Hunting show hosts and limits

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TexasPatriot.308

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May be an old question, but there are lots of TV shows with "deer hunting experts" like Larry Weisuhn, Allen Warren, (I guess hunting expensive, managed lands full of trophy deer makes em experts). these guys expenses are paid for by sponsors and their products are really pushed. How many deer can or do these guys take a year. they hunt Texas, Ohio, Kansas, and some really great ranches all over. is there a limit on the number they can take, say limit out in Texas and do the same in other states? just wondering. as far as "hunting university", I dont think there is anything they can teach me or I want to learn from them. some of the best deer I have taken were after sitting in a smoky room, sitting in a tripod wearing blue denim.
 
if you're hunting on MLD property in texas, there is no specific limit per person.

I guess ol' Larry could teach you a couple things after all ! :D
 
as far as the MLD everyone knows you got to have money or connections to hunt there, used to be game including white tail belonged to the state of Texas, now it belongs to people with money for high fences. as far as hunting, stalking, tracking aint nothing those "hunters" can teach this 57 year old.
 
I always see Thompson Center the choice of Larry Weisuhn. The last time he shot a deer several times and finally he got it. All these shows are for intertainment and product endorsements, nothing more . Its a billion dollar industry and competition amongst the sponsors are what drives these pro hunters. It would be nice to be like them traveling to all kinds of places and hunt the best games in their lifetime and get paid for it. But first you have to be a redneck and talk like one (its a plus ), of middle age or past that old age . Sport a goatee and know how to exaggerate once the game is taken. Sorry i havent seen a black or asian in those shows ...
 
Sad to say, hunting is an elite sport nowadays. If you are in Texas then its a reality. The absence of public lands is a hindrance. Even if the state is easy on gun laws, huntinng is limited for the average Joe. Owning a gun range be it outdoor or indoor ranges would be a money maker.
 
so basically... this thread is just to bash TV hunting personalities?


MLD has absolutely nothing to do with high fences. I know dozens of people that are under the MLD program in texas, and there isn't a high fence within miles of their lease.

as for Larry W. He has around 50 years experience as a wildlife biologist. He has taken hundreds of deer in many parts of the country... he's a professional member of Boone and Crocket... but he doesn't know what he's doing? strange.

Personally, I never make the assumption that I know everything. I'd like to meet Larry. Anyone that is good enough to make a living out of hunting certainly has to know a thing or two to get there...

But to your question... there's no limit a person can take in a year, as long as they follow each state's guidelines. I could kill 50 deer in texas on my MLD place, go to kansas shoot a couple, go to Ohio shoot a couple, maybe shoot one down in Mexico... go to Canada and shoot one.

wouldn't that be the life!
 
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if he's been doing it for 50 years, he would be in his 70s, didnt say he didnt know what he was doing just aint got no use for his promo input or his telling me how to hunt, I probably been hunting longer than him. management deer hunting has taken hunting in Texas away from the average hunter, it is all about $$$$$$ and the current "hunting" shows prove it.
 
when he "tells you how to hunt", that's because you're watching his TV show... I'm guessing he didn't barge into your living room, and demand you listen to his beliefs on hunting.

He's just out there selling a show that some people want to see.... can't make everyone happy.
 
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All I have to say about Larry Weisuhn is that I saw him in a Cabela's once, he's a lot taller in real life. :p
 
I think overall, there are a lot of people in the hunting industry... is it too many?

no.

if it were too many, the industry wouldn't support it. These people all love hunting and have found a way to make money doing it... I just watched a thread thrashing Jack Brittingham after he scored a huge mule deer and elk this year. All kinds of comments about money ruining hunting... blah blah blah.... Jack put a post up there and asked if he was supposed to apologize for being succesful and hunting all over the world... great point. He's doing what many of us can only dream to do.
 
all i will say is that i know a few guys on prostaffs and one team on dream season this year. i consider myself pretty good and take my fair share of game. these guys, however, hunt the same places i do and almost ALWAYS outdo me by a good margin. now im not defending or making excuses for them but the results speak for themselves. some people just have the instinct for it. one of the dream season guys and i hunted an area we had never been to and he simply "saw" the area he wanted. i wouldnt have chosen it in a million years, but he was the one who walked away with TWO does and a nice 9 point...in a matter of 3 hours.
 
