Hey Fin congrats on the tag. Do you ever have problems with guys finding out where you are going to hunt and then show up to "help"? Seem like it could cause problems for you.
Idaho Results - See you this fall
- Thread starter Big Fin
- Start date
Hey Fin congrats on the tag. Do you ever have problems with guys finding out where you are going to hunt and then show up to "help"? Seem like it could cause problems for you.
Yeah, it happens. It is all with good intention and desire to help, so I try to keep it in that perspective. Yet, we are working from daylight to dark, so my personal feelings of obligation to visit with the folks and try to stay "approachable" often puts us behind the curve with our work. Until people are actually in an episode, it is hard to understand all that must be done to get everything we need for a good story that is coherent.
Often times we have things happen really fast and we might not catch it the way we want. So, we have to sit down and interview me or a guest hunter and use our narrative to tie together the pieces that did work and serve as a gap for the pieces we didn't get on the fly.
We always start with a storyline that is as good as we can project, based on our experience hunting that species/location/weapon. We might be struggling to get the story to work the first three days and then all of a sudden something happens on Day Four that sends the story in a completely unexpected direction. When that happens, we lose most of our work from Days 1-3 and then have to try cram the new story in Days 4-5, plus hopefully get and encounter and fill a tag.
The other reality is that when you add the cost of camera guys, tags, travel, film permits, editing, music license, etc. I've got $15-20K tied up in each episode. I need to get an episode out of that trip. Just a function of budgets in an enterprise that is at best a break-even proposition. I can't let my desire to be approachable and friendly to all who stop by or all who offer to help get in the way of leaving that hunt without some sort of story to tell. I think my crew and those who have been on hunts would attest that if I do seem a bit tight toward the end, it is not because we have failed to fill a tag, it is because the storyline is not coming together the way I want it.
The good part about hunting on public lands without guides, is that if you hunt hard and execute your production plan, a story will eventually evolve. My job, even more so than filling a tag, is to see that story and understand how it can be told with our cameras. I feel I am much better at that now than I was when we started eight years ago. If we have more trying seasons like we had last season, I might run out of ideas as to how to make "silk from a sow's ear." We had a lot of bad luck last year, just like we had a lot of good luck the year before.
Since people see us filming other hunters, this time of year I get a couple emails each day from people wanting us to film them on the great tag they drew. Whether it is a sheep hunt, moose, goat, a superb elk tag, or whatever. It is hard for me to explain to them why that is a bad idea. As much as I think they want their hunt recorded for history, in most instances, we are going to be a big imposition to those people and the fun of their hunt.
Even when we did the Mountain Goat hunt with Randy11, I tried my best to talk him out of it, for fear we would screw up a special opportunity. When he told me Ross and Gerald were going to help, I was even more concerned and not because of them, but because of the challenge in building multiple characters into an episode that allows for 22 minutes of total content. In retrospect, I am glad we did film it. I am glad I spent so much time trying to talk Randy out of it, as I think that helped set the expectation that we would be a big imposition. And I am really glad Ross and Gerald were there to help, as they were the perfect guys for the role each person had. And I am really glad we filmed that hunt, as it turned out to be one of top stories in the years of doing this.
I'm kind of getting away from your question, but my point is that we have a lot of work to do in five days. We have a lot of money invested and if things go south, it is not like we can just go somewhere else and buy a tag over the counter and hunt deer in June to make up for a hunt that got messed up. Once this schedule is locked, and it is really close to locked for this upcoming season, I have to make it work. As much as I want to be who I am at heart, a person who enjoys visiting with others, there are times when we are producing episodes in the field that I must temper than and make sure we get what we need.
To any who may have stopped by to help at one time , or anyone who offered to come and help and we did not take you up on it, I hope you understand. As much as some see this as walking around and taking a few segments of footage, it is a highly planned exercise. To get a 20 minute final product, we are usually filming 12-15 hours of footage. And that is not just random footage where we turn on the cameras and let it roll. These are all 1-5 minute segments, shot with a purpose of fitting into the story line.
