# Are hunting TV shows and videos bad for hunting?



## f.o.s. lover (Sep 27, 2004)

When watching Jeff Foiles erupt from a blind yelling Kill-em I wont lie I'm excited, but when thinking about it, what are young kids learning from this? Videos and shows dont show scouting or setting up or all the other things those individuals do to become successful very often, and thats the hunting. Pulling the trigger is the reward for all that hunting, matter of fact pulling the trigger is a another set of skills that is only related to hunting. Pulling the trigger is what sells video but I think focusing on the killing is getting our hunting culture in trouble. Scouting and having knowledge of the land and creature is the most important and time consuming part of hunting. With the amount of single parent families abounding today do video makers and TV shows not have some responsibilty to teach the youth there is more to hunting than the kill?


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## Goosepride (Sep 29, 2003)

I don't know so much about the "killing" part but I do wish those shows and videos showed more of what they do before the hunt...such as setting up, scouting, etc. Not only show them doing some of that but why they are doing it as well. I think I have a pretty good idea of what to do when hunting, but it's always fun to learn new ideas.


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

> I don't know so much about the "killing" part but I do wish those shows and videos showed more of what they do before the hunt...such as setting up, scouting, etc


etc. like closing the gate to the pen the critter is in for the majority of big game hunting. Most hunting shows are a bunch of Horse apples!! IMO it is part of the reason the direction the sport is going where it is, away from sportsmanship and ethics.

My .02

Bob


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

How can they show any prehunt stuff when they hire a G/O to do it????None of those guys know how to hunt on their own.

I can't think of any shows on any channels where a free lance hunt is shown.


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## Goosepride (Sep 29, 2003)

I agree with you Ken!


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## g/o (Jul 13, 2004)

> How can they show any prehunt stuff when they hire a G/O to do it????None of those guys know how to hunt on their own.


I couldn't agree more, Hustad and the NoDak crew could have never made those videos if they hadn't hired a g/o!!!! :toofunny:


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## Habitat Hugger (Jan 19, 2005)

I don't watch much TV, having too many other interesting things to keep me occupied, but a few years ago after having extensive back surgery we signed up for the "extended tier" primarily so I could watch the hunting shows and history channel. After the first month I cancelled it! What a bunch of nonsense! Those shows, in my elderly opinion, make hunters look like a bunch of "good ol boy" killers, out to shoot only the big bucks, bulls, etc. with the least possible effort in a minimum of time with the most gadgets known to man or beast! 
Like Bob K. I think these shows are doing more to driving the young hunters away from sportsmanship, patience, hard work, and are a terrible black eye for responsible outdoorsminded hunters. They serve to emphasize the "instant gratification" and "instant results the easy way" mindset that is so prevelant in the younger crop of hunters. The extensive baiting for that "BIG RACK", squabble over access, loss of respect for the landowners, gadget worship, are only a few of these symptoms. IMO anyway! 
I get angry and nauseated evertime I watch those shows. If these are representative of what modern hunting is all about, I'll hang up my guns and join the antis!


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## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

It is sad what the hunting and fishing shows have become. They really portray very little of what goes into the true hunting and fishing experience. There have been a few good ones over the years though. Two years ago there was a brother team that hunted and videoed hunting public lands in Montana. That was a good one, and they showed the whole enchilada from map research to the kill, or lack of kill. I used to think that the Eastman's had a good one, but now they have gone the outfitter route as well, taking away from the public land hunting that used to be their primary attraction. Having said all that, I still enjoy watching a lot of hunt/fish TV. To me it's better than most of the prime time crap that infests the channels today. To each his own, and there's nothing wrong with dreaming about that once in a lifetime hunt. Burl


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## aztec (Oct 27, 2005)

To answer the basic question - yes, the hunting shows are bad for hunting. All of them - including those made by organizations like DU who should know enough to do a better job of it.

The worst part is the warped expectations that these shows are instilling in too many hunters. Unfortunately, waterfowl hunting, in particular, is becoming way too much about body count due to these shows. The enjoyment of the environment, the tradition, the dog work, companionship, the sportmanship and appreciation of the resource is all being lost.