I don't doubt that these guys know what they're doing. I'm sure they do.
My take on it is that what they're doing on camera isn't real hunting. If it is, there must not be anyone else hunting within 20 miles of them. I enjoy Larry Wiesuhn's show and I also like to watch Bone Collector and Buck Commander. However, if they hunted the woods that we do, they wouldn't be passing on 140" whitetails. If they did, they'd be doing a lot less shooting, I promise you that. You let one of them walk and the guy a half a mile away in the next lease isn't going to. But that's real world hunting. Nobody would buy your products if you were shooting 130" deer I guess.
 
I don't know, I find myself questioning the sportsmanship of some of the 'pro hunters' that I see on TV. I have watched too many of these guys using the latest high tech gear, sitting over some sort of bait attractant, make a mediocre shot, look into the camera and fist-pump and utter the standard, "I SMOKED HIM" line.
I admit, I find myself cheering for the deer.

Oh yea....and "management buck"......(yea right), more like "let's make a TV show" buck.
 
when these guys smoke a good buck with a .338, then sit in their blind whispering, I cant help but laugh at these "hunters" just a joke to me, too bad they kill some really nice corn fed bucks I will never get the chance to take, much less hunt.
 
I have to agree that TV hunting shows have had a hand in changing hunting. Twenty years ago, NO ONE asked "...so what'd yer buck score?", or said "...yeah...I watched a xxx-Class buck today..." I personally despise the TV hunting shows. Everything is about the how big the quarry is and not about the hunt. Anymore, if you have money, can ride an ATV, and are a half decent shot, you can kill huge game. It's all about money. That's the very reason I couldn't care less about seeing some gigantic buck that's lived a relatively safe life behind a high fence waiting to mature to the point that he's ready for some wealthy dude to "smoke him".
I never watch hunting shows anymore but have buddies that do so I see them from time to time at get togethers. Can't stand them. If they've have done nothing else, they've taken the personal-ness out of hunting and created the illusion that in order for a hunt to be successful, the game has to score X number of points. The ones I've seen, which are admittedly very few because I can't stand them, seem very unrealistic.

Last year I took my wife hunting and it was one of the most memorable hunts of my life. The buck was a little 8-point, but we literally had to belly crawl up a mesquite and cactus choked draw to get within range. My wife learned how to use the wind to her advantage and how to use the terrain, bushes and trees to get closer. 45 minutes later, she made a nice 120 yd. shot with a 40 year old rifle wearing a 40 year old 4X scope.

I've killed some nice deer and elk but the most memorable hunts were the ones where I really had to work for the game. That's the kind of stuff you won't see on TV.

35W
 
Makes one wonder. They set up hunts all over the place in the intertest of giving the arm-chair hunter an inside look at "always" getting the local brute.
I often wonder where they put all the mounted heads or what happens to the meat.
Seems like some of these "hunters" have shot more big game than the
Indians! Plus, they seem to be able to "draw" a lic for any hard to get amimal at a moments notice, while most(average hunters) have to wait extended periods of time.
Rarely do they come away from the hunt with out bagging some giant. While the average hunter knows that feeling well. :)
 
Wait....you mean these hunting shows are edited in order to fit a 30 minute time frame?

As far as hunting on managed property...it's not as easy as you think. To each their own.....if you haven't done it, I'm not sure how one can be so opinionated about it. I hunted probably 35-40 times before I shot a good deer last year. One of the other guys had a good deer on his trail camera, but never got a shot at the deer. I would guess that if I "edited for TV", it would look rather simple

This thought that people that care to manage their property to have better than average deer are the problem.... Almost sounds like communism in here.

Anyone that has more than I have shouldn't have it.

I don't see how this has ruined hunting... people have always talked about big horns.. always. It's on cave paintings that are tens of thousands of years old! there are more big deer in this country than any point in our lifetimes, so the opportunity to shoot a big deer is better than it has ever been.... but it's harder to do so? I'm not buying it....
 
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The programs are set up as infomercials, and it's obvious that they're selling product.

But separate that out from the scenery and the critters. IMO, best to watch with the sound off. For one thing, that whispering is a serious turn-off for me. An explanatory voice-over in normal tones during the editing process would be far more realistic.

The experienced people, the guides? Hey, they're getting paid and likely having fun. The dudes they take out are also having fun. Seems to me that it doesn't matter if their style of hunting is different from mine.

I certainly agree with 35 Whelen about, "...TV hunting shows have had a hand in changing hunting. Twenty years ago, NO ONE asked "...so what'd yer buck score?", or said "...yeah...I watched a xxx-Class buck today..."