And on top of that, we still have all the other details of setting camp, cooking meals in the dark, trying to get some rest, dealing with weather and fickle equipment, etc. It is for this reason that the people you see as guests are people I know and people who understand all we have at play. If I ask them to shoot, I want them to shoot. If they are not willing to commit to that, as they might have bigger aspirations of what they want to hang their tag on, best we know that in June, so we don't end up taking them on a hunt and having a big misunderstanding in November.
Fortunately, I have some great contacts who will do anything to help further this self-guided public land mission. The list is too long to name here. Some are never in front of the camera, but work their butts off for our benefit. Some do a bit of both. For all, we are extremely lucky and very grateful.
Hope that makes sense.
Ultrahunter
Active member
That sounds horrible Fin! I couldn't do it. I've tried filming my own hunts just for fun and as much as I enjoyed reviewing those hunts, the camera was a burden that I got rid of. I can't imagine all those other influences as well. Do you ever think about hanging it up and just go hunting? I respect you and your show and hope to see 22 minutes of an excellent Idaho deer hunt next year! Good luck
You mean like when the largest bull I would have ever shot is standing broad side across an Arizona Canyon at 280 yards, but since the camera guy sent me with my own camera when he split off with the other hunter, and by the time I got all the gear set up, time and noise now has the bull quartering hard away, in a cross wind, and I have to thread it through some junipers before he trots off with his buddy? Yeah, it is times like that when you wish you could hunt without cameras.
Or, the time you have a Unit 57 Wyoming antelope tag and you only have two days to scout/hunt and you don't get to give it all you had hoped for with such a special tag for such a special species? Yeah, times like that make you wonder why you do it.
Or, like when you go to AK on a moose hunt and you have to film everything in the rain, and you realize your 16' john boat, loaded with four people and all the production gear is not going to allow too much mobility? Yeah, there are times like that when insanity does enter the mind.
Or .........
But, if not for having cameras with us, the stories we tell and our advocacy for the public land hunting experience would not have developed. Even with the instances mentioned above, I realize it's what I signed up for. Since I keep doing it, I must find the benefits to be worth the occasional frustrations.
I'm glad I found the new season of Fresh Track will begin airing in my area next week. There are so few hunting shows that are worth watching. The fact that Fresh Tracks takes place on public land that any of us can access and hunt makes it one of the best shows out there.
Ultrahunter
Active member
Yeah thats a huge bull. I wouldnt make a TV host at all! 
Randy- You are very good at what you are doing and that's apparent by how easy you make it look! I'm often a bit green with envy at how you have setup yourself up to do what you do. But, when you give the behind the scenes stories it becomes apparent why I don't do what you do. Good luck in Idaho!
smarandr
Well-known member
I went 3 for 4. However, it helps when two of the tags are unlimited.
bigdonniebrasco
Active member
So about $1,000 per minute...................kind of like when my wife shops at whole foods!?
I started filming my hunts 2 or 3 years ago. It is a commitment you make but I don't take it to seriously. If I miss a shot on TV so be it. It is fun but a lot easier filming whitetail hunts. Once you have a routine down it isn't that bad.
I couldn't imagine trying to film a western hunt by yourself.
Todd Syruws
New member
- Joined
- May 31, 2016
- Messages
- 1
Struck out again
MTpubliclander
Member
Late Muzzleloader deer and November Muzzleloader elk for me!!!!
huntid73
Active member
Congrats Randy! Cant wait to see this hunt.
JustSamson
New member
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2016
- Messages
- 3
Congrats Randy,
I'll be in Idaho as well this year. I drew a bull Elk tag in unit 44. No clue what to expect but I'm going full speed non the less.
Good luck with your hunt.
Samson
I'll be in Idaho as well this year. I drew a bull Elk tag in unit 44. No clue what to expect but I'm going full speed non the less.
Good luck with your hunt.
Samson
ida homer
Well-known member
54 rifle.
