Wanna know what bugs me most?

[MT Chambers]

When watching a hunting show on TV and they harvest an animal and the first words out of their mouths are all their show sponsors, Nosler bullets, bla bla scopes, bla bla calls, bla bla tents, bla bla trucks, stanfield underwear, etc........When I am lucky enough to harvest an animal, those are the last things that I think of!!

[smoked turkey]

I let my Dish subscription go because I got so tired of the advertisements. All they do is sell sell sell. The hunting shows got to be pretty boring. I found that I no longer enjoyed them and wasn't watching enough to off set the cost. I agree that the "hunt" and the game seems secondary. There were some that I did like, but not enough to keep the service.

[DHurtig]

I almost never watch live TV. I record what I want to watch, and when I watch it, I fast forward through all the ****. I like predator hunting, so I record all of them. With the exception of my 2 favorites, I watch a 30 minute show in 6 to 7 minutes. I figure that if your mouth is moving, you ain't hunting!

[BruceB]

So..... you fellers have gotten to whatever ages you've reached, and YOU DON'T KNOW who pays for TV programs about hunting?

D'you think the programming should free (or paid by our taxes)?

Who would you prefer to have pay the costs, if not the outfits that are in business to make and market the things we MIGHT buy?

Do you think cars should be sold by political parties, or by the Salvation Army?

Advertising is a major fact of modern life. Maybe we don't like it, but NO ONE ELSE on this green globe is going to step up and foot the bills for hunting shows, unless there is an obvious profit motive. "Public Broadcasting" sure as blazes won't do it, because that bunch of liberal turkeys hates our guts.

Live behind the former Iron Curtain, and even today the "programming" will soon make all of us deeply regret the loss of commercial TV. Be careful what we wish for.

If we detest the programming on hunting shows, TURN IT OFF.... and then write the advertisers if sufficiently committed. I'll bet that our disgusted letters would be a very small drop in a large pool, though.

Just turn the damned tube off. I have a combined hook-up here of computer, phone and TV, and most days the TV is literally NEVER on, not even for a minute.

[GoodOlBoy]

When watching anything from hunting to bass fishing they RARELY talk about the hunt anymore, and even more RARELY talk about fishing. It's ALL about the sponsors. But what about shooting competitions? You see the sponsors patches sure. And if a person WINS the competition he/she will usually thanks their sponsors (if they are smart they do anyway) BUT they don't prattle on about the darned sponsors through the WHOLE competition. I remember a decade ago when hunting and fishing shows thanked their sponsors at the beginning, at the end, and during commercial breaks. But between the "thanks for the money to do this" tags there was actual information about the actual hunts/fishing. Now I am not saying that ALL hunting/fishing shows are as bad as some are. But I agree about cable/dish/directtv. I finally gave up all the outdoors channels because you couldn't watch without being bombarded with ad-speech and no real information on the hunt. I still buy select DVDs from select companies because they are not NEARLY as bad as others. But they are getting fewer and far-er between these days. Yes there must be sponsors, and yes there must be ads. But the shows are getting to be the broadcast equivalent of the paper mail in card spam from the '80s. You know the ones. Where you paid for a magazine, and when you opened it eleven pounds of mail in cards fell at your feet. Also keep in mind that if I am PAYING for a channel I should have a realistic expectation that I won't have to watch as MUCH advertising as I do on free channels.

BruceB I do agree with you that my TV is rarely on anymore. There are a very select few shows my wife and I watch, and we can watch the entire run of them off of the DVR in one night a week. I also agree that PBS HATES outdoors-folk and shooters with a purple passion.

My 2 cents.

GoodOlBoy

[nanuk]

So..... you fellers have gotten to whatever ages you've reached, and YOU DON'T KNOW who pays for TV programs about hunting?

D'you think the programming should free (or paid by our taxes)?

Who would you prefer to have pay the costs, if not the outfits that are in business to make and market the things we MIGHT buy?


