Hunting Shows Making Me Cringe!!

[WNYBuckHunter]

I havent seen the sportsmen channel, is that on Dish or Direct TV or something? Ive seen a few shows lately that they made bad shots on deer and admitted to it. One where they even took and made a follow up shot due to a shot to far back.

[burmjohn]

Its on Fios, there are a few decent shows on there tho. Not as commercialized as the outdoors channel.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Ahhh, we dont get Fios out here.

[Doc]

I just got done watching the sportsman channel and I see what you mean. This goober was bow hunting and this big buck comes in and he shoots him low right in front of the back legs. And this guy is doing a victory dance in his tree stand!!! I wanted to punch him right out of his stand I was so pissed off. He's like, I hit him a little far back but I think it was still a good shot. I'm screaming at the tv NO IT WASN'T YOU BOZO!!! Then its miraculously the next day and there sitting there on the ground with the deer and its all gutted out with leaves over the spot where he shot it. And hes sitting there explaining how it got dark and they couldn't find any blood so they decided to wait till morning to go find it, and how it was a good shot. And I'm like OK lets see the spot where you shot it then and that was the end of the show. And then they scroll through all his sponsors and I'm thinking  do they even watch what they sponsor. And then every other show was with a crossbow behind a fence shooting deer that had huge racks that were not even close to reality. What a waste of 2 hrs, could have been out shooting or scouting. FAKE CRAP TO SUM IT UP.

Doesn't it make you just a bit offended that these people think so little of hunters that they would have the arrogance to think that no one would notice or care how absolutely fake all that stuff is? What are they trying to say about our intelligence?

[Lawdwaz]

I think one of the MAJOR sponsor of these shows is the POD.  Shoot a deer in the guts, brisket or leg and they recover it no problem.

Maybe some of the younger guys on here never heard of the POD?

Really some terrible shows on TV. 

[nyslowhand]

TV hunting shows to the hunter are similiar to Methadone to the heroin addict.

An artificial high that gets them through life's stresses!

Both know it's not real, but need to experience the high no matter what they have to endure.

See it for what it's worth and it's face value, take it or leave it! It's not real life!!

The key factor here is free will and the remote control!

[Doewhacker]

TV hunting shows to the hunter are similiar to Methadone to the heroin addict.

An artificial high that gets them through life's stresses!

Both know it's not real, but need to experience the high no matter what they have to endure.

See it for what it's worth and it's face value, take it or leave it! It's not real life!!

The key factor here is free will and the remote control!

haha thats sad but true..they give us the fix we need some times..

my favorite thing they do is when they go back for the recovery the next day and the deer is still flexible...meaning it just died, but 100% of the time they state proudly that he didn't go 80 yards and was dead last night....or in reality what happened was the guide tracked it and finished it off for them.

[Buckstopshere]

Erussel: I saw the same show (or another one just like it) and thought the same thing!

B.S.!

It would be so much more interesting...not to mention Truthful!...to explain a marginal hit and what they had to do to retrieve the animal...on the blood trail. Why pretend that it was a great shot and act like he just won the World Series!?

Well, probably because they don't really know the difference.

[Doc]

TV hunting shows to the hunter are similiar to Methadone to the heroin addict.

An artificial high that gets them through life's stresses!

Both know it's not real, but need to experience the high no matter what they have to endure.

See it for what it's worth and it's face value, take it or leave it! It's not real life!!

The key factor here is free will and the remote control!

Yeah, and I guess we can satisfy ourselves with crap. But speaking of "free will", I still have the right to speak out and criticize that crap if I feel like it, and I sure wouldn't want anyone to think that some of that crazy nonsense is simply flying over my head without recognition or disapproval, or that I'm in love with the cartoon depiction of hunting that these fakes think they're getting away with.

Doc

[erussell]

don't get me wrong there are some good shows. I actually like to watch the Primos vids. I saw one of the guys on there gut shoot a deer because his wheel hit the tree, didn't realize his bow was so close to the tree when he shot,  when they got down and checked the arrow they went through and explained how to look at an arrow and smell it and tell if it was paunch or not. There was no whooping and hollering it up, The guy looked physically sick after the shot. They then waited till morning and then showed the whole tracking process. luckily they didn't go right after the deer and it bedded about 200 yrds from where it was shot and expired in its first bed sometime during the night. It will happen to all of us eventually if you have hunted for any amount of time and its good we have a few shows out there that show what to do. But a lot of them are crap.

