Kills funny on TV ??

[Spurs]

I agree with the general consensus that the laughing gets on my nerves, and seems like a scripted reaction.  I have always wandered why they laugh at death?  My only logical conclusion would be that they are scripted to laugh so that it would appear to all age of audience that they are having fun.  Maybe they feel like this takes the seriousness and edge off so that more on the fence viewers would feel more comfortable watching the kill?  Dunno, just a thought.

[stevewills]

well im kinda on the other side i guess.i get all messed up when everything goes the way its supposed too.im the guy you hear three hills over and have to have help getting to my feet cause of the addreniline dump i just had.there is a member here who was there when i shot my first turkey with a bow and deer i justed get jacked up i cant help it.no disrespect to the animal,but omg i just did what i set out to do with a stick and string...never seen anyone tell an athlete or olympic gold medalist to calm down when their dreams came true,not that an animal and a medal are the same...

[Arwin]

I refuse to be an emotionless robot when I'm hunting.

 Whats acceptable?? A solemn approach to the animal like your bored? If I ever get that look on my face, I'll take up knitting.

 Seriously we worry too much about being PC when it comes to hunting. We do have to present it in a positive light but we want to show it fun enough for non-hunters to wanna join in.

 I do not like slob hunters who waste meat and take antlers but rest assured if I am lucky enough to arrow an animal, I will party like a rock star!!!
         
 Lighten up and enjoy hunting. Genuine raw emotion is way more entertaining. And yes, I do giggle when I make a lethal shot.

[Buckeye Trad Hunter]

I sometimes laugh after taking an animal but it's not meant in a disrespectful way.  It's because of the culmination of an exciting and very successful hunt.  Now, I don't jump up and down and hoot and holler and such but I do enjoy my success in a respectful way.  It's not a laugh because anything seems funny but because of the break in the tension of the moment.  I get somewhat upset if I miss, very upset if I should make a bad hit, and excited when I'm successful.  By the way, after the excitement of the moment there is a bit of sorrow because after all, I have just taken a life.  

However, I have saw some people who do apear to be completly disrespectful, but maybe this is just how they deal with the excitement.

[matt schuster]

I've got a couple friends with shows so I've been around when a few were shot, even guided hog hunts for a few as a favor, and the reason that some of the guys are laughing (I don't watch them so can't say for sure) is that they are happy.   Happy that they just made a show.   Shows are business and the pressure to make a show in a given amount of time is huge.  Let me tell you, they are thrilled to get a good shot on camera.   TV shows are not about hunting, they are about making a show, selling products, and generating business.  Nothing wrong with that in a free market, but it sure isn't what hunting means to me.  What amazes me, frankly, is that people find them interesting enough to watch.   If you've seen one guy kill a deer or turky on film, you've seen them all.  My two cents, worth exactly that.

[Dax]

What's worse...the laughing....or Stan Potts' reactions??

[Butch L]

I'll be honest, I watch TV hunting shows and DVD's, I hunt vicariously thru the shows, as this is the only hunting my health has allowed in the last 4+ years. Anyone with common sense can tell that most of it is hunting made easy for the show, but you can also tell when the real stuff happens. As to the laughing, I've had my moments of adrenaline shaking rush to down and out man hug, back thumping laugh fest. I don't do the laughing as disrespect to the animal, the reaction is just spur of the moment. I always respect the animal. I agree with Arwin- enjoy the hunt, everyone is different- vive la difference

Butch L

[Hoyt]

I have a hard time believing after all the easy animals most of these guys and girls have killed that they could be so emotional.

Back when they shot cows in the slaughter house I think most houses wouldn't let the same person do it but for so long.

[tarponnut]

I agree that the laughter you sometimes see could be considered disrespectful. However, it could be that since they have at least one other person present(camera man), it's probably just a release of pent up emotion/tension.
I highly doubt that they giggle when they make a shot when hunting alone.

On the flip-side, I can't stand when people pose with a game animal with a bored look on their face. You can be respectful of the animal and still be happy, smile for God's sake.

[daniel reynolds]

All these new shows Lee @ tiffany,Michael Waddell bone collector crap makes me sick to watch!

