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pros hunting in IOWA

J

jdavis

Guest
During the last shotgun season a friend of mine let a "pro" hunter and his camera crew hunt her farm for 2 days only (she hunts also). After the 2nd day she asked them nicely if they were finished hunting because she was ready to hunt herself. The"pro" told her she could hunt the other side of her farm if she wanted. That was really nice of him to let the land owner hunt her own land. The "pro" and his camera crew would get out into the field at 8:00am and would drive the 4 wheeler to the stand driving all the deer to the nieghboring property. Needless to say they never harvested a deer but after they left the land owner and her hunting partner took a 160 class 13 pointer on the property across the road from where the "pro" was hunting.I wounder what makes someone a pro?
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Money and not having to work for a living I guess. Maybe one big buck under their belt. Or knowing the right person.
 
The place I hunt has a few of these so called pros, and i ran into these guys once, they were getting out their cameras and getting all their scentlok crap on, and i stopped by to ask them where they were gonna hunt, because they were in the same field that i had a stand in, and i wasnt gonna hunt it, until i talked to these guys, they basically tried to tell me I couldnt hunt there because thats where all the deer came from, I was like duh, why do you think my stand is there? They introduced theirselves as im such and such and im on alot of the outdoor shows and blah blah blah, and i when i told them i never heard of them they just got kind of pissed. so after they tried to tell me i couldnt hunt there, i changed my plans and hunted there and passed on a 140 class buck and tons of does which they ended up shooting in the next few days, but some of them just act like god, ive hunted with many others and they are great guys, just a few with big heads i guess
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I think I know your friends hunting partner? He is a very good hunter and a real nice person. He has harvested many big bucks over the years.
 
you are right he is a good hunter and has tought me alot.
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I do know some pro hunters that are very good hunters/deer managers and some that are not so good. But, the one thing they all have in common is what is in it for me. They are more worried about the story line, hunting the best property and the video shot than in being a good hunter/polite sportsman. Fame can be very corrupting!
 
so who were the "pros" or what shows do they shoot for? nothing stated here could be deemed slanderous. and if these jerks got some bad publicity, maybe their attitudes would change
 
TeeRoy Im not gonna say who they were and who they were hunting for, just because I dont want to start a war on the site, because im sure many love their shows and ive watched them too, many times on tv. I do like there shows though, its just the group of guys that I talked to would hardly talk to me and told me where i could and could not hunt and I had permission to be there and had my stands set a good month before they had even came there. Part of the problem I think why they were rude to me was because i was 20 at the time, and the label most people that age get is, well they dont know anything about hunting. So I guess I just kind of live with that from some people that I run into the woods. Its the one thing that really chaps my hide is people that think just because your younger means you dont know what your doing, and I think thats what made me the most upset about talking with those guys. They made me feel inferior to them and i shouldnt have been in the woods. Little did they know I had 42 deer under my belt at the time and more patience than most of them from some of the bucks ive seen them shoot, oh well thats how it goes lol. One thing about them they do have my dream job, but if i were them I would be a role model, like they should be, respect all other hunters, and introduce young hunters into the hunting world and practice QDM and respect mother nature, instead of thinking im King, im not saying all are like this, i ran into many others that were great guys and Ive learned many things from them
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To me there is no such thing as a pro hunter. Hunters are hunters the only thing that makes some better than others is location, location, location. You have to be in an area where there is big game to kill big game. Usually what puts you on big animals is money. I know a guy who has never shot a deer over 125 and this year he spent 3000.00 on some outfitter in Iowa, was told where to sit, when to get down and shot a 160. If he does this for a few years is he a professional hunter. Should he have his own show. I think not! A professional to me is someone who stands out at there profession because they have more talent or ability. It doesn't take talent or ability to scout some property and find a funnel or a scrape line. But not everyone can kick a 50 yard field goal or throw a ball 98 mph.
 
I hate to tell the name of the hunter or magizine but I'm sure you have the magizine in your house. I did not mean to sound like all "pro" hunters are bad because they are not. I believe that hunting starts in the spring, making food plots, timber stand managent, putting up tree stands,scouting,and many other factors are all a part of hunting. The easy part is climbing a tree. I spend more time in the timber during the off season than during the hunting season and believe me I spend many,many hours in the stand. Just because someone covers there truck with decals does not mean they would know how or where to put up a stand. In defense of some of the better hunters they have taught me many things about QDM and I'm am very grateful to them.
 
