Why no Traditional Archery shows on television?

[KenH]

Not enough T&A or other outrageousness to get the big bucks sponsors.

[kill shot]

The old Fred Bear videos were the best and timeless. For example; the one about hunting big bears in Alaska. The show included target practice, crow hunting, digging up clams on the beach, living on a boat as a camp, other wildlife encountered, weather endured in the region and bisic comaroderie with his hunting buddies. It was a silent movie with a narator. If any of you have seen this movie I would bet you couldn't take your eyes off of it. Am I right? You know I am.

[Rathbuck]

I think you guys hit the nail on the head here.  Most "hunting" shows today are geared toward being entertaining, and selling the latest and greatest gear available.  I watch a few, but I'll tell you, I really miss the old "teaching" videos.

Warning: rant ahead

Very few (and I mean very few) shows today try to teach anything - I can only think of one that goes through the trouble of explaining where the hunt is taking place, the layout, why the deer/elk/moose/bear/whatever are moving in a specific pattern and the technique used.

Years ago, during the summer months, my father and I would rent 6-7 videos from the local archery shop and would binge watch them to avoid doing anything outside while it was hot...   Anyway, the old videos would explain the hunt from beginning to end - where they were hunting, how, what movement was expected, what was learned, etc., etc., etc.  We learned a TON from those videos, and would watch and re-watch them.

Now...forget it.  It's all about "smoking" the buck that was on the "hit list" (oh, and you better have a cool name for each one), all while getting every sponsor under the sun mentioned as many times as possible...I swear half of the guys out there give the NASCAR guys a run for their money in getting sponsors mentioned.

All about entertainment, very little about teaching anything.  Give me the old videos any day.

Okay, rant over.  

[bushwood]

Wow! Certainly a wide gap as to why, but quite the consensus that a Trad show would be a breath of fresh air.

When I hear the public "faces" of our sport say things like "smoke, shank, or crush" with regards to an animal it makes me cringe. I feel each time something like that is viewed by a person that does not hunt but is not opposed to hunting, it steers them to the other side. Those are the people we can't afford to lose!

Maybe someone will get the big picture and make a change.

[Slasher]

Hunting shows are about Marketing, pure and simple...

These sponsors are paying for product placement...

Heck I remember seeing one of the videos running in a loop on the TV in an archery shop where every hunt had the hunter and the equipment used on the hunt...

BOW-   XXXXX
Sight- XXXXX
Arrow-XXXXX
treestand- XXXXXX
Camo
Boots
so on and so forth... a list of products you need to buy to be able to hunt deer...  

Reminded me of Nascar!!!

I know I see the truck from one of the local Hunting celebrities from GA... Kind of hard to miss it with the full wrap... But there again... Those shows are driven by sponsors looking to showcase their products...

To do a High end TV show, it probably cost upwards of $100K just for all those private ranch fees to hunt those all those unpressured critters...

I would welcome a back to basics hunting show...

It would probably have to be something like out of this forum...

TRADGANG TV - Real Hunts with Real people

 I don't know who would fund such a show? I don't think there is $$$ in the industry to finance a production like these marketing shows...Maybe more of a reality type show from one of the big networks... With the skill level of the hunters and the diversity of game...

I think it could be done right... But I don't think there  are the $$$ there to be a career in doing it...  The consistency of production and the quality of filming would be hard to keep consistent...

Besides... It would be a lot of work... I wouldn't want to do it...I value escaping all that when I hit the woods

[riverrat 2]

With some of the series I've seen make it past a pilot episode onto television's mainstage there should be a way to make it profitable,and not to intolerable for anti-hunters. I meana show about KISS and their fake football team? Come-on!!  rat'

[Ron Vought]

Have you noticed that most bow hunting shows on TV have no story line or substance for the adventure? For example where are the guys in camp shooting targets or sharing bow hunting stories. All I see is a bow hunters perched over a very green food plot shooting a deer with a name that was spotted using multiple trail cameras. Before and after the kill then comes the marketing campaign to let you know that you such and such product to be successful. I also like the Fred Bear shows where there was more of a story line than the actual kill footage.

Ron

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

The amount of work that would go into making a "quality" traditional bowhunting show would likely exceed the benefits. Someone that has plenty of money that isn't looking to get anything back would need to be the financial base of a project like this. Next, a hunter (or group of hunters) would need to donate their time to make something like this work.

So let's assume now we have a financial backing, and guys who will commit to doing this. Are these individuals capable of getting the footage (and type of quality footage) needed for a TV show? Some redneck with a handy cam isn't going to be marketable. I mean the right guy/guys who don't make all of us look pathetic in front of the rest of the world...and creatively filmed, edited, and brought to the public in a way that is nice to watch.

OK...so assuming we find this guy/guys/gal..whatever. Does this person/people even want to be a celebrity? Most Trad hunters are unlike the rest of the hunting public and don't want the attention.

Not trying to be a downer but instead a realist. I've done plenty of filming both solo and with a cameraman, and know how difficult it is to get what we're looking for here. Our effective shot distance greatly reduces out filmability, as well as our success rates.

Then we get to our shows marketability. All of us here would be more than happy to watch a program without a harvest at the end...but... does a TV broadcaster want a show of mostly leisure time with a bow in hand? I dunno!

As far as sponsors...Are there enough wealthy Trad companies to donate the amounts of money needed to produce a TV quality show? If so, be prepared for lots of advertising and commercials! Is there a financial backer who wants nothing in return...and a hunter/hunter that doesn't want compensation for all their time? And...in the end, do we all want a sub-par show as a representation of all of us?

Just some food for thought here....

[kill shot]

Ron, you are correct. No substance for the adventure. Also with the Fred Bear films there was no advertising not even for Bear archery equipment. After watching those shows I felt like his hunts were something I could do.

[kill shot]

Stickflingers, I don't think we would need a trad company for a sponser as there are so many products out there. What would be needed is someone who knows how to solicit a sponser. As far as getting good footage, I could take you to a place here in Michigan and get you in a position to get all the footage anyone could ask for. The show wouldn't need to be all about a hunt but rather digging deep into traditional archery. Like I said before, the show would consist of a wide scope of the traditional life. Bow fishing, build alongs, deer hunts, small game, archery shoots, bowyers, etc. All with informative structure and like Ron said " substance for adventure".

[randy grider]

not enough people in our sport to make anything off advertising, plus we are probably the thriftiest of all sportsman, buying less and building more of our gear than any. So, bottom line..., money.

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

kill shot...that's exactly what I was saying in terms of a Trad company sponsor....it likely won't happen. And soliciting a sponsor means either promoting and advertising for the person backing you, or a silent investor like I mentioned.

It's all the other things I mentioned....especially the elements of time and quality. Are the camera people, hosts/hunters, editors, and helpers volunteering their time? And...is all this being done in the quality that TV demands nowadays?

Not saying this isn't achievable just provoking thought...

[kill shot]

Randy, yes there is.

[hvyhitter]

even with quallity "film in the can" you still need a sponser to buy the "air time" on the outhouse channel. If they dont think that 100,000 people watch every time the episode airs its not worth the money for them................ Just look at e endless hours of total crap on national networks every night.............

[LongStick64]

It can be done when you consider that Hoyt is in the trad game with the hunting recurves they make. I wouldn't care if they marketed the bows as long as the show was educational and fun to watch.

[kill shot]

There are shows about bigfoot, ghosts, monsters, street gangs etc. I think what intrigues people is the adventure in this stuff. When I was a kid I would always watch Scooby Doo for this reason. I think adventure is what draws a crowd.

[bushwood]

All good points. But why would you have to limit sponsorship to trad companies, or even the hunting industry for that matter? Red Bull sponsors extreme sports like mountain biking and cliff diving for gosh sakes! Traditional archery certainly has a larger following than cliff diving and is encompassed within the hunting industry which dwarfs anything they sponsor.

As far as someone not wanting to be a celebrity, the hosts of the existing shows edit solely to massage their ego, i.e. the opening of all the shows with the host standing with their arms crossed, face painted with war paint, and the menacing looks on their faces. You could edit more cinematically without all the "face time." That's the draw to the older, Fred Bear style movies, their movies!

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

Sponsorship can be from anyone...just have to deal with advertising or possible "product pushing". If thats the only financial way to make a show happen then so be it... viewers need to understand that it takes $$$ to make a show. That doesn't mean that there would be plenty of complainers about advertising.

I fully agree about the show being about the art/lifestyle of Trad bowhunting and not about the "face" of a particular hunter.

Pretty sure it's obvious here that everyone is wanting to see the same kinda show...an obvious demand! Hope someone runs with this. I would if I if didn't already have a career, hunting business, and a house full of young kids. Time is my excuse...yours?

[ChuckC]

truthfully. . .  I really don't want someone following me everywhere I go.  I like sneaking alone.  Although it sounds neat to be a celebrity, I spent my whole life under some sort of deadline      , with people on both sides second guessing  what I am doing and why                 . .  Nah, someone else go for it.   Besides, I wouldn't know how to handle all the ladies that would be all over me as a celebrity.    
ChuckC

[Don Stokes]

Personally I wouldn't want to be associated with the hunting video industry these days. Bad company.