just wondering if anyone else gets a little peeved at the TV hunters that leave deer overnight in what is obviously very warm weather and sometimes on pretty good looking hits? it seems they are only interested in finding the horns, because the meat will most likely be spoiled.
You are not alone Larry.I cant even watch some of them.A real bummer every year once football gets done.Time to grab your bow and go stumpin.
I'm upset with just about everything about most of the TV hunting "industry".
Your right that they probably loose a lot of meat.
Good film is their only goal. It's all about the dollars any more.
I'm with you. Around here it's so warm most of the time I couldn't consider a morning retrieve. If it is cool enough the coyotes will usually snack all night. Many hunters in our parts sport around for a half day or so showing off their kill (pork included) when all I'm concerned with is ICE.
this is not only on TV. Up here we have a lot of non resident hunters coming to get the trophy of a life time, and most of them they can care less about the meat, what they want is the mount. It is big money involved and that is how the outfitters can make a living, by having non resident( usually American or european) pay big money for trophy hunts. To me it should be illegal, to hunt only for trophy!!
Sorry for my rant!
Cheers
Not just you......
I never watch "hunting shows". I can understand they are trying to make a living; however, the majority of them are truly poor representatives of our hunting heritage.
They should really be called advertisement programs at best.
I will put in my 2 cents. The older I get the more I think it is better to leave a deer if you aren't 100% sure you took out both lungs. Bumping a wounded deer and prolonging its death isn't a good thing either.
With that said I have no idea at what heat point/time frame it takes to actually consider meat spoiled. I have several times gone ahead and processed a deer I have left in 70 degree weather overnight and I ain't dead.
Oops
I agree as well. Its all about the the big bucks and I dont mean deer.
I'm the lucky one either we don't get those high-dolla' channels or haven't taken the time to find them.
And it erks me when they shoot and immediately turn to the camera and start "celebrating" instead of watching the animal as it runs off. I was always taught to watch how the animal behaves as it runs off and mark the last place you saw it. They just want to put the mugs in front of the camera.
The only show I watch anymore is Deer and Deer Hunting. Good info. Kinda get tired of them promoting their shot placement app but no big deal.
I'll sometimes tune to the outhouse channel and last maybe ten seconds before I've had enough. :p
... mike ...
I wonder about some of those deer as well. I'm amazed how very common it is for these hunters to make poor shots and/or get terrible penetration.
I can stand only a very few of these shows.
I typically only watch shows that are hunting something that is special (to me) such as: Moose, sheep, goat, Griz or Kodiak. I rarely watch any deer or black bear hunting shows. These got old for me a long time ago the same as shotguns for turkey or any kind of bass fishing.
There are some of these shows that I'll avoid even more than MSBC. I can't stand the current "formula" for a typical bowhunting show.
Neither will I buy any products named after the "celebrities" or celebrity nick-names from these shows. The only "name" I like are Bear and Easton on my bowhunting stuff.
"Glory Hunting" that is all them and far to many normal hunters do. They are pretty much only concerned with the horns or trophy and some bragging rights.
Makes me sick, gladd i do not watch any of those shows, probabbly cause I do not watch TV.
I had some co-workers a few years ago who were notorious for this behaviour.
One of the "geniuses" shot a beautiful elk, then was too stupid to track it, cause he was to busy stairing at the headgear, so distracted he did not even know where or if he hit it.
Finaaly another hunter found it the next day for them, after they had spent the night drinking their sorrow away. Morons, worse yet is the one who get paid to behave in such a manner.
Sorry, I will give up the soap box now.
I think most of the shows are to commercialized.Gotta have this or that or you can't kill a deer.The hosts of the shows playing games on their phones until the cameraman tells them a deer is coming.Hunting on what are pretty much deer farms.
I see alot of them giving the deer away to food banks anyway.Pretty easy to tell the rack is the most important thing to them.What I mean by that is they are looking for the biggest buck.I have no problem with that,as long as the meat isn't wasted. Although I think all the worry about the rack's score has hurt hunting.
I was taught to let a deer alone if it was hit bad.Alot of times you don't get much good sign from a bad hit and if you push/jump him,he's gone and you'll be lucky to find it.I've helped do it both ways and would say that the percentage of finding the deer was better if we left it over night.It may live for hours with a bad,but fatal hit.
can't stand any of the so called huntin' shows...especially the slapstick ones...with the cutesy wife in tow...not good for comedy or hunting...sickening
There isn't a lot that doesn't make me mad with the tv hunting industry. A few rare good pieces in a puzzle of junk.
