Years ago, there was a movie entitled Out of Africa and it was about (surprise!) somebody wanting to leave the Dark Continent. Well, as you’ve noticed, this blog is titled the exact same thing but with a different meaning. This time the title refers to a speech I would like to make to all the outdoor/hunting television shows that produce and air shows from Africa!
If I turn on the TV with hopes of watching a really good, captivating, inspiring, hunting show and its from Africa, I don’t even stay there long enough for the colors to fill in screen! I’d rather watch a billiards tournament.
Seriously, years ago when hunting television was new, I didn’t mind watching a few impala take a dirt nap near a watering hole but please, it seems like television crews head to Africa and knock out anywhere from 3-6 episodes!
The excitement is gone! UNLESS, I see someone bowhunting Cape Buffalo! Am I by myself on this one? Chime in a let me know what you think! What else do you get tired of watching on hunting shows? I could fill up a few more lines on this one, but I’d like to know what you’re thinking!
David,
I agree with you. Now hunting leopard with a bow would be pretty cool to see or maybe an elephant.
Why don't you try that sometime for us to watch?
Lee
KY
I would have to agree with you. I am a working man with a family in the Midwest. I am not rich, but I have all I need to have a comfortable life style. I dream of one day taking a hunting trip out west like you guys on TV do. I have to much to hunt for in the good ole US to even thing about hunting Africa. Show me something this side of the pond, because there is not enough days in my life, or make enough $$ to experience all I want here in the US. Africa does not interest me in the least.
On the other hand I can really get bored with what I call cookie cutter shows. This is where you see a guy sitting on stand, then an advertisement, then more of the guy on stand, then more advertisements and the last three minutes is the kill and recovery. Some of the best parts of the hunt is after the hunt. Showing off your animal and the fellowship that comes with it. Maybe a tricky blood trail, I would like to see more processing tips, maybe show how to pack out and animal (cause I have never had to do it). The format is slowly being change with most shows but some still stick to the cookie cutter format and that is the quickest way to get me to change the channel.
Todd - Indiana
David,
I agee with you on many things but not totally on this. My TV stays on the Outdoor Channel, Versus, Fox News, or the Golf channel. (No I'm not married so you can believe what I'm saying!!!) Since I work from my home I've have seen virtually every hunting show that comes on the Outdoor channel or Versus and I agree that there are a lot more shows filmed in Africa but some of these are really good. I think Craig Boddington is extremely informative and some of the Elephant hunts with Jim Shockey have been some of the most exciting hunts I have ever seen. I do have to admit though that the best show I have ever seen was not filmed in Africa. It was you and Jim Shockey playing golf (I believe you were playing in your hunting boots and drawers!!!!!)
On a serious note, for us who will maybe never get to actually go to Africa it is the closest we will ever get to the dream. Just my opinion and you know what they say about them!!!! Take care.
Kim B
I couldnt agree more with you on the africa episode overkill. I will admit that I do like to watch an occational plains game hunt but not a series of them. I mean if you have seen one warthog killed you might as well have seen a thousand bite the dust.
I totally agree with you, I'll only watch the show long enough to check out the bow set up and see what they are after before I start to surf. I'm also tired of shows that have no strategy, "here's the deer, watch me shoot it" is about all you get on some shows....
I agree, there's not much excitement in taking your pick of an animal out of a heard. I personally would like to see some more stalk hunts, of any animal. If I'm going to watch someone hunt, I want to see the effort that they put into it. Show the strategy that was used, or a hunt that took some real skill. Thanks for asking for suggestions.
David,
You are definatly not on your own with this one. watching someone take a rhino, lion, leopard, kudu, wildebeats, while just sitting in a ground blind all day, or with a rifle from 250 yards is terribly boring, and doesnt really seem like hunting to me. i woulc rather watch some guys having fun walking the woods squirrel hunting with a bow. I wish there was a 24/7 realtree channel....i'd watch it.
Steven Bonney
Totally agree on the Africa thought.
Id like to see more time on the hunt versus a highlite reel feel on the DVDs. If that made each hunt a couple minutes longer, have three Volumes (i think people would still buy them)
I like seeing your thought processes worked out on stand placement, what the conditions are that led you to hunt one location versus another etc. And if it was the guide's strategy that led to your location maybe involve them in the what why and where in the story.
I like hunts involving deer, elk, moose, and turkey. Not interested in the other species really... I like the archery tournament. Your camaraderie seems genuine and its fun to watch.
Things id like to see/hear less of:
1) celebrities- dont mind them being on the shows, but dont like for them to take the show over.
2) over-production- i dont like to feel like im going to the club with the soundtrack or having 3 split screens and multiple interviews. I like being told a story in the background.... while the hunt is taking place with the interviews being a little more subtle. When an animal is killed, if a guy jumps up and down, does a victory dance and sings a song in real life when the camera isnt on him, then its okay to do it in on screen,,, but i dont care for it when if a guy seems to be playing it up for the camera.
3)hunting industry talk- i know its a business for those of you who produce the programs. But for us watching its just a hobby... keep the hunts pure. And keeping it pure includes respect for the animal killed. Sometimes on some shows an animal killed comes off as a means to an end to get a kill on film without the hunter being truly happy. I can usually tell. Id get just as much enjoyment seeing a hunter on film have a nice deer in bow range, demonstrate he couldve taken it, but pass it up because its not the size of animal that would make him happy. Is it a hunting show or a killing show? Unless there is genuine joy in taking an animal, pass it!
