TV shows can't drop animals?

Interesting observation about some of TV show's show-up-n-shoot shooters.

I've thought the same thing time and time again, and the only reasonable explanation at under 200-yards is - "gut shot".

My first whitetail deer back in 1965 was taken with a then-new 6.5 Rem magnum, 120 gr factory ammo, broadside behind the buck's right-front leg, at 125 yards. Heart and lungs reduced to Jello-like substance and the deer fell right there in its own tracks.

Years later, I took three management bucks one weekend with three (3) shots - all at less than 200 yards - with a very accurate .22-250 Rem, 53 gr BTHPs - neck, heart and spine bullet placement, all with the same dropped-in-their-tracks results.

More recently, I took a large 11-pt with a Remington semi-auto chambered in .308 Win with a 150 gr. Hornady SST, at 125-paces. Heart and lungs were liquefied, but this big deer (200-lbs+) ran 20 yards only to collapse in a cane thicket.

I've taken three (3) one-shot mule deer with a .270 Win; two (2) at about 200 yards with the old 150 gr Fed Prem ammo & Nosler Partitions and one (1) with the old 130 gr Rem bronze points at 100 yards. Two dropped in their tracks, one ran downhill about 40 yards. All three were heart-lung but the runner was shot broadside.

It's not what you shoot that really matters - but where you hit that counts.

So like I said, the only reasonable explanation would be less-than-desirable shot placement.

I enjoy tracks across Africa.

Tend to agree with the overall tone here, most of the "shows" are pretty poor at best!
The part that has really put me off over the years, is the lack of anything approaching real skills!!
While I have done stand hunting, have hunted while hiking and most combination of the two, what strikes me often is just how poor many if not most of these are when it comes to closing the gap between hunter and prey! No stalking ability at all!!!
I have also been amazed at shots passed on because of distance. I am not talking hundreds of yards, too often it appears to be within 300, which I consider a fairly easy shot to make, most often.
As several have commented, too often the shows have had less to do with real hunting skills and more to do with selling stuff or talking up someone's ability, when in fact they just documented the opposite!

Cracks me up when I see all these guys finding the dead animal when it's dark. Hunting hard from a tree stand! That could almost be an oxymoron!!

@newmexkid. I agree that tree stand hunting sounds like an oxymoron. In my experience tree stand bow hunting for 12hrs a day is hard hunting. Do that for 4,5, or 6 days in a row and tell me if its a hard hunt. In a sit like this there are no books, cell phone playing, naps, lunch, coffee, or poops. Full attention is required 100% of the time. Durring the Iowa rut a monster is likely to cruise by at 1:30pm. If a mature whitetail scents or sees you durring a sit... forget it get down and pull the stand. He wont be bow shot from that stand. Tree stand hunting can be hard hunting.

iowaelkbum said:

@newmexkid. I agree that tree stand hunting sounds like an oxymoron. In my experience tree stand bow hunting for 12hrs a day is hard hunting. Do that for 4,5, or 6 days in a row and tell me if its a hard hunt. In a sit like this there are no books, cell phone playing, naps, lunch, coffee, or poops. Full attention is required 100% of the time. Durring the Iowa rut a monster is likely to cruise by at 1:30pm. If a mature whitetail scents or sees you durring a sit... forget it get down and pull the stand. He wont be bow shot from that stand. Tree stand hunting can be hard hunting.

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OK. I give you that. But, a few years ago I would have said...Backpack in for elk with me and we'll see how you feel after a week!

Cowboyshooter said:

Tend to agree with the overall tone here, most of the "shows" are pretty poor at best!
The part that has really put me off over the years, is the lack of anything approaching real skills!!
While I have done stand hunting, have hunted while hiking and most combination of the two, what strikes me often is just how poor many if not most of these are when it comes to closing the gap between hunter and prey! No stalking ability at all!!!
I have also been amazed at shots passed on because of distance. I am not talking hundreds of yards, too often it appears to be within 300, which I consider a fairly easy shot to make, most often.
As several have commented, too often the shows have had less to do with real hunting skills and more to do with selling stuff or talking up someone's ability, when in fact they just documented the opposite!

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Well I suppose it is pretty hard to stalk prey with a camera crew following you around.

I see more bowhunters lose deer than the rifle guys. They get to camp and hit the bullseye in the arrow blocks every time, only to gut shoot the deer from the stand. One thing to watch is the sunlight. As an old video guy, I see the cuts from a morning light to an afternoon light without anything being said. But the one real gripe I hear on every show is "we're hoping to get one tonight" instead of saying late afternoon or evening. It's against the law in my state to hunt deer at night.

@newmexkid. It would have been nice to do a backpack elk hunt with you. It would not be my first. The Sacramento range is awesome (36)! The biggest challenge would be drawing a tag again. The unguided nonresident tag availability is small.

JJ, I agree, Jimmy Big Time was about half my hunting trips when I was young. Always something going wrong because we primitive Pete'd so much stuff together because we could afford to fix it right. Now days for me hunting is about being with friends and my son. He has finally hung up his cleats for AFROTC then AF career. Sitting in a blind or a vehicle means so much more then pulling the trigger. I think we sometimes get away from that. How many guy's who hunted with their dad's would give their pinky finger for one more day in the blind together. That's what hunting is about to me today, not whacking a 180+ Whitetail, though if 1 walks buy I know my son can make that 1 shot stop and what a memory that will be!
Nice thread guys !

In at least one of the shows, starring Buck McNealy, the shot shown shows a puff of dust on the dear showing a gut shot. My experience with others I have shot with, the practice done bye most of them is one box about 1 or 2 weeks before the hunt. I won't go in the field without shooting much more, chronographing, and running a balistics chart even if I expect to hunt at 100 yards. 11 hunts, 11 deer, 11 bullets.

Bigaldepr said:

Well I suppose it is pretty hard to stalk prey with a camera crew following you around.

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Not if the situation is handled correctly. Camera crews do not need to be within 100 feet of the hunters or anywhere close by. That is the reason for longer lenses.
When I was much younger, shows would use this to stay away from the hunter and they were fun to watch and you were able to see the skill of people like Fred Bear and others. Some of that footage was incredible by any standard! Watching the skills of some of these people was also amazing and informative.
They showed true stalking skills, as well as great hunts, traits I took to heart, learned and practiced.

midnightmalloy said:

i don't have any of the hunting shows on my TV as I don't have cable or satellite, but I'm on a trip and watching these tree stand whitetail shows and nobody is dropping these deer. They must be using something different than me (Berger's) cause they shoot them at 75-200 yds and they run 300 or more yards and leave them over night many times! What am I missing here? It's just a general observation but it seems like on the EOL show, best of the west and Gunwerks shows they mostly drop. It's pretty crazy the difference.

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Unless you interrupt the CNS it's pretty rare for any animal to do the "bang flop" dying in their tracks.

There's a hell of a lot of editing that is done before the shows make it to your TV so don't believe everything you're seeing.

Most shows I've been around they hunt and kill the deer in one set then the next day more footage is shot putting in sponcers equipment, better dialog, follow up and recovery, half the recovered deer you see came out of a cooler and placed back in the field, if you see them stiff as a board and look skinny they are gutted, cleaned up and from the day before.