Professional Hunters you respect

Who are some professional hunters who have and online following you guys respect?

The Hunting Public Group
Remi Warren (demeanor, tactics, etc)
Randy Newberg (makes a point to show the whole hunting process and tries to keep politics out of it) (fellow CPA so there's that)
Dr. Duck (any duck hunter from Texas has my vote)
Stephen Rinella Group (although they tend to lean a little left on some stuff)
Gritty and Lampers (just for the shear work they put into their hunts)

There are others but these are most top of mind

None that routinely back out and leave deer over night.

Tink Nathan (of Tink's Deer Scents). He's the only person I've ever met that's killed an elephant with a bow. Much respect.

^^^^^^^

Agree 100%

Boom.

Born and Raised guys are good too, their earlier content is better then new content though... they aren’t poor any more and you don’t see to much of the sleeping under the truck on side of the road, so the resonate level with us common guys is harder.

The video content being put out by Journal of Mtn Hunting is good also

All of them. I really like Clay Hayes and Jeff Sturgis as well.

Seems like film making for some hunting shows is getting better. They are getting a little more subtle in their product placement and endorsement.

The Holder family of Raised Hunting.

X2....
And I know he is corny, but I enjoy watching Roger Raglin.

Jim Shockey

Yep. Their early content had some seriously close bow encounters with elk. I haven't watched this year's yet. That will be summer watching.

The key there is routinely. Most of these shows are in northern climes where meat won't spoil overnight. But I do think many are a little over cautious in that respect.

Are you talking professional hunters or magazine writers? I have taken numerous hunting magazine writers hunting and they are by no means "professional Hunters".

Craig Boddington?

I think it’s almost platform dependent. I think the sponsor product placement from the really really good cinema guys is in the videographer talent. Perfect example is Uncharted by Jim Shocks or some of the Donnie Vinnicent stuff or The experience. Those guys are putting out award winning cinema level content, and you know the products they are pimping but don’t here them pimp it.

Remi with solo hunter now Meateater or BRO or Gritty guys Are putting out good content but hooking people in via sponsor giveways, but they are paid via their social media reach numbers so product placement is different.

Really interesting to me, Watching the evolution


The giant in the room is Meateater. Not the show the company. It’s changing the landscape quickly

Shockey's production values are off the chart. Having not met him, it's hard to judge, but from most of the things he says he seems to be a pretty good guy.

I'm not sure if Meateater is the first to consolidate content. They have either 5 or 6 different podcast platforms now. It will indeed be very interesting to see where this goes. I do like that they are starting to show the complete hunting experience and not just stopping at the glory shots.

I was surprised this year on one hunt when I asked my son if he wanted a picture with the animal. He said why would I want a picture with a dead animal. I'd rather have the head and pictures of live animals. It seems the younger crowd has a different view of those shots than us old fogies. I still like to have pictures to remember the hunt but I think they have other, maybe better, avenues for remembering.

I see us moving in an overall positive direction on video and explaining the whole hunting experience.

That's what I like most about the MeatEater platform, I like how they show all the way to preparing wild game in different ways.

I agree with it being platform dependent. Meateater is the big one I guess. I enjoy his TV show on Netflix. Remi is great too. I heard him on Joe Rogan a few times. It can be hard to relate to those guys though because they hunt up north usually and have top notch gear. I do not sadly. Rinella seems to do more stalking as well. I have never done that as I hunt from a ground blind or a stand. You can still learn some things from those guys though. I am looking for a good place to learn. Is Meateater the Bear Grylls of hunting or the Les Stroud if you know what I mean?

As far as platforms. It seems like there are podcasts, TV shows and YouTubers. I do not count writers really.

Who are your favorite podcasts about hunting? TV shows? YouTube channels?

Randy Newberg and Stephen Rinella are probably my top two.

A friend of mine actually met Randy up in Wyoming a year or so back. Randy said if my buddy's son drew a bull tag, Randy would tag along and film it all for them. Unfortunately, he didn't draw a tag for that unit. My buddy said he was super down to earth and very personable.

The Mountain Project is good, but you need to watch from the beginning to appreciate how better they got over time in regards to their filming, etc. They are a group of guys with regular jobs who hunt out west. They actually hunt auodads through Muley Mike.

Also the MeatEater Back 40 and Das Boat episodes a good watch.

