If you couldn't hunt,would you watch it?
Whitetail Deer
If you could no longer hunt whitetails,for whatever reason. Land loss,lost permission,outfitter leased your property ECT,and you were 100 percent unable to hunt deer,would you still watch it on tv or buy the DVDs? I've asked this question to many of my hunting buddies,and they kinda pause and ponder for a minute. Why do you ask they wonder.I'm 32 years old,I've witnessed the archery explosion of the 90s first hand,seen Mathews become a new brand of bow,to the king of the archery world.Along with the words "food plot"and Trophy buck" or how about my favorite the "Shooter" buck. Also the words "outfitter" and hunting "Lease" become just as normal.Ive lost some land to hunt in my 17 years of hunting whitetails. Some due to deaths of owners,others to leasing and outfitters. We had permission to hunt about 1300 hundred acres of ground between 3 counties, but so did about 10 other guys on the same property. And that was ok. Somewhere in the last 20 years, a meteor fell from space and created this craziness to pick up a bow and shoot monster bucks, not just deer, but nothing 140 class and up. Everyone wants to be on Tv,film their hunts, get sponsored yatta yatta. I'm seeing a disease being created, one that is going to wipe out everyday deer hunters.A disease that eats away ethics and tradition. I will catch alot of hell for posting this. Some who make money off of leasing and guiding. I just don't understand how it became so important to kill whitetail deer,or to be on tv. The only reason I can see is the MONEY. SO my question is this, how many people who CAN hunt, watch hunting shows. And ONE day SOON, if you couldn't hunt,would you still watch it. Thanks for reading.
Nope.
I hunt, but quit watching the hunting shows years ago. Other than a very few, they pretty much all look the same.
Not hunting would not change that.
I enjoy watching hunting on TV but only because when I am watching it I can't be out there hunting myself at that exact time. Some shows are superb productions of the entire hunt and others I wouldn't even fast forward to the kill shot... It is entertainment that focuses on my favorite thing to do so yeah...I'd still watch it but in the same breath...I can't imagine not being able to hunt.
I don't really watch hunting tv. I have seen bits and pieces here and there, and even a few full episodes probably in my entire life, but that's about it. One I happen to actually remember:
I was bored and flipping channels one day and happened to come across an outdoor channel that had a Lee and Tiff show on. I thought, what the heck, there has been a lot of fuss over these people, so I'll watch a little. Lee promptly stuck an arrow in the shoulder of a nice IA buck on one of his farms and got about 2" of penetration. I just had to laugh and move on.
I am just a tad younger than you, and if I couldn't hunt, I sure wouldn't start watching them. That would be painful. None of the reasons you listed would keep me from hunting though.
Watching a show about hunting isn't going to help the kids that are shooting up places.
i've always said "the next best thing to smokin' my own macdaddy with a pumphouse rage shot is watching some tabaccy spittin' redneck shoot one"
i've always said "the next best thing to smokin' my own macdaddy with a pumphouse rage shot is watching some tabaccy spittin' redneck shoot one"
I can still hunt I elect not to watch hunting shows anymore because most of them now are pure garbage! There is only a few that put out quality material. Most though are just infomercials with some host that has to come up with their own catch phrase line. Bottom line is it's strictly business for most of them and most are just looking to make$$$$$$!
I cant see how any one could really truly love and respect the sport when they're out making deadlines and having to be successful to make a dime. Stacking the animals up on their "leases"! taking animals from "the hit lists" that their guides have picked out for them when they arrive!
Kids watch these shows and think that hunting is a totally different sport then what it really is! Kids think it easy and you just go out and "Smoke one" or "Lay the smack down" on one! Its hard to teach the kids respect and patience to take the time to learn the art of being a good hunter when they watch that crap on TV! Ya those shows and all the big shot Hollywood hunters are a disease for the sport for sure in my eyes!
I guess that's just the age we live in. All the technology that's out there I think its sad that so many hunters cant go hunting without their lazer range finders, electric ozone scent eliminators, apps for their phones telling them weather and wind patterns. Seriously people just go buy a penned in deer and shoot it. I took up the sport of bow hunting because it was a challenge and wasn't a sure thing. And I knew that sometimes I was going to be unsuccessful but that is all part of the experience.
