I have been viewing Wild TV for free the last little while (free preview). Therefore I have not been watching much hunting shows (live in Canada, not much to choose from) before this. The free preview is a GREAT THING and I really like the channel, but I do have some complaints.

Some of the shows use words that to me are very disrespectfull to hunters and the wild animals in general. The word that gets me the most is :

[:@] .... Shooter Buck, [:@][:@]

They make it out that if the animal is not of a certain size (antler size only) that it is not worth harvesting unless it is a lowly "Cull Deer" that needs to be removed from the heard. Who do these people think they are to determine what is a trophy or to put down others for what they harvest.

A shooter buck to me is any animal (buck or doe) that I choose to shoot, no matter what size the antlers are. Some areas will see plenty of 150 class deer, while others will be lucky to get a buck near the 100 class range. Will this degrade the 100 class deer, not in your life, they are all great animals no matter what their size is. I know most of these shows hunt only private farms that promot trophy animals (large rack) but that is not a trophy to me. To me, the trophy is the trip and time spent, not the animal harvested. Some of these shows are just getting way to comercial for my liking since the last time they were available on TV for me up here (about 5 years ago when local cable removed chanel).

Sorry about the reant, but I had to just say something. Does anyone else feel the same or have other little things that bother them like this does me.

I agree with you 100%, most of those guys talk out of both sides of their mounths, hypocrites in fact, they brag about how "ethical" they are and how they have such a high respect for nature but then they turn around and play that "build the trophy animal" game...
I dont know who these people think they are that they haveANY right at all to decide what animal lives and what has to die in nature based soley on what type/size antlers they have, or will reproduce... culling out certain animals just to keep and let breed the ones with genetic traits that THEY desire, not what makes a stronger animal, or even a stronger herd, but what makes the biggest/best "trophy" for them is,IMO,disrepectful to nature in its fullest andit irritates me too that people like that can be so disrespectful to nature and brag themselves up like they're doing some big favor for the hunting world, it in fact boils down to nothing but money... big racks=big money...

but then again if you watch any of those shows most of these "pro" hunters basically hunt game farms with preset areas/stands and so put little to no effort in the scouting, stand placement, or any other actual pursuit of the animal, they just pull the trigger out of a 1000sq ftblind... the animals being "hunted" on/in TV shows arent respected, their treated like nothing more than objects to be killed and IMO its sad that our sport is represented like that

top that with all the fake emotional outbursts and high-fiving/ass grabbin' after "the kill"and I could just about puke... it looks like nothing more than a low buck soap opera, I like watching hunting shows just for seeing the animals and the basic situations, but I usally have the remote in my hand and turn the channel at that point...



put a show on that plays the game, even remotely like it should bedone, that shows a guy going into a new area(no game farms), going through all the scouting, stand placement, and all the other aspects of the pursuit(and give tips/advise along the way) right up to the taking(or not) of the game animal would be an awesome show IMO, even if the entire thing was spread out within several shows and some stand highlightswere uneventful, It would stillbe realistic and something I'd go out of my way to watch, unlike whats on now where in a five minute show theres 750 semi-domestic deer in a field and some guy in a blind bigger than my house whispering at the camera andwaving his arms around like he's trying to take flight bragging about how much of a "hunt" it is, right before pulling the trigger...


lame...

Tom, I think you need to whack a turkey!

Well to me, the hunting shows are just entainment for me. I appreciate their view of a "shooter buck" and I personally look forward to what they call a shooter buck on film. Their type of hunting, (the professional hunter) is what they get paid for. Who wouldn't like to get paid for hunting like they do? Soooo, you hunt like the bosses tell you to hunt. Ok, that's them.And I like to watch em. It's isn't realistically like I hunt, mainly because their isn't deer like that on my place. I do choose what I shoot because now that I've hunted so many years and used to shoot anything that walked by, it has made me a little more cellective.
So, to sum it up, movie stars get paid for their acting. I'm not a movie star. "All of us can't be heros, Some of us have to sit on the curb and clap while they pass by."
BBO

Amen to that!!I want to hurl when i watch hunting shows.So i don't watch them.