[VenaticOutdoors]

From what I gathered here, everyone has their opinion about hunting shows.  It looks like a lot of people are fed up with the unrealistic nature of the shows.  Starting with poor shot angles and ending with big 170"+ bucks (which is unrealistic for most of us in NYS).  A lof of these we've identified as issues as we start thinking about doing a show, but I'm curious...what would everyone like to see in hunting shows now?

[burmjohn]

Scouting, preparation, food plots, management, and strategies.

[steve863]

From what I gathered here, everyone has their opinion about hunting shows.  It looks like a lot of people are fed up with the unrealistic nature of the shows.  Starting with poor shot angles and ending with big 170"+ bucks (which is unrealistic for most of us in NYS).  A lof of these we've identified as issues as we start thinking about doing a show, but I'm curious...what would everyone like to see in hunting shows now?

 

I guess there is only so much they could put into a 30 minute show of which about 15 minutes are commercials.  As much as some of them try to tell us that it isn't about big antlers, it seems like it certainly IS about big antler to them and little else.  Why should they or anyone else really care about B&C or P&Y scores??  Enjoying hunting and the outdoors has absolutely nothing to do with what the antlers score.  These shows are brainwashing ALL hunters into thinking that it's all about antlers and that is really sad.  There is already too much competition in our lives, with jobs, school, having everything and more than your neighbor has, etc.  If we at least left this element out of hunting, it would make the pastime a heck of a lot more enjoyable, this I can guarantee anyone.

[VenaticOutdoors]

Scouting, preparation, food plots, management, and strategies.

For this month's video journal we are doing a Pro-Staff introduction.  Everyone was intructed to do a 1-2 minute intro about what they have been doing this summer with the footage to back it up.  I think this is in line with what you are interested in John.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Scouting, preparation, food plots, management, and strategies.

Add to that deer biology, DIY out of state hunt tips, hunting in the Northeast (not just in the midwest, south, Saskatchewan), gear reviews

[Doc]

Here are some hunting shows that I would like to see:

1- an in-depth discussion of blood trailing

2- a discussion of scouting here in the northeast. If it had to be a multi part series, that would be fine.

3- a close up look at back-packing hunting camps with plenty of ideas regarding equipment, and weight and space saving ideas on packing, as well as camp set-ups.

4- a complete discussion on ground standing, including purchased ground blinds along with on-site built blinds. Designs, and other important considerations involved in hunting from the ground.

5- A shooting primer (long-guns and hunting pistols), showing the most effective ways of getting accuracy and setting up in the field.

6- archery basics, along with equipment building, care and maintenance.

7- a total discussion on rut behavior and timing (multi-part if necessary)

8- an in-depth discussion of the science of scent. How it travels, the effects of brush on scent dispersal, how and how long scent attaches itself and lasts as an alert to deer. What increases the effectiveness  of the deer's sense of smell. How weather (wind, rain, temperature, etc.) effects scent, etc.

These are just a few of the unlimited supply of hunting related subjects that nobody ever seems to want to try to show. The point is that TV hunting programming doesn't always have to be the same old boring format that we have been drowned in over the recent decades. It's time these guys started to use a bit of imagination and creativity and branched out into the many other hunting related subjects. Yes, they can still include the traditional shoot-em-up hunts, but once in a while, toss in something that's a bit different than the previous thousands of hunting shows that have already been aired. We hunters aren't that simple-minded that we can only handle the same show, over and over and over and over.

Doc

Above are a few of the topics that I mentioned before that I would like to see covered. That's only a starter list. Primarily what I would like is anything that doesn't continually repeat the same old, word-for-word, exact, tired, story line, and chain of events decades, of decades past.

Doc

[VenaticOutdoors]

Wow that's a starter list!?  Crazy!

I'll definitely compile all these together and keep it in mind next year when we pursue a show.  Sounds like you are most interested in the entire story of hunting from start to finish.

