"Hunting" Shows

[birdhunter]

What is your opinion on the selection of hunting shows we have? I honestly don't even know why I watch them any more I get so frustrated with the "hunts" and the announcers. All the shows on the "NEW" TNN and Outdoor Life seem to come from the same mold. Hunting whitetail in Texas on some huge ranch or else turkey in the south. Might have the occasional elk hunt in Colorado or something from Alaska to mix it up. My problem with these "hunts" is not only how a lot of them are done, but what kind of a message it is sending to the public. I saw one this morning where they had a stand mounted to the top of their truck and just parked out in the desert. The Texas one's are always the worst. People sitting in boxes in the middle of fields while deer come up to the automatic feeders. To me this is not hunting. There is no sport to it at all.

Maybe I've just grown up with a different lifestyle. I've been blessed to hunt Oregon all my life, almost always on public land too. It's not uncommon for us to cover 10 miles a day ON FOOT. To me big game hunting is about strapping on a pack and a gun and heading out for the hills, not sitting on some stand over a food plot all day waiting for the pet deer to come in. I realize that the rest of the country is quite different from the west and I really should appreciate it. We have the opportunity to hunt large open tracts of public land. We're not forced onto small overcrowded woodlots or having to pay through the nose for access to mega-ranches

I guess my biggest beef with these shows is the message the give to future generations of hunters and to the general public. I don't associate myself with the Jackie Bushmans of the world. These people will sit there and tell you all about the G2 tine on this buck as it's coming in, yet they have no concept of the biology of that deer, why or how it is doing what it is doing, or the role it plays in the greater ecosystem. Their priorites are totally backwards. There is also such a difference between shooting animals and actually hunting. I feel their cameras have yet to capture it.

I like Scott's show. Maybe it's cause I can relate to the rivers and places he's on, but I like how he does it. It's not a series of advertisements plugging everything from cover scent to seed crops.

Thoughts on the subject?

[skein]

BH,

I agree with you big-time. The so-called hunting magazines are just as bad. The same crop of writers going on the same big-name hunts sponsored by some company who just wants to get a product mentioned over and over. I dropped Field and Stream because I wasn't getting outdoor stories, I was getting page after page of advertisements. I once counted 67 pages from page 1 until I found an article that didn't have a full or half-page ad with it. Peterson's Hunting has become just as bad.

And the formats - ugh. I can almost quote an article just by looking at the front cover. Take Blacktails for example: Get up early, glass the edges of clearcuts, stay up at the high end, etc, ad nauseum.

I didn't learn hunting by reading "Spring Turkeys - Step by Step" or watching a video of a couple of bull elk come in to a stock tank on some private ranch.

All I can do is not watch, drop my subscriptions, and refuse to buy from companies that sponsor those farces. But I don't think my choices are actually putting anybody out of business. (ha)

Skein

[CrazyHorse]

wow, I totally agree with you. I see these shows where they are going on a "hunt" where I see them talking before hand and the "guide" (more like a game rancher) tells the people exactly where the elk were the night before and takes them right to the spot and tells them which elk to shoot..etc etc etc .

I am like you, I have hunted quite a few years always on foot and I too walk many mile a day to get my elk/deer. The thrill of the hunt is totally lost when you just walk up to tame animals and shoot them...these animals on these ranches are so used to people that they are very seldom spooked.

The other things that is erking me is the number of fishing shows that are just bass fishing. there are so many different species of fish to catch why can they only film bass? I have found one pretty decent show that shows other species, it is "canadian sportfishing"...It would be nice to see some shows about around here though.

[TheRogue]

Personally, I completely agree with you BH, except, after being involved on some of the national hunting BB's, I'm realizing that hunting deer from stands and jeeps, and pounding turkeys, are EXTREMELY popular in most of the country. We're so lucky here to have the open country that we have, we can hunt in a totally different way, and doing so, we feel that we are the most "sporting".

And, of course, we're pretty seriously outnumbered here in the NW and Rocky Mtn states....lots more people in the whitetail and turkey states. Consequently all the national hunting shows and networks are going to gear their content to what most of the advertisers are going to pay for.