I'm sorry Bruce, but I have to disagree with you

I DO pay for the programs by having a Sat service I pay for..... and that service PAYS for the programming.

if I have to watch commercials, then I should NOT have to pay for my TV, like the old days of "over the Air" tv
and on the other side, when I already PAY to watch the program, I should NOT have to watch commercials.

but in this case, I think Ben's rant has to do with the promotion of product lines within the show, and not the commercials slotted in....

I got tired of watching the shows where they edited out the kill shot, they zoom in on the Safety being clicked off just before the shot, and the occasional REALLY BAD shot, that is obvious it wasn't a kill shot, but they find a dead animal within a few yards of the impact location.
( an elk shot once with an arrow in the rump, up high that did not penetrate enough to keep the arrow pointed out... it dangled down the side of the animal as it ran.... easy to see with zoom, and stop action... anyone could see it was ONLY the broadhead holding the arrow in the rump, and yet they find a dead elk not 15 yards from where the "Blood Trail" started)

[44man]

Yes, we pay dearly for TV. You get 4 minutes on any station, then 10 minutes of commercials.
Gun rags are worse, no information other then praise for the product none of us can afford, then a few pages of ads. Seems a $2500 scope will steer your bullet as long as you point it somewhere, my $50 scope will shoot as good!.
Then the anti scent sprays, you need 100 bottles or you will not kill a deer. Myth Busters did a show with dogs to track. One fella wore anti scent clothing and sprayed all the junk on him but the dog found him as fast. The dog even tracked him across water.
Yeah sure, fool a deer! What a huge hoax to make someone rich.
I shower with Zest and use my Mennen deodorant and might have a deer wind me once in three years. I get within 10' of deer.
I have explained camo but it is just lately that lighter patterns are showing up. The dark patterns with twigs look like a big, black blob to deer. Bill Jordan made the worst. ASAT and Skyline made the best. Blaze Orange is still the best. Snow camo is best even with full leaves.
Much money is made for products that don't work. My friend has blaze orange with leaves and branches on it. I asked WHY?
I used to go to the sporting goods store and the camo racks were the darkest part of the store even with all the lights. I told the wife, not a single thing there I would wear. With well over 560 deer kills, I know the animal. You can get closer to a deer with a white "T" shirt then you can with Jordan camo.
Turkey are different. But too dark is still not right.
Another thing is a house up in the air over a large food plot. That is NOT hunting. Get on the ground or an open tree stand so a deer will pick up movement. Stalk and make deer come to you.
I love the huge click of the safety going off. Deer can hear a revolver being cocked at 50 yards so you really need all the clicks of a Colt or Freedom.
I agree that hunting shows are bunk and they don't need ads since we pay for them. Why isn't sat TV free? I guess the smart do not buy the products pushed. I sure don't.
Look at the drugs pushed, you NEED this for your problem but affects can cause a heart attack or stroke, liver failure, swollen prostrate, contact your doctor after you die.

[TXGunNut]

If you don't like TV no one's making you watch it. Read a book, watch a DVD, fix or build something around the house, cast some boolits, load some ammo, go shoot. I don't have a problem with the commercials, I haven't seen anything worthwhile on TV in years and finally quit paying for it. Best decision I've made in years.

[500MAG]

The only hunting show I watch is Duck Dynasty and that I record so I can ff through the ads.

[44man]

I love the bigfoot and alien stuff, since my experience with bigfoot long ago in Ohio. They are there!
Even Fox news has too many commercials. Sat companies have to pay for programming so I guess it costs more then we pay. Maybe the great Obumbler can get us free TV!!!! Just give up some more of your pay for the rest of us.

[FLHTC]

In my opinion, there hasn't been an outdoor show worth watching since The American Sportsman with Joe Foss and Curt Gowdy.

[Thumbcocker]

Meateater is pretty good. My biggest gripe about "hunting" shows is how they try to turn hunting into a sport like football. The critter hasn't stopped twitching yet and they are criticizing it's horns etc. If its not what you wanted why did you kill it. Show a little respect for the life you have taken.

[Digital Dan]

Don't watch that stuff or have any subscriptions to gun magazines. I get irritated when people start shooting at me or maybe when a snake wraps around my leg. Return fire is not always appropriate and that's what frustrates me.