"The giant in the room is Meateater. Not the show the company. It’s changing the landscape quickly"- This

All the magazine and film type guys are good guys. But, they are not the professional hunters. The organizations or individual guides that put them on the animals are the professional hunters. The individuals that do the shooting at the animals have the easiest jobs. All the writers do is make it sound like a really hard hunt. Don't doubt me on that. I have been there.

Most of the newer ones being mentioned on here broke into the market or built their platform off self filmed DIY public hunting.

All these are non guided DIY except where mandated by law
Hunting public
Meat eater
Born and Raised outdoors
Gritty
Randy Newberg

They are killing me last year and this year.... last year seemed extremely short and this year I’m going to die of old age before it’s released. Chase if you are reading your fellow Texan brothers demand you release the content

All their Auadad from last few years is leased from Mulie mike

It’s impressive for sure

Respect - none, watch and tolerate - Michael Waddell and Chipper Jones is about it. Chipper is not too proud to not own his bad or missed shots and I met Waddell, Mr. BONE Collector on DFW shuttle bus with his crew going to South Texas, seemed like a decent enough guy and said his favorite is hunting South Texas rut so points in my book for that.

I like the guy in the show West of Texas and I like the guys from the Tecomate show.

Oh yeah and JTPROcaddie

I use to watch Jim Shockey and Eastmans Hunting Journal several years ago but haven’t watched any in the last 4-5 years.

Ivan Carter

If your looking for an Arizona centered podcast, specially if your interested in coues deer, jay scott outdoors gives a tremendous amoubt of information. He's an outfitter in the west. They have specific animal podcasts and will go unit by unit and the year's outlook.

Cameron Hanes

I don't know any of them enough personally to have a level of respect for them. I do however enjoy Stephen West, West of TX. Young guy like me working hard, that I can respect.

Yes, they were going to release videos shortly after the hunts actually happened, I guess they are busier than they thought this year.

Tred Barta was the best ever IMO
Randy Newburg
David Holder
Michael Waddell
Jim Shockey

Hwy Man-cause being a midget and killin stuff with midget means is hard. Heck him climbing in and out of a Chevy truck is hard

Dogcatcher-cause anyone who can catch pit bulls with twine is good person in my book

DAMN... not that's a good one

Most of them if you ever met them are less than impressive.

Larry Wieshun has always been a very nice guy to talk to.

Jim shockey is the real deal hunter and probably one of the most genuine real people in the hunting industry.

Weishun, nice guy but has missed or wounded more deer than we'll probably ever know beyond the ones they show.....When he hunted with that Savage Contender pistol, he was a horrible shot..

I think Ted Nugent is pretty entertaining

He sure has a way with words.

Thompson Center made the contender pistols.

In any case he is a nice down to earth guy who has a pretty good hunting resume.

I can’t speak to how many animals he has missed or wounded he never claims to be a expert marksman.

Big guy too he is like 6’3 or 6’4 it kind of fools you

He has to be taller then 6’3, I’m 6’ and feel like he towers over me.

Like you said Only a fool would agrue with him on hunting, the man’s world wide resume is decades deeps

I don’t really respect what any of them stand for. if I take a close look at the commercialization of killing of game animals to produce and sell a product and it’s impact on the average joe, as opposed to why I participate, none of them give me a warm fuzzy feeling. Knowing that is the underlying motivation for what they do cheapens the whole lot to me.

You've never met a Professional Hunter, as in an African PH.

No sir, I have not.

I don't necessarily buy that as chief motivation for many of newer platforms. The hunting public guys are driving around in 15 year old vehicles. It appears to me the original motivations were to share what they were doing and to figure out how to make a living that allowed them more time to do what they loved. The second argument I would make is that these platforms provide product information. We may not like it but without that information we have very limited data for comparative purchase decisions. I used to drive to Santa Fe regularly. Santa Fe had banned signage along I-25. Without that information, people had no idea what food or gas establishments were available. They all ended up at McDonald's because it was the only one they could see. Product endorsement is what improves the caliber of video we watch. The trick is to not go overboard. I don't see that happening on the newer platforms currently.

It should be said that I use the word respect in a broad sense for this topic. I don't know any of these people personally. Therefore my level of respect is a measured one.

I like Shockey, especially his Uncharted series.