I'm with balding eagle, I don't know what makes a "pro hunter". I'm sure more than anything it is time and money. How else can you do nothing but hunt?? If I had the time and $$ would I be a "pro"? I'm sure I could be. It takes talent to play other sports, not to find the deer, hang the stand and make the shot.
 
The reason they are "pro's" is because that is their profession. If you were a carpenter for a living then you would be a professional carpenter. Alot of you talk bad about these "pro's" but like earlier stated, do you buy hunting magazines, do you watch the hunting shows when they are on television, maybe even buy their movies? Everyone talks about how they will not buy the movies because it just supports the "pro's." Thank god that we don't get started on other professional sports.
 
QDMer,
I'm not trying to rip on your friend here, but why would she let someone hunt on her property knowing that she wanted to hunt there also? Sounds to me like she knew what she was getting into and maybe wanted in on a little of the "fame" for herself? I could be wrong, just sounds a little goofy. Once again, no offense to your friend.
CRITR
 
I have a question then, how exactly do these "pro hunters" make there money? Take a singer for example, They make a cd, sell it, go on tour, make video to promote the cd, right!
Usually the singer has to have a "special voice or talent" that makes them who they are. I've never seen anyone draw a bow better or put on there scentlok suit better than another.

The pro hunter makes a video which could take years (how are they getting paid in the meantime) they sell it and I don't figure they sell half as many as any decent singer or band. They go on tour but who listens to someone with no credentials or a small few. You have to get on quality land and If your a nobody professional hunter I don't see you getting on much quality land for free so who pays for that?

Say I shoot 5, 150 class deer on film, perfect film. I sell this film to one of these guys for 2000.00 a deer say. That's 10,000, First of all it's going to take a bit to kill 5 150's Second is 10,000 going to pay my bills over the period of time it takes me to kill these 5 deer. Probably not! Third are Bass pro shops Cabelas, going to write me checks? Are people going to want to listen to me at seminars, I doubt it!

i guess the whole problem with this is us the hunters who support them. I know 4 or 5 guys who have killed bigger deer and are nicer guys than the "pro" hunters who grace the outdoor channel with parades of 100 inchers.

Next time I get the urge to buy a hunting video I'll give the $16.00 to one of my hunting buddies.
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If you are familiar with the "barbwire buck" I'm sure the guy who hit the barbwire was busy all year watching that deer, making foodplots, cutting out stands to hunt the deer and shed hunting for his sheds. Right!
 
I'm going to disagree a little bit based on what others have said. It was mentioned that it doesn't take any special talent to find a funnel or a scrapeline. Did I miss something? I feel that some people are just consistently better at finding deer sign, and analyzing it - no matter what part of the country you are in. It's a big logic puzzle, and some people are better at figuring it out than others. So I disagree when someone mentiones it doesn't take talent to find a funnel or scrapeline - it takes talent to find the right ones to hunt.

Another thing - being a "professional" hunter is a business. The money that's received from endorsement deals and video submissions may be part of a salary, maybe not. I know quite a few hunters that are very well-known in the hunting industry. The ones I've met are very down to earth people. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience.
 
Here's a thought. Say the Lovstuen's had filmed the harvest of their World Record NT, how many copies do you think would get sold. My point being, big bucks make big money, and you don't have to be a "pro" to get in the game.

CRITR
 
Well, I look at it a little differently I guesse.Most of these guys hunt to endorse a product they are already selling.Like advertising kind of.Realtree, Mossy oak, Knight and Hale, etc.. they are already in the hunting industry but the monies coming from their products not the deer they kill.I realize there are exceptions to this but I cant think of to many.If its not products its something else their selling, outdoor writers for example get paid for the articals they write, not the deer they kill.I think hunting all the times more of a added benefit of running a company that hunting related than it is a good money maker.

Actually Im not even sure theres such a thing as a professional hunter, some are definately better at it than others but I dont think theres really a defining thing that makes someone a pro.
 
milo hansen made a million on his. and why not he is the one that shot it, took it ethically. let him reap the benefits for putting in the hard work. i think that money shouldnt make a sportsman if i shot a deer i would never endorse a product or show off my deer for money but that just me. bottom line is if you shot the next world record and became some kind of pro dont do it for the money or the product, do it cause you love the outdoors. that is why my hat is off to mitch rompola he has the world record hands down beats the hansen buck. and he didnt take the money or the fame and now everyone says it was fake or he is full of it, but my heart goes out to him a true sportsman in my book.

the moose,

oh but i do like uncle ted too
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