The hunting shows are for entertainment only, and the almighty advertising dollar...don't put much merit in what is said..

Yes these shows are for entertainment and should only be viewed that way. But if that was the only way that these shows were viewed, they would not be on TV cause no sponsor would pay money to try and get their product promoted by them. These shows need money to pay for their time slot on TV.

But there are alot of new people to the hunting world that watch hunting shows to learn about hunting. Even I watch for entertainment and to learn a few new tricks that I might not have thought of myself. These new people will start to think that this is the way things should be done and it then becomes gospel.

BuddyBo, I am like you and also enjoy these shows showing very large animals (even if they are grown specially for their large racks), but the term "Shooter Buck" to me is just not correct. That term just puts down anyone that does not shoot an animal in that size class. To me personally I do not care if it has a huge rack or not (meat hunter here) but I have heard huge arguements between hunters because one shot a nice size deer, but was only a 2 1/2 year old off of crown land. These shows should more or less use terms like "look at the size of him, he is huge, or that is a very nice deer". But to say " that was not a shooter buck" (should be said " I choose to not shoot that buck") implies that deer of that size should never be shot. I also do not have problems with trophy hunting if that is what you want to do. Choosing to harvest an animal or to let it go gives you as a hunter a great feeling knowing that you did have that power, but that is or was your personal choice.

It is just to me .......... that any animal you choose to harvest is a great accomplishment and should be shown respect no matter if it was a doe, fawn, buck or a large antlered buck.

There are other events on these shows that personally bother me. Taking those 600 - 1100 yard shots bothers me. Mostly because they do not show the aftermath of those long shots. Do not get me wrong, I think that being able to ethically take those shots (that is knowing that you have a greater chance then not in making a one shot quick kill at that distance) is a great accomplishment and acknowledged. But how many new hunters even think of what happens after those shots from high on one ridge to high on another. Even if I was capabile of those shots I would not take them unless it was on the way back to camp. Imagine, having to hike down a steep ridge to the valley bottom then back up the other side to just get to your animal. Then you have to take that same route back out, but only this time with your aminal on your back. [:-][:-][:-][:-][:-]

Maybe I am just too old now and think of the work involved in recovering the animal.

Oh yea Don, I have been wacking turkeys alot lately, .............. but when I wake up, there is no fresh turkey to be eaten. Time is coming, calls are getting used.

I'm about 50/50 on this matter. I agree with you with SOME of the "pro hunters". They simply sit down in a comfy blind or stand and then harvest an animal and then put on a show when in reality they are probably feeling no emotion whatsoever.

I do disagree with you, however, with your view towards "shooter bucks." That is like saying anyone who practices QDM or any other management or antler restriciton program is not a true hunter. I agree with you that any deer is worth harvesting and that any deer harvested is a trophy, no doubt about that. But I use the word shooter buck when I am hunting. When I see a buck, I distinguish whether or not it is a shooter or not. Some are, many aren't. Does that make them less of a deer not worth of harvesting? No, I am looking to harvest a more mature, larger racked buck. In just two years that buck I passed on will be a shooter buck.

Cull deer, again I am 50/50. It isnt respectful to the animal to take its life because its 'not up to par'. Thats kind of toying with mother nature. On the other hand, a lot of the ranches and outfitters who do take cull deer do so so they can attract more clients and improve the gene pool on their farm. If there is a 3.5 year old 4 point then you dont want that buck producing similar bucks when you are trying to produce bucks of the same age that qualify for Boone and Crockett.

I hope all that made sense. I'm on the fence line on this one.

Rockingchair, your middle paragraph is what I was trying to say. I too let a lot of bucks walk so they will maybe become larger racked bucks next year or the next. My practice for so long, way back when, was to shoot anything that walked by. Now, I enjoy hunting larger bucks much more because I have become a more patient and more experianced hunter. I also have learned a few tricks watching those hunting shows that I believe have helped me bag that big buck, and I have had some great success recently doing this. I believe to each his own and I won't knock anyone that shoots any deer he or she wants to shoot. It's what hunting is all about. Shoot what you want or can. BUT ENJOY IT! Only in AMERICA. GOD BLESSAMERICA.
BBO

Very well said, BB. Amen.