Hunting Shows Unrealistic?

[beachpeaz]

What is everyones opinion on the Deer Hunting shows on TV and the unrealistic perception they put out to hunters that the whole world is crawling with 180" + bucks and 150" 10 pointers are just babies that need to walk?

I personally think these shows are a joke and am tired of them. These guys spend $10's of thousands of dollars (which they fail to mention), hunt private property (which they fail to mention) and are given the best stand location so the TV Show gets good ratings (which they fail to mention), and, a lot of these places are doing year round suplimental feeding programs to increase antler size drastically (which of course they don't show).

They make these TV Hunters look like GOD's as if they are good hunters to have a wall full of monsters when it has nothing to do with the hunter, but the circumstances they are provided. Let them come hunt my property in NY and see how many 180" deer on hanging on the wall!!

Not that they are not around (I posted a picture of a 170" deer on my trail camera in the "trail camera" forum last year), but that is only the 4th or 5th buck in my lifetime I have seen that big (Not 30 of them running around the same property) every year.

I wish I could remember the name of the show, but there was one with a hunter up in NH. It was a great show. Only one I have ever seen about hunting the North East. He shot about a 140" buck (and considered it a monster) and he said, and I quote "In the real world where I hunt, this is a big deer. This isn't the midwest where 150" deer seem to just wander around lucking for a hunter to shoot him." LMAO. AMEN!!

Thoughts?

Edited September 11, 2012 by beachpeaz

[virgil]

Totally agree. I'd love to see more shows that are more similar to real world conditions- at least the conditions that we're used to here in NY. Most of the shows on tv seem to be all about selling products and promoting the outfitters.

[mac]

agreed. there are a few shows that are most realistic and actually worth tuning in for but the majority are funded by shooting apparel and equipment companies that have arrangements with ranches that use those feeders and high shooting houses that arent much of a "hunt" to me. Lots of those private ranches are glorified game preserves just on huge acreage , so yes it is different from what we in the northeast think of when it comes time to " hunt".. as far as the ones where they say the "drew the coveted" tag for whatever animal, some of those seem a little too "arranged" with the state permit dept but who knows.

[mbucks27]

I agree that hunting shows are very unrealistic for us hunting in the northeast. I watch them for entertainment purposes only and because i'm a hunting fanatic and that's all i think about. But you have to remember something. Most people say i would love to see these guys come to where i hunt and shoot a 180" deer but if a 180" deer doesn't exist where you hunt it it would be impossible for them to shoot one. The thing is i know a lot of guys that let these shows get to their heads and only want to shoot 150s or bigger in NY. I have no problems with that but they might go a few seasons or a lifetime before it actually happens in some areas in NY. I use trail-cams to help me decide what i am going to try to shoot in the fall. i have numerous cams out all summer and if the biggest buck i get is only a 100" deer im not going to sit in my stand all season waiting for a 150" to come by and pass up the 100" if he presents a shot.

John

[newbreed]

I always thought it would be a cool show to have the big name hunters travel around to "normal" hunters lands scout them for a few days then put in a few days hunt to see what they do or do not kill.

[pistolp71]

Yes, totally unrealistic. I can't even stomach them anymore. Especially the whitetail shows. These unrealistic shows are a big reason why some people are totally obsessed with antler size. The only ones I watch now are the western hunts.

[ants]

Agree. They are a joke. I don't watch any of them anymore. The worst ones are those Texas, fenced in, hunt over a tripod feeder, pass on big ten points and the deer don't seem to be spooked by humans shows. Some of these guys should be ashamed IMHO

[dirt_a_KISS]

i hugely agree with that statement. I was watching one of them a couple of weeks ago and i just had to laugh. The hunters(three of them) were hunting over c'mere deer and just going on and on about the deer they been seeing on the trail cams. . The funny part to me came when the one seen a buck and basically said" i don't feel comfortable taking a deer of that age or class(antler size i think he was talking about). I'm really you will say that, but yet your hunting by bait piles, REALLY REALLY!

[beachpeaz]

I am glad I am not the only one! I am guilty of watching those shows cause I am a fanatic about hunting, but they irritate me. And, even though I am realistic, they have changed even my perception of deer. I find myself being more and more picky and it pisses me off. I could have shot a dozen more deer than I have, but I have this vision of shooting the 120 or 130" buck and missing out on the 150" that may be by later.........which usually doesn't happen.

Oh well. Good discussion topic though. Was curious what peoples thoughts were and if I was alone in my thinking.

