George your comic book comparison is right on the money!    

I wouldn't.....

When I hunt,I like to travel light. Most times I carry only my bow,arrows and a knife. I rarely if ever carry a camera of any kind.

It would be a shame to have a record of truth that might contradict a story that gets better with age!    :D  
I've never videoed a kill, but I did take video of a number of fox and deer I saw from my stand this year. Fact is, a couple of yearling bucks might not have made it through the season if my hands hadn't been occupied by a camera!

Interesting question, and one that had me tempted to make a reflex post in response. But this is a multifaceted question, and not nearly as simple as it sounds at first. I'm gonna have to think about this one for a bit.

Chuck, that was an insight that I was starting to get a glimpse of, then all of a sudden there you were putting it to words.

My gut reaction was that I would not do it. There is a fuzzy line, hard to see, between preserving (sacred, to me) memories and a snuff film. Those are the two extremes, and there is a very wide, blurry no-man's-land in between 'em. One man's sacred is not another's, and there are as many attitudes toward hunting, held by hunters, as there are hunters.

I had to ask myself, what is the difference between filming the encounter and the resulting actions, and the posing of a dead creature to get its good side in your hero pic? One is in motion, and one is a still photo. The key, I think, is in the motivation behind those two.

I have filmed (handheld and poorly) places where I have sat with a bow or gun, or where I just happened to be on a glorious spring morning. I especially like to capture the background noises of water, critters, wind, leaves and nuts falling. I have a small point-and-shoot Canon with limited video capability. Not the kind of thing to set on a tripod and video a hunt with. I think I'll keep it that way.

This is the start of my thinking about this. I liked Primal Dreams, though I didn't listen to the talking, and another video that I watched with Mockingbird over the weekend, Traditional Harvests. But I don't have the urge to watch more of them. I guess I feel that the kill is to be private, and not for entertainment.

Buckmasters makes me harf. I just can't relate to any of it. Don't want to. Some folks might, and it will comfort them that these are just the ramblings of an old lady.

Killdeer  

I am not against videoing, but I am not really keen on giving up my hunt so that it CAN be video'd.  I kinda like doing it alone, or with my one or two best bud's.

I am thinking that I have enough of a hassle getting close, much less with a second person hanging around.
ChuckC

I think it is fine to film your own hunts and show them to friends and even post them on here. Do I do it? No but would like too a time or two. I have people always asking to see even photos of stuff I have killed and I have very few. I have never been one to really care or worry about making records of any kind of my hunts, but also believe it is a personal thing and for guys that do it, more power to them. I am talking of personal stuff not the garbage ya see on DVD and TV. Shawn

hunting, to me, is not a spectator sport and I would not video the taking of an animal.

Cary

I agree.  I have no interest in filming my hunts.

Dan

Talondale, I have no supressed emotions that I'm trying to protect, or anything of an ethereal nature.    My question was a simple one without want of change in my belief.  Read that.."for me."

Sometimes we forget what the original question was, or didn't understand it the way it was meant.  I love the old Bear Videos.  I really like Primal Dreams....I did not say I dislike videos, and even mentioned that in my original post;  please review.  The original question is this:  "Is there anyone else who would not video their hunt?"   Please don't read anything more into that.

I personally wouldn't do it for my own reasons. Perhaps it's my reverence for the hunt itself as a personal event.  Perhaps...well, I did already state these things.  

I have found from some of you that I am not alone in this, and that makes me feel better. Not that I needed confirmation 8^).  Thanks to all who answered my question.

Interesting topic.  I once filmed a whole hunting season.  It was almost all gun hunting.  I did not film any kills, but I did film scouting, stand placement, things I saw from the stand, and post-kill recovery, commentary.  It was a lot of fun and I have shared that video with friends who seem to enjoy it.  It is fun to watch it and remember the season.

I haven't done it since because it is frankly a pain to tote the camera around.  I have been thinking about doing it again though as a way to document the hunting that I am doing with my dad and my son.  I am not sure that I would film the kill shots, but I don't know that I wouldshy away from it either.  

I found the Fred Bear reference interesting.  While Fred's videos were extremely well done. they were definately designed to market and sell bear bows.

Like most of you, I hate the grandstanding and hooping/hollering that accompany most hunting videos on the market.  In my opinion, virtually every video maker in the business today made more enjoyable videos when they were just getting started and hunting in their neighboring woodlots.

I wouldn't.  I really dislike hunting shows; don't like the commercialism of hunting in general.  Seems like people are very eager to jump on the bandwagon with this.  Don't mean to imply that everyone videos hoping to profit from it.  If you like to do it, no worries.  Everyone has his or her own feelings about this, but I think photos are the way to preserve those memories.  Paul.

I confess that I am all over the place on this one. I certainly think that you have a valid opinion George and one that I have at least partly shared. However, my friend Allen shot some AMAZING footage of a cub scampering up the tree he had his pack in with the critter actually peeking in it(!!!) and I feel a loss just at the thought of not being able to share in that! I was also able to do a frame by frame view of my friend's missed shot (self recorded) and enjoy some sweet "private" moments of a successful hunt another friend recorded for him from the stand above him.
I would have LOVED to have my last bear hunt on film (all of the above from "Quebec Quest I") maybe to show that I did not exaggerate by one iota!         :D       Of course if I saw that one maybe I wouldn't be going this year!!            (As Uncle Barry wrote: "the pucker factor on this last trip for some of us was huge!"). So, I'm still not filming mine and partly for the reasons you talk about but I support at least as much my friends who do! I use to think I was indecisive but now I'm not sure!          

My bowhunting is too personal. That being said I would have no issue with someone wanting to video our pheasant hunts over dogs.

John III

To each his own and video is just another tool to pass on the tradition. So in that case I would never video. Is this a better answer to the question?

A special thanks to those who read the question 8^).

i will NOT video a kill on a hunt as it is also personal to me and it is just something i do not feel honors the game i hunt, i do not wish to show the taking of life. with that being said i do video and take a kazillion pictures of my hunts and my favorite areas that i hunt, i enjoy looking back through them.

I understand how you feel George. One's actual time afield is personal. However, I don't see any difference between sharing those adventures with folks through film and doing it verbally around a campfire, passing around snapshots, passing on the story in print, or displaying dead heads on a wall. Film/video much better preserves all aspects of the entire hunt.

Wife and I have been filming since before we were married and have thousands of feet of footage from 8mm film through analog video to present day digital, and it's priceless to us now. Better reminder of those experiences than looking at static pictures in an album or dead heads hanging on a wall. Even the grandkids enjoy watching those films.

The overly commercialized and most often phoney videos making up the majority of hunting videos being produced for profit only today is another matter.

Our elk hunting group started taking a vid cam with us about 4 years ago.  Our original intent was to try for some hunting footage but everytime things got interesting we forgot about the camera and then remembered it long after everything was done.  

However, after we remembered the camera we would pull it out and video the participants as they told us all the details just like sitting around the camp fire at night but with all the emotions and euphoria of the moment.  This turned out to be a great way to remember the hunts.  

Over the years you pop in one of the dvd's and here your hunting pals talking about the one that got away as they are still shaking from the experience.  

We also record the evenings tales to get the groups reaction to the days stories.  This has turned out to be our way of saving the hunts.

Brent

George:  I'm another who would not video my hunt.  I suppose camp, wildlife and scenery pix would be OK.  I take still pix of those things, but I would not video killing an animal.