Gotta stop watching hunting shows

[fabsroman]

I have been watching Tred Barta lately, because I think he does a somewhat genuine show. He doesn't worry about coming up empty handed. He doesn't worry about have the latest and greatest gear. How, over the last two weeks I have become somewhat disenchanted with him.

Last week, I watched him fish for a billfish grandslam. A guide from Mexico invited him down there to fish for a couple of days and they were fishing using really light tackle. Well, when they hooked a swordfish, the guide wanted to gaf it and bring it home for dinner. Tred didn't want to hear that. He wanted them all to be releases. I am glad that the guide/captain Tred him that on his boat, a release only counted if you actually got ahold of the fish. Just getting to the leader was not enough. I was happy to see Tred sweating like crazy on light tackle to get these bill fish in.

Tonight, I watched Tred trying to kill a mallard in flight using a long bow. Again, a guy, Jerry Mancuso, invited Tred out to Montana to hunt for 5 days to see if Tred could get a mallard or goose in flight with his long bow. Jerry was getting his shotgun out of the truck on the first day as a back up gun for when Tred missed, but Tred made him leave it in the truck. Finally, on the second or third day, Tred killed a mallard. However, I don't think it was the one he was aiming for. A mallard came in close and started flying left to right, and I could see Tred tracking it with the bow. He shot behind it and nailed another mallard that was coming straight in. Of course, he never mentioned that he go the bird by luck.

Before watching Tred Barta, I was watching World of Beretta. I saw the guy from Simon & Simon hit some type fo exotic ram on an overseas hunt. According to him, he shot it through the shoulder, heart, and both lungs on the first shot. However, it took off and ran another 100 yards. He got back on it and shot it again, and it took off running. There was a cut in the action and next thing you know he is standing beside the ram talking about how these rams are so tough and can take such a shot. If you ask me, either the shot placement was poor, or the bullet used was wrong. I don't care what kind of animal you are hunting, if you break the front shoulder there is no physical way it can run that far and that quick.

I forgot to add the Florida quail hunt, where the quails were coming up left and right. If that was wild quail hunting, I would be completely surprised. It looked more like hunting pen raised birds. Of course, I could be wrong and it wouldn't be the first time.

[popplecop]

I agree that most leave a lot to be desired. But the ones that really get me are the deer hunting ones that are done on game farms. I think they are getting to be less of them tho. So far they seem to follow the so called outdoor magazines, telling me how to do it, doesn't matter that it doesn't apply in my particular locale. What I really need is someone to explain to me how come I never miss a duck by shooting in front of it. Have missed 100s by shooting behind them come to think of it.

[Skyline]

Fabs..............where was he and what kind of ram was it?

I have personally shot and guided for several speciesof North American sheep and they are easy to put down, not tough customers at all.

A few years ago I hunted for free ranging aoudad sheep in the Ft. Davis Mtns. of west Texas. Got a nice ram with one shot....broke both shoulders and he wasn't going anywhere, but from what I saw while I was there (granted, limited exposure) they are way tougher than our North American sheep. They are originally from north Africa though and African game, while not hard to kill with a well placed shot, definitely have a strong will to live.

[fabsroman]

Skyline,

I cannot remember exactly where he was, but it was a rather poor show. He even missed what looked like an easy shot on a chamois, only to get a second chance later on at a different chamois. I know the guides spoke English with an accent.

Okay, I looked up the show on OLN's website and it appears that he was hunting the ram and chamois in New Zealand.

[Skyline]

New Zealand................could the 'ram' have been a himilayan tahr? Short thick looking horns and long shaggy coat on the neck and shoulders?

[fabsroman]

Yep, that would be the correct animal. Are they really tough enough to take one through the shoulders and heart without even going down, run 100 yards, take another standing still quartering away, and then run off far enough such that the camera cuts off and then comes back on right as they are walking up to the animal? I have never shot one, so I wouldn't know exactly, but I still think that a bullet through the shoulders and heart, as this guy proclaimed, on that ram, with enough cartridge behind it, would not allow it to run off like that. Then again, the shoulders/heart comment was made as they were walking up to the animal. Until they actually started processing the animal, who knows exactly where he hit it.

