tv hunting shows

[rickyjames]

just picked up the "outdoor channel" on my cable service. looks to be a great channel, more variety than versus.

anyway there are 2 guys hunting moose in alaska. they show some footage of snow covered bush with moose walking around. then they cut to 2 guys in full hunting gear, carrying a rifle standing in front of what appears to be a wall sized picture of a snowy brushy area. these guys are talking about the hunt, they squirt some powder straight up in the air (no breeze at all) the background picture of course does not move at all, no wind, no birds, not even a snow flake falling and it never changes. these 2 guys are talking normally, as they point to the moose the show cuts to the real outdoor footage of the moose. the difference in the film quality is obvious. they cut back to the 2 guys on this obvious movie set, there is sweat beading up on their foreheads as they are dressed in cold weather hunting gear and hats. the guy kneels, levels his rifle and pretends to take his shot. they cut to the "other" footage, the moose never even flinches. the guy on the studio set jumps up, the 2 guys hug and congratulate themelves on another successful trophy hunt.

the acting was poor, the difference in the footage was obvious, i was stunned someone would go to that much trouble to simulate hunting. it reminded me of some of the really cheezy action tv shows or after school local tv personalities and cartoons i watched as a kid. the show kept my attention waiting for the next cheezy stunt and i guess i was actually entertained. i hope it's not a series

[Rembrandt]

Sounds like you got the "Comedy Channel" disguised as the "Outdoor Channel".....and you paid how much for this service?

[rickyjames]

"Sounds like you got the "Comedy Channel" disguised as the "Outdoor Channel".....and you paid how much for this service? "

it is a new channel i get included with my current package, i just noticed it the other day. actually it is a pretty good channel if you exclude that comedy that pretended to be a hunting show. i have seen segments on cowboy action shooting. shows on personal self defense including firearms use and hand to hand combat. also a variety of actual hunting from around the world. it seems to be an interesting channel and i'm glad they gave it to me for no additional charge

[bowtekhunter]

i will admit i love the outdoor channel, but half these "hunting" shows if you wanna call them that are so scripted and fake its crazy. some how the camera man gets 50yds in front of the shooter while hes sneeking up on a trophy whitetail? there are a few of good shows out there though

[Fat White Boy]

Most of the "hunt"scenes on TV are staged before and after the actual shot. Some will show an impact shot and you will notice that it is almost always darker and grainier than the staged shots. Light is the big issue, most shots are very early or late in the day when the light is minimal. You will notice that, quite often, the animal is shown in the dark. To show quality footage, most of the show will be staged. Most shows are just commercials hawking Camouflage clothing.

And, for the love of God, will someone tell me why they whisper after taking the shot and the effing animal is down!?!?!? Drives me effing crazy...

[bowtekhunter]

And, for the love of God, will someone tell me why they whisper after taking the shot and the effing animal is down!?!?!? Drives me effing crazy...

iv noticed that haha its crazy! "shhh shhh be quiet dont scare off that buck i just droped"

[Rembrandt]

Originally Posted by Fat White Boy

....will someone tell me why they whisper after taking the shot and the effing animal is down!?!?!?

Because Elmer Fudd did it that way?....."be vewry vewry quiet"....

[Kreyzhorse]

Some of those, well most of them, hunting shows are terrible. A few are done well, but for the most part, any fool with a camera could do just as well.

What bugs me more than poor production is that the same guy, week in week out, is shown taking a monster deer/elk/mule deer/antelope that most of us would get once in a lifetime.

[Art Eatman]

Kreyzhorse, it's all about money. The ranch gets advertising in return for a low or no fee deal. The TV folks have plenty of $$$ for the production expenses, and you'll note that they often cater to a sports star of some sort.

I generally turn the sound off and just enjoy the scenery and the critters. What you don't hear won't hurt you.

[Kreyzhorse]

Art -

I understand it's all about the cash/advertising but I love to see when they take a 6 point or a small 8 or a doe (Ted Nugent for example). To me, that seems more realistic and would connect better with their audience. Especially when the hunters are just as passionate about their doe as they were about their monster buck.

I mean we've all taken a doe for the freezer and while we may not get to hang her on the wall, we are all still proud of the hunt nonetheless. I guess the thrill of the chase and the hunt for the hunt's sake seem to be missing in some of these shows.

