Hunting Shows

[jimmyraythomason]

Ever notice when somebody is hunting elk with a rifle(the latest greatest ubermagnum)they have to take a 250 yard shot because the bulls are too wary to come any closer but put a bow in the hunters hand and he can't draw the bow because the bull is SO close? Howcomdat?

 

[millertyme]

different time of year. late hunts, specifically general rifle hunts, the good bulls won't come in no matter how much you call or how good you suppose you are at it. if all they were after was meat they might be able to call in a small spike or raghorn. during bow season, at least here in AZ where it's in the earlier part of fall or late summer, you get to calling and i've seen bulls come running to pick a fight if you're any good at it.

 

[Offfhand]

I watch them every now and then if I'm flipping channels and happen to see one. But only then I watch for the laughs. Do those "hunters"have any idea how ridiculous they look and act?

 

[Matt-J2]

I learn stuff from some of those shows. Granted, it's just as often what NOT to do, but hey, that's important stuff to know as well!

 

[Remedyman]

I am a bit of a stalker on this website. I have read almost every thread in the hunting section, and I will admit, I haven't been on the board long. Let me say a bit about me, so you know where this is coming from. I am not a rural person. I might live there now, but I am a suburbanite. I work in IT. I have fished almost my whole life, and I have shot guns since I was about 8. That being said, I was NEVER a hunter. This is my first year hunting. I have hunted wild pig, squirrel, rabbit, and fox successfully. I didn't hunt dear this year because I lost my job and didn't have the money for a tag. On that note, I have done my best to utilize what I kill. Sometimes not so successfully, but damn it, I try.

Now, on the subject of the shows, I enjoy them. That is where it ends. Had it not been for the shows, I might never have tried it. They kept my interest. Sometimes you learn a little, sometimes you learn something important. Sometimes you just watch some dude shoot something. But like the fishing shows, where I have never been as good as the hosts, it does help keep the desire alive. It helps fuel the fire. I know there are camera tricks to make things look better. But the point is, I am not watching a 30-60 minute show to hear the guy talk the whole time. I want to see him get something. So they have to. Some of them have to talk about things that might not interest you, like certain products, but that is how they get paid.

The part that bothers me the most about the statements above is simple. You are arguing semantics. Does it matter if I say, hunt, kill, claim, harvest, or slaughter? Truly all any of us care about is that we do our best to utilize all of the animal we acquire.

Also, I think a good thing about the shows is that thinking non-hunters (myself as one until this year) look at it and can see that it isn't about running into the woods and just shooting your gun until something falls. There is planning, there is skill, there is practice. It shows that hunters are good people, not the brainless fools that some liberals want to paint us as. Please pay attention to the point that I said THINKING non-hunters. I am excluding liberals in that statement.

But please, enjoy the shows for what they are. Entertainment. Or a chance to learn about a new product that you might not have known about. Or maybe, once in awhile, a new tactic. Or if nothing else, and you really don't hunt the way that person does, use it as a chance to see how the other side lives. And remember, the true problem with a liberal is that they can't understand how anyone could be different than them.

Celebrate our differences, it is what makes us unique.

Sorry if I was to long winded.

Brian

 

[Leaky Waders]

I like them too. When an interesting show is on I call my sons in the room and they watch it with me.

I am a non-recovering duckaholic, but yesterday one show was hunting elephants with double guns in 458 win magnum. It was very exciting. I've been deployed to Africa and I doubt will ever have the money to hunt any of the big 5. Still, it's nice to see how it's done. Well, one facte of how it's done.

I rarely watch the deer and turkey shows. I mean I don't turn them off, but they run in the back ground while I thumb through a magazine. Mostly ducks (did I mention that duckhunting is the best sport ever?) and upland game and then the Africa exotic stuff in that order. Also, the predator hunting is neat.

I also like youtube. I've really only discovered youtube this year...it has some awesome and really not so awesome hunting stuff.

 

[Art Eatman]

Remedyman, just because somebody doesn't like some particular style of hunting doesn't mean he has some sort of lock on what's right and proper.

To repeat, my grumpfies come from the production style. All that whispering, when it's so easy to do a voiceover during editing, for instance. So, I tend to watch with the sound off, particularly since I hate the ads for stuff I've never needed and won't ever buy. Again, though, it's comparative backgrounds: I've been doing some sort of hunting since I was a kid, and "kid" for me began almost 70 years ago. (What better way for a grandpa to get a kid out of the way than to hand the little grabber a .22, point to the woods and instruct, "Now, don't shoot a cow."?)

Hey, it's great scenery and the editing shows the best-looking critters...

 

[Remedyman]

Has anybody heard/see the show The Tailgate Adventure? They have a website also www.tailgateadventure.com which seems ok. They only have completed their first season and the only do dog hunts. I am thinking about doing work for them. I would love to hear opinions if anyone has see the show. I understand that last season was only on Dish Network but this season will be on Direct TV also.