LOL@Newbreeed. You are dead on brother. I would chip in to fund that hunting show! "Hunting the Real World"

[A Sportsman]

If I happen to be watching tv and a show is on, I'll watch some of it. Can't help it if the big bucks get me excited. But most of the shows have gotten so sickening, I find myself turning it off just before they take the shot. In my head, what they are doing is killing, or farming, not hunting.

What bothers me even more is wondering what non-hunters think if they happened to be watching these types of programs. These shows destroy our image, and I don;t think their is anything we can do about it, which is sad.

[mxsmitz201]

i like buck commander, partly because its cool to see one of my favorite athletes (Chipper Jones) take a liking to one of my favorite things to do. plus it seems to be very realistic to me. they are always hunting free range deer, and the deer they do shoot arent always MONSTER deer, plus they screw up about as much as i do and are not afraid to televise it lol

[beachpeaz]

agree with mxsmitz201. I have watched that show only twice and one of them was Chipper missing a deer at 25 yards and laughing about it. the other show he shot a 135" 8 point. Haven't watched it enought to know if this is standard though. People like Stan Potts, Bill Jordan, David Blanton, etc are the "commercial" people. They are like the Walmart of the hunting industry.

[Terry]

I really enjoy "Meateater" with Steven Rinella. He has very realistic views on hunting. Other than that, the rest are for entertainment purposes only, no real life situations.

[ants]

Yeah I guess it's not fair to say that all of those shows are a joke but unfortunately

most of them are.

What turned me off for good was an episode of that Jeff Foxworthy show. The owner of a fenced in ranch was out with his son in law. They were glassing some big bucks eating at a feeder that looked to be pretty far away. They decided not to take any of these deer and began to "sneak" across in front of the deer. When the camera panned back you see that those deer were only around 50 yards away and were not scared of the two guys at all. The deer just looked at them for a second or two and went back to eating. I mean it was bad.

[carloracer1987]

I agree with everyone else. It upsets me even more when theres snow on the ground and you can see corn or some other attractant right on the ground and they act like they didnt think the deer would come to the stand. DUH. The shows are all product and to promote outfitters anymore if you ask me. Its even worse when they kill a huge buck and dont even get excited they just sit there and say "got em" Ive always liked them showing that they just "found" there dead animal and the heads already propped up and everything

[Doc]

Think of these shows as fantasy hunting .... kind of a cartoon version of what hunting really is. We all know the score on how these all work and how these hunter-heroes could never make a decent living hunting the way we do. We all know that they would never be able to fill a season's worth of shows if they had to hunt the way we do. So just view these shows as someone's idea of how easy they have been able to make their hunting, and also as simple mindless entertainment.

The real question to all this is, "Are they harmless?"

My observations are that the wide exposure to these make-believe hunting shows is having an effect on hunter demands and expectations that exceed any sense of reality. I have seen controversy and friction developing between factions of hunters in the belief that some can duplicate what they see on TV. That's not harmless. I have seen hunters criticizing the harvests of other hunters because they don't measure up to some ever increasing standard that some have applied on themselves and are trying to force on others. That's not harmless. I believe that these programs put unrealistic expectations into the minds of hunters, new and old, creating doubt as to their capabilities and skills. Perhaps some of this is adding to frustrations and self doubts that may be driving out some of our hunters. That's not harmless. Perhaps some of our youth are being indoctrinated with unrealistic expectations that when not met may turn them off. That certainly wouldn't be harmless.

So yes, we should be able to view these things for what they are (fiction). But do we? We tell ourselves that it's all ridiculous misrepresentation, but I have to wonder how much of that is subconciously soaking into our expectations. It sure seems like attitudes about harvests have been affecting changes noted above ever since these videos and TV programs have been flourishing. Maybe our cartoon hunting shows aren't as harmless as we think.

[Nomad]

Hey I like to see big racks as much as the next guy, sometimes its on TV, sometimes its at the gym ! I find each as elusive as the next however .

[sampotter]

Hunting shows don't have to be unrealistic. It all depends on what you want out of your hunt. No, you are not likely to see multiple mature bucks in the same day because of the way we (the state) manage our deer herd.

It also depends on what name brand of hunting show you watch. I tend to like the Drury type productions and stay away from Buckmasters type stuff. I also try to stay away from DVDs that show hunting styles that are not possible or not legal where I hunt (baiting in Saskatchewan, hunting a sendero in Texas). Sure he bucks are bigger than the average mature buck in NY, but if you are hunting for mature bucks and scores are secondary, then the sheer size of the video bucks should not make it unrealistic.

