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Is Outdoor Television Bad For Hunting?

By Patrick MeitinSeptember 9, 201416 Comments

LAST UPDATED: May 1st, 2015

For a number of years I was loosely involved in outdoor television, working both ends of the camera for a couple outdoor television shows. I wasn’t really in it for the money, my incentive more along the lines of getting to see some exotic places (Africa, for instance) and hunt some species I would otherwise never have been able to afford (musk-oxen and mountain goat, for instance). In many cases it allowed me to bowhunt with friends whose company I enjoy. So in all honesty those experiences have likely tainted my perception of outdoor television somewhat. I learned how quickly towing a cameraman along can ruin an otherwise enjoyable hunt, but also that a good editor can turn a pretty sketchy deal into something palatable for public consumption.

Truthfully, I’ve really never been wild about watching filmed hunts, even back when that meant plugging in VHS tapes. For me hunting will always remain a solitary and highly-personal pursuit. Sharing personal experiences this emotionally charged just comes off best in print, where you’re better able to share personal insights on the things that matter most – or at least should. Living in the moment of filmed hunts and these complicated emotions — the initial elation of the kill mixed with the remorse and reflection any thinking hunter experiences — are easily lost in translation and misconstrued as something else. The impression all too often is of the blood-thirsty, fist-pumping, in-your-face personality who seems more to have just won a cage match fight than taken the life of another living creature.

These thoughts come to mind because the first few times I arrowed animals on film – taking a moment after the shot to gather myself and sort through the juxtaposition of joy and remorse that, at least for me, accompanies most successful shots at big game – I was told I wasn’t showing enough enthusiasm, i.e. the whooping and hollering outdoor television audiences apparently crave.

Bow hunter watching videoFor the hunter, reliving your adventure can be a rewarding and helpful tool.  Can the same be said for public consumption of often over-edited or staged hunts?

The editing portion of the equation I mention only because I’ve witnessed disastrous shots turned into completely happy endings (complete with the goofily-grinning star proclaiming, “Perfect shot!” after an obvious gut shot), and spectacular journeys, awe-inspiring scenery and adventure turned into 17-minute wham-bam, thank-you-maim displays of hunting porn. I once killed an Alaskan mountain goat with recurve after nine days of epic physical struggle. And horrendous weather. And after capturing many hours of footage of goats playing in sheer cliffs with Prince William Sound miles and thousands of vertical feet below, bald eagles sailing past clutching salmon in their talons, black bears eating berries inside 25 yards and glaciers rumbling. The aired show included a brief moment from hours of trudging under heavy packs through nasty-rough but gorgeous country, a 30-second stalk, a shot and nearly instant recovery, with just enough time for me to give a 20-second speech to wrap it up and emploring viewers to continue watching for the next big adventure to follow. It was a bit disappointing, especially after replaying the foray in my head repeatedly and waiting months to see the results. There was no basis in reality whatsoever. And my DVD copy didn’t even include commercials.

And that’s my biggest gripe about outdoor television – the monstrous disconnect from reality. When I say this I instantly recall an Oregon Roosevelt elk hunt. Despite the fact I was hunting with one of the most respected Roosevelt outfitters in the business, a summer of historic drought, unseasonably-hot weather and at least two thirds of the country normally available for hunting closed due to tinder-box conditions made bowhunting nearly impossible. We hunted hard and saw very few elk, heard even fewer. During the entire season an outfitter who normally posts 75 percent opportunity and nearly 50 percent success rates had accounted for only two dead bulls. My last-morning kill on a 5×5 herd bull was one of those. I wrote an article detailing the extreme challenges of bowhunting Roosevelt elk for a major magazine. The footage we collected during a week’s time was spliced into a 17-minute television spot.

Pat Meitin Roosevelt elkThe author with his Roosevelt elk taken on film for a TV show.  A week of extremely difficult hunting turned into a 17 minute highlight reel.  

The story doesn’t end there. When that Oregon outfitter called the following summer to invite me out for another stab I related how I wouldn’t be able to secure a cameraman or guarantee a TV spot if I could. That was just fine by him. “You know,” he said, “the guys I booked off your magazine article were great. They showed up in good shape and were all ready to hunt hard. The guys that called after the TV show aired mostly turned into pains in my rear. They thought they were going to have a hunt as easy as what they’d seen on TV show. I don’t need or want hunters like that. I want more of those magazine readers who understand how tough it’s really going to be.”

I guess this disconnect from reality also involves some of the personalities involved in outdoor television. I mean stardom really does have a snowball effect, the bigger the star, the better the places they’re able to hunt (either because they can outright afford the best places or are invited to great places because of their status), the bigger the animals they begin to kill. Think about it; do you really think, say, Will Primos (with all due respect, of course, because I have nothing but the utmost respect for the man) hunts elk or whitetail on the same public lands you’re relegated to?

Filming hunts
With the low cost of modern video equipment more and more hunters are filming their adventures each year.  Although this may simply be a sign of the times as it seems people are filming every aspect of their lives these days.  YouTube, anyone?

I certainly understand why outdoor television remains so popular. It allows us to remain engaged in the sport we all so love, even when seasons are far away or we’re stuck in doldrums jobs without vacation time available. But I think the industry has become too fixated on the kill, trophies (and hawking sponsor’s wares) than the things that matter most to the greatest majority of bowhunters – simply being there. It would be nice to see a bit more substance and a tad less commercialization, but that’s just little old naïve me speaking…

Patrick Meitin
Patrick Meitin has been shooting bows for about as long as he can remember. He began bowhunting big game in 1978 and arrowed his first deer, a mule deer buck, at age 14. It was all recurves and wood and aluminum arrows back then. Since that time Meitin has bow-killed game big and small with everything from homemade primitive bows to high-tech compounds and in three African countries, half the Canadian provinces, Mexico, France, and across the U.S. and Alaska. He currently lives in northern Idaho with his wife Gwyn and two Labrador retrievers.
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