Thanks,

Brian

 

[Capn Jack]

I have never done it, but I'm fascinated by the shows about turkey hunting. Not the shooting, (I'll get mine at Safeway) but the calling. Some of those callers are unbelievable...We have "Wild" turkeys wandering around town and I'm really tempted to buy a call and tease them with it.

 

[desidog]

The vast majority of hunting shows pimp products, and focus on "trophies." I am not a fan at all; but realize that this is a multi-billion-dollar-per-year industry, and can see the logic in saying "harvesting"...even though i like to call a spade a spade.

Recently, I've been buckled down working on my master's thesis..so I've had some Vs. hunting shows in the background. Most strike me as sales pitches....like Hank Parker and C'mere Deer? Such marketing crap. The deer has to be there to find the stuff and eat it.

anyone think Tred Barta is a goofball?

Tred is a very charismatic guy, and I think the best of the show-hosts, on that level. Also, he challenges himself; unlike some "hunters" on TV. That said, I think the majority of the shots he takes are unethical, and send a bad message to animal lovers.

Personally, I disagree with the "trophy" hunting mentality of SCI and the Dallas Safari club or that ilk. I eat what i kill; and if i can use the antlers in a chandelier or wall sconce, or just a bleached skull as decoration, i think that more of the animal is used and celebrated...unlike having a taxidermist on speed-dial, and no chest-freezer.

I take my game-meat preparation seriously, be it smoker, bbq, pan or oven, and the only show I've seen to even give a nod to the eating aspect is Babe Winkleman's something-or-other...I don't like the show, or the simplistic recipes presented by an uncultured non-chef, but i admire the nod to that element of hunting.

Personally, I take my cooking very seriously, and would love to see a show on Preparation & Cooking of Game Meat. (Heck, if you know a producer, PM me, as an under-worked architect, I'd be glad to host it.) I justify most of my hunting with the meat it provides...I can have a dinner party for 20 friends with a free deer out of the field; whereas the same party with store-bought beef would set me back a couple hundred bucks...even my non-hunting friends enjoy the close proximity to the life of the animal on their plate. It is a perspective-leveling experience for people who get all their meat wrapped up in plastic at a grocery store.

This leads my stream-of-consciousness Good-Long-Post to the absurd (i believe) haloing of the Whitetail deer on the hunting shows. I just don't get it. In southern CT, they are on the lawn, cause car accidents, and eat the other half's flowers...I'd much rather shoot and eat a pig; but they haven't gotten to us yet.

Ok. end stream. Desi out.

 

[wyohome]

I like the Jim Zumbo shows. He is a great guy and does a little cooking. I also enjoy Eastman's productions.

 

[gatorjames85]

I think the majority of the shots he takes are unethical

This is one of my biggest beefs with his show, although I do think it is also ridiculous to try to walk up to a caribou with your bow on your head (to look like antlers). That being said, I heard he had a stroke and I wish him a speedy recovery.

 

[Sav .250]

Watched a hunting show recently with Hank Parker and his boys. Don`t recall
if it was his show or he was just on it but either way after he/they were done "hunting" I thought," man what a joke." If any of you guys might have seem it you know exactly what I mean. I`ll leave it at that.

 

[Gunsafe]

I used to record most hunting shows so I could watch them Saturday morning before I started my day. Now, most of the time I feel nauseated by just having them running in the background. These idiots (there are exceptions) make way too much money and show little to no appreciation for the game itself. I'm offended when I see some putz sitting in a ground blind take a gutshot with a bow from 10 yards. How is that good for anyone? I know bad shots happen, but you're producing a television show! Use quality footage! Or better yet, practice more with your peddled goods!

And as far as industry buzzwords? I feel that "harvest" is just a politically correct approach to make certain people who are out of touch with reality feel a little better about what has transpired. It urks me to see the KDWP booklets talk about the number of deer 'harvested'. They were shot somehow and killed. I'm not sure how else to put it! But, what gets me is hearing people yell out "Oh baby! I smoked him!". Why? It's like these shows have brainwashed people into thinking it's some kind of game.

Sigh...

 

[qajaq59]

Put 90 percent of those guys on public land and they're a joke.

Oh man, I'd loved to watch that. They couldn't nail a mosquito if it bit them. Hunting on public land is a totally different hunt and takes a lot more talent.

 

[MCgunner]

Well, I'm happy, Duck Commander comes on at 7 today. Deer hunting bores me.

 

[qajaq59]

Sorry, double.

 

[coolcloo1019]

Just now I'm sitting here watching a hunting show. The guy was bow hunting. He literally shot the deer in the hind quarter. You could clearly see the arrow and the deer was running without moving his rear leg. And mysteriously the guy walks up on the deer dead as a door nail. Riiiiight.