[Skyline]

Fabs.................well I have never shot a tahr yet either, but I know guys who have and they say they are tough and react much like our mountain goats.

I have shot quite a few mountain goat and guided for them a fair amount and they can be 'tough'.......by that I mean if you don't actually break the shoulders (the bullet passes through some of the shoulder muscle and the lungs but doesn't break the shoulder bones) they may just keep going and fall off a cliff.

I always try to anchor them on the spot to prevent this. If both the front shoulders were actually broken it couldn't go anywhere......only one shoulder, yes it can keep going, just not very quickly.

Goats can be rather tenacious........

[skeeter@ccia.com]

I don't care much for ted barta..or his cocky know it all attitude... I seen him shoot at a bou that must have been a hundred yards away and on the trot....now is he that good with a bow?? doubt it...wounded critter would be the outcome as far as I see it....but then he gets a tv show....After watching a homemade video of a pig hunt....I got to see in it as mentioned in the past on another post somewhere..this guy filmed the film crew for a hunt show...It is the first time I ever watched a hunt video that turned my guts..the big hunter that does it for a living mind ya...what a pen shoot that was...but if ya seen the pro's video...looks way way different....maybe they didn't know they were being filmed while filming?..but he has his own show too..

[fabsroman]

I was actually thinking about the wounded animal issue today while driving. Waterfowl are hard enough to kill cleanly with a shotgun, but this guy was trying it with a bow, and got lucky on the one he killed. I was wondering how many he might have nicked and/or sliced open without actually knocking them down, just so that they could fly off somewhere else and die a much slower death. Don't get me wrong, I have had my share of wounded waterfowl, doves, crows, and deer, but it is never because I took a shot I didn't think I could make (i.e., I just plain screwed up). Now, Tred Barta knew the odds of connecting cleanly on a duck or goose were pretty slim, especially since an arrow does not provide multiple hits like a shotgun.

I think I am going to stay away from the hunting/fishing shows for a little while.

Come to think of it, I think almost anybody could have a hunting show. With the correct amount of editing, anything can be made to look good. If I spend less time watching these shows, I might be able to spend more time at the range or in the field.

[Classicvette63]

The last hunting show I had any use for was a local one, Call of the Outdoors with Harry Allaman.

Actually I think the hunting shows on now are bad for the sport. Too many guys see those monster bucks at some preserve and figure that is the way it should be on public land. That can't and won't happen. Fabs has a point, instead of watching that garbage, maybe that time would be better spent actually out in the woods.

[drummer]

I think Vette makes an excellent point:Ever notice that those shows are on first thing in the morning, when hardcore hunters are afield?:D

I have respect for some of the tastefully done programs (which are few and far between), but the majority of deer and big game shows are done by those Drugstore Cowboy types.:p
I did see a cool grouse hunting video made by amateur hunters in Pike County, KY back in the 80s.As you know, getting a grouse kill on film is extremely difficult.

I'm guilty of watching those redneck hunting programs on The Men's Channel sometimes.Some of them are entertaining and some of them are the pits. It's kinda like watching Jerry Springer or rasslin.:D

Things that purterb me about outdoor programs:

The lodge:Where the servants give you a massage, a 5 star banquet, and a shoeshine. How about something more realistic to the average sportsman like, "Let's get him field dressed and go back to the house and watch the second half of the game."

I cannot stand all the whispering to the camera- if you need to be quiet, be quiet!After the deer is dead, you can talk freely.When the host is still whispering over the carcass of an animal that is obviously "hors d' combat" I'm left scratching my head.

The phrases "Awesome" "He's down" and "That's what it's all about" have been used ad nauseum.

Don't pet the dead game. It doesn't enjoy being petted at this stage and it's creepy, like petting a dead dog or something.:D

Less machismo and more humility I say.

[fabsroman]

Drummer,

I agree completely. What is up with the whispering. If you want to hear a voice during the hunt, how about editing something in there like a play by play.

At the end of the day, I would prefer to have more informative programs on. Not, we took this huge buck over a feed plot, but this is exactly how to set up a feed plot and here are your options. Here is a lesson on deer genetics. Here is another lesson on how to make a man made pond that waterfowl will love. Here is a way to set up your creek, pond, field to attract waterfowl. Here are some lessons on how to blow the duck/goose calls. Here is how to train a dog to hunt upland. Here is how to train a dog to hunt waterfowl. I could go on and on, but I guess those types of programs do not sell. That is why they are on video tape only. If lent hadn't already started, I think I would give up watching hunting/fishing shows. Oh yeah, I am supposed to give up something that I like.

[drummer]

If lent hadn't already started, I think I would give up watching hunting/fishing shows. Oh yeah, I am supposed to give up something that I like.

HE knows, so you can't get away with it.:D

You know, if I had whispered half as much as those "pros" do when I was hunting with my mentors, I'd have had my ears pinched.:D

[DaMadman]

Originally posted by drummer
HE knows, so you can't get away with it.:D

You know, if I had whispered half as much as those "pros" do when I was hunting with my mentors, I'd have had my ears pinched.:D

I'd have been whacked in the back of the head by Dad and told that if I whispered one more time he was going to throw me out of the deer stand

[pipedreams]

Dango...............how OLD is Tred Barta? :confused: And what channel is it on.............

I ask cause it's NOT a common name...............and I had a roomate close to 40 years ago with that same name..........just wondering if'n it could be the same guy.............

Back then (if it's the same guy) he was kind of a preppy with tennis people in his family IIRC........I think they made that machine that spits tennis balls at ya during lessons.......

Eddited to add.................I googled him............and it IS HIM!!

DANG! :eek:

[fabsroman]

Let's hear some more about this guy. How long were you roommates with him? Did you do any hunting with him back then? If so, what was that like? This is awesome. Isn't it amazing how small the world is on the internet?

[pipedreams]

Only a few months............but the ONE place we did get along was in the woods actually............when I think back on it all........we didn't actually get to do any hunting together cause we were teenagers then............but on occasion when we were in the same frame of mind we spent HOURS talking about hunting and fishing...........and we did prolly a couple of hundred miles of back country on cross country skis and snowshoes together........(this was in Maine btw)...............

Memories are coming back..........this was dang near 40 years ago..........:eek:

Small world indeed! ;)

[Dom]

Interesting thread, thanks for talking it over guys.

Guess I can count myself lucky on two points -- first, I don't get any over here, and two, I ain't got time !! But I did watch a friends DVD, forget who it was but he was 'famous' -- some of the shots taken I never would have taken. One the lady almost took the head of a doe off standing behind the buck she shot. She had to be within inches, guess she thought that bullet ain't gonna make it thru the first deer !! Another shot head on buck, hit top of back hind legs, but missed backbone, deer took off, and then they cut and come back on with the guy and deer. Another really iffy shot, getting pretty dark, shot taken not broadside, in fact, the film was so dark I couldn't tell the angle and was surprised he shot. But, at least they found all the animals shot, albeit, with cutting and 'reappearing'.

Sounds like I'm not missing much, thanks for reminding me, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

[M.T. Pockets]

I caught a little bit of Barta's show last night. I still don't have a handle on the guy yet.

I thought it was very, very, fake. I only watched a few minutes but apparantly he hit something and his boat was sinking. It was like it was planned. They showed them saving one of the guys, putting on their gumby suits and jumping into their life vest. He radios for help and the SOS said there were 3 souls to save. All this while the camera man was on board the sinking ship, he must not count.

Then there was a camera inside the coast guard plane sent out for them like they were waiting for the call.

Pretty fake all the way.

[Skyline]

Dom.............you are right, you aren't missing much. So many of the hunts are staged and bear little resemblance to what actually happened........then you get the ones you described, where the shots taken don't add up to the end scene with the critter in hand (you just know there was a bunch left out).

There are lots of them done in fenced hunting situations and they are careful to edit the fence out and not bother telling anyone. One of the tyros with a popular show in the US did this at a Saskatchewan hunt farm for elk, bison and whitetail, as well as bear (it was fair chase). The show did not accurately depict what happened and was deliberately misleading.

I have been guiding when a few of the better known crews were in at several lodges and camps up here in Canada. I will not have anything to do with it any more..........just give me the regular hunters thanks. I will not take any film crews on my hunts.

