Bear Hunting TV
Contributors to this thread:Bears
From: shortstop
28-Jan-15
Why aren't there more bear hunting shows? It seems to me to be the new "deer hunt". I realize there is more to it than walking out the back door as is done to shoot a buck,but would think the added viewership would make it work. Maybe I'm just the time of year making my brain a bearbrain. Suppose?
From: Bear Track
28-Jan-15
I kinda like not see them that often on tv. I think the repetitiveness the coyote calling and hunting then worse yet the turkey hunting productions make me shut those off. I'm a bear outfitter and like to watch the bear shows but not that often.
From: Callingalldeer
28-Jan-15
While hunting bears last year,I set up trail cams on video. I have about 9 pages of 1 min. Videos. From May until the end of Oct.. Interesting sounds and action. IM if your interested in watching them. Brent.
From: Bou'bound
28-Jan-15
Unless you are going to show spot and stalks there is not much to watch on a bait hunt. that is coming from someone who hunts them each year and has taken 14. other than turkey there is not a more boring made for TV hunt. the reality is they all basically go the same way. the bears all look about the same give or take. just not that much interesting for a TV show.
batied bears are a fun hunt.......the hunter is on pins and needles as the hunt goes along and nightfall approaches each day............but for a TV viewer each hunt is a nearly identical repetitive non-event. seen one seen em' all.
if you could get more spot and stalks, setting up over streams, etc. then you have a unique activity that would differentiate itself from the norm.
From: Charlie Rehor
28-Jan-15
I remember the anticipation of my very first bear hunt back in 1990, At the time there was a great 8 track video called "Bowhunting Hungry Black Bears". I probably watched it 25 times before my hunt. If that is your situation you can find some great DVD's to watch. Also the hunt shows will ramp up some bear hunts in March. Good Luck and have fun! C
PS: As with most bow hunts it is far more fun to be there than to watch but watching helps get you ready!
From: Bowfreak
28-Jan-15
Boubound nailed it. It is almost always the very same hunt played over again. Bear walks in to a pile of doughnut, grain, popcorn, beaver or whatever else and the guy is sitting in a tree waiting to fire an arrow. Deer hunts are actually way more enjoyable to watch as there is a better chance that the guy hunting is hunting in more of a DIY setting. All guided bear, turkey and whitetail hunts pretty much do the same for me with regard to watching. Don't get me wrong....if I had the cash I would do a heck of a lot more guided hunts but watching a guy set in a stand or a blind prepared by someone else is not that fun to me. If I am that guy in that stand or blind it is a lot of fun. :)
From: shortstop
28-Jan-15
Interesting. To me, an avid bear and deer hunter, I'm to the point that I can hardly stay interested in deer hunts on TV, but bear hunts........you bet. Guess I'm a little selfish on this one. Shot a half dozen bears now and many more deer. Maybe that's part of it. Thanks!
From: midwest
28-Jan-15
Ditto Bou.
From: Woodsman416
28-Jan-15
I'll watch a bear hunt on TV if it's got an interesting back story. The travel to remote locations, special circumstances or a hunt for a particular bear and the reasons for it. That's what holds my interest. Not the typical "climb up a tree, here comes a bear, shoot and death moan" TV hunts. Like stated above, it's fun to do but no fun to watch.
From: Windwalker
29-Jan-15
On all hunts I would like to hear more information about the equipment used, bow weight, broadhead type, ect. Last night I saw a woman shoot clean thru a large Eland. Information about her equipment would have made the show a lot more useful and interesting.
From: Brotsky
29-Jan-15
I'd like to see more bear shows as well. Finally going on a bear hunt this year and enjoy watching the action. Great learning tool as well for my wife who will be joining me. We can talk shot angles and waiting for the right moment and then critique the hunter, etc. As a guy who has never seen a live bear in the wild they are great!
Turkey on TV is an interesting topic. IMO turkeys are one of the most exciting critters to hunt with a bow. The calling and interaction and the woodsmanship makes them a riot to hunt. You watch it on TV though and you lose all of that. Boring as watching paint dry on TV.
From: TSI
29-Jan-15
Bear hunting tv shows would be far more interesting if they were more realistic.What i mean by that is #1 they often settle for any bear they can kill in good light and on film.If they were more selective and target only mature males it would be more interesting,and if they actually show the true amount of time they spent in stand.Often they use small barrels to give the impression the bear is bigger than it is and often exaggerate the sise with camera angles and editing.A realistic tracking job would also be nice.Too much kills and not enough on the experience,terrain,hunt and misses and passing.Fact-not every bear hunt is a slam dunk and not all can be painted with the same brush.
From: TSI
29-Jan-15
Bears are no different than any other hunted animal,hunting for just an animal is boreing and done to death on tv,hunting for high end animals is exciteing and not done enough.Tv shows dont give a realistic picture of what hunters expectations and goals should be.Not too many guys go on deer hunts to kill a doe!why should bears be any different?
From: Callingalldeer
29-Jan-15
Wow,I'm really surprised. Bear hunting is the most exciting thing to do.i guess it's limited by the Hunters.I know when I started hunting bears in the mid 90s,I went to a outfitters but had conditions. I would bait and set up my own stand. I mixed it up,always still hunted to the bait,hunted from tree stands,than ground blinds,close than no blind on the ground and move according to the wind.i hunted thunder and lighting storms just to figure out what bears do during these periods. Now I hunt smarter and video the site and pick a big boar and move in. It doesn't always work out because I have COPD,but I'm patient and wait for another time. My concern is not killing the small bears but the hunters killing all the females.