[44man]

Ever notice a trophy buck is shot near dark and they leave it for the next day? Out west in heat and it takes them half a day to find it, meat ruined but high fives over the rack.
Didn't they ever hear about fishing lanterns and night tracking? I always had a lantern in a plastic bag when far from home or a long walk, stashed with my deer cart. I will never leave a deer if it takes all night.
A Coleman lantern will show blood better then anything, the blood hunter lights work to some extent but nothing beats a lantern.
Make sure you have a compass with you, been lost good and proper in the PA forest but found my way out after forgetting the compass in a jacket I set beside the game lands road to track, too warm. I actually dropped into the road 50 yards from my jacket. It gets black out there and shining a light around will show you nothing.
I did the trophy stuff for a short time until I found I could not eat the critters. I need to question why I killed them. Now I want doe or young ones. Best meat ever, no sense in wasted meat just for some horns. What the hell is a "CULL" buck? TV shows make excuses when they shoot a doe.
Many times I have let 10 pointers or larger walk but shot the doe with him.
A wild piglet is better then a 500# boar. Veal is better then an old milk cow.

[mold maker]

I now use my big flat screen for a computer monitor. I seldom watch TV and if it were up to me, I'd get rid of that bill.

[David2011]

I'm sorry Bruce, but I have to disagree with you

I DO pay for the programs by having a Sat service I pay for..... and that service PAYS for the programming.




Sorry, Nanuk, that isn't how it works. Most of your cable fees go to the cable company for delivering the signal. A little of it goes to some individual channels but production is expensive, even the way it's done for hunting shows. Post production where the endless hours of nothing punctuated by brief moments of interest are compiled is costly. The advertisers are paying for the hunting trips so they want a little return on their investment in the form of promotion of their products.

I don't like the seemingly endless commercials and agree with many of the objections but I at least understand how broadcasting works after spending 12 years in the business, which I am no longer a part of by choice due in part to political differences.

If the Great Obummer gave us free TV, do you really think you would see any positive presentation of firearms? Be happy that you have the privilege of buying the TV you want even with its warts.

David

[MrWolf]

I now use my big flat screen for a computer monitor. I seldom watch TV and if it were up to me, I'd get rid of that bill.

We dropped tv and our land line and watch what we want through the internet. Picked up some Roku boxes which allows us to watch netflix, amazon prime, etc on our tv's. My net savings was over a $100 a month which I figure is good for another Marlin levergun [smilie=s:

[JohnH]

What's TV?

[TXGunNut]

What's TV?

It's a waste of time.

[hornady308]

I cancelled my Time Warner subscription last month. Now I spend more time doing more important stuff than sitting in front of the television set.

[Geezer in NH]

My son and I don't watch, we do.

[GoodOlBoy]

Heck my favorite show these days is swamp people on history channel. My only beef is the repeated use of stock footage (Yes history channel the fans can tell) But it's still a fun show to watch.

As for the camo comments. My great grandad wore a red plaid shirt and overalls hunting and took more deer than I ever will. I have never been able to get a deer wearing camo, almost all of them I took wearing plain t-shirts and blue jeans. Much like fishing gear it is designed to catch buyers, not game.

GoodOlBoy

[MBTcustom]

I do not have cable nor satellite in my house for the last 8 years. If we really want to watch something, we go rent it, or use Netflix.
I will not be desensitized by the #1 method of brainwashing our nation.
I have a 5 year old girl in the house, and I try to keep an eye on what she watches. This new Disney movie came out called "Frozen"? I watched it through once, and determined it unfit for my household. (loved the music, hate the incessant innuendos and brainwashing). Angie agreed with me. However, do you know that of all the decisions I have made to do what's right for my family, that one caused me the most grief from people? It is absolutely taboo not to watch the latest greatest that Hollywood can come up with. People darn near wanted to get my daughter removed from the house because I wouldn't let her watch this show.
This typifies Hollywood brainwashing on so many levels. Sheeople are crazy. They'll get all hot and bothered over the morality or lack thereof of a man who decides what and what not to watch on his own boob tube, with his own family, but when it comes to important issues (like the redefinition of marriage, pot, alcohol, the elections, local government, etc etc etc) they have no opinion.

