Tom Adessa
By Tom Adessa
Contributing writer
As a teenager, I always looked forward to Sunday afternoons when I’d watch Curt Gowdy and his TV show, “The American Sportsman.” Gowdy had a distinct, soft-spoken demeanor and the destinations of his hunts were in various parts of the world.
In the late 1980s myself and my oldest son, Chris, often watched the “The Fishin’ Hole,” featuring angler Jerry McKinnis. McKinnis fished on Owasco Lake once and we met him at a local restaurant. Although he was famous, he was gracious and spoke with my son like he knew him for years. Some 25 years later, my son still fondly remembers that run-in with McKinnis.
Unfortunately, those days and those types of gracious, low-key outdoors TV show hosts are long gone. Now it’s hype, product marketing and “in your face” reality TV.
When hunting shows really started taking off in the 1990s, viewers began seeing screen disclaimer warnings that impact shots would be shown. Just a few short years later, we got to see the shots over and over in slow motion, dissected and diagramed as if we were being shown a blueprint.
Today, viewers keep getting told if they don’t have the most devastating broad head on their arrows, or the fastest ammo on the market for their firearms ... well, they’re just not doing things right.
How about the comments after a successful shot? They range from “I smoked him “ to “I pounded him.” Fist-pumping techniques are as varied as they are numerous. Add to that, various face contortions and yells.
One hunter on a show the other day blubbered like a baby following his shot. I turned it off after that one. Some of the hunters raise both fists overhead and dance like they are trying out for the next Rocky movie. Cmon guys, really?
While channel surfing the other day, I came across one show, “Buck Commander,” where the host and his guest spent 80 percent of the show talking inside a huge hunting lodge. Both sported black face paint, reminiscent of rocker Gene Simmons and Kiss. There wasn’t too much hunting on that show, but you did hear about the latest, and greatest gear that you’ll need if you want to “hammer” a buck.
I have yet to figure out how a label on my camo jacket will get me a big buck. Maybe I should turn it inside out so the deer can see it? My hunting jacket, by the way, is 25 years old.
During one show, “Fear No Evil,” the host, Chris Brackett, has a favorite phrase, “booyah,” which he repeats over and over. After the 10th time, it’s lost whatever little meaning it had.
A moderately, successful host and subtle methodology seem to have gone out the window, having succumbed to the scores of the other reality TV shows television being aired lately. Some of the show formats and the host comments even make NRA-poster child/rock star Ted Nugent look tame.
Tom Adessa lives in Auburn.