Did anyone else see this? It aired in my area this morning. I didn't get the name of the show because I tuned in after it started, and I just left it on while I read the morning paper in case something interesting came up. Then I started to notice what was going on.

The show depicted some guys hunting Texas whitetails from an elevated blind. After some pointlessly extended footage of one of them fooling with a video camera, deer appear in the dirt track running by the blind. One of the bucks looks pretty good-sized, and loiters for a long time feeding in the median strip of the lane in plain sight, meandering toward the blind. The deer are out there long enough to set up for a dozen good shots, but by the time these clowns finish whispering about it and how excited they are, it slips back into the brush.

The next morning they're back in the blind, when the deer appear once again, feeding placidly in the lane. Distance is hard to judge with the telephoto cameras, but from the angle of view from the blind it looks like it can't be more than 100 yards. This time, the hunter remembers that he is equipped with a rifle and manages to get his long-action, ported, stainless Savage with a big variable on it out the window of the blind without shooting anyone. However, this guy is so nervous and shaking so badly that he can barely get the safety off. He takes an eternity to aim at this deer, which by this time has turned so as to be broadside to him. With his rifle rested solidly on the broad sill of the blind, our nimrod is a quivering snarl of nerves and jackhammer knees. At long, long last, he fires and the buck springs for the brush. From the video review (they don't bother to get out of the blind and look for blood or hair), they decide that he shot under the buck.

Am I missing something here? Why does anyone think the hunting public is interested in watching some yahoo miss a big buck from a rest at point-blank range? As a tutorial in how not to hunt deer, it might have some value, but that's not how it was presented. I don't watch a lot of this kind of program, but if this is representative of the state of the art I may just block that channel from my tuner.

I understand the sentiment, and I'm particularly dismayed to hear you relate that they didn't even attempt to determine for certain that the deer was hit or not, even if they had a reasonable belief that it was in fact a clean miss.

That said, I do applaud those who air programs that show a basic reality of hunting--that things can, and often do go other than ideally. Control of nerves, a steady hand, good judgment, basic field skills all play a part in the outcome. For them to show that, I have not a problem with. Unsafe gun handling is another thing entirely, however. People watching a hunting show probably want to see a positive end result, but as you and I know, the reality is that not always, and sometimes not even often is game taken on a hunt. In my opinion, for any hunting (or even fishing show for that matter) to always display a kill/catch, and never show a hunting/fishing outing filled with frustration and failure...well, it's really misrepresentative of the realities of outdoor pursuits. But then of the greater population of outdoorsfolks, how many people would watch a show filled with repeated skunkings on the lake, repeated misses on a good buck, or a day filled with botched attempts to nail geese coming into a set of blocks? Hmm. My guess is not many.

Leighton

Howdy Leighton!

Sounds like an interesting show. Nice to see that someone actually can get that excited about a deer now and then. Doesn't seem to be the case on most of the shows I've seen.

Brent

Did they show you the corn in the middle of the lane.

P-dog

Good question. They didn't, but I'm sure it was there.

More than anything, I guess I'm enough of a curmugeon that a show about a thirtysomething with all the latest gear who can't hit the broad side of a barn from the inside puts my teeth on edge.

These shows seem to have a formula and the formula is targeted toward those hunters that maybe haven't had a lot of experience and are, would'a thunk it, in a part of the learning curve where they may go out and spend a lot of money on equipment.

These guys are trying to make a buck and from the plethora of shows using said formula it would seem to be working.

I tend to think that there's still a market for the more advanced hunter and a show would do well to fill this market.

All that aside, it annoys me that these shows are almost always taking place in locations that are far from the norm.

It's all about Billy Bubba...

Reed

That show isn't odd. It's the norm for deer hunting shows.

Sadly.

[ 07-21-2003, 07:37: Message edited by: Orion 1 ]

Is it just me, or is 90% of the hunting shows deer and turkey? Don't get me wrong, I love hunting them both, but every week...geez.

I would like to see more game out west, and Africa hunting too...just for something different.

Same thing with fishing shows BASS THIS BASS that or salt water Bill fish this bill fish that...

I used to fish with a guy that would hook a fish and as it was getting closer to the boat he would start saying "oh son, what a monster, yee haw!!!" and then he'd flip the little fart completely over the boat to the other side.

...it was really funny the first time, kind of funny the second time...

Reed

To DDugan and those with similar interests, see my post "Safari Hunters Journal" on the African Big Game Hunting Forum (page 2).