Ron Gayer, hunting guide, outdoor writer, wildlife photographer, and all-around great guy (and a good friend), contacted me a while back regarding a new project he’s got going. In general, he’s working on a series of videos he’s calling “The Guide’s Guide to Hunting“.
The idea is to present a group of instructional videos, targeted at new hunters. More and more hunters are coming to the sport later in life, without the benefit of a family tradition and the mentors that many of us may take for granted. With no one teaching them, how do they learn?
That’s the niche that Ron is looking to fill. As a guide, he says his favorite clients were the new hunters, eager to learn and extremely excited about the entire experience (a sentiment I completely share). Teaching them, and enabling new hunters to get a leg up in the sport, has really become something of a mission for him. Hence, this video series.
I had the pleasure of taking a look at the first iteration of Volume 1 of the Guide’s Guide DVD series, The Complete Guide to Wild Hog Field Care. This volume provides a complete, step-by-step introduction to handling your hog after you’ve got it down. Of note is that he shows you both how to field dress and skin a meat hog, and also shows a simple method for caping a trophy boar as well… something many field dressing websites don’t go into.
Now, I’ll be honest and say that if you’re looking at this with the eye of a critic, the video has its little issues. The pacing starts out a little slow. It’s important to remember that this is instructional, and not specifically intended to be entertainment. However, once things loosen up the pacing improves.
The positives far outweigh the little “opportunities for improvement”, though. Of particular note is the clean, but realistic field dressing demonstration. The camera doesn’t shy away from anything, from separating the anus (first step in traditional field dressing procedure) to clearing the chest cavity. While nothing can compare to hands-on learning for something like this, if you pay attention as Ron goes through these pigs, you’ll be well prepared when the time comes to get your own hands bloody.
I spoke to Ron on the phone after watching the video, and we discussed some of my critique, as well as some ideas he has for improvement. I expect that future iterations of this video will show some significant upgrades.
Of course, the truest test of these videos will be in the testimonials of the intended audience, new hunters. Several copies of the video have been sold at Ron’s seminar appearances, but he is just now getting his website up and running to expand the market a bit. He has not enabled eCommerce, but on the site you’ll find the information needed to order a copy directly.
As I mentioned, this is only the first of a series of four initial DVD offerings. The other three are:
- The Total Turkey Tutorial
- Hunting Strategies for Hogs
- From Bench to Field: Guns and Optics
These should come out throughout the coming year. Ron hopes to have the entire series complete by January, 2010. I’ll keep this site updated as each release is ready, and hopefully will have the opportunity to review them as they’re available.
I did a more formal article and review on this video over at the Jesse’s Hunting and Outdoor Journal.
Tony Stratton
I definitely think that these videos are going to be well-received by the audience they are intended to be for. It is too bad, but many new hunters are starting later in their years, and don’t have the mentors to show them the ropes like the rest of us have.
It looks like he has a pretty good thing going.