Some Insights

[echo7]

Been hunting many, many years. I have viewed thousands of Hunting episodes on the Oudoor Channel and others...I have watched as so-called Professional Hunters, Paid Hunters, Hunters with Ego's larger than an Imperial Bull. I have cringed at Hero Shots that look more like a childs birthday party than harvesting an animal, I have seen sad and sorry attempts at putting comedy into hunting shows. I have cringed at people passing up great animals for something bigger or record breaking and trading out a hunt or paying to go onto a huge ranch where we cannot afford a $5,000 Whitetail Buck. I have gotten tired
of sports figures, country music stars and so-called Professionals hunt the animals I and others would love to have the chance to hunt, but cannot afford.
BUT..NOW I HAVE FOUND SALVATION..A GREAT TV-VIDEO HUNTING SERIES THAT HUNTS LIKE WE COMMONERS HAVE FOR YEARS...WITH A HOST (RANDY) WHO
APPRECIATES WHAT IS OFFERED, DOESN'T "PARADE", AND GIVES US THE KIND OF HUNTING OURFATHERS AND GRANDFATHERS BEQUETHED US.
THIS 'ON YOUR OWN ADVENTURE" SERIES IS THE MOST ENTERTAINING, TRUE,
DOWN TO EARTH, EXCITING SERIES EVER PRODUCED.
I live in Kalispell, Montana, have hunted here for 26 years. Each and every hunt I have had
in those years and now have been like "ON YOUR OWN ADVENTURES". Thanks to Randy, Fin and all of you for giving me a late life charge of good, old fashioned hunting
and a renewed faith in the outdoors and the poeple like you who have preserved the
ethics of the sport.
William C. Bowser (Echo7)

 

[the nikster]

True true

Speaking for myself, it's nice to not have to listen to a southern accent once in a while.
I put my head on a pillow when I sleep , not a pilla.

 

[Big Fin]

Thanks for the kind comments Echo. Glad you like what we are doing.

When people see Season Three, I hope they continue to like it. Given what I have seen so far, and the big changes in store for our show, I think people will find it even better than the first two seasons.

Hope you have had a great season. One week left.

 

[mdunc8]

Welcome Echo. Randy, if it ain't broke.....

 

[tarheel]

Speaking for myself, it's nice to not have to listen to a southern accent once in a while.
I put my head on a pillow when I sleep , not a pilla.

Truth be known, most of those so-called Southern accents are exaggerated and encouraged by the production people who, like Hollywood and the New York entertainment industry, don't know a true accent from the drone of a mouth harp. The behavior which really tightens my pucker string is all the over used and over played high fives, knuckle bumps, hysteria, childish antics and amateur dramatics found on the vast majority of the hunting shows. If I see one more compound bow raised over someone's head I'm likely to puke. All this afore listed behavior detracts from the more traditional concepts of hunting, displays the entire way of life in a bad light, and quite frankly makes me embarrassed to be associated with the idiots just by being a hunter.
OYOA is the only shining light in that entire genre of hunting shows.

 

[mdunc8]

I don't have a problem with someone getting excited when taking an animal. I do have a problem with hunters showing no respect to the animal they've just killed and having five grown men climbing around on top of it like it's a jungle gym. In some of the episodes from Season 1 (I don't have cable so I haven't seen any of Season 2), Randy gets excited as anyone else. The difference I've noticed is the respect he shows the animal when approaching and handling it. You can't blame anyone for getting excited after spending days in the woods chasing these critters.

 

[ismith]

I just got the Outdoor channel last month and was finally able to watch a few shows. I think my wife enjoys your show as much as I do Randy. Really not much else I watch on that channel. Keep up the good work!

 

[Der Aulte Jaeger]

Good show and one of about three that I try not to miss. The rest area all hat and no cattle.

 

[noharleyyet]

I don't have a problem with honest emotion...but how does a hero retake not be contrived? It's not hard to detect contrivance when everything from the fifth retake of a hero shot backwards has been edited.

Truth be known, most of those so-called Southern accents are exaggerated and encouraged by the production people

So true tarheel....the corn-pone factor wears my azz out too.

OYO and Shockey are the only shows I care to watch. Waddell used to be okay before Jordan made him famous....

 

[Sytes]

I just got the Outdoor channel last month and was finally able to watch a few shows. I think my wife enjoys your show as much as I do Randy. Really not much else I watch on that channel. Keep up the good work!

Ditto ISmiths comments (though I have had the channel since Directv offered it) as well others comments here.

Only reason to watch outdoor channel is an occasional bass fishing show... and OYO. I could give two shnitz for the "rabid pack" hunt shows out there.

Welcome to the forum side of the show echo7. The show is great... the people supporting the show are close to matching that great feeling. Great people here, enjoyable stories, great respectable debates from generally like minded members, awesome pictures and great PM'ED intel... haha!

 

[WapitiBob]

I just got the Outdoor channel last month and was finally able to watch a few shows. I think my wife enjoys your show as much as I do Randy. Really not much else I watch on that channel. Keep up the good work!

That says a lot. My Wife doesn't hunt but has gone out with me for 30 years.
She sits down and watches this show.

 

[echo7]

Haven't been on much, but still watching OYOA and enjoying it immensely. Some have asked me
what I would change if I was producing OYOA? As this show out does everybody else in content, hunting excitement, great host, super camera work and great production..not much else to add.
If I had the funding I would add two or three Bad Boy Buggies for the crew which would get them closer, faster and quieter in their covering the immense parcels of land to find their animals.
Another great positive thing about OYOA... No special segements such as how to plant a food plot
to lure the animals, or how to place your SWAMP DONKEY attractant. Randy is indeed the hero
of the show, that's because he looks at hunting and the outdoors just as we do. Randy respects every aspect of his trips and every viewer of the show. There is no hunting show on the air.that come close
to true hunting adventure except OYOA. I missed a five by five whitetail this year, passed on a fork horn and enjoyed every minute in my blinds..now I will order the OYOA set of DVD's to get me through til next August and Antelope Archery.