It's amazing to me how large of a percentage of people outside the West feel that game ranching and pay-to-shoot operations are OK!! YUK!!

my .02

[lor]

I've been in oregon since 1996, and prior to experiencing the opportunities that exist out west, I hunted from a stand, on a food plot.

People west of the mississippi have a resource
that for practical matters doesn't exist on the east side.

Public land.
I grew up in east texas, we had 50 acres, 1 mile down the road, another relative had 25 acres, someone else maybe 10.
Thats all you have, there are no large tracts of forest, national forest are intersperse with private land and telling the difference can be difficult., The BLM is unheard of, timber companies pay you to cut your trees.
There aren't any hill to hike 10 miles into, it doesn't exist. Most of the open land is either small farm, hunted exclusively by the family which owns it, or soon to be developed strip mall.

Unless you want to spook everything off your property on opening day, you setup a stand, plant some oats or rye, and wait for an animal to come to eat.

Shows like those on TNN represent most of the hunting opportunities people east of the mississippi will have.

Last time I check, I think greater than 75% of the people who are engaged in hunting and fishing are east of the mississippi. If we didn't have those people with there limited opportunities, the few 100K outdoors out west would have driven out of the woods by the anti's by now.

Be

[Capin' Dan]

Birdhunter that is exactly the kind of thing that the anti's like to see and hear about. Our sport out here is much different than what many of our peers have. I have had the oppurtunity to hunt thoughout most of the US being in the military. In Virginia we used hounds and yes that was a fun hunt seeing dogs do what they were bred to do. Connecticut was mostly stands or doing deer drives and some island hunting it was great. South Carolina was the toughest mostly stands/swamp hunting and you learn to love your snake chaps real quick. Bottom line we are all one family and we must stick together or we are going to loose what we enjoy. We are loosing ground ever year Yes right here in Oregon we see many of our timber lands closing to hunting and recreational use. I was born and raised in Texas. I love hunting over the feeder just the shear number of wildlife that you see is great. As far as deer ranching is concerned its not like you tink they are in fact wild animals they are just given the proper forage to grow better and the animals are culled. Remember Texas has 4 million deer about 15 per square mile I think is the number. If they are not managed then the big guy upstairs manages through dieases and they take out the entire population in some areas I have seen it while growing up in the 60's and 70's. Lets not knock what our other peers do in their areas but embrace it as there sport. Yes, it still is sport.

Dan!

[Lured In]

BH... I agree to an extent. I love to hunt the hills and hike in with my pack. But what am I looking for? The random deer? NO WAY!

I am following deer trails to find springs and unmarked ponds and pools. I am looking for meadows and clearings. Are these not naturally occurring food plots? I know this is not what you were referring to, but I thought it would make my point. We hunt where the deer are if you want to be consistently successful. So do these folks.

That being said the 'selection' of whitetails, whitetails or whitetails, is a little boring. I enjoy watching a few of the programs, but have recently taken to buying hunting videos instead. Most of these will tell you where the hunt was on the cover and you can avoid the 'ranch' hunts. The waterfowl videos are really cool. I bought a friend Whistling Wings 4, 5 and 6 last year and they are awesome. I could watch them constantly.

As far as magazines go. Recently I have been impressed with Peterson's hunting. Not awesome, but better than Field and Stream or Outdoor Life anyday.

[CrazyHorse]

Dan,
I agree with most of what you say, and reading these posts I guess I didn't realize that much of the state is forced the way these hunting shows portray (sp). I have to say If I was forced to hunt in this way I wouldn't be a hunter today. we are truly blessed in the west.

The one thing I don't agree with is suggesting that these ranch animals are wild (like non ranch animals) this is absurd...at least as far as the ones that are shown on these "hunting" shows. I'm sorry but in the wild you are not going to sit behind some little twig, 15 yards from a herd of elk, casualy talk about which one you are going to shoot, set up your tripod, take the shot, then watch the heard move 50 yards and start feeding again.
sorry, but this just doesn't happen in the wild.

