I recently watched this show called "Hunting with Doc" on the Sportsman's Channel. I ended up watching for 15 minutes as this professional dip shit shot pheasants that were being thrown out of a tower by some hillbilly friend of his. Essentially, those birds with a poor sense of direction and were unfortunate enough to fly at this dumbass got a face full of lead. What the fuck is this all about? This guy then yells "Doc the pheasant hunter"!

Where the hell are we all headed? I've seen several other shows with folks taking less than ethical shots just to kill something, hunting "farms" that looked more like your local petting zoo, and dudes hunting in Africa ask their PH "I don't know what that thing is, but can I shoot it?"

Where the heck have all the real hunters gone? Guys that are good hunters because they are familiar with their quarry's life history and habits, aren't afraid to be out in the woods without their hired guide, and have some sense of conservation?

The sad thing is, some guy back east who has never hunted or fished in his life, and really has no opinion about hunters probably caught a glimpse of this show and now things we're a bunch of slobs like this Doc. Why are sportsmen and women like us allowing idiots like Doc the opportunity to tarnish the name of all hunters?


MG

As much as I hate to agree with you on anything, I agree with you on this one.

I had the outdoor channel and looked at it as entertainment. But I got a gut full of billy bob and the boys. The need for an interpreter, guys like Dave Watson that stages and reinacting his kill shots, Buck McNeely constantly saying a a a a , George Taulman touting hunting and then slapping residents in the face. Planted birds. And to much emphasis on the kill. I dropeped it and left it as it is, entertainment.

On the opening scene of what I believe is Hunting the Country, they have showed a guy taking a running shot at an elk with a bow. That's just wrong. There are some good shows out there, but the ones on The Sportsman's Channel are pretty poor and some are just sick. I too, saw the "pheasant shoot" episode and was not impressed. Somehow, I don't believe that Tred Barta is the only man out there who has wounded and lost an animal while making one of these shows. At least he's man enough to admit it. As far as reenactments go, it's always entertaining to look at how many arrows are in the guy's quiver while he's posing with the dead beast compared to how many are in his quiver when he's shooting. When a guy has two arrows in his quiver it just makes me wonder...

I'm with you guys. I rarely watch TV but, recently, after a work-related move I actually bothered to hook the TV up. I caught a few episodes of different shows on OLN. At first I thought, "this is pretty cool; guys are actually hunting on TV." By the end of the first show, though, I was disgusted. By the time I quit watching the channel at all, I was actually sort of mad. The melodrama effected when one guy was hunting "dangerous game" (some kind of large male bovine--looked like your garden-variety steer to me) in FLORIDA!!!, was off the chart and made real hunting appear to be an activity enjoyed by retards (no offense meant to any retarded people) and fairies that can't hunt. Hint to programmers: IF YOU HAVE TO TELL US REPEATEDLY THAT GAME IS "DANGEROUS," IT PROBABLY ISN'T. Sorry for the rant, but it was pathetic.

In my view, the only thing worth watching on OLN is the superb bull riding. Even on that program, the announcers can make it a little hard to stomach. 8mmFan

I'll admit that I watch both the Outdoor Channel and OLN at times, depending on the shows. IMHO, Jack Brittingham is the most irritating, notice how after he arrows an animal, he'll nearly ALWAYS say "he didn't go more than 50 yards..."; right, too bad the shot was at twilight and the trophy-admiration scene is first thing in the AM...

He may be a good guy, and I'm probably jealous of a guy who apparently hunts for a living...

Regards,
Craig Nolan

IMHO Jack Brittingham offers one of the better hunting shows on TV. Anyone who has the balls to get within bow range of a coastal grizzly has my respect.

I'm jealous of the guy also.

Florida, I should add that I've got 6-8 of his videos, they are entertaining; saw the brownie w/bow video, I'm w/you on that one.....

Regards,
Craig Nolan

I agree with all. Most are so staged and phony that it makes one want to barf. All I get now is the OLN channel, and with one or two possible exceptions, they all reek. One that was watchable was the Dangerous Game show on OLN. Most of the hosts on all the channels are so phony and inexperienced, with dialogue that would make a maggot up-chuck, e.g., Buck McNeely, Colorado Buck, and Fred Wood on NW Hunter--he is not on there now--and the rifle/equipment used is as bad. Not to forget that a lot are hunting in fenced areas and not much more than a canned hunt.

Oh man, Colorado Buck, I forgot about that idjit! I actually bought one of his African tapes. That was a waste of $5.

In fact, Colorado Buck, lived within about 1.5 miles of me about 4 or so years ago. On one of his shows, he was hunkered down on his haunches in front of a retaining wall where he lived.

One of the problems is the proliferation of outdoor channels, and the need for those channels to fill air time. Most of them are willing to fill their time with anything that comes their way. There are outdoor "moviemakers" coming out of the woodwork these days. Just like anything, hopefully the bad ones get weeded out.

I still have the outdoors channel, but don't watch the hunting shows much more. I like things real, and too much of these are staged. I believe that in the majority of cases, they make the kill and then shoot the hunt.

In the case above, it is especially sickening because it is no longer hunting but killing. With crap like this being shown, the anti's will have a field day. How am I supposed to expain to a nonhunter why I love to hunt, after they are corrupted with junk like this.

What you saw was a different version of of an old fashioned pigeon shoot. This is still done a lot in Mexico and in South America.
Instead of clay pigeons they actually shoot live ones, usually thrown by a young boy who tries to "trick" the shooter. The shooter gets so many points if the bird falls within a given distance. It's where the term "clay pigeon" came from. It is not intended as a hunt, it is a shoot, not unlike a turkey shoot. The fact that they used pheasants indicates to me that they were using domestic raised birds not wildlife. While it isn't something I would do, it is by no means unheard of. The birds are domestic so I really don't have a problem with using them either.
As to hunting shows, I've done several and seen several done. From small, low end shows to team realtree and their people hunting on our ranch.
Most of it is acted. Usually the rancher or land owner knows where the deer are and approximately when they will be out, so all the whispering to the camera about the conditions, camo clothing, hunting gear etc., is just product placement. All the high-fiving and celebrations after the kill are all the same on pretty much all hunting videos.

Ditto on Mr. Brittingham. The real deal, I think.

Most of the turkey hunts are ok.

The worst I've seen was an elk hunt, guy with a bow made a 96 yard shot. But - it was ok cause he regularly practiced at 100yds and used "an extremely efficient bow". What a crock.

Pitiful entertainment, mostly and fodder for the anti's.

The worst I ever saw was the show that Wal-Mart sponsors, I forgot it's name. The hunter was in Canada hunting Mule deer with a .243 running balistic tip ammo, I'm not sure which brand.
Anyway, they see this mule deer and the "hunter" has to stop and use all of his gear for product placement ie: "my burris range finder....my somethingorother shooting sticks, my nikon binoculars"...etc. The guy aims at the mule deer and fires and misses which was funny except that he did it two more times.
The guide was visibly agravated at the hunter.
Eventually the hunter killed a white tail but the show was supposed to be a mule deer hunt.
The problem I had was, even if he had hit the deer exactly in the heart, or God forbid in the shoulder, at 300yds that .243 balistic tip would have wounded it at best. Penetration would have been minimal. I wrote the producers and they sent me an email appology. I think we as hunters should demand more from "hunting" shows. If they are going to represent hunting to the public then they have an obligation to do it in a way that shows real hunting not staged hunting. I also believe that we as hunters should not use products that these shows use as props or product placement. I personally avoid anything with "team yourproducthere" on it.

I stayed up late last night just to watch the Sportsmans Channel, it is only on here on weekends, after midnight! Now I know why! I honestly think the only prerequisite, is owning a video camera.!

I watch those hunting shows, but I have many issues with them. The bow hunters seem to hit the critters in the paunch half the time. They then jump up and down saying "goood shot" when they recover the animal, same one??? it is all stiff and the eyes are sunken in obviously not a couple of hours later..It just seems to me these guys aren't putting the best spin on hunting, some do a good job. Primos in one. But most are cheesy.. One another rant...What camo pattern should you wear hunting in a box blind???I see it all the time and I just laugh!!

