© 2009 Albert A Rasch
hebetudinous- the state, condition, or quality of being dull, enervated, or lethargy. Dull or lethargic, especially relating to the mind.
Here is a blog that I thoroughly enjoy. The Thinking Hunter is written by Galen Geer. Mr Geer is a Marine Corps and Army veteran, angler, and hunter. He also spins a pretty good yarn, a thinking man's yarn.
His latest installment, Not Making Any Friends with The Outdoor Network broaches a subject that I have frequently talked about with folks, but never written about.
"...I was struggling to watch The Outdoor Channel. Either the network’s executives are only functionally literate or they are dedicated to the principle that if we show enough trash we will destroy fishing and hunting.""...personally I think many of them are somewhat hebetudinous."
I feel much as Mr Geer does. I rarely watch any hunting or fishing shows. And honestly I think the hunting shows in general are far worse than any of the fishing ones, with few exceptions.
Here's an interesting idea. For those of you that frequently watch hunting or fishing shows, let us know which ones you watch and give us a quick idea on how it reflects on the sporting person. I only get VR on my provider, but I am going to catch a few shows in the next couple of days and give my opinion in the comments section.
This might be enlightening...
Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues...
Hebetudinous!
ReplyDeleteI have found me a new word to bandy about and this one should carry me for quite awhile.
I, like yourself do not watch the outdoor hunting shows either because I find that most of them offend my sensibilities.
They do nothing to educate, and only work with duplicity and special effects, in order to stimulate and accelerate the watchers heart rate.
And, I believe most are directly responsible for the: "Instant Gratification Syndrome" which we seem to be witness to quite a bit these days from some of the "new to the sport" hunters.
After watching such videos as these, the new hunters will then take to the field with those highly promoted, lofty expectations, only to discover that it is not at all like they show on T.V.!
They sometimes become frustrated and even will think of themselves as being inadequate
And I believe that this in turn leads to poor decision making out in the field such as:
Trespassing: (grass is always greener)
Shooting after hours (nothing difficult about spotlighting because it blinds the animal into standing still for you)
and out and out Poaching (it is hard going home empty handed time after time)
These shows really need to start emphasizing the "reality's" of hunting and stop promoting the "fantasies"
T. Michael Riddle
Michael,
ReplyDeleteRIGHT ON THE MONEY!!!!!!!
I'm going to leave it at that; I have another post where I am exploring the issues that confront us. There are several ideas that are coalescing in my mind and a full blown post is on its way.
Albert
Valid points to say the least Albert and a good post to read. I personally don't watch the hunting shows on tv because they don't teach me anything. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy watching hunting movies but that have to have a bit of education thrown in.
ReplyDeleteI as others already know how to hunt or fish but if there are tips and how to's thrown in then that is not a waste of time.
Have not watched hunting shows since the days of Fred Bear.
ReplyDeleteI know, though dislike, a bowhunter in central Texas who has high-fenced land and he and his dad have been feeding and managing for a number of years until they have one for the bowhunting Texas whitetail books.
ReplyDeleteThey both watch outdoor teevee and dream of records taken by father, son, and grandson. When you talk to them about hunting it's about points not hunts. They do eat them but the whole premise seems wrong, as they are feeding them and hunting from blinds over the feeders when they cull the non-trophies. Last I heard, spending 5k/month to feed a section of land that's been high fenced and nobody hunts but them.
I, personally, like young does in my freezer, for taste.
They're playing a different game than we are. Our game is fresh meat, adventure, and survival skills, if I may be so bold as to say that. If I die and nobody remembers me but people I honestly know as friends and family, I'll be fine with that. No B&C for me and I took a couple of the little African five that are full mounted in my TV room that would qualify but I never bothered to fill out a form. I can glance at them sitting on the couch, no need for them to be in a book somewhere nobody cares about but stupid people (in my un-humble opinion).
I've yet, pushing 40, to have a Texas whitetail taxedermied because I see them on the property every day. No real need to have one in my living room to prove I might have shot one or more.
Albert, to answer your question, there is precisely ONE show that Boyfriend and I love: American Gun Dog.
ReplyDeleteThe host hunts birds all over the place, highlighting good dog work. Sometimes he shoots well, and sometimes he doesn't. What I really like is that every episode ends with a cooking segment highlighting the game he bagged. If we spent more time highlighting the fact that we eat what we kill (high public support rankings) and less time obsessing on records (very low public support for that kind of hunting), our image would be a thousand times better.
-Holly
Aint a Hebetudinous an animal that only eats plants?
ReplyDeleteI like ta watch shows bout faraway places that I'll never get ta go. Jim Shockey's show is pretty good.
Ya wanna know how ta find the good shows? See which ones the non-hunting members of the family like ta watch...