By Dave Hurteau

Last week’s “Hunting Terms to Loath” post seemed to hit a nerve, which is great. Glad you liked it. But I think I could be accused of hitting too fat a pitch. What, after all, could be easier than bad-mouthing outdoor television?

Everybody does it. Even the people in outdoor TV do it. When I interview or hunt with producers, videographers, or hosts (who are overwhelmingly nice, likeable people by the way), they routinely talk about how bad every other show is and/or make fun of the worst outdoor TVisms. And yet, despite the near universal opinion that outdoor TV sucks, hunters by the pick-up-truckloads tune in every week.

I don’t think it’s that much of a mystery. Watching a giant buck come trotting through the hedge apples or weaving through the bluestem or thumping over the oak flat with the morning light on him is a rare, rare sight for most of us. To see it, many of us are willing to put up with a circus of grade-school antics and a cascade of moronic clichés. Like it or not, outdoor TV is more and more the (or at least a) public face of our sport. And while we absolutely should piss and moan when we don’t like the way we are being represented, we should also stand up and point and shout when it’s done right.

So here’s your challenge for the weekend: Say something nice about outdoor TV, and then list the shows, if any, that you do like. I’ll start: