misleading articles

cabinfever

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Its easy to pick up one of the many western hunting magazine and thumb threw the pages in awe at all the big bucks and bulls being killed in the western US. And, if your like me, you wonder how some can be so consistent.Are they exceptional hunters, or do they have access to trophy animals the public does not. Wether you kill your trophy on public or private, guided or DYI, you have my respect, and I'm sure the trophy has the admiration of all hunters alike. Consequently I have read some articles recently where I knew the circumstances behind the taking of the trophy in question and it was mislaeading. In one of the articles the hunter boasted of taking his trophy on an OTC tag which was true, but what he failed to disclose was that it was killed on private land where there are some exceptional animals. In another article the hunter in question boasted of taking the animal on public land DIY when in fact it was killed on private land. It just seems to me these editors need to dig a little deeper and have a little more quality control when they are selecting articles they want to publish. I think those who spend their money to purchase these publications deserve accurate information. I'm especially impressed with those hunters who can kill big bucks year in and year out on public land DIY hunts.These are my favorite articles to read. However, I'm in no way against those who kill trophy animals on private land. Just call a spade a spade.
Am I the only one who has noticed this trend.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-03-07 AT 01:26PM (MST)[p]No cabinfever, you are definately not alone, i see it too.
I'm not exactly sure as to why a few writers don't disclose ALL the "minor details" of their hunts, other than maybe they are just protecting their "honey hole or secret spot" from too many people catching on...i don't know.

Another "mislead" to the average Joe hunter is Eastman's Journal and tv program. They boast the phase "No Fences" which makes a lot of people think they are not hunting "high fence" area's, which they definately are not hunting, but they DO infact hunt a lot of private land (leases)that IS fenced from the general public.
Let me reiterate what i just said as to keep my arse out of trouble here....they DO hunt a LOT of private land (leases)which ARE fenced from the public, but not always. And the "fenced areas" they are on, are NOT "canned hunts", only "private land hunts".



Skull Krazy
"No Bones About It"
 
skullcrazy, yea we all know that "no fences" slogan has to go and that's coming from someone who likes and subscribes to the eastmans journal.
I know a guy here in my home town that has killed some unbelievable animals and while he is an ok hunter what most people don't know is that they have all been killed on private land with some being some high dollar hunts on some top notch ranches.Again nothing wrong with hunting private ranches but call the hunt what it is.

Mike
 
Make that one more who agrees with everything you guys have said. I'm not even going to say I wouldn't hunt some private property, if I could afford it...maybe I would.

But, there is a difference between bringing home a large mature DIY buck from public land and doing the same thing from ANY area from which most of us are excluded.

Those details should be "mentioned" somewhere.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-03-07 AT 02:43PM (MST)[p] EXACTLY....COULD NOT AGREE MORE. YOU SEE AN EXCEPTIONAL ANIMAL KILLED & ADVERTISED AS DIY,PUBLIC ECT....ONLY TO GET THE "REST OF THE STORY" IN A MAGAZINE. TURNS OUT THERE WERE 15 PRE HUNT SCOUTERS, ONCE IN A LIFE TIME LE TAG, ECT ECT. I DONT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT EXCEPT THAT IT WAS A MIS -REPRESENTED HUNT IN THE FIRST PLACE.....YD.
 
cabinfever Mike-
I hope i didn't make it sound like i didn't like the Eastman's or it's magazines. I hardly miss a program or an issue myself. I was simply commenting on how the slogan COULD mislead a few people. The Eastman's do a lot of video and stories on both public & private ground....which by the way, i totally respect.


Skull Krazy
"No Bones About It"
 
Good call Cabin,

Seems as though some outdoor writers want to practice their fiction writing skills :)

Kind of amusing since if the read was unflattering or diminishing facts, there would be an out cry, but since it is merely hyperbole, they are quite fine with the article.

A way to put these jokers in check would be to call them on their B.S. like here, expose the fiction parts, maybe then, mags. would be more inclined to check the content closer.

Kind of like a hunting snopes site for tall huntin story's.

On the other-hand maybe huntin is akin to fishin where exaggeration is the standard.
 
I think at best the editors need to indicate wether it was killed on public or private, guided or DIY. I like how some editors put info like the gear they used, rifle, bullet, stradegy ect.....I also like how they will give credit to the outfitter and guide whether it's a public or private land hunt.
Not sure if any of you remember the article a few years back about a kid and his dad who shot a big buck that was locked up with another big buck. The warden let them keep both bucks. Great story, until a few moths later after further investigation it was discovered the bucks were taken illegally.
I'm not saying every editor is going to catch every knot head who has an ego issue with a tall tale, but if I were putting my name on a magazine I'd be carful what I publish. Ask questions and have high standards about what you want to publish. Just cuz the trophy scores high doesn't mean ya have to publish the story.
 