There are some good outdoor film crews out there, but the cost to the outfitter is outrageous and only guys with huge big game allocations can afford to do it. On average the return for the outfitter is very short lived.

[fabsroman]

MT Pockets,

I caught the tail end of that episode and was also thinking it was fake. I didn't see the beginning, so I didn't know if the boat actually sank or not, but I was thinking to myself, this guy must be making a ton of money to sink a boat to film an episode because an insurance company will not pay for something like that if it is planned, and the show was definitely planned. How else would they have video equipment in the helicopter and HC-130? Then, after the commercial break, a black screen came on with some writing. Essentially, it said that this show was a dramatization done with the help of the search and rescue squad. In the end, he gave some props to the search and rescue guys and the armed forces overall, so that gave me some goose bumps. Hell, it gives them to me now. With that said, I think the show was pretty stupid. At the end, he was talking about how he made three mistakes while getting off the boat, and that those three mistakes could have ended up getting people killed.

Here is my big point. Why not have a couple of shows where you show people what type of safety equipment is a must when you go out into the ocean, and then show them exactly how to use everyuthing if the boat goes down. Make it a month's worth of episodes, because if it saves a single person, it is well worth it.

After catching the tail end of Tred Barta, I watched a fishing show done by Guy Harvey, a marine biologist and marine wildlife artist. An executive from ATCO, the company that prints a lot of T-Shirts with Guy Harvey's art on it, was also along for the trip. They were fishing for black marlin in Panama. That show was awesome. It was an hour long and they were showing them fishing for the marlin, but they were also showing how they put electronic tags in the fish that kept track of where the fish went and then popped up at a later date so the data can be read. Guy Harvey would actually dive into the water while the marlin was being reeled in and he would swim right up along the marlin and film it with an underwater camera. Towards the end of the show, they were showing how they did transfers of fish from other boats so that they could tag the fish for scientific purposes. Essentially, they throw their line over to the other boat using a tennis ball. Their line is then hooked up to the fish's leader once the mate on the other boat gets the leader, and the fish is then transferred to their boat using 80 lb. test instead of the regular 50 lb they were fishing with. The 80 lb. test is used to get the fish in quick instead of tiring it out some more and possibly killing it.

The greatest part of the show was when another boat was hooked up with a 13 ft. black marlin that weighed about 600+ pounds. They were going to do a transfer of that fish, but they guy battling it had been battling it for 4 hours and still had a long way to go. So, they transferred the ATCO guy from their boat onto the other boat, and Harvey swam down to the marlin with the other guys line in tow. He hooked up the other line to the leader, and both anglers were fighting the fish to try and get it in as qiuck as possible (i.e., so it didn't die) and tag it. Eventually, they were successful and the initial angler actually gave up a possible world record on 50 lb test to get the tag on the fish. Later on, they actually recovered the tag and found that the fish and swum down to Columbia and back up to Panama.

Oh yeah, Harvey also dove into a reef system and the number of fish was amazing. Of course, I don't think I would have liked to be in the water with groups of white tipped sharks, hammerheads, and huge groups of barracuda swimming around me, but the filming was beautiful and the pictures he showed were amazing.

I wish he had a weekly series I could watch.

[drummer]

www.real-hunters.com

Click "Bellar trial video".
This is the worst Iv'e seen.Jimmy Houston shouldv'e stuck to fishing.:rolleyes:

[Gotcha!]

Originally posted by fabsroman
Eventually, they were successful and the initial angler actually gave up a possible world record on 50 lb test to get the tag on the fish. [/B]

Actually the 50 Lb line class record for Black Marlin is 1124 pounds.

