wis_bow_huntr

Hey Tony I think we should get together and film. We can call our Show...TnT Hunting, Blasting the competition away! lol.

peakrut

I like that with a Wisconsin style only.

14mercs

I had a 2 year stint as a pro staff shooter for a local outdoor shop. I am real tight with the owners and knew how the bow companies and sales groups put demands and order requirements that were super hard to meet. Couple that with Hoyts unbelievably sloth like customer service and order fill time and you get a company that was helped out of business. I lost a lot of respect for the bow industry leaders after that experience. I do miss my discounts a ton though. Oh yeah... Hoyt is still the bow I shoot... why change from the best there is?

GMMAT

I thought I loved Golf until I became a PGA Professional and it became my JOB. I spent 5+ years as a teaching professional and played in sectional tournaments when I could find time.

When I left the business in 1995......I didn't touch a golf club for NINE YEARS. I LOATHED the game.

No way I'd do that with hunting. No way.

peakrut

Jeff brotha I had the same issue with softball. Before I married I stated I would never give up 12" softball or deer hunting. Well softball became to much when you play 4 nights a week plus weekends. Finally I told me wife when I am 40 I will retire from softball which I did. (41 now) As for hunting she understands especially my vacation
every year the week of thanksgiving. Its a time my side of the family gets together in the great Northwoods of Wisconsin and hunt and just plain have a blast. With us having a cabin now it is that much better and of course
cheaper.

Planter

First impulse is of course "great" but even with all their shortcomings I think those TV guys have to put in a lot of time and effort to come up with enough footage to do a show never mind a season.

Even on a guided high quality low fence hunt I can't imagine it's a sure thing. I for one would love to "plop" myself down in a stand with a real chance at seeing never mind killing a 160 class deer. Can't fault them to much for havingopportunity.

GMMAT

Been there, too, Tony. 250+ games in '99 and '00. Class "C" national Champions in ASA ('99) and 5th in class "B" ASA in '00.

WAYYyyyyy too much softball.....but it was fun while it lasted. I gave it up before 40, though.

USAF_hunter

Who did you play for in B? We won the SW region and were at nationals in 98.

quiksilver

When I was in college, my buddy and I had a pretty solid turkey guiding business going. Not enough dough to make a livingbut god was it fun. We sunk so much time and effort into it, I have no idea how we ever graduated. I'd swear, I knew every roost within 20 miles of State College and Westmoreland County.

It was tough at first, b/c really - who trusts a 19 year old kid to "guide" you to your first trophy tom. LOL We got customers mostly through referral and our pricing system (no kill, no pay).

I think we spent every penny we ever made on wild women and gasoline. Undoubtedly, the best "job" I ever had. Even on days when we didn't have anyone slotted in, I couldn't wait for that alarm to go off at 5:00 and hit the pavement just to nail down a new roost location. My fraternity bro's thought I was certifiably insane.

So yeah, if the opportunity ever arose, I'd be all over it - even if it was on the "business" end of things.

I'm one of those people that has a very obsessive personality, and if I'm focused on doing something that I enjoy, there aren't enough hours in a day for me to sink into it.

Talondale

When I was younger and single I would have loved to be one of the Pro Hunters, I even gave it a try one year, but now that I'm older and have a family I wouldn't want to be away that much. I grew up in a navy town and I saw guys going away for as long as six month cruises and that lifestyle sucks. I'd love to be a guest hunter every now and then but weeks/months on the road don't appeal to me anymore, unless I could have my family with me. Another thing I have to be honest about myself is that I'm too much of a free spirit to be tied down to shilling one product or another. If I ran the show and could chose which product I wanted to "soft sell" (meaning no "I couldn't have done it without my xxxx" but just using the product and listing what I use at the end) I may be willing to represent some things I actually would use and find helpful. But I like to have the freedom to say that you can use another camo pattern, or even plaid, if you want to and they work too, etc. Just too much integrity to be a product wh*re.