Contributors to this thread:
LO vouchers make scheduling much easier.
Vouchers, lots of bulls, easy terrain for film crews to lug equipment around, and relatively open country for filming.
The inverse of why they don't film shows in OTC units with steep mountains and thick timber.
they mostly hunt on the flatter terrain down there cause they are fat and slow.
The Filming is much easier. I have been filming some of my whitetail hunts and it is not easy. I made a decision when I started though that I would not let my filming cost me a big deer, it may someday but for now if the buck is big I forget the filming and concentrate on killing. Shawn
And on ranches in Montana. Open enough and terrain is reasonable for a cameraman who is lugging 40 pounds of camera gear. The good equipment is heavy but makes a much better video.
To make me jealous probably..
Those elk hunts have about as much in common eith my elk hunts as a hunt on Mars hunting for green little mean.
In years gone by the Primos crew used to film in places that were pretty rough. I've seen more than one elk go rolling and sliding down terrain so steep I probably couldn't stand up on it. But, they were younger then.:)
Dry reek...younger??? Or poorer?? Haha
Easy answer.......bigger bulls ;)
They go there because NM game and fish does an excellent job with the resources they have. I think WY does a pretty good job also.
Flyingbrass, if you mean favoring landowners and outfitters at the expense of regular guy hunters in the tag allotments, yes they do.
My friends in NM hunt in CO every year because they can't draw tags in their own state.
I hunt CO when I don't draw and sometimes when I do draw......so far I've drawn 4-8.
Two words: Landowner tags.
Too many answers to the question? Combination of most in my opinion. Not often you see a film crew packing cameras up and down through Vine Maple and ferns in the northwest! Just not a good proposition for filming and the other thing is Why? If I can get a LO or outfitter tag in NM I would spend the money and make a good show for my sponsors. Pretty much has already been said just my POV!
Lots of reasons as stated here, but #1 is that they don't have to count on drawing a tag. They can buy a Landowner Tag.
Jaquomo summed the situation up nicely.
Same reason Primos hunts the Hill Ranch in Colorado. Landowner tags. (In Colorado, the program is called "Ranching for Wildlife") The premise is the same.
Ranching for Wildlife is Landowner tag on steroids, right? You can rifle hunt in rut, right? Long season and you decide on the weapon? That is the Golden Ticket, if true and you have the $$$ and that is your sort of dealio.
Actually what most of you are missing is the point that these companies have to pay big fees to film on Federal lands. By hunting private ranches they only pay for the outfitter fees, and then they get the nice cushy hunts also.
"By hunting private ranches they only pay for the outfitter fees, and then they get the nice cushy hunts also."
Yes, and many of those have turned into little more than transparent infomercials for the ranch and outfitter, so it's a win-sin for everyone - I guess... except for people who haven't hunted elk and are led to believe that it's a representation of how elk hunting is anywhere else.
Interesting reading here.
I've been doing this gig for eight years and since my shows are all on public land, I've been paying public land film fees; $120,000+ since we started. I can understand these shows wanting to avoid those costs we have incurred. That said, I think the film permit fees are much lower on the list of reasons why New Mexico ends up with so many TV elk hunts.
The biggest reason they hunt these private places in New Mexico has been pointed out above; access to tags via the landowner voucher system, and way, way, easier than trying to film highly pressured public land elk without the aide of local knowledge guides can provide.
Since New Mexico gives more landowner elk vouchers than all other states combined, it is part of the New Mexico hunting landscape. I've drawn many times and was very happy. Due to the requirements of getting "X" number of episodes to the network, as my agreement requires, we have used unit-wide elk vouchers in New Mexico three times and filmed/hunted elk on draw tags seven times. Not my preferred choice, but it is part of the reality in New Mexico's allocation of their hunting resource. And, with only 6% of the tags to non-guided non-residents, it becomes a viable option for those who have contractual requirements with networks and sponsors.
We can wish it was different, but that is up to the folks of New Mexico as to how they want to allocate their tags among landowners, residents who apply, and non-residents who apply.
But to the question in the original post, the answer has already been provided. Most TV shows are designed to make a profit (I need to figure out that part), so they look for the lowest risk options, with the most predictable scheduling, with the highest likelihood of success for their hunters, whether experienced or beginner elk hunters.
Thanks for the input Randy.
As always, I enjoy your shows.
Big Fin I wish most guys would realize making shows is a labor of love not a profit machine.
Unless you are on ESPN making money can be TOUGH.
The promos guys were in a Colorado OTC area a few years ago that was a fiasco! Running around blowing the elk off the public all over the place....
So I am a resident and have drawn 8 times out of the last 10 years. Don't see any reason to go anyplace else.
P.S.- Big Fin, teach the announcer how to pronounce Datil, NM :-)
Really enjoy your show Randy and the message that you send.
Keep up the great work Randy, also love the message.
Randy,
Thanks for the input.
Keep making great and realistic shows!
Mark