I guess I'm just old fashion! Not trying to offend just calling it how I see it.
If I could get 100 yards only by crawling, I could and would still hunt.
Even as a very old man, I'll have myself set up in a situation where I can meander a short ways to hunt, even if I have little to no chance at success, so I can do it till the day I die.
I can't imagine ever uttering the words, "I used to hunt."
That said, I'll always watch and read about hunting whenever I'm not hunting - it's like wearing a nicotine patch while you're in the hospital.
To answer the questions... Yes I hunt and I DVR several hunting shows. Fast forward through the BS. It is still better than the news. If I couldn't hunt, it would probably only be because I was dead and then I would not be able to watch those shows. Where there is a will there is a way.
Nope. I don't watch them now. They have nothing to do with hunting.
The question was if you couldn't at all... No loop holes :)
Very seldom watch them now, can't see that things would change any.
That is actually a tougher question for me, than I expected it to be....if I was physically disabled to the point where I could no longer go outside and hunt....I think that I would watch.....but I would defer to Youtube, so I could bypass or eliminate commercials.
I would watch bowhunters.....I just wouldn't watch the commercialized version....I'd be following those that film their own hunts.
I'd rather watch Oprah or Dr. Phil than the whitetail shows on tv. I used to watch a few but they are absolutely horrible... If you've seen one buck killed over a food plot from a treestand, you've seen them all...whoopty freakin' do. A bunch of yahoos acting like a bunch of idiots jumping up and down, shaking their fist in the air, calling their buddies on their cell phones before they even get to the buck, obnoxious blaring guitars blasting in the background... give me a break.. As far as the shows getting gets interested in hunting, I think I'd rather see them playing video games.. These shows do nothing to promote hunting for the mostpart... All they do is push using every gadget ever invented and they make hunting appear to be all about what a buck scores... A bunch of egomaniacs who should crawl back in the hole they crawled out of....
I'd have a LOT more time in the fall and winter to watch TV, that's for sure :)
I've asked myself this question lately because my hunting partner of 35 years has stopped hunting since he retired! All he wants to talk about is the hunting he watches so we now have very little to say and our relationship has been distant. As for now, I couldn't imagine trying to replace actual hunting w/ TV hunting but I also would've never thought my friend would.
My kids ask my why I don't watch hunting shows anymore? Wasn't a conscious choice for me, just happened, although I do enjoy the shows that have no talking! I can't stand most of the fishing shows as well, especially if they are fishing bass!
No! I don't watch any hunting shows now. IMO, it's all edited for TV viewers, trying to keep you "tuned in for next time" (in other words . . . . it's staged). Not all, but most.
Now a Do It Yourself (DIY) Hunt on Public land is more realistic to the average hunter.
I enjoy Mr. Winke ;) Midwest whitetail! Educational with little catch phrazes and fist pumping. Other shows not much interest and would not watch if I could not hunt. There is no excuse never to hunt again.
I lost all of last season due to neck surgery. It had no impact on my watching hunting TV shows- which was already, basically zero.
Now that I have recovered from the surgery my "watch hunting TV needle" has still not moved.
Bottom line- I watch very little TV.
I bought my 1st "real" bow in 1956 AND joined organized archery. 2014 starts 58 years of Archery/Bowhunting. My knees are shot so I can't walk that half or mile to my stand anymore (it's max 200 yds now & a break or 2 if up a hill). I've seen & changed several things over those years.
Do I watch hunting shows? I DVR (bowhunting only)them & when "nothing" else is of interest on the tube, I watch. Would I if I couldn't hunt-yes, & for the same reason-nothing else on the tube. I look at TV Bowhunting as entertainment & definatly not a "learning" experience for me.
I'm guessing if it gets to me not being able to "walk" to a stand I'll go when one of my bowhunting kids or G-kids go & have them drop me off AT my stand. I'm pushing 73 so never know what tomorrow will deal me. I'm going to shoot the Nationals next week (5 days of shooting)& it's not the shooting 112 shots a day from 10 through 80 yds.a day I worry about, it's "walking" 28 outdoor targets for 5 days in a row.
The friday night before gun season my friends bring hunting videos up to the cabin.I do not get TV reception any more so we watch them.They are a joke but we do have a good time.That is the only time I watch them.Hunting just does not show well on tv.