I myself would rather read about a DIY hunt on public land than any other kind of hunt story. I would love to see a DIY Public Land Western hunting magazine. It just means more to me to see someone do it all by themselves. I also enjoy guided hunt stories but the DIY's are the best of the best. fatrooster.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-04-07 AT 10:28PM (MST)[p]Personally, DIY is what its all about. Worst article I ever read was in Hunting Fool. Guy took 2 400" bulls in one year, Utah and Nevada. Both hunts had several guides looking for top end bulls. Utah was anti-climatic because of the LE unit tag, quality guides and rut. Guy shot a solid 400" bull. Then Nevada.

Late hunt, November. Numerous sub-guides looking for a particular bull that had disappearred during the rut. Season was coming to a close and no bull. Finally one of the guides, Jason I believe, found the bull. Hunter got a call and flew/drove over. He took the bull a day or 2 later. Thats as bad to me as a lion guide calling you and saying that his dogs have a lion treed, come kill it.

Not jealous. Rather take a 300" bull on a DIY, public land hunt. In my book, that Nevada bull would rank right just above a poached animal.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-05-07 AT 10:21AM (MST)[p]Ooo, I may not want to step in to this, but I will....

Several years ago, I shot a tremendous buck on a CWMU.I did buy the landowner tag, normally out of my consideration, but the guy made me an offer I could both afford and not refuse. The story was featured in Eastman's. I took a lot of heat from some strangers that had seen the buck in the magazine. The heat came in the form of 'you are less of a hunter because it was private land, that buck was practically tame'. Nevermind the fact that the area wasn't fenced (albeit a few pastures with three-strand), and that the buck was probably from Colorado and had fled the open bowhunt there to rest on this land, and I just plain got lucky. He died within sight of the border, as a matter of fact. Despite all that, and the fact that I did my time scouting, did my public service by helping the landowner post the checkerboard nightmare this CWMU was, that buck is still thought of as 'easy' and I am considered somehow less of a hunter. A friend of mine stalked a bull moose that spent his day eating the local golf course back to his bed and shot him in his bed on public land, and you should have seen the uproar about the 'tame moose'.

Fast forward a bit. Antelope tag in a unit with mixed private and BLM. Did my research again and found landlocked BLM within the private. Did my public service again and obtained permission to trespass through. Killed the buck on BLM, but within private (again, open range with 3-strand). Am I again somehow less of a hunter? Was that buck somehow less of a challenge? I can tell you he was not, it took me 3 stalks over 3 days to finally put a hole in him.

While I agree that taking an animal on high-fence is not hunting in my book, and having 12 sub-guides sleep on a buck or bull somehow diminishes the experience, these are my own opinions. Wildlife has fueled a new economy, one that eventually the average Joe like me and you will not be able to afford. There will always be those who can buy tags, and those who cannot, but the gap seems to be growing, just as we are, and the land adjacent to public land keeps shrinking while trophy homes park smack dab on winter range. How do we stop it? No idea, wish TR was here to help us out on this one. I do know that if we continue to bash each other, we only give fuel to those who wish to outlaw our passion all together.

Should the magazines become editorial police or should we expect the hunter to come clean? I dunno for sure. I just enjoy sharing the stories, and sharing the WORK that I put into each hunt, public or private, I don't expect it to be handed to me. I think a majority of trophy hunters would do the same, and if given a chance to hunt a choice piece of private, they would, just as I did.

This whole idea that private land animals are less challenging than public land animals merely because they receive less pressure is akin to a bowhunter telling a riflehunter that they are better hunters because of their short-range weapons. The Wasatch Front receives TREMENDOUS pressure, and yet gigantic bucks are still pulled from the mountains every year, some from people's backyards, some from chest deep snow (which would disqualify them from the record book). Do we call these hunters lazy?

We are incredibly lucky to have millions of acres of public land at our disposal! Go much east of Colorado, and the norm is private, because most of those states are OWNED by private parties. I sincerely doubt you'd find this argument in the Eastern states, and I guarantee you that whitebutt hunters believe that muleyear hunters have it easy.

My response to that usually is-who says I can't shoot an animal under 30 yards with a rifle??? (I have, and have missed a ton more, perhaps I should stick with the bow).

It's all about perception. Even with the truth, the perception will remain until we band together as hunters, public and private, and do something about it.

Let the bashing begin, I'm headed to listen to elk singing amongst freshly rained upon pine......and perhaps catch a wapiti in his bed where I can turn him into breakfast backstrap.

Pred



Ok, on second read, I got carried away. I was attempting to emphasize that once can DIY on private just as much as public, so a blanket statement about private vs. public may not be warranted.

Perhaps I should have just said that! Forgive me, for I am blonde, and I get blonder in the fall when my mind wanders to what I might be missing in the hills when I'm stuck in front of my puter!!
 