It's not just you, Larry. I cringe at the thought of not doing all you can to save the meat from the coyotes. I agree with a lot of the guys on here that it had turned into a money game for the film companies. Also, as warm as it is here in NC, and as bad as wild dogs and coyotes have gotten, that a long night is the best way to secure your meat.
Yes, it used to bother me, too. But I haven't watched hunting shows in a number of years. I have always felt that a certain amount of solemn reverence should be observed when taking game, but most of these shows seem to lack any respect for the animals taken. Often its all about tape measures, trophy status, and product endorsements. I would imagine that a lot of the meat goes to waste.
I choose not to watch any of the hunting show garbage. Myself and the wife with our 5 children use our TV for DVD's the family can watch together... Tonight after a wonderful squirrel hunt with the boys (the girls all traveled north of the Mason-Dixon line for a cousin's birthday), we will enjoy watching Curious George followed by the adventures of Fred Bear. It doesn't get any better boys! :thumbsup:
I watch Fred Eichler. He's a little goofy, but he shoots traditional at least most of the time and his main concern is the meat. He often forgoes a big rack to take home some meat.
I also watch Tred Barta. He's more into the primitive stuff (stone points, etc.) than I am, but he does his best to find the critters he shoots. He also includes the hunts that aren't successful. I don't mean bad shot but no shots sometimes. Too bad he has to do it from a wheel chair now.
Most of the rest either make me sick or angry. They are really just infomercials for the most part. I wish they were actual HUNTING shows. If you think about the number of hours, days, months, even years we spend in the woods WITHOUT killing something you would be amazed. Yet we all love this sport. Too many of the "hunting" shows have to have at least three kills in half an hour. How many times do they show scouting?...never. How many show tracking?...very few. Why don't they show the joy of taking a little nap in the woods?
I PLAN to kill something every time I hunt. Most of the time, I don't, but it's not because I don't have the latest do-dad, scent control, attractant or whatever. Lots of times I pass on deer just because I don't feel like killing them on that particular day. Yes, I eat tag soup a lot, but I still enjoy the hunt.
Sorry, got off topic there a bit. I don't watch many of those shows, and when I do it's not for long as a rule.
I don't watch any TV hunting shows my wife and I have only seen a few and most of these guys really shouldnt be on TV. BUT leaving a deer overnight is good woodsmanship and probably the best thing you can do to recover a deer unless you know you have a double lung or similarly fatal hit with great sign to follow. The rack will last forever and the meat only some meals so the rack is way more important in my opinion. That said I don't think we ever lost meat leaving the out in the 70s range of temp ? we do plung the meat into ice and water immediately after a morning recovery in warm weather. I have even left hogs overnight in August without meat spoilage. I have lost a few to coyotes, vultres and gators but not enough to worry about. I think most guys complaining and assuming meat is "lost" haven't had enough experience with this situation.
<><
<-----------------------<<<<<<<
Left a doe a few years back ( shot a little to far back ) went back at first light... coyote's had eat the entire back side of her. Same day recovery is nice, but sometimes next day is your only option.
As far as the hunting shows go... I don't even have a TV! Got tired of paying 80 bucks a month for nothing.
Jason
I hear ya Cory I don't wory about the meat spoiling left plenty over night here in Ga bow season low's in the 60's I ain't dead either. If the coyotes get them oh well they gotta eat too. I absoulutly hate TV hunting and fishing show reckon I'm getting old and grouchy! Of course I can acutally deal with an uncle ted rant now and then so go figure.
hunting tv is garbage..... i can't watch it. I hate to hear the word "Harvest"- When i walk up to a deer (or whatever), that i've managed to get a good arrow into- it's dead. I killed it, and i'm gonna make arrangements to eat it. Plants get harvested- meat that makes it to my table has been killed.
Leaving game overnight is the smart and ethical thing to do in the event of a ?able hit--- but here's an idea for tv hunters--- PRACTICE. And don't take less than perfect shots.
One more reason to ditch your TV. We got rid of ours 6 or so years ago and never looked back.
Tom
I've only had to leave a deer overnight once, it was recovered within 100 yards of where it stood when I shot. It was plenty cold that night, and all the meat was recovered.
I watch a couple fishing shows on the horn porn channels, but I can't stomach the "hunting" shows. That was a big factor in my decision to go Trad a few years ago. I hated the thought of my money feeding that beast.
Yeah most hunting shows suck.
That said, I won't condem anybody for not pushing a deer if they thought the hit was questionable. Since I started bowhunting in 1989, I've left four deer until the next day because of questionable hits. All of them were recovered and the meat was fine on all of them - even when it wasn't very cool those nights.
It seems like the ethical bow hunters culture teaches us to leave them overnight. So even if it's 60 degrees over night is that a reason to push the deer if it's a bad hit?