I had great respect for Greg Rodriguez and even hunted with him twice, once in TX and once in BC. Heck if a nice guy and fun to share a camp with. His murder affected me greatly. I once shared a flight in Cameroon with Boddington. He had just made Brig Gen in the USMCR and I had just made CPO in the USN. He was headed to a camp for Lord Derby Eland and I was headed to a camp for Western Roan. He was interesting to talk to and extremely pleasant and full of info.

Uh, they are not sharing what they are doing. They are selling it. Big difference.

Like it or not, the commercialization of animals is what keeps them alive on this earth.

When animals have a value attached to them, their existence becomes important.


I’m not saying I support these guys making it seem like shooting a deer over a bean field in Georgia is the most extreme thing ever, because I don’t, but I 100% support guys like shockey and boddington.

If we face facts, Avg. Joe hunter does little to give back outside of the Pittman Robinson funds by buying licenses and ammunition. They arnt members of Rocky Mountain Elk foundation, arnt members of Ducks Unlimited, arnt members of SCI, DSC or any other conservation group. He isn’t a member of his local co-op and doesent help his local regional groups monetarily or by volunteering. He helps small town business by buying feed, paying lease dues and eating out in the town he hunts near and that’s about it. He doesent even manage his wildlife on his lease, he feeds what is required, shoots his buck or two then shags arse. No predator control, no population census, etc.

The entire reason most animals are still walking the earth today is because of sport hunting and those who love it. This is true from deer in South Texas, ducks on Chesapeake bay or sable in Africa.



And if you get down to it....those guys that we all love to hate do get new people into the sport. Guys like randy new burg and Steve rinella have guaranteed made a huge increase in public land hunters from out of state. Too much imo but we live in the Information Age.

New hunters relate to guys like that, not someone like jimmy dean sitting on his porch telling stories of running rabbits with his beagles.

What do you guys think about Rinella? He seems to be the most famous hunter these days because of his friendship with Rogan and all his books and TV show.

He is a very smart individual. Lived in Seattle for quite awhile I believe now in Boazman. He has some leftist opinions on some things, but when it comes to conservation so do I. Very staunch public land advocate.

I don’t agree with his views on trophy hunting but I will say he is a very articulate ally to the hunting community and I wish we had more guys like him and less of these other yahoo’s that we see on tv constantly.


A person has to remember when looking at guys like Steve Rinella, Randy Newberg, Cameron Hanes, etc. is they almost live in a “West vs. The Rest type of world. The western hunting aspect is a completely different world compared to what we live in. Their issues they deal with in hunting big game are very opposite to what we have in Texas and other areas, thus a lot of the varying point of views.

Rogan is a smart guy as well but he just recently started hunting so I don’t put much stock in his opinion as a hunter as it relates to mine, although again, he is a articulate ally to the hunting community. I just can’t get behind his pro-drug advocacy. He does have a good podcast and puts well known hunters in the forefront.

I guess we all look at things from different angles and consequently take away different things. I see all the televised hunts as about the only remaining way to still legally sell a free ranging wild game animal after it has been harvested. The modern day market hunters if you will. They just have a new market. I see some as better than others. My loyalty lies with the average family man who passes down to his kids what was passed down to him. In a state like Texas with over 95% of the land being private, I believe the TV hunter has done more to move hunting in the direction of pricing the average Joe out of hunting him than helping him. Just my take on things. Good civil discussion anyway.

It started a long long time ago with Hemingway, capstick and Ruark. How many people decided to go on a safari because if their literature? Probably hundreds of thousands.

Jack O’Connor made sheep hunting an “in” thing. It’s all about supply and demand. A good mountain goat hunt was $5500 not too many years ago but because of increased popularity it’s $15k now. Hell look at aoudad sheep. Guys are getting $5k for them now when a few years ago they were shot as pests. But again, now that people give a poop about them they will continue to thrive.

We just have a easier and broader platform now. As I type this I’m in the gym training for a Canadian moose hunt because I read about it and saw it on tv and decided I want to go experience that. I’m way past what has been handed down to me. My father and uncle who lit my fire of hunting, neither of their dads or anyone in their family hunted big game. So they had to pick it up and most likely read about it in field and stream and outdoor life. They never did much hunting other than for deer and mule deer and elk a few times, somewhere down the like people make a break from what their normal was. I know guys who won’t hardly pick up a rifle but would pass up a 5 star steak dinner to go shoot ducks

I hate the way it’s portrayed in 95% of hunting shows, a bunch of redneck Hicks acting like they are billy bad [censored] for killing a deer or a few pigs, “ pro-staffers “ who are doing it for their own self promotion but I believe programs like shockey’s present the whole other world of hunting outside what we have been brought up with.

