When Keith Beasley of Canada In The Rough TV show first reached out to us about filming a dedicated Sandhill Crane show I was more than honored and to be honest instantly stressed. Cranes can be fickle like no other and dependability is defiantly not in the wheel house of Sandhill Crane hunting, but this was an opportunity like no other.
By the end of the trip we ran perfect daily limits on Cranes, plus we had the opportunity to show off some of our waterfowl hunting in a few different styles. Proud were we, but let me tell you TV shows take years off you and add elements to the lodge environment that need to be addressed. “Who gets the best hunt” is the unsaid question everyone asks and by “best hunt” meaning the greatest odds in limiting out. Yes I’m going there and will say it straight.
Filming for TV only gets one preference over paying guests and that’s cover. To get in your face footage with giant cameras swinging around and 9 times out of 10 have the sun reflecting off the lens takes serious cover, meaning concealment cover. Now imagine having the pressure to produce with multiple waving mirrors in your spread and knowing that if you don’t get birds within 20 yards there’s really no point in pulling the trigger. Talk about an ugly handicap. That’s why we always sacrifice bird volume to having the best cover to hide cameras and the bodies operating them. So the best hunt for a sportsman is not always the best hunt for camera crew – fact.
So let me put the assumption of cherry picking hunts for TV shows to rest, not all “best hunts” are what you’d think.
So needless to say high fives to us for nailing with Canada In The Rough and by the way are some super cool guys to hunt with.