You've got it right too. The scenes and being in the wild are great to see. They get my blood going and I can't wait to hunt fair away places again.

KH

[davlandrum]

While it would be really nice to have a big rack on the wall, my hunting partner and I hunt legal deer to eat. TV "well, that one is only going to score 183.5, so I am going to pass on it". Us "SHOOT IT".

Maybe if we got more than 1 tag a year...

[Shorthair]

I hate virtually all TV hunting shows. I see nothing appealing about watching deer die, its the worst part of any hunt for me. It is hunting, and definitively deer will die in the exercise, but I'm not one for high fiving the final life struggle of any beast as magnificent as any of the game I'm fortunate enough to kill.
I especially hate the local shows that show some fat, sedentary pig who can barely breathe while standing still huff his way up to his barely trained, uninspired and overweight Brittany, only to have to kick a hen pheasant up with his boot and obliterate dinner in an enormous puff of feathers, wings and legs with one pull of his over-choked 12 gauge from 7 yards away. And then you have to suffer through 10 minutes of horrible camera work, lighting and sound in the after hunt recap, reliving the glory of the "hunt", the work of his mutts, the uncooperative weather. I hate the national shows' obsession with ranch hunting, with scoring, with sponsor exposure, with hi-tech equipment glorification, etc.
Just me, I realize there's a market for it, and sometimes I do watch. All too often when I do though, I feel like a gawker at a train wreck.

[longranger]

95% are outfitter guided behind a high fence close to a feeder,these deer are heavily managed and the shows heavily produced.The "star" of the show could not find his ass with both hands let alone set up a blind/stand and get anything but a cold.It is not rocket science to look in the yellow pages under "outfitter" and spend 6 hours and kill a Pope&Young buck in Illinois/Iowa/Texas/Kansas and few other states that raise deer like cattle.
I am more impressed with the guy who does his own leg work and kills a 6 pt. buck with his weapon of choice than one of those bone heads on the "Outdoor Channel". The Eastmans show is an exception, all on public land and they apply for tags just like everybody else.

[brentf]

They cut and paste so many scenes in those shows. It is crazy how ridiculous some of them get. Some are good, but most aren't worth the time.

[Tomas204]

They are just a farm harvesting event 99% of them the only real show is Eastmans ...................................the rest is food plots fenced guided garbage ,I would love to see some of them come hunt where I live they would die

[longranger]

I used to hunt in the Mendocino Co. on some some very productive ground on private ranches. The Primos crew came on to one of the ranches hunted for two weeks and killed nothing.The ranch manager had kept telling them, this ain't Kansas Toto and there ain't no high fences,food plots, trail cameras or feeders.There are but a few shows that have shown a succesfull Blacktail hunt.The ones I have seen, they barely kill a mature animals 2X2,3X3's none of the really big ones.A mature Blacktail buck is the hardest deer to kill than any of the other species.

[rickyjames]

i guess we all agree that most of these shows are cheezy dramatzations of actual hunting, often behind a fence with a feeder just off camera or sometimes on often using semi domesticated animals. but i guess we stil watch

the shows i prefer are those in the rocky mts, canada or alaska hunting for elk, moose, sheep etc. some of these at least seem more realistic.

[globemaster3]

It almost sounds like you got a clip from Jeff Foxworthy's The Incomplete Deer Hunter! My mom got me 2 of those CDs: extremely corny, low-brained humor. Although his justification to the wife over how he is providing expensive food for his family was enjoyable (divided cost of (gun, ammo, camo, 4-wheeler, trailer for 4-wheeler, 4X4 to pull trailer with 4 wheeler, stands, scents, etc) by pounds of deer meat from 1 deer. Equaled ~ $200/pound).

The funny part about hunting shows I witnessed is they drive to some private land, get put into pre-placed stands or guided to animals whose whereabouts are already known, and they make bad shots. Makes me wonder how these guys would do on the heavily pressured public land I've hunted.

It seems to me like a self-licking ice cream cone! They shoot enough deer or enter enough shoots to get a sponsor, then work on the show deal, which leads to "good" hunting, which gets them more sponsors, that improves the show deal, that leads to more "good" hunting..... Who couldn't kill a monster buck on someone's private reserve?

