Most of the guys on these TV hunting shows show a lack of ethics, sportmanship and good hunting practices. It always amazes me what they put on TV. Lots of it fuel for the anti-hunters but lots of it makes me sick too. Some of these idiots supposedly shoot many dozens of deer a year and show an amazing lack of respect for their quary by taking unethical shots. I know wounding and not recovering game is always a possibility when hunting, this makes me very selective about the shots i take. Why do these guys take lousy shots and more importantly why do unrecovered hunts ever make it on to the TV show???!!

Buckhunter

Yeah, I saw that Best of the Worst show last night. That POS is little more than an info-mercial for Gunwerks rifles, whatever those funky scopes are, and freaky Berger VLD bullets. That guy from Berger was such a lard ass, I bet he could not waddle the 675 yards to recover that antelope he shot. I bet they drove the truck since he was not even panting! How hard is it to drive an F-350 around and get within 800 yards of antelope? The long range shooter wannabees probably need the male enhancement products so prominently advertised with their long range rifles and short range 'gun'.

And some of those chick hunt shows that have the blonde needling her husband the whole damn show. I would love it if my wife would big game hunt with me, but I would not put up with that crap shown on TV for 5 minutes. If they want to have a T&A show, just get on with it!

And all the giggling and whooping and grab-assing after a shot, geez. What gives with that juvenile behavior? You have just taken the life of a worthy game animal and you act like your junior high school team just hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer? Disgusting. I don't know why I ever watch that crap. Where the hell is Zumbo? And what is with all the whispering? Have these clowns never heard of voice over in the studio?

I'll take my Valium now....

I have noticed the same thing. One thing that gets me burnt out on these shows more than stupidity is advertising. Once they kill a deer they go through a big ol' speech thanking everybody that made it possible. Just hunt and thank god...

haha
Exactly!

AndyH -- thanks for the recommendation. Can I know have my 3:32 minutes back.

yeah like that competition fishing show, with referees! seriously, just relax and enjoy the fishing, jesus christ!

now The Spirit of the Wild with Ted Nugent is the greatest show on television. thats some good stuff.

The problem with hunting shows on tv is that in 30 minutes it's almost impossible to convey the things that many of us value about hunting. The solitude of hunting alone. The unspoken bond when hunting with lifelong friends. The satisfaction of watching your bird dog work a field. Being entertained by a couple of squirrels while waiting for that big buck to come along.

Unfortunately, every show has to end in a kill. For me, the kill is just one of many reasons that I hunt and it certainly doesn't happen every time out. It seems that the need to show a kill is leading some of these shows to resort to questionable ethics. It's unfortunate because that's not what hunting is all about.

Excellent points and posts there, straightshooter. You summed up what I wanted to say but couldn't. Every time I see one of these shows in question I get irate, and even lose some focus. I've looked at this thread and would start to type in the box and it was just anger. Then I'd delete it.

+1 to you sir.

Thanx straightshooter...said it well. These shows harm the hunting community...I'm a Georgia transplant on temp and living in Kalifornia Bay Area...these juvenile, high fiving, point spouting, trophy types crate a nightmare when trying to support, defend or promote hunting to those unfamiliar...I tell them not to watch or judge the hunting community/ lifestyle based on these programs. I'm losing the battle with even the moderate croud....badly. If these shows are distasteful and concern us (avid sportsmen) how the hell do you think nonhunters feel when they watch them.......? The only shows I like are the ones that focus on the location, scenery and methods of pursuing the game...not the kill, points, etc.and locker-room "jock" crap...why can't the host spend more time discussing planning, equipment,rifle type, caliber and how to locate a good guide service for different game.....hope youngGun is successful....

I have a good friend who formerly had a fairly successful outdoors show up here in Canada and in US. He finally had to give it up. Now days the producer has to pay the cable channels to put the show on their network. And the networks suck up all the advertising too. If the guy producing the show doesn't have a fortune willed to him by a rich uncle, he can forget about making a living. Up here the federal government strictly limits the amount of promotion a person can do on his show, outside the commercials. The limit is supposed to be zero but if you know the right people you can work the plugs in and get away with it. One of the things that made his show unprofitable was having to produce two versions of the same show: the Canadian one sans the plugs and the American one i.e. non-stop infomercial. He hated it but it's the only way the US networks would buy his show. Or rather, let him pay them to show it.

