Ya know I was actually giving "this" discussion some thought last night. When I say "this discussion" I am not necessarily referring to this thread but the entire issue of our TV hunting shows and their representation of hunting.

I so often see how folks are complaining that the shows are unrealistic (and, in comparison to my experiences with hunting, they are). However, would folks really watch them if they actually depicted what hunting was like for the rest of us? Seriously? I mean, would you watch a bare stand of hardwoods for 3-4 hours not seeing anything other than a squirrel or two and some woodpeckers flying from tree to tree? You might as well call it the Nature Channel if you are going to do that. I do not think many folks would watch it, I really don't.

What these shows do is focus on the adrenaline rush that goes with watching deer activity leading up to harvesting an animal. I think if you ask alot of folks whether or not they had a good day out in the field then their response will be based on whether or not they saw deer and/or if a shot opportunity presented itself. "Real hunting" in my experience means days afield when you do not see animals and/or you are seeing animals that are not even remotely close enough for a shot. Would you guys really watch that?

I mean it is one thing when we are actually in that situation, ourselves, but would you want to spend your free time at home actually watching someone else not seeing something? These shows have a half hour to summarize several days worth of hunting. What would you rather watch the 90% of the time that some of these guys are not seeing anything or the 10% of the time that animals are actually around them? (I do think they could do a better job of relating the fact that they did spend several days out there of not seeing anything)

Let me be sure to clarify something, I am not trying to defend the practices of some of the hunting shows on network televisionbut rather trying to explain, from point of view, why we see some of things we do on these hunting programs. I watch some of them but usually only the ones that I find I can relate to. In my case that typically means whitetail deer hunting and usually with a bow. I have no interest in African game animals nor do I have interest in some of the other hunting scenarios that these guys put themselves into. I will never have a day where I see 130-150 class bucks "milling around in front me" while I sit in a treestand waiting for something bigger to show up. It just isn't realistic for where I hunt but, it is entertaining to watch someone else in that same situation.