Is anyone else tired of seeing unrealistic hunting shows?

[Lycanthrope]

OK.......I don't rant often.....but, in this case I find this sooooo irritating I can't contain myself.

I've been a PA hunter all my life. As a kid I hunted early. It's not uncommon for me to take a week off to hunt deer.....and often more. I take it seriously and I never let the TV teach me how to hunt. If you aren't using a degree of your natural intellect and ability to hunt like a predator......well, you're just limiting yourself. It's not bad, but you can do better. Watch the animal. Predict. Trust your instincts.

I've watched what has become the norm over the past 30 years. People used to share the land, there were a lot of deer and people took pride in stalking. If they didn't stalk they took pride in making long, clean shots. In your area, things may be different, but I knew a LOT of people who could shoot past 400 yards and be darn near 100%. People shot deer on the run....consistently. Expectations were generally higher.

Lately, people hunt over food plots. They drive in on 4 wheelers and sit in sheds on poles. They learn to hunt from TV.

But......despite all this.....what irks me the most is the way people kill deer. I watch people shoot deer on TV who glass deer with binos at 100-200 yards.....with 8x binos.....when they have a 9x+ scope.

They use so called premium bullets...........and these deer run 100...sometimes 200 yards. W-T-H!?? Over 40 deer kills, I can count the number that took one step on one hand and maybe a couple fingers....this includes deer shot with 87gr Hornady bullets from a .243 win. Bullets that will travel through a small block Chevy do not always kill quickly.

I find it a disservice to the animal and the sport. Not that people do it......but that the market encourages a poor way to do it.

Lycanoneman'srantthrope

[ham385]

No, I see your point. It's all about marketing. I just started hunting a couple years ago, and yeah, I thought I had to buy all that crap.

When I first started, I didn't have anyone to take me out. I bought a bunch of crap I didn't need. I've since had a good friend take me under his wing, and extend an annual invitation to his camp, where I got my first deer the last sat of regular rifle season this year.

I found that I need warm clothes and dry clothes, weather depending, a pair of knee high rubber boots, orange, a compass, a knife, rope, a rifle, and ammo. I will usually take some snacks and water too. When it's really cold out, one of those hot seats are really nice too for when I'm sitting still (rare).

I can't sit still, I stalk all the time. I look for tracks, follow them until I find bigger tracks and follow them. It's paid off several times where I could have had a kill, except for the antler restrictions and my lack of having a doe tag in the past.

The guy at the next camp over is definitely one of those people. He had a frigging duffle bag with him this year to carry all his crap to his tree stand (one of 5). He's got an atv, all kinds of gadgets, game cams all over the place, little reflective cubes stuck in all the trees on the trails, and amazingly has yet to take a deer.

I find it irritating, so does my buddy, and have to remind myself that it's his property and his money.

The other thing that pisses me off is the shows where they say 'for as low as $4000 you can have a hunt on this ranch too!'. I just think to myself WTF?

EDIT: Oh, and my deer made it about 20 feet before it collapsed with a double lung/heart shot that I am quite proud of.

[Kaos]

as someone easing into hunting for the first time since I was 12 (never got anything) I find them interesting in the "look at that animal" kind of way, but i dont think that's how it really goes for people not on special plots of land etc.

I hope to get my first deer soon.

[MJT]

Yes.

I tired of them long ago for a variety of reasons. I really cannot remember the last time I looked at one.

[Lucas]

Yup, I just wish I could hunt like those guys on TV. Have a sponsor buy a "trophy" buck at a game preserve, set up a stand in the area that they turned the animal loose the day before and make a big drama out of having it walk into the food plot 50 yards away.

Take most of those guys out of the fences they hunt in and I bet they'd come up empty handed quite often.

[knight0334]

Preach on, Brother Lycanthrope..

