I've never seen this TV show, I don't watch TV. I just today looked at the short video clip excerpts so I could at least say I've seen a couple.
On Your Own Adventures is a popular series of shows that spotlights hunting that is self guided on public lands by a guy named Randy Newberg. At his day job Randy is actually an accountant, many consider his style of hunting among the most ethical.
I've seen snippets of hunting shows before that consist of some mouthy famous hunter being guided into taking a shot on some huge trophy sized animal. Bleh! Think Ted Nugent.
Self guided hunts mean that the elk are taken if the hunter is good and has luck. Things aren't dependent on the skill of the guide because there are none. To the layperson that might seem not too important, to a hunter it's everything, it's the difference between shooting animals and hunting animals. Maybe I'm being too critical, but you get the idea.
In the western US hunting ethics are different than many places. Bear in mind sometimes ethics dictate the law, because they reflect community values, other times they aren't a legal definition, just the way one wants to conduct oneself.
Where I live in Colorado, Montana is considered to have some of the best hunters and some of the most stringent laws. When people retire they move to Montana for the hunting, not hunting opportunity but quality. Baiting is very illegal, so is using trail cams within a few days of the season. People don't sit in stands, they stalk. Distances are far.
Like real life Randy and whoever he hunts with are sometimes successful other times not. Similar to everyone else they shoot the first legal animal they can. They do come up empty handed sometimes too. I liked this video best.
Don't worry, no kill shot, at first they can't even tell if they hit it. Not what you see on most hunting shows I'd wager. The whole segment is 6 minutes or something.
Besides the show, Randy is also on the Board of Directors of Orion The Hunters Institute, an org that trains hunter ed teachers and "provides leadership on ethical and philosophical issues to promote fair chase and responsible hunting."
In describing the show Wiki says, "Hunting is often stopped for interviews of hunters to “capture the moment.” Extensive interviewing of all participants is made, to gather the perspective of hunting as it occurs for average Americans, and gain perspective of how hunters view their activities in the larger context of wildlife conservation." It's obvious some parts are planned out in advance. When two guys approach a downed animal at night obviously the cameraman got there first, other parts are obviously unscripted.
So what piqued my interest if I don't watch TV anyway? I read but don't participate on the social media portion of Randy's blog. When you read someone for a few months you get an idea where they are coming from. I think Randy is coming from a good place.
I should note that many don't like hunting and feel it necessary vehemently say so in comments. I'd ask for a little self reflection before posting such comments. Is it true or an opinion, is it kind, does it add to the discussion. Thanks.
Update: Thanks for the rescue, now I wish I'd taken more time and fleshed out some things. I'd also say no one has remarked on the vid, I'd suggest a look see. Randy is shaking uncontrollably after releasing an arrow suspecting he blew it. The guilt and shame that follows him through the evening and the next morning is palpable. Even very good experienced hunters can be scared at the last minute, often there is an extremely short window during which to get off a shot, a second or three. The larger the animal the larger the responsibility to do a good job of it, the greater the depression over making a mess of things. Things start to happen at about the 2 minute mark.