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.