 

[Big Fin]

Thanks again guys. Those kind of comments keep us going the same course. Even though that course is not the easiest, nor the most profitable, and not received with warm greetings from some in the outdoor TV world.

It ain't broke - ratings have proven that. So, we ain't fixin' much.

This next week is the last week for Season Two to air. It has been a very good season, but I can assure you that Season Three is even better.

We will be loading the promo video for Season Three, sometime after Christmas. A few guys have seen it. They are my sounding board and are pretty good critics of what we are doing and where we can improve. According to the comments from this group, the start of Season Three looks great. They are normally much more harsh than they were with this one.

We have submitted four of our best episodes to Outdoor Channel for panel judging. They have five categories that we can submit for professional production values. The panel supposedly is comprised of TV pros who judge the episodes on their production qualities. Last year we submitted five episodes and were a Top Five finalist for four of those five.

It looks like this year that none of our submitted episodes were considered anywhere near the top.

Kind of bummed to hear that, given that I think the MT bighorn episode was the best big game episode on TV this year. And I think the New Mexico archery antelope where we shot a wounded buck on a trophy tag, was one of the better conservation messages on TV this season. The Montana elk hunt was submitted as the best all around episode, and I think it was a very good one. We also submitted some segments of the Alaska Black Bear episode for best videography, which I think Troy fully deserves for the images he produced under those very difficult and remote conditions.

I willingly admit I am very biased.

Not one to cry in my beer, so we go forward with the same resolve and same message, making sure that Season Three is our best work yet, which I think it is.

When we load that five minute promo clip, I think you will like what you see. Sure hope so.

 

[Calvin]

Randy,

I'll admit that I haven't watched all the OYO episodes, and that my memory is terrible, so it might be something you've done before..

But, any plans to incorporate a kid into an episode? (9-14 y/o) I'm not talking about a watered down hunt often seen on shows that involve kids. (kid shoots a management buck, a bear eating donuts, or shoots out of a box blind, entourage hunting, etc) I'm talking a father&son/daughter trophy hunt, in a tough area, that requires camping, a ton of hiking, and a high rate of opportunity to screw up, and some stalking involved. (mt spring bear hunt?)

I think the father &son/daughter dynamic coupled with a tough hunt would truly create a "reality tv", since so many of us live to take our kids on our hunts and know the sheer joy/frustration that happens when you tote your kids into the wilderness and involve them on tough hunts.

 

[Big Fin]

Randy,

I'll admit that I haven't watched all the OYO episodes, and that my memory is terrible, so it might be something you've done before..

But, any plans to incorporate a kid into an episode? (9-14 y/o) I'm not talking about a watered down hunt often seen on shows that involve kids. (kid shoots a management buck, a bear eating donuts, or shoots out of a box blind, entourage hunting, etc) I'm talking a father&son/daughter trophy hunt, in a tough area, that requires camping, a ton of hiking, and a high rate of opportunity to screw up, and some stalking involved. (mt spring bear hunt?)

I think the father &son/daughter dynamic coupled with a tough hunt would truly create a "reality tv", since so many of us live to take our kids on our hunts and know the sheer joy/frustration that happens when you tote your kids into the wilderness and involve them on tough hunts.

Calvin. We did one this last season. Not with a 14 year-old, but a 17 year-old. And yeah, it was a difficult backpack hunt, sleeping under the stars, eating cold food, not getting enough sleep, and going after it hard from before daylight until after dark.

My nephew, Cody, had never been out west hunting. It was the first time he and I ever got to hunt together. He had been applying for this tag, and finally drew last year.

He worked his tail off on a hunt where I think many adult hunters would have packed up and left, given the long hikes, the tough terrain, and the fact that if something was shot, it was going to be a grunt to get it out of there.

That hunt will air next season and I think many will look at it as a true youth hunting experience. Cody was as excited as a person could get. He went through all the struggles that comes will western mountain hunting, and in the end, was rewarded for all the hard effort he put into it. His uncle was about as proud as one can be, to have seen a young guy like him hunt as hard as he did and make a terrific shot when all the pressures of filming/TV were on his shoulders.

I think it exemplifies the youth-adult mentoring experience. It was as much fun as I could have ever had, and I didn't even have a tag.

It is my impression that it will be a good sample of what you are referring to.

Here is a link to the thread where we posted the day-by-day account.

Cody's New Mexico youth elk hunt

 

[Calvin]

Thanks Fin! That was an awesome read. That episode is going to be a classic!

 

[echo7]

Dissappointed to say the least

Randy being biased is why the show is so good. When I see some of the programs on Outdoor Channel that made it into the runoff I wonder who is judginig? For my part, with over 40 years in Television, I believe that much of what we see as viewers doesn't count much, it's those with the big money that get the awards, not necessarily the best productions. I almost began a hunting video show about 6 years ago, but quickly withdrew the idea when I had to interface with the people at Outdoor Channel, They thought they were doing me a favor by letting me buy my own time slot. If I can be of any help with OYOA IE: graphics, ideas, production, announcing etc..I will donate my time and efforts to see this show, continue to be the best in the Market.
Stayed up til 2:am this watching my DVD's that arrived yesterday, I don't like re-runs normally, but the OYOA hunts keep me enthused about our sport over and over. Would love to see the 2012 demo if possible?

 

[Big Fin]

Would love to see the 2012 demo if possible?

Will be posted on the site sometime around the first week of January.