When I still had cable and watched those shows, I did it for the opportunity to teach my junior shooters the right and wrongs. It was amazing the number of wrongs! You see it in the slow-motion: the shot hit too far back, too high, etc, then the idiot starts claiming how good a shot it was with the emphatic fist pump. Then when you finally get to the animal, you never see the wound. Why? Because then he'd have to fess up he botched the shot!

I did see 1 show that carefully reconstructed the shots and gave you a 3-D animal picture with vitals highlighted, bullet or arrow trajectory superimposed, and they would fess up to the botched shots. I considered that not only good integrity, but also their humble pie served as a good lesson to the viewers.

In reality, hunting shows are no more than adult shows for the hunter. Stalk, shoot, pose, repeat. How great it would be if they would talk strategies, stand placements, ingress/egress routes, how to pattern deer, etc.

Fishing shows like Bassmaster have it right: see the pros use the lures, where they are casting, water temps, patterns, often the hosts break it down with visuals. You can learn how to apply that to your own home waters. Wish the hunting shows would take a page from that playbook.

[cnimrod]

Sounds like Jeff Foxworthy.
I like Tred Barta's passion and DIY approach. homemade bow and arrows - wow. "Any deer you work hard for is a trophy"
Sure he'll be back even if it's in a wheelchair.

Yeah I can't relate to those Texas ranch hunts, but confess to watching them once in a while.

[TMUSCLE1]

Anybody watch Ted Nugent hunt shows? I doubt they are even on anymore...I have just discovered the outdoor channel. I watch most of hunting shows on the VS channel.

I like them...regardless of what we think of them as outdoorsmen/hunters I still enjoy the most of the shows more than 90% of what's on the rest of TV. I don't know how people watch most of that unwatchable garbage that's on. Maybe that's why people are so shallow these days...sorry, I'll get off of my soapbox now.

My poor girlfriend watched one of those with me one day. The dead deer didn't bother her, but two things did(or she didn't understand).

1. Her: "Why don't you kill huge bucks like that?"
Me: "Well baby, 1. we don't have deer like that in this state(SC), and 2. I don't have access to big private properties like the guy on the show.

2. Her: "Why does he need all of that equipment to sit in a stand?"
Me: "Because he has to look cool while he is on TV".

[Bigfatts]

There are a lot of garbage hunting shows on, but there are some that I really enjoy. I don't know his name but that weaselly little guy that's always pimping Truck Vault on VS. I like his show ok. I also like Dangerous Game. True they may be over produced and the "hunters" underskilled (although the hunters on DG are often seasoned pros) they offer me a glimpse at a world of hunting I will likely never know, whether that means stalking a Canadian Moose through a snowy forest or facing down a charging Bull Elephant.

[Newton24b]

no offense BUT

these so called hunting shows:

-always take place on private hunting ranches
-always show the herioc "hunter" in a blind/tree stand/shooting tower within 50-70 yards of at least two automatic feeding systems, normally the 20 foot 4 leg tripod type arrangements that can hold 300 pounds of grain
-the animals are always underneath the feeder system when shot
-the feed standsand blinds are always upon well maintained gravel/dirt roads

-whenyou look at ground under deer in "open space" its always on a dirt road
-deer that are standing on the dirt road will normally be eating corn off said road
-the typical rifle used by these herioc hunters in their super duper shooting towers are what people here call "bench rest rifles" normally in 300 mag or 243 or 270.
-most shots are made within 100 yards with above weapon off a solid shooting bench

-90 percent of animals shot will have poor shot placement
-heroic hunter will take a shot on an animal and say "i got him in the shoulder, damn im good"
-deer when found will always have a visible bullet hole in shoulder as well as the original shot in the poor animals stomach section
-most deer are not recovered the day of the shot on them. very common for the late afternoon shot to show the brave hunters follow the "30 yard blood trail" and have the sun in a higherand ealier day time position then when shot.
-normally on the "this is how we found it just now, 20 minutes after shooting" section, the sun will be high noon or before noon when deer was shot at 5pm or dusk according to instant post shot commentary.

see the problems?

dont forget that the main intent is to have a gun and ammo company have someone take a ridicously easy shot on an animal with the companis newest super rifle and super magnum caliber. because
"only our brand new 2000 sniper rifle in 284 dumbass wil take a 150 pound whitetail at 300 yards"