Hunting is challenging and it is not uncommon to not get an elk for many years. if these elk were the same in ranches as they were in the wild then the success rate would be much lower and people wouldn't pay $3000+ dollars to go there.

just my .02

[6wapiti6]

I agree with lured in...I have resorted to buying or renting videos. Drury and Primos put out some high quality products and you can actually learn a trick or two by paying close attention. It also lets you pick and choose what species and types of hunts you want to watch i.e bow, rifle, etc... As for the whitetail thing, growing up on the east coast that was all we had to hunt. I feel spoiled being out west now and having the oppurtunity to chase all kinds of game. 6 days and counting until bow season!!!!

[Bait O' Eggs]

I saw a brief hunting (I use that term lightly) show on Saturday. These 2 guys climb up into this elevated house with shooting windows out all 4 sides. They proceed to talk about the feed they planted in this area and how the deer liked it so much.

15 minutes later their are deer on all sides feeding. They pick out a nice buck and take the shot. They were all out of breathe from the excitement, or maybe it was from the 20 foot stairway up to the shooting platform.

I think it would be an equal challenge to take a Holstein cow in Tillamook.

I was back east a few years ago visiting some relation. We got up each morning and went and put a bucket of apples under the tree his stand was in. 15 minutes later we would see the deer appear to eat them. He couldnt wait for hunting season to start so he could kill them. He did take me on a rabbit hunt with some hounds. Now that was some fun shooting at rabbits with a 12 gauge doing 30 mph with a hound on his tail. That one rabbit thought he was pretty clever to run up on the neighbors porch and sit there and look at us across the fence. I wonder if the neighbors ever figured out what blood stain was on their porch when they got home. :shocked: :shocked: I guess there is no such thing as "base" when you hunt back east.

Nice topic Ben, I will take my Western style hunting.

[Baldpate Basher]

Bird
You’ve hit the nail no the head.

The problem is that real hunting is not an easy thing to do. Especially with a camera crew following you around as you try to stalk your game.

It’s just easier to drive a truck with a cherrypicker on it out to a place where the deer have been hand fed for the last year.

That’s why very few shows will spend the time and money to show how to hunt properly. There is less effort involved and the odds of a kill are almost 100%.

I think this kind of hunt should be illegal but I’m not a voter in those states.

I, as you know, am not from these parts. I grew up hunting waterfowl and big White tail in Maryland.

In Maryland there were two kinds of hunters, those who hunt their deer and those who ambush the neighborhood Bambee. That was before 1990.

Now however with the ever-increasing population of the state, the neighborhoods are packed so tightly that there’s no room for the little copse of trees anymore.
[img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]

So the only places to hunt deer are in the west on the mountains, and in the east in the marshes. Both of these are far too hard for anything but a true hunter.

The problem in Maryland as I see it today is, how do we keep the idiot hunters from hunting waterfowl?
:whazzup:

Great thread!


Baldpate Baldpate Baldpate Baldpate Baldpate Baldpate Baldpate

[birdhunter]

They are called wigeon ya Baltimoron. :tongue:

[THE KIWANDA KID]

Man I've been around a while and was hopin' I wouldn't be the one to open this can o worms! I can't agree with alot of the "hunting" shows out there and the only thing I can see as a positve thing is the preaching of takin' a kid "huntin". But the biggest thing that erks me is the damn fools can't count horns or at least say fork and horn inatead of 6 point!!! Sounds like someone has little mans syndrome. I used to have a realy bad attitude toward bow hunters because of shows I saw where "hunters " were taking very long, unethical shots at critters and then have the gall to say they hit 'em in the vitals! Sorry Tex but around here an ass shot is an ass shot :grin: To this day I still have some mixed feelings about Bow hunting but just like rifle hunting there are unfortunatly some folks who spoil it for the rest. My first Bull had an arrow in it's leg and had healed well but my biggest gripe I geuss is the length of season and over the counter tag (in most cases) but hey I'm sure we don't wont to start a rifle/bow war. I hope we can see more realistic hunts in the future especialy if they were around here :grin: :grin: