en Koerth and I presentedseminars at all the 2007 TTHAHunters Extravaganzas. They’re

always like homecoming for us, sincewe have developed many friendsamong those who faithfully attend theshows. These are great times to catchup on how everyone did last seasonand answer questions about the latestconcerns from the thousands ofhunters, landowners, and deer enthusi-asts who attend. David Blanton alsopresented talks on his years withRealtree Outdoors television. In mybook, David is one of the nicestChristian gentlemen I ever have hadthe pleasure of knowing. I respect himand his opinions very much.

I had the luxury of having enoughtime to sit in on one of David’s talks. Tomy surprise, it was not really abouthunting techniques, but about the insand outs of filming hunting shows.Since hearing David’s presentation, I’vebeen back in the woods taping showsfor North American Whitetail Television,hunting in Saskatchewan, Kansas,Florida, Texas, and Mexico, so far. I’vealso done shows for TTHA and certain-ly plan to do more. So in this column Ithought it might be interesting toexpand on some of David’s thoughts to

give you, The Journal readers, insightinto what really goes into making awhitetail hunting show.

15 Minutes Of Fame“It must be nice to be you!” That’s the statement I hear a lot as I

travel around the country. I certainlyam flattered by the statement, but inthe early days, I tried to explain that“being me” is not always so great.Believe me, I do not take myself veryseriously—my work yes, but notmyself! Each time I’ve ever been facedwith that statement, though, I carefullyexplain how different producing ahunting show is from watching one—or even hunting in general! I would tellabout the long hours, the countlessroad trips, being away from my bestfriend and wife, Susie, and on and on.But one day I realized this was not at allwhat people wanted to hear. TV view-ers of hunting shows wanted to thinksomeone has the perfect job, huntingand fishing for a living! I’ve given up,and now I simply say, “Yes, it really is!”

I truly have been blessed by God tohave grown up in the woods and tomake a living working with deer. Ispend more than 360 days a yearworking with, studying, and hunting

whitetails. I never tire of them, andnever grow weary of answering ques-tions posed by folks I run across. It iswhat I wanted to do when I was onlyseven years old, and it is what I will bedoing the day I leave for Heaven.

That is not to say my job does nothave its moments. There are countlessfrustrations, mostly with people eitheropposed to deer hunting or deer man-agement. Ignorance is not what drivesme crazy, it is the conviction in thatignorance that does! I also tire of deal-ing with bureaucrats and the politicalnature of wildlife management. Butthese frustrations dim when I am sit-ting in a tree, watching a buck try towin over the cute little doe in front ofme.

It Really Is A JobAs it obviously is with David, one of

the hardest things I do involves tapinghunting shows. The misconception isthat we arrive at a hunting camp, gettreated like royalty, and go out to killthe buck they have “tied up” for us.This past season, in Saskatchewan, aguy (embarrassingly, from Texas) evenhad the nerve to say that to my face!The reality, of course, is quite different.Yes, I usually am treated well by the

IT AIN’T AS EASY AS IT LOOKS!BByy DDrr.. JJaammeess CC.. KKrroollll,, PPhh..DD..

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outfitter, but most of them treat theother hunters just as well. I always tryto explain in advance I do not want anyspecial favors, I just want to hunt. I do,however, appreciate the honest apprais-al of the outfitter as to what thechances are of shooting a nice buck oncamera. Just because the guy has greatdeer and has killed monster bucksdoesn’t automatically guarantee I willhave a chance of getting the filming jobdone. One outfitter I hunted with inCanada, for instance, kills some greatbucks each year, but his success rate isaround 20%. Although he has the bestbucks, at several thousand dollars inproduction costs per show, it’s not agood idea to risk filming on such a lowprobability of a kill.

