RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

I know you do.;)

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

You should keep this one tiny point in mind when you start thinking along those lines... Guys like Jordan, et al, are NOT hunting for the sense of accomplishment. Well, maybe they are on some minor level but that's not their prime reason. They are doing it in order to satisfy their sponsors, dazzle the ignorant and make money. After every sentence they utter in their videos you could add another line: "See what you could do if you just buy the stuff I use or pay to hunt this ranch?"

I don't like it so I do what everyone else who doesn't like it should do. Or, rather, should NOT do. I DO NOT watch their shows or videos. I DO NOT buy their products or the products their sponsors make. I DO NOT give them my money so they can turn it around and put even more mind numbing garbage on video.

Besides, all their propaganda is aimed at people who don't mind wasting a buttload more money than I'm willing to spend. It's the money they're after and they could care less whether it comes from a guy busting his guts for an hourly wage or a suit with a salary. ;)

You don't have to think it's true. It IS true. Psychologists long ago recognized that aspect of human behavior.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Arthur PJerden and others might not hunt like a blue collared hunter does, or even for the same purpose ......... but that sense of accomplishment can dwindle and be watered down none the less by the means in which the end results are had, you know ?

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Buster T, I agree with you, if you are only looking at the extremes, when you think that lack of effort means lack of satisfaction. But at some point as you add more difficulties there is a sense of accomplishment. Jordan is not using a rifle (well usually) he is mostly hunting with a bow or smokepole. That is a higher degree of difficulty than the "blue collar" hunter that hunts an over-hunted parcel of land with dogs and just jumps out of his truck and throws a hail of bullets at any deer that bolts across a field. (I've seen these types of "hunters") There are all kinds of gradients of difficulty on the scale of hunting and to look down on one type because your style is at a "higher" grade of difficulty just seems silly. Everyone is different in means, ability, and interests. For me there most certainly is a level of difficulty where there is a point of diminishing returns on the sense of satisfaction in relation to the level of difficulty. There is for you too, or you'd be hunting deer with a fire-hardened stick with nothing but a loincloth on. We all fall at different places on the spectrum and have different levels of appreciation for difficulty.

As for the original posting; it seems like circular reasoning to me. You (TJ) complain about "star" hunters making videos and bemoan the lack of "blue collar" hunter videos. But the minute they are successful hunters they are then disqualified from being considered "blue collar". The thing to remember is that the person has to be able to make a living making these videos. It's not a hobby.They have to be able to create a quality product and with enough frequency to pay the bills. I'm not arguing that this can't be done in a new, innovative approach that isn't so "pre-packaged" but the method they are using is the most obvious, path-of-least-resistance, approach available. You have to consider the circumstances these videos are being created in. The only viable alternative you would have that may satisfy you would be a voluntary, free collection of amateur video makers. Youtube for hunting, so to speak. There's a business idea for you. Put it together and maybe you can make some serious money. But then you won't be "blue collar" anymore, and may have to quit hunting.:D J/K

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

You miss the point. Most of us are recreational hunters and, from that point of view, I can't agree with you more. However...

When hunting is your business, you have to gage your accomplishment by different parameters. Namely the quarterly financial statement. If these guys don't put brown on the ground so they can have SOMETHING on video to show their sponsors' products work, they don't put beans on the table.

Bottom line - and I know most all of 'em would publicly deny it till their dying breath but it doesn't change the realities of running a business - they gage their accomplishments by the size of their bank accounts.

Sometimes I wonder... Are they slapping each other on the back and acting so happy because they got a deer? Or because they finally got something they'll get paid for? Or because "this sponsor's piece of crap product finally WORKED!" Or maybe all the above?

Know what I mean?

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Arthur P its my opinion they are a disgrace to bowhunting and hunting in general, those who use hunting as a means to profit, because inevitably, the quest for bigger horns leads to things that are going to be deemed unethical, ie Noel Feather, Glen Berry etc etc.

Money ruins everything, thats almost a universal true

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

If you want it bad enough, you will find a way. I wanted to go to ND to mule deer hunt, single income family, wife, 3 kids. I got the support of my wife, then got a seasonal second job and saved the money. Bellyache all you want,about the oppurtunities that others get, cause with that attitudeyou will never get any...

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Now,I agree with this. I worked so hard thisyear finding a 8pt I have seen a few times. I finally got a shot at him at 20 yards, and thru the guts. I looked for 8 hours for him. And finally found him to finish him off. He is on the wall. He is only 107 deer with deductions but man, he is the finest kill Iever had. I will always rememberthat dayofharvesting this deer.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

and if you kill/killed a doe, that deer would be more of a trophy in my eyes than if you'd paid an outfitter $3500 to take you toa private ranch and first morning say "here, he comes in to the tank at 7:38 am for a drink" and you draw and shoot a 160" buck.

bigcountry did Hell freeze over today ? :D

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Well, we did get 3/4" of pure ice last night in the MD/PA area.