Thanks for all your great work!
brian
David, I just read your blog entitled "Out of Africa" and I could not agree more. I remember watching Tom Miranda take a hippo with bow and arrow. I thought to myself, there was no sport in his hunt. He stood up over the edge of a river bank and shot a hippo standing in knee high water. No challenge and unexciting. I guess I am just old school and did not see the challenge in his quest.
Hey David,
I totally agree with you...After like the end of the first episode I'm ready to watchin something else...I myself dont even have a desire to go to Africa to hunt anything. I can go to TX and kill some animals that are from Africa and its cheaper. I'd rather watch deer, hogs, bear, elk, etc. take a dirt nap then anything in Africa. Its gettin to over rated with everybody wantin' to hunt Africa. Anyways, I could keep goin on and on...Talk to ya later.
God Bless & Good Huntin'
Kristle Oberlander
PS: How's your season goin so far for ya??
I agree. Zebra hunts are what i find most pointless. They don't even have antlers for cryin out loud. I just know that i don't think I would ever have the desire to go all the way over there to shoot a horse with stripes.
Hey David, You are right on this one. could care less about watching any Africa hunts. I enjoyed wathcing Michael & Nick and others in the past for Realtree. But beyond just that I do not care nothing about it. And I also turn the channel quickly.
I am about to go to the Milk River on Nov 4 to hunt with Albus for Mule Deer. Very excited, my 1st trip to the famed Milk River.
Thanks! Craig Dilbeck / Dalton
Totally tired of the African hunts myself, i think all hunting shows should be over the shoulder action not staged or re inacted after the shot. Thats why the team primos videos are always the first i buy, all of there harvest are over the shoulder action! And lets see what Realtree Farms does to produce such big bucks, what they plant in the summer and what time and also during the fall planting time. We know about the management side but some shows dedicated to planting and then the harvest too, Drury outdoors does this and makes there show great. I really enjoy the realtree brand but you are behind on what the average hunter ( the do it yourselfers ) want to watch.
I would like to watch them hunt the "big 5" or something that could bite back, but sitting there and shooting ANOTHER wildebeest, impala, etc does kind of get old.
I have to laugh when the guide says "OHH THAT WILL MAKE SCI" and it looked like any one of the other trillion of the same species that were standing beside it at the water hole.
Somebody gut shoot a lion and blood trail it into the grass or something.
Peter Hathaway Capstick wrote it a lot better than they show it.
B Railey
I am not a big fan of most of the African hunting shows. Except for a few dangerous game stalks it is pretty much ho hum. Then again this is pretty much my feelings on hunting shows in general. I find myself slowly getting away from the Outdoor Channel because of the repetitiveness of the subject matter. All of the shows seem to want to do is see who can outdo the other in "hip" music and"SportsCenter" effects editing.
There seems to be very little on the hunting and a lot on the shooting. I see first hand what effect it has on the young and the new hunters today. Seems they have all the gear the sponsors promote, but have not a clue other than to sit there and wait for a lesson in woodsman ship. Will the hunting industry readdress "hunting"....?
Dave,
I totally agree with you as well. The majority of the viewing audience will never have the means to travel to Africa. I for one want to relate to a hunting show and them hunting in Africa is not something I or 99% of the audience can relate to. Not to mention it really doesn't seem like most of the hunts are sportsmanlike. I have seen Tom M. shoot a cape buffalo with his bow and thought that was pretty cool. But for the most part I give it a big thumbs down. I live in Michigan and we hunt Whitetail and Turkeys, not Impala and Kudoo.
Chad M.
Holland, MI
David,
First, I'm a huge REALTREE fan and own EVERY monsterbucks/ monsterbulls/ roadtrips dvd you all put out. But i'm getting tired of the staged scenes. I recognize that they add some realism by cutting back to a scene of drawing a bow, rattling, etc. But maybe i've just watched too much hunting on TV cause its way too easy to tell the staged scenes vs. the real ones. It seems like many of the hunts are mostly scripted scenes with a few excerpts of an actual hunt. Let's see how the hunt actually played out. I hate recovery scenes where the deer have been found and then every body pretends like they're stumbling onto them for the first time. Really, the camera man just happened to be ahead of the hunter 10 yards from the deer filming as the hunter catches a glimpse of deer? The only way to capture is as it happens, cameraman over the shoulder following the hunter. That's my $.02 on what i'm tired of watching on TV hunting.
Curtis in MD
Yes I agree with what you have blogged on this topic. People and I know that my self included are tired of seeing that. I understand that they want to make a show on it, but make it one episode. It gets old and I mean very. Adam Rundle
I will agree with you nearly 100 percent. The nearly part is if Michael Waddell is in Africa. I could watch him hunt grasshoppers with a hand full of paper wads and a straw. At the same time, I have never had the urge to shoot animals that I can feed at the zoo. The feeling I have about hunting Africa, is the same as I have about hunting fenced in game. I see no need for it.
I agree with you. I don't really like watching hunting shows that feature animals or places that are way out of my price range. I don't feel like I learn anything or could learn by watching them.
Jake, Illinois
I to agree 110 percent! I like to watch hunting shows that pertain to what I hunt. I do not get any entertainment in watching someone sit at a water hole and shoot everything that walks out of the brush. Also I agree with a lot of the other posters on seeing more of the before and after the kill. I think it would give us hunters a more in formative and entertaining show.
I agree completely, I will flip the channel or turn on the DVD as I have no interest in seeing a show filmed in Africa or anywhere outside of North America... I have never had the desire to go to Africa, New Zealand, Australia or Pakistan for those who have such a desire, I reckon they like the shows...
David,
I agree with you on this one, although I did watch Michel and the Bone Colletors in Africa. I like to watch shows in places that I maybe could afford to go my self. I would love to the Milk River just one in my lifetime.