I am in agreement with all of you. The one thing that I have always wondered about on those shows is the consistent demonstration of poor marksmanship. I don't claim to be anything near a world class shooter, but the fact of the matter is, almost all of the deer that I have shot in my lifetime (I don't have an exact number here, but I am guessing around 40) have fallen dead in their tracks, or at least were anchored and couldn't get back up. On most of these shows, it seems the game is shot poorly (mostly in the guts) and runs off. Anyone else notice this?

I agree. I've seen some poor marksmanship.
However, I don't feel like I defended Doc Masse as well as I should have. The origional post on this topic was about him. I've hunted with him several times. He's done shows at our ranch and I have been his camera man twice. "Outdoors with Doc" is his show and all of the hunts I have been with him on were real and fair chase. Doc is a good man and a good shot. He can definately out wingshoot me. We killed a lot of birds together in Mexico last December. I've never known him to be unethical or illegal when it comes to hunting. He is a character and a hoot to be around.

Nice point Elkman...maybe you'll make a fortune selling "Real fiberglass" or Mossy Plywood!!



RC, I guess Doc should be a good shot with all the "shooting" he did at those pheasants flying out of that tower. I don't think he should market that crap as hunting...gives us all a bad name.

MG

There are a few exception but not many. The guy who did the treelounge, Burnham or something like that, mostly always made a good, droping the deer etc, in their tracks. The Eastmans are usually good, as well. There was one show, which I cant remember the name at this time, did an elk hunting show, wounded a bull elk, then claimed they missed. Ive hunted and killed a lot of elk, and know what a gut shot elk does after being hit.-- The shows where it is suppossed to be but a few minutes later when the deer/elk is found, but rigormortise has stiffened the animal to the point its head can't be bent are some of the worst staged crap on the shows.

I believe the point that everyone is missing here is that these shows and most written articles are one thing, a business or way to earn money while enjoying ones hobby. Sure many of those hosting these shows or writing outdoor related articles start out with the best intentions and ethics, however, reality soon sets in when they begin soliciting sponsors. After all what sponsor would ever agree to hand money over to someone who did not plan to actively promote their products. So as time progresses and despite the best of intentions these shows end up being less a version of what most of us accept as real hunting and become more related to product promotion. Isn’t this usually true in most instances where an activity is driven by the almighty dollar? After all just take a look at pro baseball or football. They bear no resemblance to the high school games my son or I played in. All of the hype and promotions over these games are there for one reason, to entice us the viewers to spend money, either on team related products of those promoted by their sponsors in their commercials..
And let’s not forget that if they don’t have an animal on the ground or fish in the boat to be filmed then most of us would not watch them anyway. After all who wants to watch a bunch of guys hike around in the woods all day with out anything to show for their efforts? This leads to the need to re-shoot a lot of the footage we actually see on the screen after the animal has been harvested. I personally don’t have a problem with this when the recreated footage is as close as humanly possible to what really took place and has not been recreated for the special effects. Especially when an animal is found hours later and it is so stated on the show.
I have and continue to film for up to 15 outdoor related production companies a year. Some shows are actually pretty well thought out beforehand and professionally produced. Others are filmed on the spur of the moment and edited by the host’s cousin in his garage with minimal software and almost no talent. But in the end all of them are driven by the bottom line. In other words are they making money for the guys who own them, and that is not always the talking face you see on the screen.
I know the top three people at the Outdoor Channel, two of the top five at the Sportsman Channel and four of the top five at the Men’s channel personally. Therefore, I can tell you for a fact that if they ceased to make money, and a nice amount of it, because they tried to produce the types of shows that everyone claims they want to see then these distribution outlets would cease to operate. Once again the sponsors and their money rules!
I guess what I have tried to say in this long rant is that knowing these shows for what they really are, entertainment. I would advise you to pick the ones you enjoy and watch them. Just don’t watch the ones you don’t. The way these shows are produced and presented is not going to change as long as those who produce, film and air them are driven by money. It has nothing to do with what is realistic and what isn’t.

quote:

I guess what I have tried to say in this long rant is that knowing these shows for what they really are, entertainment.

I think that is what I mentioned above!