It’s a wide big world out there.

-Remi Warren
-Steve Rinella and Meateater group
lots of other very good ones already spoken for as well.

We're apparently talking past each other. I don't watch TV hunters other than Rinella's Netflix shows. All the ones I've mentioned are on YouTube. With regards to the TV shows where they hunt on a private ranch for deer that I could afford maybe once every five years, I've been done with those for years. These are, for a significant majority of the videos, public land hunts. Their podcasts go into great detail on the ins and outs of hunting the animal in question. I just went to Arizona on a five day javelina and coues deer hunt. I learned about the availability from Newberg's videos. I learned more from Scott's podcasts. I even messaged both of them with questions and received answers. Total cost of that trip was the gas to drive there and the javelina tags for three ($100 each). If I'd bought a deer tag it would have been 300 more. I just spent five days in the mountains with my two youngest for the price of gas money and a new mitre saw. I would have never known about it, much less be able to plan it, without those vids and podcasts.

I pretty much watch none of them and respect 'em all. They haven't exactly sold their soul but are doing what a whole lot of us would appreciate - they've found a way to make a living off outdoors pursuits. Beats my day job. Good for them. I hope there's enough interest where even more professional hunters could earn a living.

I don’t know any so it’s not for me to say........

There are a few who follow a hunt from the harvest to the cooler. I wish more would spend time on things that go on after the shot. Many leave lots on the bones and it’s a shame.

Steve Rinella
Randy Newberg
Remi Warren


I'd say I like watching shows with these three hosting.

Fred Bear.

It's hard to believe Tred Barta gets no love from the THF. The man hunted with a longbow and made his own arrows and points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZ0bQ_Lbb8

I had issues with the authenticity of his outward exuberance all the time, couldn't tell if it was always sincere or just acting to the cameras. He was just OK in my book but definitely better than some...

I did see once episode of him trying to put down sandhills with his longbow. A game warden happened to stop by and he was extremely puzzled as to why he wanted to do that.

I’m sure it reflects more poorly on me than them, but the current tendency to refer to the guys on tv as “professional hunters” really bugs me. A PH is a licensed guide usually in Africa. The other people are guys with tv shows. It’s a little like calling myself a dr if I put up a YouTube videos of putting a bandaid on my kid

Im in the same boat. When I hear "PH" my mind automatically goes to the PH's in Africa.

when I hear PH I automatically think about a swimming pool.

I think of anyone that makes a living hunting (guiding, consulting, filming, etc)

How can you respect someone you really don't know? There are a lot of folks out there that put on a good show that are A Hs in the real world when a camera is not in their face.

My granddad.Probably not in the way u mean but to me he was. He got me started hunting back in the early 60's and I still think about some of the hunts together. I'm now trying to pass some of that to my grandchildren.

Tred was great!

Almost forgot Fred Bear.

I get they are called professional hunters. But if you have an MD on your name and you make youtube videos you would still call yourself a dr. If your profession is being a hunter, you can call yourself a professional hunter in my mind. I get it's not the best choice of words. Maybe hunter/media personality?

Lee & Tiffany Lakosky

Worst Hunter on Earth!

Marlin Perkins, and that other guy that did most of the work while Marlin circled safely above in the helicopter. They didn't sell hunts, just insurance.

Jim Fowler. He'd appear on Johnny Carson. And Carson would do s skit spoofing Marlin making Mai-tais while Jim nearly gets killed. Funny stuff back in the day.

YouTube - Bubba Rountree Outdoors (Not really professional hunters but they film a lot of hunts and they love to deer hunt with shotguns. The reloading segments for high performance buckshot are the main reason I watch it).

About the only "TV Hunters" I like are the Tecomate guys. I like TV Hunters that can actually shoot.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

Don't know if I would call him a professional hunter but Aron Snyder of Kifaru gets my attention. Pulls no punches

Stann was the brave souls name

LMFAO i feel you. if you cant recover your deer within 20 minutes you wounded it. bow or rifle

The hunting public. Only hunting video/show I’ll watch anymore. Don’t deer hunt anymore but their videos are a lot of fun to watch. A lot of respect for them.