The other thing to pay attention to is the days they hunted and didn't see or shoot anything that is worth showing. I've noticed stretches of 10 days or more where the TV hunter reportedly doesn't see a shooter. That is reality. If any one of us was getting paid to hunt 30 days a year I'm pretty sure we'd all get a crack at a mature buck. Remember- they only show the money shots, nobody wants to watch a guy sitting in a tree counting acorns.

Watching DVDs has helped me judge deer body language, watch how deer respond to calling and/or decoys, judge maturity, and guess at scores.

To me the only truly unrealistic thing about hunting shows is how much more time these guys spend hunting (also preseason preparation) than the average guy. It would probably take the average guy 5-10 hunting seasons to amass the sheer amount of qaulity hunting days that the average TV hunter hunts in one season, which is probably why the average guy only gets a crack at a nice buck every 5-10 years.

[ants]

Hey I like to see big racks as much as the next guy, sometimes its on TV, sometimes its at the gym ! I find each as elusive as the next however .

Those gym racks are waaay more elusive!! LOL

[Doc]

To me the only truly unrealistic thing about hunting shows is how much more time these guys spend hunting (also preseason preparation) than the average guy.

Sam- I suspect that there are a lot of non-professional hunters who put in more time than the hunter-heroes of TV put in. You don't really believe that those guys really do their own hunt preparation do you? Sure they pack their own clothes and their own advertiser supplied equipment, and they drive themselves from ranch to ranch, outfitter to outfitter and guide to guide. That is pretty much the extent of their hunt preparation (preseason and otherwise). The rest is handled by guides on the various game farms ranches. I don't for a minute believe that those guys ever scout, locate or install a single stand other than with the exception of the occasional photo-op for video purposes. I just don't believe it. It wouldn't be practical. They couldn't make a dime if they had to do their own scouting in a random piece of public or private land. Sponsors would drop them like a hot potato. Shows would be folding up for lack of programming. They need all those shortcuts.

On the other hand we have people right here on this forum that put in hours and hours with food plots, scouting missions, stand placement and all kinds of real preparatory activities. No they don't have the travel times that these nation-wide celebrity hunters do, but I believe there are a lot of people out here that are putting as much or more actual hunting and preparation time into hunting and they are doing it in a self-reliant way.

[PostedBoys Gallego]

Hell yea, I got so tired I started filming my own hunts to share, and show some real hunting from an average hunter. I just scan youtube for real hunting videos now adays. Much more interesting and no commercials. Start filming yours and share with us. It's actually fun to film them. TV is all business. There will never be a show without junk after junk to be showcased for sponsorship.

Oh and that c'mere deer crap, I think that is from Hank Parker and sons. WOW, I can't even stand to watch that. I consider that trigger pulling. New hunters will never learn to actually hunt a Whitetail if all they do is bait.

Edited September 11, 2012 by PostedBoys Gallego

[sampotter]

Doc- I would agree that there are more than enough guys that travel around and just hunt and get their mug on TV. I don't have cable so I can't say I am familiar with all of the junk out there but I know there is a lot.

You'd have to agree that there are some that do put in the hours though. Sure Lee and Tiffany are generally annoying to watch, but they mostly hunt their own farms and hang their own stands.

I'd have to agree that the product placement is whorish. I guess it makes their lifestyle possible.

[landtracdeerhunter]

I don't think Tiffany is annoying to watch, lol. She's a cutie.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I see it as entertainment, nothing more, nothing less. The actual informative shows are few and far between.

I just caught an episode of "The High Road" where they killed a real nice buck, then mentioned the "outfitter" they used. I googled it real quick. It was a whitetail and exotic fenced "hunt" in PA. I guess the term the high road means something other than what I have always thought it did.

[tommyc50]

borrrring and fake 30 min commercial for the outfitter , rifle ,scents bows arrows ,b'heads ect . the only one like alittle is shockeys dad and his friend those old coots are real and fun to watch BUT if i hear shockey say yeti coolers one more time ill puke, that said IT IS business but a little humility please dancing around and screaming another one bits the dust or YEAH smoked em they didnt score a goal [soccer/hockey] or do a little dance in the end zone [football] if these stars gutted a deer and draged it out [insteed of the guild and atv] ill bet theyll puke, bad view of hunting in general