It a sick business. I agree, this highly visible crap is making our sport out to be just about as bad as it's becoming. Last year some Texas millionaire bowhunter shot what was supposed to be the new New Mexico record elk - if not world record. His story published on TNN internet made me want to puke. The bull was shot on a pay-for-hunt Indian reservation. He plugged it right at dusk. In the article he had the brass testicles to brag that he stopped the guides from looking for the bull. Insisted that everyone go back to the lodge and wait till morning. Next day his wife find a giant pool of blood right where the elk was shot. He had stuck it through the liver as I recall. About thirty-five yards away they found the animal. Remember, this was August in New Mexico. What they found was a giant pile of stinking rotten raven food with a nice set of antlers on it. Can you believe this guy? He wasn't even smart enough to not tell the truth. He didn't think he'd done anything wrong! I alerted Pope & Young. Hope they refused to measure it but I'm sure they did. It's all about money. I guess I shouldn't expect hunting to be different from any other aspect of modern American culture.

I read back some here and I agree, it's not the kill that gets me hunting. I've passed on more easy shots on game than I've ever taken and will probably continue doing it. For me it's all about being in the woods, especially with friends or family that you only see once a year sometimes. I'll usually be the camp chef and go out early to set up stands and camp and chop wood. Thats what I really enjoy doing..all the lead up times to get the deer hanging in camp. After all, you can't really have a deer camp without ever having any deer hanging there. It does'nt have to happen all the time, but enough to keep em' coming back!

People that laugh after they have killed an animal just plain "freak me out"! Why would any thinking producer put something like that out? It is creepy in my book. I am also glad that the long range shooting in "The Best of the West" bothers some of the other people here. Do we want to watch hunting or just killing?

I have stopped watchin alot of the shows that show questionable high shots with bows where the shot is a spinal shot rathere than a shot to the breadbasket (lungs) or heart. I've also seen one too many high shoulder shots on deer on the shows what is the reason for that? What ever happened to ethical humane shots?

a couple years back i was watching ultimate match fishing and one guy was losing pretty bad and he got mad and he picked up one of the other guys extra poles and drops it in the water and watches it sink to the bottam of the lake, thats not what fishing or any sport for that matter is about, if your losing take it like a man its not the end of the world

I watched one yesterday where the guy is hunting in South Dakota with a foot of snow on the ground and promptly gets the truck stuck. Now what kind of idiot hunts South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho with snow on the ground without snow chains. Not this guy, no winch, come-along, shovel, farm jack, etc. either. He didn't need any of that stuff because he had the ultimate emergency gear, a cell phone. Of course he had to unload the 4-wheeler to ride up to higher ground to find a cell signal. Well, help arrives in the form of a telephone company boom truck which promptly gets stuck as well. With the help of the winch on the boom they get the host's truck out. For all we know the telephone truck was there til spring. At what point did we as Americans lose that self-reliant pioneer spirit? When did we adopt that practice of calling upon others to get us out of the messes we get ourselves into? We have a couple of guys that post here that Poo-pooh the idea of carrying survival gear because they are just too smart to get into a jam, and they always have their cell phone. This show had an opportunity to make the most of a teachable moment and dropped the ball. What was taught was that you can be stupid and ill-prepared in the outdoors and feel free to inconvenience others when you can't take care of your own business. The lesson unfortunately seems to have been well received.

Right on 86Ram.

The most moronic hunting show I saw was several years ago when I still had the big sattelite dish,and I know it added fuel to the fire with the anti-hunters and probly the ASPCA too which I would totally agree with the ASPCA if it did.......I tuned in and they had these 3 guys who all talked like larry the cable guy(who I like)..so I watched,they were going wild hog hunting,And these 3 fools where all dressed in expensive camo,with painted faces standing around spraying each other with some brand of scent cover,then they showed the fools getting out about 12-15 dogs from their trucks,but NO GUNS...they went off and let the dogs start tracking,,,after a while the dogs found a hog and started running it,,,the dogs ran the hog down in the edge of a marsh or wetland and got it cornered,you could tell the darn pig was to tired to run any farther,these 3 fools show up and stand there watching and then start telling you about the wild hog,,all the while their pack of dogs are attacking this hog and each is giving it a good hard bite,then you could see that the hog had just about given up because it was on its belly not fighting much anymore,,then one of the fools pulls a rambo knife and jumps over to the hog and stabs it a few times....then they draged the hog up in the grass and pose for the camera...then they had to tend to 6 of their dogs who were bleeding from wounds from the hog..and they called that load of crap hunting!!!
Now I can understand the art of hunting with primitive weapons bows,spears,blow guns,slings,even knives....but letting a pack of dogs chew on an animal until its too tired to defend itself and then jump on it with a knife is not hunting..and putting your dogs up to fight a wild hog while you watch for 5 minutes is just as bad as dog-fighting....Now if they wanted to make their hog hunt a true sport and give the animal a chance then they should have left the dogs in the truck and took on the hog themselves with just their rambo knives and see if they are true sportsmen or just sadistic abusers of wildlife...