My observation: If the show is from "South Texas", it is a high fence hunt for smallish deer that have been genetically engineered through feeders and mineral blocks to produce "trophy" bucks. Shouldn't be allowed in record books!
Also, If the show has any conciense, they usually say "fair chase" or something equivelent.
Also, if the hunters are hunting with a rifleand not wearing orange , probably a "zoo hunt".

The question originally was on RATINGS I thought but the responses so far haven't adressed that. I have the Outdoor Channel, the Men's Channel and also always watched the Sunday Morning lineup in the fall on ESPN2. As far as ratings like other tv programs have, the ESPN2 shows have the warning at the beginning of the posibility of kill shots, but the other two channels do not. That is one type of rating that is being used. As far as the high-fence versus free-ranging rating, I don't know how it would be monitored. There would have to be someone from the network along with each hunt to verify fair-chase. There are plenty of enclosures that are massive and you never see a fence on TV, but we all know that the deer are too good to be true, or just too many monster bucks running around. I think that it is up to the person watching the show to determine if they want to continue watching if there is suspected high-fence conditions. I know that I usually stil watch, just because there are some truly outstanding bucks filmed on these shows and I like to look at huge horns. I personally would not hunt in an enclosure, but I really have no problem with someone who does, to each his own. There are plenty of things on tv and in movies that are worse that a show hunting in a high-fence setting.

That would be a good idea. No matter what we do, we won't ever be able to stop high fenced hunts. Whenever I watch a high fenced show, I tend to forget about the trophey sizeand try to pick up on things like behavior, food sources, stand locations, etc.

I think they should be rated by the actual footage. Example:nothing pisses me off more that that watching a hunting show where they don't show the animal being shot, dropping over, or blood trails. Dammit, I want to see the shot placement in slow motion a couple times, if the camera is lucky enough, I want to see the animal dropping over and kicking one last time, and I definitly want to see the blood trail vs. cutting the film and continue taping after the animal has already been found.

I completely agree. If i'm watching a hunting show I want to see the kill shot as well, especially with archery gear. My wife just bought a new Hoyt and we got a hunting DVD with it. On it, they replay the shot about 6 times and it is great. I also like the trailing footage but so few shows do it for more than a few steps after they had already found the animal. If the shows are going to get graphic, then sure, put a rating on them based on the footage.

Wow!! good point in makes alot of difference if you shoot a monster thats penned up or one that is free range. Makes a difference in what you call a trophy. 200 penned up or 130 free range