When we do choose a place to film,there are some concessions the outfitterhas to make in order for us to make agood show. And that means more trou-ble and work than some are willing todevote. First, there always are two peo-ple, me and my cameraman. So thatincreases the need for accommodationsand meals, not to mention accommo-dating two people in the field.Sometimes we just stay in a nearbymotel and eat out wherever it’s conven-ient. We’ve had some interestingadventures over the years, staying insome “fine” establishments. I particu-larly remember one motel in a TexasPanhandle town that had only sixrooms. When we drove up, I facetious-ly told my cameraman, “Wow, I betwe’ll get a free fly swatter with ourroom.” To our surprise, we did—andwe really needed it! Other times we

stay in the outfitter’s lodge and eat withthe other hunters. I enjoy meetinghunters and, again, never tire of talkingdeer hunting and management withthem.

We do a lot of homework just find-ing places to do a show. When it iscosting the producer thousands, andtime is even more important, you haveto have confidence in your choice. Inan earlier issue of The Journal, I wrote acolumn (“Fred”) discussing what I havelearned about picking and qualifyingan outfitter (Bob Robb has written anexcellent feature on the subject thatyou’ll find on page 52 of this issue). Ifpossible, I try to go to the place duringthe summer to check out the habitatand general setting of the area we’ll behunting. At times we even set upstands in advance to make it easieronce we arrive.

Notice I said stands, as in plural. It’sdifficult enough to take a trophy deerby yourself, but try to do it with twopeople and it gets even harder.Although a lot of outfitters now put upblinds and stands large enough toaccommodate two people, most do not.Too, it helps that most of the camera-men I have worked with are greathunters in their own right and in greatphysical condition. That wasn’t alwaysthe case prior to working with TTHAand NAWT—ever try to get into a sin-gle tree with a 300-pound man whohas a really bad cold? No matter howqualified the cameraman is, the diffi-culty in killing a great buck is quadru-pled just by having one along.

The cameraman has to be in closeproximity to the hunter, usually to oneside or just above. That way he canportray the proper perspective andcommunicate with the hunter.Remember, if the camera doesn’t recordthe kill, there rarely is a show, so Ioften admit I’m the least important per-son on the team. All I have to do is pullthe trigger or let the arrow fly. Thecameraman has the sobering responsi-bility of getting everything on tape.Now, let’s make it even more difficult.

Almost everyone doing a show usesthe latest equipment. High Definition

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cameras now are more the standardthan the exception they were two yearsago. That means a minimum invest-ment of $70,000 or more for equip-ment—just for one hunter. That equip-ment has two limitations: weight/sizeand light-gathering capability.

Getting a heavy camera into the treeand mounting it on something sturdyenough to shoot is a real chore, but it’ssomething you have to do, because yousimply cannot hold cameras like theseby hand like you do one used on thefamily vacation. Again, I am in awe ofcameramen who get this job done.Also, there is not a man or woman alivewho can hold a camera steady when agun goes off! If they can, I don’t want

to be around them, because they mustbe pretty weird.

The lighting factor is the other realproblem with taping shows. Ask your-self what time the average buck iskilled. Because we cannot get enoughlight to tape a high-quality show under

the low light conditions of early morn-ing and late evening, we have to sus-pend hunting about 20 to 30 minutesbefore dark and cannot start filminguntil about the same amount of timeafter first daylight. I have on manyoccasions let great bucks walk right bythe stand because the camera did nothave enough light to film.

There are other times, too, when thecameraman, no matter how competent,

simply cannot get on the deer. In theBig Bend country of Mexico, a fewyears back, I had to let an easy newworld record Carmen Mountain buckwalk because he was behind the cam-era. So you see, none of this made-for-TV stuff is as easy as it looks.

Look, I am the first to admit I lovemy job. For some reason, God hasgiven me the privilege to work withand champion the most amazing ani-mals on the planet! Yet whether it beme, Jerry Johnston, David Blanton, orany other personality on TV, doingwhat we do to bring you the best ofprogramming is not easy! And, okay, Ido have a great time doing it.

It helps that most cameramen I’ve worked with aregreat hunters in their own right and in great physicalcondition. That wasn’t always the case prior to work-ing with TTHA and NAWT—ever try to get into a singletree with a 300-pound man who has a really bad cold?

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