NDR - Outdoor TV

Paul Strombeck

Paul Strombeck

Active member
Outdoor TV drives me crazy and has served to;
create unrealistic expectations for the newbies - I have little motivation to take out the new guy. Tired of answering questions like 'where are the ducks' - 'is it always like this? Or worse have a guy shoot a duck I didn't call out putting him over the hen limit.
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driven lease prices through the roof - lost a nice little deer lease in SE MN when some hotshot from WI showed up and offered the farmer $5,000 for the lease. Property was only couple miles from home base of husband and wife outdoor team and area is getting known for good deer.
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We then got a little lease in NE but once the Primos group got the land immediately to the west we lost that as well when they jacked up the price.
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inflated western guided hunt prices - the way most of these deer hunting shows work is the TV host gets a free hunt in exchange for the promise to fill the outfitters bunk house for the next two years. Prices are then increased commensurate, outfitters starts rationing animals etc.
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Lost our ND duck hunting spot same way to local outfitter with TV connections. Then they tell the out of towners don't shoot the water roost.
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Got that off my chest
 
For the most part they are infomercials

Must be getting old but most of the ones I see now days are competitive and lack respect for the game (admittedly, I don't see many)

A few years ago I did see one I liked. The big shot guest was in a guide's drift boat fly fishing for steelhead. At one point his phone went off and he answered it. When he finished his call the guide asked if he could see the phone. The sport handed it to him saying it was the new blah blah model. The guide nodded approvingly - and then chucked it down stream as far as he could
 
I played water polo in college, used to coach, and still referee college club games. It's almost never on TV, but every few years one of the big international tournaments will be on cable.

We added a sports package to our cable TV/Internet so I could watch the World Championships this summer, and the only way to get the channel I wanted was to pay $8 a month for their entire sports package. It includes at least three hunting channels. One night of flipping among them for an hour was enough to convince me to never watch again. Certainly their goal is not to use these videos to teach, and they are so predictable that any entertainment value is lost. (And let's not even talk about "the Nuge").

The infomercial aspect is front and center, and anyone watching would assume that (1) all deer are shot over bait; (2) nobody every guts out an animal after they harvest it; (3) that nobody can hunt without a big truck and several ATV's; and (4) that hunters care a lot about antler scores.

It's great fodder for folks who don't like hunting.
 
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The only one I really liked ever was "Water Dog". I forget the names but that was a good show. I can't watch ANY of them any more.
 
Not on Outdoor TV but rather The Sportsman Channel, I enjoy the show "MeatEater" with Steven Rinella.. He seems to be a down to earth guy, atleast when the show first came on. He always talks about a respect for the animal and enjoying the time with good company rather than bragging about the size of antlers. I actually read one of his books and it was pretty good.
 
I agree with most of what you say but some is driven by how they are put on the air. The shows pay to be shown so they have to be infomercials. They are also under some strict rules on what they can show. Until recently the Outdoor Channel wouldn't allow field dressing to be shown. Eastman Outdoors put videos on YouTube on how to quarter and pack out game. Even though that show is a lot about the inches they do most of their hunting on their own on public land.

I can't imagine how upset I would be if I deer hunted in southern Iowa. I've heard that several of those hosts there are hated. I know when Randy Anderson was at his hieght making coyote calling videos he pissed off a lot of his former hunting buddies by leasing up ground so he always had coyotes to film.

I understand that money talks but it is ruining this lifestyle. I hate seeing guys almost grudgingly shoot does for 'herd management'. Heck I know a lot of people who only ever want to shoot a doe, now they can't get on land because its leased up.

I don't know if this is driven by the shows or just what was already happening. Its been like this for decades in SD pheasant country.

Thank goodness we have lots of public land.

Tim
 
Years ago comcast would not pick up the outdoor channel so as soon as Verizon came into the neighborhood I switched to Verizon and got three outdoor channels. Two months in I got really bored watching all of the unrealistic deer hunting show and skipped around until zI found duck hunting or other big game hunting. Two years ago Verizon started charging $10.00 a month for the sports package which includes the three outdoor channels. i refuse to pay for shows so loaded with commercials that they pay for themselves 5 times over. I know one of the high profile guys and he makes good money from his time on the channel, good for him, but no longer will it bve my money.

I agree that any place that is featured on one of these shows is going to feel the negative effect of publicity no matter how small the venue with the number of viewers some are going to try to get in to the area and try there luck.

And don't even get me started on the Duck Dynasty effect, people naming there dogs after them, yahoos in the field blasting holes in the sky, etc.
 
.Hunted in Maine for bear with a outfitter years ago. Saw bear every day, a group from a bow manufacturer came into camp and we were moved to other baits. So it goes...
Hate most of the so called sports shows. Most do not represent real hunters. We have enough YA HOOS out there now, why dumb it down. Goose hunting with seven guys???
 
Every time an outdoor show airs it diminishes hunters in the public eye in some way. Most shows are simply shameful and obnoxious. Therefore, they bring people to the sport that are similarly wired.

It is so saddening to see "pop (crap) culture" seep into hunting.
 
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