I guess I don't know, but it's a thought to ponder.
I have yet to recover a deer that's spoiled but only had to leave one over night.
I think what the initial post was refering was that it happens with such frequency it borders the ridiculous. I see part of a show about once a month and that has been my observation as well. Sure it is the right decision if you make a bad hit but if that is your response to every hit? Lose the expandable and get some real penatration. That is what I see.
A non hunter asked me about a hunting show he saw a few weeks ago and it got me thinking. I really believe that this tv version of hunting has created its own industry. Anyone else see it this way?
You get better footage in daylight hours..everything else is secondary.
"When in doubt, back out." Seems like they must be making a lot of bad hits these days..they are backing out a lot.
Actually I can't watch but a few minutes of these shows..I always pull for the deer.
And how do you like the guy (or gal) that shoots an animal with the 80% let-off, fall away arrow rest, fiber optic sighted, y-bar stabilizer, release operated thing-a-ma-jig and then turns to the camera and says something like "Did it with a stick and string" :mad:
It is their choice to hunt with whatever equipment makes them happy, just don't call that equipment "stick and string"
I'm with Cory and TJ on this one.I'm very badly colorblind and finding blood with a flashlight is all but impossible for me.I have had to leave my fair share overnight in some very warm weather and have never lost one due to spoilage.
I have hunted with a lot of the high dollar industry film people(My buddy is an Outfitter in NM I'm there every year working and hunting)Most of the stuff you see on TV is filler footage and cut aways.More times than not the critter is found that night and brought back out in the am for lighting and filming reasons.
I've been on a few TV hunts first hand and what I saw in person vs what I saw on TV was completely different.I'm not a fan of TV.
I think Cory Mattson is right on. Leaving animals overnight just doesn't spoil the meat...never has for me, in any event. What would be worse is pushing it and loosing the animals altogehter. The hunting shows....a whole different subject.
Stopped watching them years ago. To commercialized and I just can't stomach the actors.
I never got into those hunting shows or DVDs or even the old VHS tapes when they first became popular. My old hunting buddies loved them though, watching the likes of Bowhunting October Whitetails over and over. No, apparently I didn't get it. And of course we grew apart, me going back to my trad roots and them on a quest for speed and cams and wheels. To me this illustrates why that media turns us off.
I prefer playing back, beginning with my first deer, the memories I have in my head. I can only tell my children or friends about them or show a few photos. I don't have any movies of my hunts only my memories that can be called up any time. So you guys get out from in front of the TV and go make some more memories! (I need to practice what I preach) :)
Our distain will not stop it. Money talks and opinions walk. Big, big dollars are behind these shows. Celebrity hunters sell, big horns on the ground sell. A hunter who takes game should be humbled not fist punping, but they continue. I do not get the channels, but I watch thehistory channel. It is a great education
I got rid of the so-called hunting channels a couple years ago.Figured why am I paying good money and wasting time watching that crap?I do miss Deer & Deer Hunting though.
I don't like most of the shows, but there is one that I enjoy. "Meat Eater" with Steve Rinella shows an attitude toward hunting, the animals and the meat taken not seen on other shows. He obviouslyrespects the animals and is very conscientious about handling the meat.
After bumping a one lung shot deer a couple years ago I swore, no more blood trailing after dark.
Coyotes are bad news here.
Catch 22!
I have left more than a couple overnight with several up to 60 degrees for overnight highs for sure. Never lost the meat. I don't find it to be an issue as long as they are closed up so the air is not getting to the meat. Have lost a couple pushing them too fast trying to find them at night and had some real long tracks after bumping them from their beds because I thought I had a decent hit and apparently did not.
We don't have as many coyotes as some here do, but they are around. So far never had an issue with them, but if I was real concerned about that, I could camp out in the area in case they got on my dear in the night and then try and run them off.
Just got to love the TV hunting show bashing threads. :rolleyes: I don't have cable so don't watch those shows much, but can't say I have seen things that are all that bad on most of the ones I have seen. There are a whole lot of other shows on TV that I find way more objectionable. I don't care for the whole trophy hunting thing, hunting those highly managed private hunting properties, or a few other things. Probably because of some level of jealousy if I was honest.
I treat deer shot in the afternoon just like deer shot in the mornings. If I think I made a bad hit and need to wait longer..up to 6hrs on gut shot..I wait 6 hrs. Never left a deer overnight on purpose.
Closest I've come was leaving one after trailing a long time one night at 11:30pm. I knew I was jumping him up so went home to catch some sleep.
I'd lost blood anyway so marked the last spot with gps and went back the next morning jumped it up, trailed it down and shot it again to finish off.
I always have the right lights with me to trail at night and really makes no difference to me if night or day.