ORIGINAL: quiksilver
I have a good friend who hunted with a guide who got the "pleasure" of guiding the Nuge. Needless to say, the Nuge isn't much of a hunter as he'd have everyone believe.
I don't think any of the television personalities are a fair representation of the average, D-I-Y hunter. Mike Hill is 100% correct. Now, I'm not saying that, at one time, these guys weren't normal do-it-yourself hunters - in fact, they probably were. The fact is, with their travel schedules, their show schedules, their filming schedule, and their personal life shoe-horned into it, it doesn't leave much time to get out there and hang up your stands on grandpa's old homestead. It's big business. They get paid to sit in a stand, take a shot, and pose for the photo-ops. Then, they get taxied all over the globe to preach about how X or Y hunting products made their hunt successful.
I want to ask a question here and please please don't take offense to it. I understand that these guys have hectic schedules, and yes a lot of the time they do have pre-set stands. But do you really think that they just go out sit there a few minutes and shoot a monster? I'm getting into this industry and the reason I ask is because I've seen what it takes to really get a good hunt down on film. It is day in day out sitting on stand all day long for a lot of these guys. It's a continuous process that takes time and effort. It really is not an easy thing to do. I think they deserve much more respect than we give them. They work hard to bring us these videos. I think we should give them credit for that.