Now that our YouTube channel is up and going as robust as it is, expect to see some of that on YouTube. TV wants no part of a lot of that. Additionally, small game and birds get lower viewership than sucker fishing. And, our sponsors want us to feature their western big game products. They have other shows that reach the audience of whitetail junkies, pig hunters, waterfowlers, etc. Our job is to provide western big game.
Randy,
Do you ever find yourself missing out or wishing you were in a duck blind or out walking for pheasants instead of hunting exclusively western big game most of the fall for your tv show?
I tend to think of myself as an avid hunter who hunts what is hot in my area(or what i feel like when things are good) at the time whether it be the first big push of mallards in November or pheasants when my dog is pissed at me for archery hunting too much. I still try to get out west and hunt elk from time to time and would love to be able to make it out every year but I value all of that time in the field and to me there is nothing more satisfying than being able to go out after work and hunt within a half hour of my house.
Just wondering your thoughts on how your tv commitments impact how you would really want to hunt?
Thanks,
TK
As for the type/species/locations of hunts, filming has some impact, but not much. I would probably do more antelope hunts, but ratings show me that the rest of the hunting world is not as crazy about antelope as I am. I would probably go to Alaska more often to hunt with my family that lives there, but I don''t, as that would not be very reflective of how others could hunt Alaska. I probably would have taken some of the funny I've used for this operation and have hunted Dall Sheep by now. I would probably have continued to hunt some private land I have access to, thanks to some great friendships and the kindness they've shown me in the past.
I would probably hunt more ruffed/blue (not dusky and not sooty) grouse. I think I'm going to do an episode on those, whether people like it or not. I'm gonna stump thump 'em, ground pound 'em, sloosh 'em, Arkansas 'em, and every other term I've ever heard about poleaxing birds on the ground. I get as excited about a grouse as I do a nice buck. When you see the upcoming archery elk episode with Corey Jacobsen, you will see that I have a grouse problem.
Some of the ideas above would not fit with the show concept. Either because they are outside our "accessible lands" or "self-guided" gig, or because they are hunts that don't have a lot of viewership.
All in all, I pretty much hunt the hunts I would want to do, even without any cameras following me.
As for how I would hunt in the field each day and how I would approach the hunting plan, it would be way, way, way different than the daily manner in which a day unfolds. Ask any guys here who have joined us on a hunt. I suspect they shake their head, wondering how we fill very many tags. And the hunting is only a small part of the day. Filming and story creation take more of the time than the hunting.