I don't define success in those terms. But, it's not much different from bass tournaments, seems like. Too much emphasis on some sort of "win" or money prizes, and not enough on just having an outdoors experience.

I like shooting a big buck, and doing some bragging, maybe, but the last thing I'd ever bother with would be entering it in a Big Bucks contest. It's not what I go hunting for.
 
I guess the main reason I dislike *some* outdoor show hosts is that some act like they have really accomplished something when they bag some semi-tame critter that could have easily been bagged by a lame, 90 yeal old crippled person.
Other hosts pretend to be really pumped up over hunts that are routine at best. They just aren't sincere and I will not watch them again...YEAH! LOOK AT THAT MASS!! THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!!!
I grew up hunting public where it was very difficult to shoot any deer at all until you developed the skills needed to learn about your prey and the land you were hunting on. You NEVER saw mature bucks posing in an open pasture during daylight hours.
So when I see some TV hunter knocking over a mostly tame deer or elk, I don't really think they are great hunters- just paid shooters- and I won't watch that program again.
And then there are the bogus hunting products- but that's a different thread.
 
As far as hunting on managed property...it's not as easy as you think. To each their own.....if you haven't done it, I'm not sure how one can be so opinionated about it. I hunted probably 35-40 times before I shot a good deer last year.
Click to expand...

What's not as easy? Shooting a really big buck? What qualifies as good? A score of xxx points?

This thought that people that care to manage their property to have better than average deer are the problem.... Almost sounds like communism in here.

Anyone that has more than I have shouldn't have it.
Click to expand...

Not at ALL. Managing property is the property owners business and if that's what he or she want to do, I support them 100%. I absolutely DO NOT prescribe with your final statement in the quote above. I have always and WILL always work for everything I have.
Here's my point: 20-30+ years ago if someone shot a really nice buck or bucks, it meant he was either very lucky or in the case of multiple nice bucks, he was a good hunter. Nowadays, it likely means you have money to essentially raise nice bucks. Nothing at all wrong with that! It just seems silly to brag and high-five over a buck that was essentially raised under controlled conditions.

I love big bucks and will always pick a big rack over a small one, but to me again, it's all about the hunt. The last really nice buck I killed was a 7 1/2 year old, 23 1/2" wide 8-point. My neighbor and taxidermist buddy who mounted him (I hadn't mounted a buck in 20 or so years) told me he missed the Texas Big Game Awards 8-point catagory by fractions of an inch because he had a broken brow tine. (I didn't even know there was such a catagory) But that particular fact means nothing to me. What means the most to me was I beat that buck at his own game. I found and stalked him. THAT to me is what hunting is all about. NOT the size of the rack or how many "points" the rack scored. But hey, for the guys who like to shoot XXX-class bucks that are confined within high fences, more power to you...just don't expect any high fives from me!;)

35W
 
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Like I said about... to each their own. I can't figure out why it's always people talking down to trophy hunters though.... keep up the division among hunters, I'm sure it will do the sport a lot of good overall.

35 Whelen, you wouldn't happen to be one of the texas hunter safety instructers that spends class time stating personal opinions about high fence hunting, are you?
 
I can't figure out why it's always people talking down to trophy hunters though.... keep up the division among hunters, I'm sure it will do the sport a lot of good overall.
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I don't so much see/hear people talking down to "trophy hunters", just questioning their motives. Our material teaches several stages of hunters one of which is the Trophy Stage. In this stage, the success of a hunt is defined by how large an animal or antlers of an animal happen to be. It's not division to me, it's just different perspectives. Dig out your Hunter Education manual and check out the 5 stages of a hunter. It's very interesting.

35 Whelen, you wouldn't happen to be one of the texas hunter safety instructers that spends class time stating personal opinions about high fence hunting, are you?
Click to expand...

I never insert personal opinion into the departments curriculum. I teach based on two things: The material provided by the Texas Parks and Wildlife and my own experience...and since I've never hunted behind a high fence, I have no experience with that.

35W
 
there is a thread on texasbowhunter on a instructer somewhere in the north texas area that was ranting about hunting over feeders and the like in a hunters safety course....

I recall the different stages they teach in that class. just because I go after big deer doesn't mean I do not get other things out of hunting.

see the video below... we didn't kill anything, but this is a great memory for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clR8wzo6aE4


jsut because someone is a trophy hunter doesn't mean they don't appreciate the outdoors....
 
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