I'm a hunting and guiding addict. If I'm not actually doing it I'm usually thinking about it, talking about it, writing about it, reading about it or daydreaming about it. Call me crazy but I do like watching it and sometimes I learn something about it; new techniques, places to go, products to buy or places to get them. But turkey hunting on TV blows.
Only watch a few (and very selective at that) cause I hunt too. Most of the time it's a way to relive what you've done. If I couldn't hunt anymore, I wouldn't watch any - why torture myself.
There are a lot of shows out there that do the 'look at, look at me', or "you really gotta try this". Well ok, float me the cash and I will, otherwise, shut up.
Entertainment is by far the largest industry on the face of the planet, so it's no surprise that hunting has joined, and by some of the shows out there, some are just short of twerking. Hunting shows have spawned a very large population of field judging experts on big animals. Notice how all of a sudden there are a tremendous amount of 350+ bulls out there? It ain't because of better management...I remeber the days when shooting a 305 bull was something to talk about, now those are referred to as nothing big, just a small one, or "just wasn't big enough".
Hunting TV has bastardized the hunting world, and I've been sucked in along with several others.
Note: I make no apologies nor intend to defend my stance.
Sadly,my hunting days are almost over,COPD and IBS have taken their toll on me. I was told to hunt something I could carry. My brother did help me to lift the bear in my truck this year.I love baiting for bears and next year I'll drive my sxs right up to the bait. I don't watch hunting shows any more but like to pass on my knowledge on to other hunters through hunting sites.
I wouldn't watch them now.
Yes, i would watch. I Love hunting. And when i cant be in the woods, i enjoy watching hunting on tv, tho its certainly and obviously not the same rush as doing it. But in my opinion, "if u see one deer shot in a food plot, u have seen em all" is a non objective view. Perfectly fine for anyone to feel that way, but dont think that everybody thinks that way. The area i hunt, the place i am in in my life with 2 young kids, the time i have to hunt with that and work, the "food plot" way of hunting is how i hunt. And i love it. Its pretty dang exciting to not only setup a food plot and stand that leads to succes, but just to do the work and anticipate the results and see the food plot grow, flourish and provide the deer with nutrition that wasnt there before. To see multiple fawns fedding with their mothers in plots that u cant even hunt over, u just planted them because there was room and you love doing it is awesome for me. I dont live out west, i dont "spot and stalk", i dont pack in and out or sleep in the wilderness. I kind of envy you guys that get to do that and i love watching shows where they do that. But i hunt the way i hunt, and it burns inside of me to do it as much as i can. And it kinda drives me nuts when guys dismiss that kind of hunting as not hunting. There are certainly shows that are hard to watch. Yes, some guys r doing it for money. But there are some great shows with seemingly great people that make a lot of money because they provide great entertainment. And they would probably hunt just as hard if they didnt have the shows. I believe that some of these guys are just as excited as i am about the time they spend in the woods. They are just super lucky to have been put in the position to do it for a living. There is pressure to have success in order to continue doing what they do. It leads to some shady stuff, not cool and highly offensive to most of us hunters. But there are a ton of shady hunters that work 40 hours a week like we do, just how it is. I dont mind hearing a guy call a buck a "macdaddy". Michael Waddell is probably the guy most ppl would be referring to with that specific term. I dont know him, but have met him with my oldest daughter and he held and talked to her like he was a family member when we got our picture taken with him, after hours of meeting with person after person. The other "celebs" i have met didnt have that genuine personality. I loved his shows before, way more after that. And ive heard many ppl say he is in real life what u see on tv and i believe it. Im younger, i think guys who are up in arms about naming a deer u got pics of or calling a big one a "macdaddy" are fuddy duddies, but i still appreciate you as hunters(as long as u do it legally:^)). Those guys probably call me a young punk, and thats fine. But i realize everybody is different in SO many ways from where u were raised to how u were raised to what u were raised seeing people do. So i dont get highly offended when ppl say something that i disagree with regarding to hunting, but it bothers me when im told that im wrong for thinking the way i think. Im not saying im right and ur wrong, its just the perspective i have due to my raising and life experiences trying to do the best i can to be what i believe in. Wow, sorry for the novel, didnt realize how passionate i am about the subject. And i kinda feel like the subject for me is not whether tv hunters are worth watching, its more that i wish hunters could be way more untited than we are even though the wày we do things is different. There are bad eggs in our group that are a possible black eye for us, but there are those in all groups. I believe that instead of agreeing to disagree we r too quick to pounce, belittle and label negatively. I believe that our country is in the position we r for the same reasons, and i dont want to see my hunting future in the same peril. Not gonna proof read it cuz it may get longer, so please forgive for any fat finger on the phone typos. Thabks for letting me step up on my soap box. Dont know if i should hit submit message, but im gonna....
