow but Tracks across Africa and Shockey I record as I am a Truck Driver. I also Absolutely LOVE the "Stalking up on the dead deer as the camera man is already behind it shot". That makes me want to scream. Also I was damned near ashamed at buying the 'Beyond Belief 2" movie. What a piece of crap. They preach about "long range" ethics and then take 5 shots to walk the bullets onto a Pronghorn at 1000 yards.

I'm reminded of the wisdom of Nancy Reagon, "Just say NO" when they come on your TV. No one forces you to watch them. Let their ad revenue dry up, and they'll be gone.

im quite sure after much thought that the animal wont stand for being killed with anything else but a thompson. im heading to the gun shop tomorrow and trade all my guns in for a three barrel set.

Mr. Whitetail couldn't hit his ass with both hands. I can't believe a "professional hunter" would shoot like that. I've seen him ass shoot a deer on tv.

Uncle Ted has one of the worst shows imo. I've not seen more self promotion on one show ever. I know he tapes some shows in northern WI in a fenced in area. I've driven past it no less than a hundred times, and fence comes right up to the road.

Ted has a guy with a video camera attached to his hip ANY time he goes in the woods to hunt, and his place in Texas is less than 350 acres. The cameraman would sort of take it out of my sense of reality, and he shouldn't need to money that constantly.

Tommy-

I saw a show where he was in said pen in your neck of the woods, IIRC twas December time frame. He was nestled in a box with three or four guys and had a couple of REALLY nice bucks come in and feed. He arrowed one of them, it ran off and expired, a short time later another big buck comes in to feed and he put an arrow through that one as well. The whoremaster scores again!

FWIW, I caught his reality show one time, the LAST guy that should be doing a show on REALITY is that imbecile.

Wouldn't happen to be on hwy 51 would it?

Yeah that's the place. I don't know how big it is, it seems large, but that is the place he hunts. "Forest of Antlers" is what it's called.



Yep, saw that show. That occured at the place I'm talking about.

He is a goofy sucker for sure. Can't argue with what he does for gun rights, but his show is 100% self promotion.