Most are pretty poor entertainment and some do hunting very little justice. One sincere host that I have hunted with, is Keith Warren, great guy, but like you say, the bottom line is what drives most of them. And like you also said censor what you watch. I did, I cancled the programming!

I agree Texan, that all these shows are doing is trying to make money for the producers, and outdoor product manufacturers.
What is sad, is that at the same time they are giving ALL hunters a bad name with the junk they portray! I doubt very many of these "hosts" could actually go into the woods with a map and compass, find an elk on public land, and harvest, clean and cut up the darn thing, let alone find their way back to the truck.
I don't want some jackass shooting pheasants say that is hunting! It's not! Why not have these dufus hunters say what they are actually doing.
"Today we're just going to go out and kill some shit out here behind this high fence. We're going to sit in the wooden box over this feeder that is stocked every other day and wait for some half starved hog or whitetail to come by so we can blast em. It looks like hunting here folks, but all we're really doing is killing shit."

It is too bad, that a few folks will make a little bit of money while they flush the name of the hunter down the toilet.

MG

Who are they trying to entertain? It can't be me because it is too fake for me. The show mentioned in the first post will likely be shown by the anti-hunters to show the evils of "hunting", and it will hurt the sponsors in the long run.
With all due respect to texan and any other film team out there, I don't feel that the sponsors, producers, or the industry is benefitting from shows that lose focus on the fact that they are a "hunting" show. Shooting a deer over a alfalpha fields, throwing pheasants up air, or even shooting clips that obviously are staged, doesn't cut it with me.

A buddy at work told me about a show that was on last night or the night before about some guy shooting a grizzly in the head, between the eyes, with a bow, at 20 yards, on purpose.

Quite a feet and I would have loved to see it. But again, that has to be a risky shot, and to go on and on blatantly about it like he did, is not in huntings best interest. I guess, who ever the hunter was, stated repeatedly that he intended to hit a grizz between the eyes and prove an arrow could penetrate a bears skull.

Well he proved it! LOL!

I saw that episode today. To me, all it proved was that the guy had big balls.

He also had several broadside shots, is that true? Pretty risky! Between the eyes, one inch could make a big difference!

If I remember right, the bear was broadside, looking at the guy when he shot it. He made a hell of a shot and dropped the bear in it's tracks, but had the arrow landed an inch in either direction, I wouldn't be suprised if it just pissed the bear off and the guy got munched. I wasn't there, so I guess I shouldn't play Monday morning quarterback, but the guy looked like a dipshit for even attempting what he did. Just my opinion.

That is kind of what I was getting at. The dipshit part!!!! I agree, or wounded it and a poor head shot doesn't bleed much, and a long painful death for a mejestic animal. Only way better is if he had wounded it and MUNCH!

Takeing a shot like that and hyping it up is what I mean by these shows.

quote:

Originally posted by Madgoat:
I recently watched this show called "Hunting with Doc" on the Sportsman's Channel. I ended up watching for 15 minutes as this professional dip shit shot pheasants that were being thrown out of a tower by some hillbilly friend of his. Essentially, those birds with a poor sense of direction and were unfortunate enough to fly at this dumbass got a face full of lead. What the fuck is this all about? This guy then yells "Doc the pheasant hunter"!

Where the hell are we all headed? I've seen several other shows with folks taking less than ethical shots just to kill something, hunting "farms" that looked more like your local petting zoo, and dudes hunting in Africa ask their PH "I don't know what that thing is, but can I shoot it?"

Where the heck have all the real hunters gone? Guys that are good hunters because they are familiar with their quarry's life history and habits, aren't afraid to be out in the woods without their hired guide, and have some sense of conservation?

The sad thing is, some guy back east who has never hunted or fished in his life, and really has no opinion about hunters probably caught a glimpse of this show and now things we're a bunch of slobs like this Doc. Why are sportsmen and women like us allowing idiots like Doc the opportunity to tarnish the name of all hunters?


MG

All I can tell you is, IT WASN'T ME.

What I find funny about hunting shows is how long they take to shoot the game.

If I waited that long to shoot stuff most of it would run away. After seeing their intend prey give them many killing shots while they talk away. I wonder how many of these shows are shot on high fenced farms.