[skeeter@ccia.com]

I guess money talks with most hunt/fishing shows and what a way to make a living at that...I think it would be hard to please everyone but the fishing shows are lacking the 'how to' . It does get old watching someone toss a lure all day and a 200lb man leaning back huffin puffin and bring in a 2lb fish. They need more of the tec talk like how to read one of those fish finders with all the blinking lights...I still can't figure that out..I think the 'Infisherman' talks more tec than most....explain what different bottoms show up as.etc...where the sonar is looking with respect to the transducer etc.....the hunt shows are to me more of a scenic look at different places like idaho, montana, alaska.. etc..I envy those of you that open the door to your home and see all that....Pa is a beautifull place too and I still see places that just make me sit for hours to take it all in....I guess if we seen how most of the 'pro hunters' get their game we wouldn't even watch the show......as stated by the guides here......more tec guys...'the how to wins'....not to lead anyone away from the hunt chat site but www.howstuffworks.com is a good place to find out lots of how to's... can find fishing/hunting tec there too

Born to be outdoors...thanks dad

[fabsroman]

Sorry Gotcha!!!!!!!!!!!!, I must have mistaken the weight of that black marlin for what they said was the higher end of the black marlin range in Panama. The show said the black marlin range in Panama from 200 to 600 lbs, but this fish was an exception to the average. It was 13 feet long and like nothing they usually see down there.

Here is an article putting it at 1,000 lbs. It was caught by Neil Patrick and Bill Shedd, but Neil Patrick was the angler originally hooked up to it.

http://www.tropicstar.com/reports2/jan23_05.shtml

So, maybe this time you didn't "get me." I find it almost hilarious that the only time you chime in on a thread is to "get somebody." Maybe I'll be able to return the favor at a later date, or do you do all your substantive posting under a different screen name?

[fabsroman]

Here is another account of the catching of that black marlin, and I believe it is being told by one of the camera men that filmed it. Other captains readily agree that the fish was well over the 1,000 pound mark and other think it was over 1,200. So, I guess it might have been a world record on 50 lb test. Problem is, we will never know for sure because Neil Patrick decided to let it live instead of getting a world record. Good for him.

http://www.worldwidefishing.com/press.html?id=164

[Gotcha!]

Well, thank you Mr. Roman for posting the article links.

Instead of pointing out your usual errors myself, I will let everyone else compare your account with those to which you refer.

Just to what do you think my Gotcha! handle refers? Maybe it is just to provide the adversarial atmosphere which gets your litigious juices flowing.

[Tater]

:eek:

[fabsroman]

Gotcha,

I will readily admit that my "recollection" of the show is not exactly as the articles read, but it is pretty dang close, and that is a recollection. I wasn't sitting there taking notes on the show with the intention of posting about it later. As far as the transfer of fish is concerned, I know that they were doing it, to a certain degree, by throwing the tennis ball across to the other boat and hooking the 80 lb setup to the leader on the fish. I saw that with my own eyes.

You must obviously know who I am and/or been following my posts pretty closely for you to know my last name. I am surprised that you don't know my first name too.

As I previously said, I hope I can return the "Gotcha" favor. Problem is that you don't post substantively under the "Gotcha" screen name, so I do not know who to repay for this favor. Kind of cheap if you ask me. Anybody with honor wouldn't use an alternative name to call somebody out on something. If I see an issue with a post, I call it out without using an additional screen name. However, I could probably come up with a creative alternative screen name to attack a mistake on one of your posts.

By the way, I read my initial post about the Guy Harvey show, and I am surprised you didn't call me out on the grammar errors.

[Skyline]

fabs I was going to mention the grammar, but I thought I would give you a break. ;)

[fabsroman]

Thanks Skyline for cutting me a little slack on that one.

Gotcha, I went back and looked at your profile and some of your previous posts. Is it a mere coincidence that your very first post was regarding me. Here it is:

"Let me see if I get this straight Fabs.

You get upset when you aren't allowed to set up 30 yards over the line and then get upset when someone else sets up right next to the line.

You flame braggarts and go on to brag about your personal prowess."

In the rest of your 52 total posts, I did see a little bit of substantive posting, with a lot of fishing posts. If I can find some time this evening, I be sure to go though a couple to see if I can poke holes in them. I think one of them said that if a person is shooting a gun with a rifled barrel, it is a rifle regardless of whether or not it is in 10 ga., 12 ga., 16 ga., etc. Seems like that would be a pretty grey area if I have ever seen one. Maybe we can argue about the definition of rifle and shotgun for a while and try to figure out whose definition is the correct one. Personally, I think I will stick with the definitions given by my DNR.

[captain2k_ca]

http://albertabucks.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/album06/images.jpg