[ammohead]

The outdoor shows are about all I watch anymore. That and Fox news. No advertising, no programming. Pretty simple. You go put a season of television shows on the air on your dime. Not likely. Who is going to pay for all of the outfitters for one thing. It does bother me that there is rarely an animal taken with grandpa's lever or even Dad's 06. All animals are shot with either a brand new rifle or more often than not way overpriced archery equipment.

But that being said, I do enjoy them and find them quite informative. I am never going to see wild musk ox forming up in a semicircle first hand or call in a moose with a canoe paddle and I don't think that I am the only one either. I have no complaints about the current outdoor programming. Hell for years there was none. Ease up, or maybe make your own show that we can all be dazzled at.

[44man]

Many here could make good hunting videos, real hunts, not canned or given free from outfitters for an ad. The amount of free stuff the so called hunters get would amaze you. When they explain how good their bow is, they didn't pay for it.
Goodolboy is right, don't need anything fancy or expensive. Companies have HUGE fishing hooks to snag you with.
Deer lures and scents are big business, but the only one that worked is long gone. It was Deer Coy, made for the hand warmers but the hand warmer always went out if not in a pocket so I dripped it in trails to a scrape. I would not even be in my stand before a buck was following and licking it off the ground. Shot many deer with it. Wish I would have bought every bottle.
Next is Neccina doe in heat urine. Real stuff that will pull in deer. Fox urine is good, seen deer lick it off a stump. Stay FAR away from skunk scent, deer HATE it.
All the bottles of scents in Wall Mart are useless.
If you watch scrapes, the best you can use is to just pee in the scrape. I pee and spit tobacco juice out of my tree stand all the time and deer walk right under me. One day I did not want to shoot one so I lowered my bow to watch. I had 17 under me eating paw paw fruit. They bumped my ladder and bow. I know I peed and spit on some of the fruit!
I never had a deer smell where I walked but never put your pack or any clothing on the ground near your stand, a buck will pick it up and leave.
Noise of the right kind will not scare deer off either. Break branches if you need to. Even a gunshot will not freak out deer. They walk past me when I am shooting on my range. Shot a large doe out of a herd once, she dropped and the rest of the herd laid down.
Deer get so easy so don't believe the hokum on TV.
I take my little dog out on a leash and there will be deer under my mulberry trees. The cat that thinks he is a dog will be with us too. Neither pay attention to the deer and the deer let us get close. Had them come within 10 feet of us. I quit hunting my woods. I need to go where they don't know me. Yes, always a white "T" shirt on too in the yard.
I know the deer and also know where the larger bucks are but I don't want them. I know where deer come from and where they go. Where they bed. The cost of a deer is a 10 cent boolit, should say loaded round. Cost me 70 cents last season.
Keep your wallet in your pocket or buy a bottle for after the hunt.

[Janoosh]

44 man....I couldn't agree with you more. Asat. ...best camo going...if you feel you must wear camo...bud's deer lure...my absolute favorite..it works!
Walk around...if you can...learn the woods....know the prey...
in a sarcastic bent (since I'm posting from my phone and can't find purple)..You think to much!!! LOL
old friend of mine, Italian heritage, .says...." how long do you cook the horns till their soft enough to eat..!!"
Thanks for the sanity...

[a.squibload]

Watched a hunting show, they shot a buck on a road/trail from a tall blind,
deer dropped like a sack o' taters. They took great pains NOT to show where
the shot hit, that's what I wanted to know about.

Disney (or Hollywood) = mental poison.

I love TV, have an old movie running right now, no idea what it's about,
not really watching it. Could save some money if I would just unsubscribe.

Riding a dirt bike you can just about run over a deer in the woods.

TV could be worse, in old USSR they had 2 channels.
One was government programming,
one had KGB guy who said "Switch back to other channel".

:>)

[44man]

They clean up blood to not "offend" any liberals watching. Liberals think stores make meat. No animal was harmed for your burger! Grew in the meat case.