Foiles (anyone that calls his products meatgrinder this and that is an exploitive jerk in my book) and that crazy cajun Duck Commander are the worst of a bad lot. I guess I just don't see the value in videos consisting of a bird getting crunched every three seconds.

I have given up hope of ever seeing a worthwhile hunting show and just don't watch anymore.


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## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

One Hunting Video to watch is Zinks 24-7 Runnin Traffic.

They show how the camera man sets up. They show them putting out thousands of decoys. They show them taking photos for his website, catalogs, etc. It is more than just killing. I was actually sad that they did not have more killing. But it is a good video!

But like others have stated. I wish more videos and tv shows would include the pre-hunt....the scouting (even if they are with a guide), the decoy set ups, the pit digging, the blind concealment, etc.

CHuck


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

I agree these shows are shallow. The scenery in some is wonderful, and the bull elk are fun to watch, but I will puke if I have to watch another punk after a shot scream yea, yea, yea, yea, this is what it's about, this is what it's about. Normally what he thinks it is about is not what it is about. I am afraid the general public is forming a bad opinion about hunters and hunting watching these people. It's embarrassing to watch if a nonhunter is around. 
Also, the commercialization is tiresome. Two minutes of show, three minutes of adds. Some of the true hunters on here are fun to watch, but people that watched it seen a way to make money and those types have taken over most of the air time. They are not sportsmen, they are people with money to invest to make more money. The only difference between some of these very well known people and Joe Blow on the street corner in Podunk, North Dakota is the money. The guy from Podunk might be a better hunter/sportsman. Jamestown hunters are no better than hunters from any other part of the state, and I know several guys that are just as good as those I watch on TV. I know one fellow who wouldn't quit hunting when ice was forming around his boat. He froze his finger so bad he looked like ET in the movie. He lives and breaths waterfowl, and can't understand why I don't get as excited.


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## goosebusters2 (Jan 13, 2006)

Chuck Smith said:


> One Hunting Video to watch is Zinks 24-7 Runnin Traffic.
> 
> They show how the camera man sets up. They show them putting out thousands of decoys. They show them taking photos for his website, catalogs, etc. It is more than just killing. I was actually sad that they did not have more killing. But it is a good video!
> 
> ...


I have the same video and I couldn't agree more


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

I don't spend a lot of time judging the other guy's methods or ethics. It's it's legal, have a ball. I have no problem with high fence ranches and big money guided big game hunts.

That being said, other than the shows on which they hunt dangerous game in Africa, I generally find hunting shows (particularly Foiles & the like) boring

For some reason, it really bugs me to watch & listen to these guys titter like a bunch of 8th graders telling a locker room joke after knocking down half a dozen or more geese (I always wonder how many of those cripples that sail off get recovered...). They don't convey much respect for the birds or sport.

As for the deer & elk (particularly bowhunting) they give the impression that hunters bump off big bucks and bulls with little or no effort. How many of us bump off a 140+ class buck every year, let alone on demand? Don't know if this hurts the sport or not, but it sure gives a skewed impression.

The hunts that are actually true to life are the bear hunts, particularly bowhunting. The times I've bear hunted, it went pretty much how it's shown on TV. BTW, after taking one good black bear with a bow, I've never had a big desire to bag another.

I did enjoy the show Water Dog, because I love to see good gundogs work anytime, anywhere. Too bad this show is no longer on.

One benefit I do see is that big game hunting shows allow new & inexperienced hunters to see how animals react to hits from both arrows and firearms. They can see that most times, animals don't drop to the hit, but run off and require some follow up.

How many times have you had a deer take off at the shot giving absloutely no indication of a hit, maybe without leaving a blood trail, but was dead within 100 yards?...


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## rowdie (Jan 19, 2005)

TRED BARTA on OLN does it the hard way. He has a lot of emphasis on hunting public land and during the research on how to acess it. There are times he doesn't kill anything on the episode, he gets skunked. But his show still isn't that good, he is kind of funny at how intense he SEEMS to get.

I can't tell most of these shows from the comercials. Some of them push so many products during the show I can't tell where the commercial ends and the show starts.

I like when pheasants forever comes on and my dog hears that rooster. She'll come out of a dead sleep with her ears up and start looking aroung with her head cocked sideways.


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