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John's Journal... Entry 105, Day 4

HOW TO KEEP THE HUNT OF A LIFETIME

WHAT'S THE TOUGHEST AND EASIEST HUNTS TO VIDEO

EDITOR'S NOTE: We don't have to depend on our memories to relive the best hunts of our lifetimes. Modern technology enables us to capture the essence of great hunts, good hunts and even enjoyable, non-productive hunts through video. But how do you film your hunt and try to take game at the same time? Which cameras will serve you best? What's the best technique for getting top-notch footage? Where and how can you get a hunting buddy to shoot footage for you instead of trying to take a deer or a turkey for himself? Can you make a living shooting hunting videos? To learn the answers to these questions and more, we've interviewed some of the best videographers in the outdoor industry. These people use video cameras to tape television shows and to create the best-selling videos in the nation. Follow their advice to make the kind of videos your friends will lean out of their chairs to watch instead of nodding off to sleep when you turn on the VCR.


Ronnie "Cuz" Strickland, the senior vice-president of media and television for Mossy Oak in West Point, Mississippi, directs the department that produces "Mossy Oak's Hunting the Country" and "Remington Country" TV shows plus 10 hunting videos each year. Strickland entered this field in 1986 as a part-time cameraman for Will Primos of Primos Game Calls. At that time, he had to lug a huge camera around that shot ¾-inch tape.
While Strickland has filmed hundreds of hunts in the past 15 years, he considers a white-tailed deer bowhunt in the South the hardest video to film. "In the South, your best chance to see deer moving is early in the morning and late in the evening when you don't have enough light to video," Strickland explains. "The South has very thick and heavy foliage; so, seeing the buck before he's in bow range is extremely difficult. Warm temperatures keep the deer from moving frequently, and the high temperatures will cause you to sweat. The deer are much more likely to smell you than they are in other places at other times. I believe that getting good video footage of a Dixie white-tailed deer bowhunt is as tough an assignment as any videographer can have."
Strickland overcomes these problems by getting other people involved in the hunt. He uses guides and local hunters to help him find the most-productive places to hunt and the best spots to set up his tree stands. He often asks his friends to put the stands in place before the Mossy Oak video team arrives.
"The best way to overcome most of the problems with videoing deer hunts in the South is to involve a lot of other people who know what you're trying to do and will help you accomplish those goals," Strickland emphasizes.

What's The Easiest Hunt To Video
Strickland names a turkey hunt as the easiest hunt for him and the Mossy Oak crew to video. He says videoing turkey hunts remains his favorite form of outdoor recreation. "Turkeys are vocal, and you can keep up with their locations even if you can't see them," Strickland remarks. "By knowing where the turkeys are, you can point your camera in the right direction and prepare to shoot the video long before you see the bird.
"We seem to have more encounters with turkeys daily than we do any other game animals. But more importantly, I love to film turkey hunts because I love to turkey hunt. Turkeys do so many things that are pleasing to the audience and that cause a videographer to really appear as though he knows what he's doing with a camera."
If you video your hunts, then you don't have to depend on
your memory to relive those exciting experiences. Too, you
can share that adventure with family and friends after the
hunt. On a cold, bad-weather day when you...
*can't go hunting;
*have had to work overtime and don't get to hunt;
*have had an illness that keeps you from hunting;
*or find old age has put you permanently in a rocking chair,
you can visually document those whopping-big hunting tales of great adventure and unforgettable friends with your videos.


TOMORROW: TOP 15 SECRETS OF VIDEOGRAPHERS TO GET GREAT HUNTING


 


 

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about Videoing Hunts...

Day 1 -HOW TO KEEP THE HUNT OF A LIFETIME
Day 2 -WHAT'S THE BEST EQUIPMENT FOR BETTER VIDEO?
Day 3 -HOW TO DECIDE WHO GETS TO HUNT AND WHO GETS TO VIDEO AND MAKE MONEY
Day 4 -WHAT'S THE TOUGHEST AND EASIEST HUNTS TO VIDEO
Day 5 -TOP 15 SECRETS OF VIDEOGRAPHERS TO GET GREAT HUNTING

John's Journal