[Janoosh]

Never shot a deer...never saw a dead deer or any other mammal. ....where the tongue didn't stick out...cept on the television....

[bart55]

Have shot many a deer after peeing from the tree stand and spitting a little beechnut (no a lot of beechnut) chew. Only scent I can remember that worked was Davey brackens I was about sixteen years old. Sitting on a big rock .Had about four or five does sniffing my boots ,where I had dripped the scent .Could have hit one in the head with my rifle If I wanted to .funny memories from fifty years ago

[GoodOlBoy]

My great grandaddy (the one in the plaid and the overhauls) used to take a sack full of parched peanuts, a thermos of burnt black coffee, and a tin of prince Albert tobacco with him hunting. He never had issues getting a deer whatsoever (as I have said). I honestly think what disturbs deer more than anything is odors that just don't belong outdoors. How many deer have smelled camp coffee on the wind, tobacco on a row, or a peanut field after it was burned off in early spring? I am guessing alot! How man deer smell Polo toilet water, or whatever the heck that rank crud is some people wear these days, in the wild and ever thought it was normal? Heck I don't even think it's normal!

Flip side is we actually had a fatality due to doe urine a few years back. Some city photographer went out during the rut after hosing himself down with the stuff so he could get better pictures of big deer. What he got was multiple punctured lungs, stomped with sharp hooves, and pneumonia from falling in a creek trying to get away. He died in the hospital after a couple of weeks bought with the pneumonia and some kinda bacterial thing. You know how hard it is to look a person in the eye and not laugh hysterically when somebody they knew was effectively mauled to death by a buck deer during a rut after soaking themselves in doe urine?

GoodOlBoy

[nanuk]

...
A Coleman lantern will show blood better then anything...

Yup.... proved that to myself some time ago! Works Great!

I did the trophy stuff for a short time until I found I could not eat the critters. I need to question why I killed them. Now I want doe or young ones. Best meat ever, no sense in wasted meat just for some horns....

No matter how long you boil 'em, those horns are still pretty tough!
I have tried to eat a T-bone from a large bull moose and I think steel belted radials are more tender!


I agree with hunting for meat.... a nice young doe, or a forkhorn! MMMM.....

[44man]

I bought a pressure cooker for one buck, didn't work. i love the steel belted radial stuff. never used the pressure cooker again, still like new.
i still shoot a lot of bucks but don't know because they have buttons and look like doe. Have to roll them over first.

[Geraldo]

I watch Meateater because he goes from hunt to table, and he's not the usual fist pumping ******* when he kills something.

What really chaps my *** is using "harvest" instead of "kill" to make hunting seem more warm and fuzzy. Back on the farm we harvested wheat and slaughtered hogs. I kill game animals.

[Cornbread]

We don't have any TV service here. I grew up without TV and I see no reason my children should not do the same. If we want movies we have Netflix and my wife and I preview anything prior to the kids watching it.

[cainttype]

Quite a few years back a good friend, relatively new to deer hunting, returned from a preseason visit to his tree-stand...and he was mad.
On his scouting trip he had found a bar of Ivory soap tucked near a log on one of his main game trails. A careful search found several more bars, all placed stategically in the trails around his stand. Someone in his private club, one (or more) of his "friends" apparently dropped soap throughout his area... by accident, I'm sure.
The soap bars had been weathered to different degrees, so it appeared to be an ongoing attempt at sabotage.
When asked about the trail activty he said there appeared to be pretty good recent sign. I suggested that he quit spending money on all the various scent-blockers and deer-friendly shampoos...use Ivory, and shower when you want from now on.
From that same stand he took the largest buck from that lease that season, along with some very fat meat does. He left that club shortly thereafter.
He has sparing seeded his hunting areas with pieces of his favorite soap year-round since then.

[micky_blue]

I agree with meateater. I have tried new foods and tried new stuff in the kitchen thanks to Steven Rinella.

[44man]

I love the Ivory soap story.
Only found two things to keep them out of the garden, electric fence or run at them waving your arms!