From: TSI
29-Jan-15
Callingalldeer your right too often sows are taken to fill a tag.Often the resident kill of sows is much higher than boars.The non res kill is high percentage male in most camps.
From: Helgermite
29-Jan-15
As with most of the hunting TV shows, I can't stand the standard cookie cutter format that most of them have. Since I've been blessed to be able to hunt Whitetails for over 30 years, I am less interested in watching those shows. I love bear hunting, but haven't been able to do it near enough, so I love every episode that involves bear hunting of any kind. I just wish the producers would better capture what it is we all go thru and enjoy in hunting. In other words, the whole experience from planning thru success and / or failure. This would include things like blood trailing, setting up the "victory" photos, reflection and processing the meat. This means to somehow capture all the anticipation and excitement. This would hold true for most all hunting TV shows.
From: wild1
29-Jan-15
There is another reason also: although these shows are for hunters, they still need advertisers, and bear hunting is not very "politically correct" to the non-hunting public.
Most of the public, and certainly the antis, look at bear hunting from a purely emotional perspective - think "cute teddy bear". The vast majority of the general public finds bear hunting distasteful, which helps the antis in any advertising boycott or other forms of protest.
Most people don't even know that bear meat is edible and fit for human consumption. In short, it's a hard sell.
From: Kdog
30-Jan-15
TSI nailed it. I think a lot of bear hunting shows do the average new bear hunter a disservice too as far as judging bears. After going on a few bear hunts it seems that any bear they can get on film is "a great trophy" and huge....yeah right.
I do enjoy watching bear hunting shows on TV though. Especially if they can get some good footage of bears fighting, jockeying for position at the bait etc. Even better if they can actually kill a true trophy.
From: TSI
30-Jan-15
True and realistic hunting always involves learning that they are wild animals in an unpredictable enviroment.There should be more pride shown in selectively chooseing tag soup rather than being served humble pie.Best recipe for tag soup is a dash of pride and a sprinkle of sportsmanship served with a side of respect.A great show doesnt have to end with a kill!
From: TSI
30-Jan-15
The depiction on TV that baited bear hunting is easy,and your pretty much guaranteed a kill and those that promote easy kills are hurting the image of bear hunting and not being honest.The Antis use this false depiction of bait hunting to attack our sport,fact is bait hunting is actually harder than spotting an bear at half mile getting down wind and shooting a bear that never knows your there,when a true trophy bear approaches a bait hes aware and all senses are fireing on all cylinders and more often than not the big boy escapes harvest,thats why its hunting not killing!
From: carcus
30-Jan-15
Cool to see big bears come into bait sights, the little dinks that you see on most shows make for a totally boring watch, especially the bear whisperer
From: Rob Nye
30-Jan-15
My buddy Tom Nelson will be coming to video our remote tent camp set-up and exploration and baiting of a new lake this June. Like me he prefers to hunt bears on the ground and has killed some whoppers with me over a decade of hunting. Hopefully this show will provide some interesting info that it seems lots of viewers want. (Don't tell him I'll be working him like a dog also!)
From: Helgermite
02-Feb-15
Rob, it would be great if the footage showed some topo maps & satellite shots with tentative areas to check out. Then showing what the actual scouting found along with bait site setup would go a long way to show people what is involved in baiting. I can say I've never seen a TV show on bear hunting showing the work that goes into setting up a bait sight. This would include making a crib to position the bear(s), stand position and brush in along with setting bait and attraction scents. Not to mention that sometimes it can be a challenge just to get to a bait sight. We've had to clear walking trails so that the approach was correct for the stand / bait.
From: primitve
03-Feb-15
Hey Rob...I guided Tom 20 years ago (was working for Warren Witherspoon). That was before he got big, but he still had that porn 'stache and goofy midwest accent! Get him to shoot a bear with a stick, Lord knows he's arrowed enough with the training wheels! Have a great spring!
From: Rob Nye
04-Feb-15
I'm trying to talk him into choking one. Porn 'stache, That is hilarious and more ammo to abuse him with. We always have a ton of fun, he is a great guy to hang with. The reason he is successful is due to his character, everyone who knows him finds out he is an all-round good guy. Have seen him pass up some great animals and ask me to put other guys in camp that may be having poor luck(total strangers to him) on those baits, he likes to see everyone have success. He once passed up a beautiful blonde 19 incher and insisted I put a young bowhunter there who had saved money for a long time to go on the hunt. He shot that bear the next day, Tom asked me not to tell him that it was pretty much a gift from him so naturally I took all the credit.
From: BRWNBR
04-Feb-15
Discovery channel contacted me about three years ago wanting to do a bear hunting show. We talked a plan for about four months. Finally came up with a direction and then we talked money. Short talk. I said no thanks.
From: Rob Nye
05-Feb-15
Ground level hunts make the best video IMO. We have recorded a bunch of big bears being taken by archers on the ground, some as close as six yards, most at under 15. Hope to get several more eye to eye hunts on tape this Spring.
From: bowriter
05-Feb-15
As mentioned, unless spot and stalk and usually not even then, it is pure boredom until the last 15-seconds. It is not like watching a 160-buck, take 20-minutes to get within range. When you add the commercials to that, you have an hour show.
From: new 2the bow
05-Feb-15
All in all its supposed to be entertainment..whether its a buck or a bear or another bass fishing show..its still better than watching "mob wives" or the Kardashiens on tv
