Your absolutely correct. This past turkey season a friend from work asked me to take his son out for his first turkey hunt. By the end of the first day, the child commented to me that he had been religiously watching hunting shows and we must be in a bad area because this was nothing like what he saw. That comment made me smile and all I could say was that most of those shows aren't reality.

Last nights show was no better. Wally smoked a monster his first morning and while they were taking pictures and hoot'n and hollar'n another monster buck was standing there watching them. So... One of the other hunters "snuk" to the other side of the ridge and shot him. 0 skill just lots of money. Those guys suck.

I agree we should not run anyhunter down. You get what you pay way to much for Wally. I would be embarased to put out that hunt on TV.

I agree that some of the complaints are somewhatover the top, and I have no problem with high fences if that is what you want to do. However, I do not think that everyone has to think the way I do. If youbelieve that wild game is the only way to hunt, good for you. If you like to hunt high fenced areas, good for you. Just don't dog those who don't think your way. It is all legal afterall. Also, if you hate the shows just don't watch.It will save you the frustration and maybe hurt their ratings too. JMHO.

I think there is good and bad in most of the shows. The main problems I have with them are:
- They need to be done in a way to show respect for the animal being hunted. They should show the animals acting as they do in the wild, not as they do in a petting zoo. And they need to be done to show the values and morals of true hunters and outdoorspeople have. Otherwise they can just supply Petta with ammunition.
- They an create unrealistic expectations for young hunters. I am 25 and do not have any children yet, but when I do, I'll let them watch those shows if they want. But you can bet everything you have on the fact that I'll take them hunting with me every chance I can so they realize that hunting in the "real world" is not as it is shown on TV. And that getting any game that you are hunting is a great accomplishment. And that the word trophy is relative to what makes you happy. And bagging a "trophy" is far more rewarding if you put your time in, do your homework, and are successfull. Than if your bank account controls your hunting. I have nothing against someone paying to hunt. And I'll probably even do it some day. But I don't want to pay to shoot.
This is just my oppinion. And I agree everyone is entitled to their own.

As long as people watch those ridiculous "hunting" shows then they will keep making them. The reality is its too expensive to make real hunting shows for true wild game that includes harvesting a trophy. A hunting show without the money shot would quickly tank.

I'm not going to comment much on this, but will enter one point. When taking a child hunting for the first few times, I would suggest taking them to an area where you ARE going to see something in a short period of time. Kids don't have the attention span that adults have. And if a child is out there for hours and see nothing, in a few hunts, they may become very discouraged.

I aggree 100%. Kids would get bored and my lose interest if they donnot see game. But At the same time you don't want the first time they go out to be unrealistic either. It has to be a happy medium.

Granted, they would have to be sucessful most of the time, but I've seen on Primos many times(and others but that's the one that stands out for me right now) where they go with an outfitter and whether its because they miss or they don't get the clean shot, they leave the trip with an empty tag.... I appreciate those shows...

There's an old proverb somewher i think that says a Life without sorrow, conflict, or pain, is no life at all..... Without unhappiness, happiness is unfullfilling...

... or some philosophical something-or-other like that

All things in moderation. Highfencing is not so bad if its on a place large enough that the animals rarely if ever find the fence.... 100-200, even 1000+ acre ranches have no business with high fences.... Take that for what it is, my opinion. But if you've got 10,000 acres, high fencing makes no matter. Any thing inside that large a pen(as you guys call it) is still just as wild. As for the "pay by size" stuff.... Yeah, it does sicken me.

This is just an opinion but I think a lot of folks on here have a problem with this because they hunt for horns. I'm sure you eat the meat too but you are trophy collectors. I don't care how people shoot deer as long as a couple of things hold true, 1) They aren't injuring deer needlessly (WHA), 2) They don't shoot my deer.

If some yahoo gets off on buying a deer for several grand then have at it. I'll shoot every doe in the woods before I take a buck. The meat is much tougher.

Tom