By now, I’m sure that when someone sees me post a topic about an outdoors TV show, they fully expect me to lambaste someone for something.  Maybe I’m going to chew them up and down about long-range hunting, or taking bad shots in the name of getting footage, or maybe I’m just going to call them to the mat for doing something dumb.  But that’s really not the only reason I wanted to start writing about some of the hunting and outdoors programs.  I also want to point out those that I think are particularly good… the exceptional elite, so to speak, that really stand out to me for various reasons.

One of the programs I’ve been watching, on and off, on the Sportsman Channel, is On Your Own Adventures. 

Hosted by Randy Newberg, this program is one of a small cadre of programs that focus on hunting trips that the average guy can probably do.  The hunts I’ve seen so far have all been do-it-yourself hunts on public land.  No guides.  No carefully managed private lands.  No fences.  I’m not sure what percentage of the hunts are draw-only tags, but even so, this program is about as real as it is going to get (and still be on TV). 

Keep in mind that this is still hunting television, and the hunts are generally condensed into half-hour segments.  There’s still a lot of focus on the kill because, well, the fact is that a hunting show that doesn’t show successful hunts isn’t going to have much of a future.  But if you can get past these barriers, the program offers a lot more than your average sponsor-heavy, money-shot after money-shot slaughterfest. 

To begin with, Randy generally spends a fair portion of the program talking about preparation for some of these hunts.  The episodes I’ve seen so far weren’t heavy on the how-to, but there was more than enough there to guide most semi-intelligent hunters in the right direction.  I get the feeling that he figures most hunters have the basic skills to hunt.  What they need to know is the special challenges of a public land hunt outside of their home territory.  This includes things that most other programs don’t have to bother with, like dealing with crowded public land and how to take advantage of other hunters. 

The program also shows some of the pitfalls of this type of hunting.  For example, an episode I watched from the first season showed Randy and his partner (I think it was his uncle) making a move on some elk, only to get cut off by some other hunters.  The frustration is easy to see, and easy to understand for any of us who has ever had a hunt busted by someone else.  He also shows some of the yo-yos out there, and goes on with his hunt as best he can despite the idiots and the clueless.  This is public land hunting, and you won’t see a more honest depiction.

Randy is plenty personable, but the program doesn’t seem to focus on him as the celebrity.  He’s just the hunter, and I can’t help feeling like that could be me out there when I watch him.  To me, that says more about this program than anything else.  It’s real enough that I think the average hunter could put himself in Randy’s boots.  We understand the challenges and frustrations he faces, and we can appreciate the value of success under those conditions.  On these hunts I never feel like the kill is a foregone conclusion, and truly, there are episodes when the hunters come up short.  And when they are successful, it’s not always some monstrous, record-book freak of an animal. 

It’s just good, real hunting that is worlds and away better than the average program out there right now.  If you haven’t seen it (and if you don’t purely hate hunting shows), it’s absolutely worth checking out. 

Oh, and speaking of hunting programs on the Hog Blog, Scott Anderson of Backland Experiences responded to my post (and your comments) about crossbows on his program.  Always nice to know these guys are paying attention to what we’re saying out here in the blogosphere. 

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