TV Hunting shows

hillestadj · #1 11-03-2009, 10:05 AM

broomjm,

I think I need to clarify a little bit. I dont have any problems with hunting from a stand (I do it regularly). What you have described is also not a problem in my eyes. What I am against are these multiple hundred/thousand acre private farms where a guide is scouting and feeding deer close to daily for the first 9 months of the year and they KNOW where a specific deer, not just a deer, but a specific buck will end up walking through between the hours of X and Y 90% of the time. Then one of these hosts shows up to play hunter, slaps some money on the table (off camera of course) and shoots said deer and then expects us to look at him like the Great White Hunter.

Im more impressed with a man who shoots a doe from a stand that he has taken time to scout for and searched for game trails/natural funneling points on his own than I will ever be with someone who shoots a 160"+ buck he has no time invested in, just $$$.

dmsbandit · #2 11-03-2009, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hillestadj

broomjm,

I think I need to clarify a little bit. I dont have any problems with hunting from a stand (I do it regularly). What you have described is also not a problem in my eyes. What I am against are these multiple hundred/thousand acre private farms where a guide is scouting and feeding deer close to daily for the first 9 months of the year and they KNOW where a specific deer, not just a deer, but a specific buck will end up walking through between the hours of X and Y 90% of the time. Then one of these hosts shows up to play hunter, slaps some money on the table (off camera of course) and shoots said deer and then expects us to look at him like the Great White Hunter.

Im more impressed with a man who shoots a doe from a stand that he has taken time to scout for and searched for game trails/natural funneling points on his own than I will ever be with someone who shoots a 160"+ buck he has no time invested in, just $$$.

Should I take your statements to mean that you are against guided hunts? Have you ever been on a guided hunt? I have.

My first year hunting in NC, I killed 2 does and saw no legal bucks. This year, I saw and passed on one legal buck 1 hour into the hunt, and lost a second buck from the same stand 30 minutes later. I saw no more legal bucks after that, and didn't even get a chance at a decent doe or 2. Just because you pay for someone to "find" deer for you, doesn't mean you will see a deer that you can shoot.

While TV shows make those set-ups look so easy, it isn't really as it seems. How many hours do you think they sit on an average hunt before they get something on camera? My big beef with the TV shows is the lack of shooting and tracking skills demonstrated by the "Expert" hosts.