[Lawdwaz]

"Pro Staff" 

I love that term.

Hang on while I spray down with some sent eliminator...................

[nyslowhand]

Definitely no celebrities or pro staffers, average Joes.

Everyday hunting situations - good & bad, NYS locations and "something learned" from each episode.

[Doc]

Wow that's a starter list!?  Crazy!

I'll definitely compile all these together and keep it in mind next year when we pursue a show.  Sounds like you are most interested in the entire story of hunting from start to finish.

What I specifically want to see in hunting videos is not near as important as what I don't want to see anymore. Hunting TV programming has gotten so predictable and stale that I could write the story-line for everyone of the shows. They never change.

First we spend some time in the car or airport and the hunter-heroes arrive. Then we take care of the introductions where the outfitter or camp gets their plug. Then a brief over-view of the ranch that will be hunted (more of the plug). Then there we are looking at the back of the head of the hunter-hero in the treestand. We watch a few heavy racked bucks wander by that they claim are just not ready for harvest yet. Then it happens. The obligatory statement. "Oh-oh ....... here comes a shooter. Then starts the funky 70's music as the buck gets closer and closer. Then the shot and the deer runs off with 7/8 of the arrow sticking out of the near side of some non-vital part of the deer. Then comes the blood trailing which is done at a brisk walk with only an occasional glance at the ground. Finally all the back-slapping and high-fives as they come on the deer mysteriously now in the pitch dark or the next day. The gun hunting shows are even worse in terms of boredom and unchanging story-line.

Do I ever want to see another one of those brainless portrayals of hunting again? ........ Not on your life. Something happened back when the TV shows began. Every ounce of creativity and imagination some how got sucked out of the directing and production, and has never moved forward again. It really is like watching re-runs. Different deer, different hunter-heroes, but the same old tired story and action. They really have become just about as boring as some of those lame professional bass fishing shows. :

So, the first thing I want to see change in hunting TV programming and video production is some recognition that hunting actually has some depth and variety to it. 90% of hunting and hunting related subjects have not yet been shown in any detail. Acknowledge that there are other aspects to hunting a few of which I outlined above. Use some creativity in the production and planning of these shows. Other areas of audio-visual products apply some out-of-the-box thinking, why doesn't the hunting video industry?

Sure, I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the idea.

Doc

[steve863]

"Pro Staff" 

I love that term.

Hang on while I spray down with some sent eliminator...................

LOL!  I know I will sound sexist for saying it, but when I see some of the women hunters on these shows called "Pro Staff" it really makes me laugh.  Even that Tiffany Lakosky who many hunters seem to drool over seems like a complete joke to me.  I love it when she is walking up to one of her dead deer.  She is tripping and stumbling like she doesn't even know how to walk in a pair of hunting boots or even ever walked thru the woods.

I actually prefer bird hunting shows over any big-game hunting shows.  Whitetail hunting shows are by far the worst.  Nothing but horn pornography in my opinion with a southern accent in the majority of cases.  Big boobs and curvy butts are substituted for by big horns with the viewer at home fast-forwarding his remote control to the juicy parts.  Anyone ever watch that show "Hunting with Hank" where the guy bird hunts with his dog?  His show too me represents what hunting is and should be way more than any other big-game show I ever saw.  He's just a guy enjoying a great day afield in some nice looking country.  Very simple, but shows the essence of hunting a heck of a lot better.

[fasteddie]

I enjoy a few of the shows but find it irritating to have one of the participants "re-cap" the hunt / shot after I have seen everything . If they need to fill in another 5 minutes , do it with something else !

[Doewhacker]

yea well I have a problem with the dog that guy uses..its not the same as mine so its no good hahahaha

[JR60]

Ya it makes me laugh when I see those female hunters sitting in there stands with makeup on, big shiny ear rings and jewlery on , must be a new type of camo !!!!

[Doc]

The following disclaimer to the ladies that are forum members:

Please note that "Doc" is not entering into the latest turn of this topic. I have nothing to do with it, and (as Tim the Toolman used to say) "I have no opinion" on the subject of lady hunter hosts.