I agree totally. Most of the guys that bash private land hunting and say the only way is the DIY Public Land way would jump at the chance to hunt private if the opportunity presented itself. Every situation is different. I have hunted both private and public ground and like to hunt period. It is what you make it. Personally, I don't think shooting deer or elk in velvet at a summer water hole is any different than shooting one during the rut ot baiting them in, but to each is own. The cruxt of this thread "misleading articles" is the result of some thinking that Public Land DIY hunting is ethically more correct so they skew the facts of their hunt stories in order to "Conform". JMO

T264
 
Here's where it hits me. I kinda admire those guys that take huge bucks consistently, and when they claim it was DIY on public lnad, it fuels my hopes of taking a one like they took.

I keep reading these stories saying they are legit DIY, public land----the way I hunt----then get disapointed when I find out they actually had two guides, and where actually on private land, located it with chute planes etc.....

I am not backing private land hunting or guides. but it sucks getting all pumped up over a huge buck that was allegedly killed the way I like to hunt, then find out it really wasn't. Kinda makes me lose a little hope....

Anyway, its causing me to read a lot fewer mags..

Done.

Mark
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-05-07 AT 12:40PM (MST)[p]I pretty much still go with the "believe half of what you read" theory....I know that ain't how it goes, but it's where I am with it.

The shows piss me off more than the rag articles. These guys touting DIY hunts, want you to believe that they don't have:
6 guides
3 cameramen
2 soundmen
16 horses
4 wall tents, 14' X 14', heated
3 horse wranglers
2 camp cooks
4 wives
2 brothers in law
1 Citation Jet
6 misc gofers
3 porta johns
1 EMT
Nobody works up a sweat, gets bloody or is exhausted in wrinkled clothes.
To them, the DIY part is the actual pulling the trigger.

Ok, Ok, maybe the Citation isn't actually at the campsite..
 
Hey nickman, why ya stereotyping us Utah guys and insulting our herds of wives?? ;-)



Skull Krazy
"No Bones About It"
 
I guess I will bring this up to the top again to add a couple of thoughts. We ALL fudge our hunting stories to some degree. We play up our good days, forget about our bad days and generally omit details that would be appear to be unseemly. I am not good enough to kill animals big enough for the magazines, for the most part, and if I did I doubt I would go that route (but you never know). But it makes sense to me that people that show up in the pages of the western trophy mags are doing what we all do when it comes to relating hunting stories. We all know how the game works. But most of us just love the experience, want to have a good time, and hope to find a whopper.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-09-07 AT 02:10PM (MST)[p]>>Seems as though some outdoor writers want to practice their fiction writing skills<<

Careful here.

For the most part, "Outdoor writers" do not submit articles to magazines such as Eastman's. They rarely pay for anything, preferring to have HUNTERS -- not professional writers -- supply the articles while the mag owners reap the profits from advertisers.

Obviously anyone who makes a living as an outdoor writer would be foolish to give work away. Glory isn't very tasty on the table. ;-)

Most mainstream magazines that pay writers usually have copy editors and fact checkers to keep the lies to a minimum. And most pro outdoor writers are credible enough to point out the facts where and how a particular animal is killed. Liars don't get much repeat work. -TONY
 
How does everyone expect the editors to truly verify all these stories when half the time they can't even communicate with correct grammar? Its not like they are publishing the wall street journal. Eastmans does a pretty good job getting DIY stuff. They usually don't publish the story about a hundred thousand dollar tag with 15 guides and spotters. But everyone knows they themselves have access to a lot of private land. I think Muley Crazy reported in their mexico issue that eastmans had accidentally published a story about a high fence hunt that was passed off as DIY. In my opinion the problem isn't eastmans it is the loser who tried to pass it off.

When you really stop and think about it when was the last time you got something from one of those reader generated stories? Its just for entertainment, a few good photos, a way to keep a general trend on different trophy areas, and something to keep your brain occupied until you are out in the field the next time.

Sometimes I think public land hunters begrudge private land hunters more because they are jealous than because they really think that public land hunting is a higher calling. Its just a justification.
 
Regardless of where they were killed, I've officially measured some of those bucks after being in a mag with a score given and just looking at the 2 scores one would have to assume they were different deer.

JB
 
Who really cares about others judging your hunting method- Public or Private? I do what I do, enjoy what I enjoy. I think people get too caught in how everyone should hunt.

Predator gives some great examples. All of them are perfectly fine by me. I would bet most of her critics, given a higher IQ, would haven taken advantage of the same opportunities.
 
>>Who really cares about others judging your hunting method- Public or Private?<<

Don't think that is the issue. The subject of the thread is "Misleading Articles," i.e. skirting the truth or outright lying. -TONY
 

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