They use the top of the line ammo.. The latest laserbeam flat shooting uberloudenboomer ultra super short extra long magnum rifles.. Ride out in some fancy new truck to some fancy new shed or stand.. Act all retarded when they see something with horns, which was probably farm raised and prodded in that direction to a bait pile.


Lets see some real hunting.. ....regular cheapo Walmart/Kmart ammo, a beatup hand-me-down rifle, iron sights or an old 3-9x40 scope, snow on the ground, freezing their fingers/toes/nuts off, stalking their deer through briers. Then dragging it back out for a half mile or more, then walking back another half miles to get a tractor/truck/atv. Then listening to their mom/wife/girlfriend/grandma bitch about the blood stains on the basement floor as you butcher it.

[God's Country]

Lets see some real hunting.. ....regular cheapo Walmart/Kmart ammo, a beatup hand-me-down rifle, iron sights or an old 3-9x40 scope, snow on the ground, freezing their fingers/toes/nuts off, stalking their deer through briers. Then dragging it back out for a half mile or more, then walking back another half miles to get a tractor/truck/atv. Then listening to their mom/wife/girlfriend/grandma bitch about the blood stains on the basement floor as you butcher it.

That wouldn't sell Leupold scopes, Mathews bows, scent suits, or quads.

[P89]

OK.......I don't rant often.....but, in this case I find this sooooo irritating I can't contain myself.

I've been a PA hunter all my life. As a kid I hunted early. It's not uncommon for me to take a week off to hunt deer.....and often more. I take it seriously and I never let the TV teach me how to hunt. If you aren't using a degree of your natural intellect and ability to hunt like a predator......well, you're just limiting yourself. It's not bad, but you can do better. Watch the animal. Predict. Trust your instincts.

I've watched what has become the norm over the past 30 years. People used to share the land, there were a lot of deer and people took pride in stalking. If they didn't stalk they took pride in making long, clean shots. In your area, things may be different, but I knew a LOT of people who could shoot past 400 yards and be darn near 100%. People shot deer on the run....consistently. Expectations were generally higher.

Lately, people hunt over food plots. They drive in on 4 wheelers and sit in sheds on poles. They learn to hunt from TV.

But......despite all this.....what irks me the most is the way people kill deer. I watch people shoot deer on TV who glass deer with binos at 100-200 yards.....with 8x binos.....when they have a 9x+ scope.

They use so called premium bullets...........and these deer run 100...sometimes 200 yards. W-T-H!?? Over 40 deer kills, I can count the number that took one step on one hand and maybe a couple fingers....this includes deer shot with 87gr Hornady bullets from a .243 win. Bullets that will travel through a small block Chevy do not always kill quickly.

I find it a disservice to the animal and the sport. Not that people do it......but that the market encourages a poor way to do it.

Lycanoneman'srantthrope

I know your pain.

I only got a doe so far (153 dressed)...she turned went to leap and dropped...nice and clean at +/-150 yards Then the 3 hour drag with no snow through freshly logged terrian was fun.

If you're ever in the traveling mood come on up and I'll set you up with a hunting spot. I'll be out for late muzzleloader.

[cameraman]

That wouldn't sell Leupold scopes, Mathews bows, scent suits, or quads.

Yep...unfortunately, it has to be all about the sponsors. More shows are going straight to the internet using subscriptions instead of so many sponsors.

If anyone wants to explore the possibility of producing a "real" hunting show, drop me a line. I have the technology to make it happen.

[Yoder]

I hate them too. I could never figure out why they only take 1 shot. If I shoot and it doesn't drop it's getting shot again until it hits the ground. I love when they talk about how hard they hunted when they were sitting in a heated shoot house that the guide dropped them off at. I also hate that they make the kids shoot does and scrapper bucks, isn't the hunt free? The worst show I ever seen was an Elk bow hunt. The animals actually had ear tags and you could catch glimpses of the fence every once in a while. The guy shot it quartering away high on the hind quarter for the first shot. Second shot he hit it behind the shoulder. Looked like hunting for cows at a livestock auction.