[Newton24b]

forgot,

the typical cost of these hunting trips is astronomical.

just to get the guide to take you around african game ranches is normally
32,000 for cape buffalo
15,000 for eland/zebra/wart hog
64,000 for elephant

although the host countries have varying rates they charge you for the animal. i remember botswana charges 1800 for the warthog itself, and the zebra may be around 2300

[hogdogs]

no offense BUT

these so called hunting shows:

-always take place on private hunting ranches
-always show the herioc "hunter" in a blind/tree stand/shooting tower within 50-70 yards of at least two automatic feeding systems, normally the 20 foot 4 leg tripod type arrangements that can hold 300 pounds of grain
-the animals are always underneath the feeder system when shot
-the feed standsand blinds are always upon well maintained gravel/dirt roads

-whenyou look at ground under deer in "open space" its always on a dirt road
-deer that are standing on the dirt road will normally be eating corn off said road
-the typical rifle used by these herioc hunters in their super duper shooting towers are what people here call "bench rest rifles" normally in 300 mag or 243 or 270.
-most shots are made within 100 yards with above weapon off a solid shooting bench

-90 percent of animals shot will have poor shot placement
-heroic hunter will take a shot on an animal and say "i got him in the shoulder, damn im good"
-deer when found will always have a visible bullet hole in shoulder as well as the original shot in the poor animals stomach section
-most deer are not recovered the day of the shot on them. very common for the late afternoon shot to show the brave hunters follow the "30 yard blood trail" and have the sun in a higherand ealier day time position then when shot.
-normally on the "this is how we found it just now, 20 minutes after shooting" section, the sun will be high noon or before noon when deer was shot at 5pm or dusk according to instant post shot commentary.

see the problems?

dont forget that the main intent is to have a gun and ammo company have someone take a ridicously easy shot on an animal with the companis newest super rifle and super magnum caliber. because
"only our brand new 2000 sniper rifle in 284 dumbass wil take a 150 pound whitetail at 300 yards"

Newt, I normally make my reply rebuttal in point by point fashion but your would require too much work...
First off, using percentages without proof is typical "spin".

I am not the biggest fan of hunting shows but you speak much BS about them. You used the word ALWAYS far too many times and many are blatant lies or utter mistakes on your part. You say the animals will have poor shot placement 90% of the time? Well far more often then not I see the animal jump and run a few steps and ball up.
I see many animals shot with .270 and other typical traditional calibers. I rarely see some new round used. I rarely see a show where the hunter is using a new gun model as well.
You say deer will always have a good bullet wound as well as a gut wound when in actuality I cannot think of a single time I seen this...
You may want to re-think before posting crap like that... you are, afterall, posting on a board with folks who may have actually seen a few more of these shows than you or atleast watched these shows with their eys open!

Again... I don't care for many things in these shows but your post was laughable.
Brent

[shortwave]

always take place on hunting ranchs...

Tune in to 'Big Horn Outdoors' or 'Call of the Wild'. The host of BHO is a friend of mine and I can vouch a veeery savy hunter to say the least. Hunted with him for many years in the worst of terrains before he became a movie star, hehe. His busy schedule just doesn`t allow us to hunt much anymore. Also I`d rather have him shoot at me with a gun than a bow. He`s flat deadly. Most all there shows done in the US are at locations that they`ve asked property owner/farmer to hunt. No high fences. See a good piece of property,get permission to hunt, find areas with good sign and feeding/watering holes, study topo maps etc. then go hunting. No canned hunts. Many times its more exspensive to do things this way due to the time thats spent scouting and yes there are times when the animals/weather just don`t cooperate. Then there`s the misses which I`ve had a few opportunities to rag on him about. Guess what, he shows them in his shows. His fav. show`s are when he does them with the handicapped(especially kids). We`ve talked about other various 'canned' hunting shows in which he stated he had no interest in doing and would go back to guiding fishing trips before he would do but he said most hunting shows do alot, money wise for the sake of hunting as a whole,ie donation of money and time to hunting federations, promoting youth hunting and the NRA. There`s many shows I don`t care to watch but I try to stop and think of the good they may be doing for hunting as a whole. Just a thought!