I don't mind the food plot hunting, but the farm raised deer and all the fake jazz that goes with it isn't my thing,and to do that and call yourself a deer hunter is outrageous.
Yes. Hunting is as much of my DNA as blue eyes, brown hair and habit of digging into ever-deepening holes when trying to argue with my wife.
Make that, I'd watch what I watch now, which is not the first-pumping, "smoked him," "giant" that's about 110, "hunted so hard for two days,"
The more scenery, and quality footage of wild animals, the better.
Yep, I'll watch that stuff long after my last hunt, if possible.
NO, QUIT WATCHING HUNTING SHOWS WHEN I WAS STILL ABLE TO HUNT. Don't watch them now. Sorry about caps.
Dont hardly watch them now. Only a few that are tolerable and I believe the shows are eroding the image of bowhunting in more ways than one.
Shockey yes. Sure miss his dad and father in law. His is more than just hunting though.
Reruns of "24", Bo Derek movies and NASCAR...not necessarily in that order.
Probably not.. I've got two dvds I helped produce and I don't watch them.
In Siberian gulags, starving prisoners would discuss, share and daydream about favorite meals. It wouldn't satiate their hunger, but it was all they had.
That about sums up my Bowsite cruising and any video watching.
And though I can't remember the last time I watched a video, I admit that the Donnie Vincent thread and trailers have piqued my interest.
No way. I dont watch em now. I certainly wouldnt watch them then.
Nope. Hunting is something you do, not watch. It makes a terrible spectator sport, and those that try to commercially film hunting do it a great disservice.
Hunting production stopped being good when Dan Fitzgerald sold out. Everything since then has been an embarrassment to the outdoors.
Ok stick n string *mostly* if you're a literal type of person
All the complaining about hunting shows is getting quite old in my opinion and the talk about "it's all about the money" is baloney. You can't just buy a video camera, go hunting and boom you're on TSN.
You take away every video camera, every endorsement, every fan and Fred Eichler, Tim Miranda and a host of other guys will be hunting just as hard as they were yesterday. You're telling me they do it for the money? What a load! Yes it is their business now, but they started hunting for fun and found a way to make it a viable business. I don't even own cable but I've watched some good stuff in my day and enjoy quality material.
Like Tom Miranda's adventure Bowhunter - that's some quality material. So in direct answer to the question I would most likely watch some.
All the complaining about today's hunting shows, and seeing there are others who refuse to patronize them, makes me feel like there's still hope.
I watch some hunting shows and had subscriptions to a few hunting magazines.. but that has died away for me. The shows usually focus on trophy bucks and I am a meat hunter. If there is a huge doe and a small buck, both in range, I'm going for the doe.
I have let my magazine subscriptions expire as well. It was rare I saw articles about doe hunting and was seeing more and more articles about African animal hunts.. something that is way out of my price range even if I was interested in doing it. I would love for a new magazine to come out that is about the sport of hunting in North America only.. including hunting squirrels, rabbits, pheasant, ect. I started hunting with my dad, shooting squirrels. It was how I learned to sit still, take my time, make good shots (I was made to learn with a single shot 20 gauge.. miss and it was over) and basic woodsmanship skills.
If there is traditional bow hunting only, I would watch hunting on TV. I am sick of how TV portrays hunting. They are out to make money and not for anything else. I would hope a traditional bow hunting show would show it as it is in real life. But I bet they would screw that up to. Firearms shows are just as bad. So I guess no I would not watch hunting on TV unless they change it to the real thing!
Rupe
I really don't see the appeal of watching fat guys arrow whitetails from a tree stand. Americans love their celebrities, though, and keep trying to push the hunting celebrity envelope further and further.