[Jason Hansen]

Most of these shows portray such a negative image for the "real" hunters.  When you have a show titled, "The Bone Collector"...what is that teaching our youth?  To me the title conveys the wrong image.  Hunting is not about the antler, or horn size, but the art of hunting and spending time with family and friends.

For most of these "followers", buying a new compound bow is like buying a new computer...each year they have to have the latest and greatest.  I think T.J.'s column titled, "Editor's Note" in the Aug/Sept 2010 issue of TBM summed it up in regards to today's compound arena...very well put T.J.

[mattmcdonald]

I dont think its really the laughing thats getting people upset it just they have no respect for anything really and how could they how many deer do these guys on tv kill a year i have seen them buy tags and fill them like nothing there really cant be much excitment for them its a job to them on the other hand there is nothing wrong with laughing or jumping up and down just loosing all control when we wait all year for that chance you get excited when it happens if a deer could laugh he would laugh when you miss him does anyone think that would be wrong

[sputterman]

Im with steve if your so pumped up from the filling let her rip. If laughing is what happens so be it. Only if its a true reaction, If its fake dont be a poser. Thats why were out there anyway.

[joe ashton]

I agree totally.  That laughing is hurting in the eyes of the general public....

[Flingblade]

I agree with Arwin.  I usually hunt alone but when with someone we have smiled, laughed, pats on the back etc. A celebration of success as the adrenaline dumps and recounting how everything came together.  Certainly not disrespect for the animal.  When the time comes to field dress I often reflect on the animals life... how old it is, it's home range, how it survived the last winter etc.. I'm sure the native americans would let out whoops and yells when they had a successful hunt and I've seen the Wensel boys get pretty goofy in the woods.  If I felt sorrowful and sad I wouldn't hunt, or at least I wouldn't shoot.

[levibear]

I promise the "Anti's are watching  

[don kauss]

i don't own a TV, but occasionally i see these sorry excuses for entertainment at public places...those shows are only interesting to me for one reason; it's sickening to watch, from all their gadgets and gear to their fancy clothes...but i guess i still look to see just HOW RIDICULOUS a "hunter" ("Harvester", really)can get by today's definition...

if you don't think those shows are AWFUL, i feel sorry for you... the way i grew up hunting---and what they're pushing as "Hunting" on these shows these days are two completely different worlds, and you'd need a spaceship to get to one from the other...
if these shows would have been my example of a hunter, i'd have no respect for hunters either...Thankfully, they're nothing more than really putrid fashion shows...

[PAPA BEAR]

most of the shows are all about the product they push not the actual hunt or kill.thats just to get you to watch it.period.theres a couple shows that are ok in my book...memories in the field has real people not pushing anything.then you have easton bowhunting tv with fred eichler.i would say freds about as excitable as they get but his is genuinely for the sport not the products.jmho

[Northwest_Bowhunter]

Originally posted by Jason Hansen:
Hunting is not about the antler, or horn size, but the art of hunting and spending time with family and friends.

This is exactly why I love the Fred Eikler show Easton Bowhunting TV, Fred treats every animal like a trophy regardless of size.  He says when he has marginal shots and even goes whole shows without getting an animal.  He cheers for his shot and talks about "I smoked em" but that is all the post shot excitement.  When you see him with his harvest he is like a kid at Christmas and truly appreciates his trophy.  I loaded a non-hunting buddy of mine a couple of his DVD's and he went hunting with me last year.  It's just a great show, he even did an episode on a Special Forces Army base with his dad.

[nc recurveman]

I find the fakeness of the whole High fiveing and fist pumping annoying as well. I do have to admit having a "cat that ate the canary grin" and maybe a chuckle when it all comes together. Not that I find anything funny about taking a animal, but it's the moment you watch the fletching dissappear in the perfect spot. The hours of practice in the yard. The buckets of sweat shed cutting paths and setting stands. And the empty hours spent motionless while every fanged criiter under the sun making sure you leave the woods a quart low on blood. For me in the instant of success, its redempation and validation for all the passion and work I put into making that instant happen. I smile evrytime and there are no cameras on me. we all work very hard to make success happen and we all express our joy differently. I don't beleive in the theatrics on tv its all to fake for me, but I beleive there is a place in our sport for apropriate celebrations.