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Buckmaster Classic Competition-would this prove....

Discussion in 'Bowhunting Talk' started by virginiashadow, Aug 25, 2009.

  1. virginiashadow

    virginiashadow Legendary Woodsman

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    "From its inception to 1971, the Bassmaster Classic was held at a "mystery lake," unknown to competitors until they were aboard an aircraft bound for the site........"

    I wanted to be a professional bass fisherman when I was a teenager. I read the above quote when I was younger and thought it was an awesome idea.....Now here is mine in regards to hunting:

    Here is the Buckmaster Classic Competition format. Assemble 20 of the "best" or "best known" bowhunters in the world. Have them all fly in to Iowa and meet at a central location. Then they would all board a private plane bound for a 20,000 acre hunting location. The hunting grounds would be divided into 20, 1,000 acre sections. Each hunter would be assigned a hunting section for 2 days beginning on October 15th. The competition would last 40 days or until November 23rd.

    For example Hunter 1 would hunt spot 1 for two days, followed by spot 2 for 2 days....etc., until he/she had hunted all 20 different sections. The night before each hunter was assigned an area, he/she would be provided with a topographical view/topographical map. No hunter would receive any information about the area they were hunting until the night before the hunt.

    Each competitor would be allowed to kill 2 bucks. The average would be taken between both scores.

    The pay out would be $1,000,000 to the winner. The second place competitor would earn $250,000, while the third place competitor $100,000. Each competitor would obviously be allowed to have sponsors that would off-set the costs of the competition. I haven't thought of the TV coverage of this event, but I believe someone with brains could make it relatively entertaining.

    What type of hunter would thrive in this competition? What type of hunter would "fail"? For some reason I think this would be a cool competition. Thoughts?
     
  2. HuntingBry

    HuntingBry Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Interesting concept, but I think 2 days at each spot is a little rough. That's not much time to learn and make adjustments. I think a week at each spot would make the competition better because it would show who makes the right moves, who is too aggressive, who is not aggressive enough, who gets on the deer quickly, and who is the best at fine tuning.

    Cool idea, I'd watch it.
     
  3. virginiashadow

    virginiashadow Legendary Woodsman

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    It is a competition Jeff, just like the bassmaster classic. Each competitor is given X amount of time in each spot. Some spots are better than others, but over a 40 day period wouldn't you think some of the better hunters would rise to the top?
     
  4. brucelanthier

    brucelanthier Grizzled Veteran

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    But fish won't leave an area if it gets stunk up by 10 hunters will they? Fish won't leave an area if there is too much disturbance (do lures through the water disturb fish) in the local area will they?
     
  5. virginiashadow

    virginiashadow Legendary Woodsman

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    Bruce and Jeff. Yes, in some of the invite bass tournaments the anglers are assigned locations for a set period of time. Lures through the water and disturbances by boats creates pressure on bass. They lose their aggresiveness after a ton of lures run through the water and boats blast past. Thats why I made the analogy between the two competitions. Similar structure and similar responses by the animals.
     
  6. BOWSPEC

    BOWSPEC Weekend Warrior

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    Sounds like the setting for a reality television series to me. Not a bad idea in concept. You might have to come up with different ways to make it as fair as possible. There will always be some luck of the draw to something like this though.
     
  7. virginiashadow

    virginiashadow Legendary Woodsman

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    Bowspec, I hear ya. But there is always an element of luck in any sporting competition....in football for example...is the best player injured, who kicks with the wind in the 4th quarter, did a few players contract the stomach flu at their hotel before the big game, did it snow thereby negatively affecting the passing oriented team....etc.

    I thought it would be cool to see 20 hunters duel it out over 40 days....see their mindsets, tactics, optimism, etc played out over a pretty long period of time.
     
  8. brucelanthier

    brucelanthier Grizzled Veteran

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    Thanks, don't know much about bass fishing. I would probably use 5 or so hunters in something like this and just have 4 pre-tournaments and the winners of those would meet in the final. The 4 pre-tournaments could happen at the same time just different places, maybe different states.
     
  9. virginiashadow

    virginiashadow Legendary Woodsman

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    Cool idea Bruce...less hunters in the final and more ground to cover for longer periods of time. I like it.
     
  10. gplant

    gplant Weekend Warrior

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    I think its a GREAT idea! But what defines the Best Hunters? Money,Im on TV, I got sponsors up the wazoo because I met the right people, etc. How about the average guy. Someone thats put the years in and has been very sucsessful for their location.
    Now that Id Watch. Heck Id Love to be in it!
     
  11. virginiashadow

    virginiashadow Legendary Woodsman

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    gplant--thats why I put "best known". I just put it to get the ball rolling, plus those guys usually have sponsors that could offset their living costs for 40 days...most people couldn't afford to be out of work for 40 days without pay. Of course, I know many guys on here that could compete with the "best known" hunters and thrive.
     
  12. Jim_IV

    Jim_IV Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Sounds like a cool idea to me, I'd watch it




    Unless I was in it, then I'd win hands down:rolleyes::D
     
  13. gplant

    gplant Weekend Warrior

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    :D
    I can do it as long as I got sponsors. Im Unemployed:D:(:(:(
     
  14. dukemichaels

    dukemichaels Grizzled Veteran

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    40 days? In 40 days any hunter could retake Omaha beach. 40 days is a season. Give the guy 5 days.. then we'll see what they can do.

    I think.. in all fairness... the competition that exists at The Campbells Outdoor Challenge.. is probably about as fair as a man can get.. reasons.. he has a cameraman with him.. which is the control.. so the scores are based not only on the hunter.. but also on the cameraman shoulders.. this levels the field.. makes it more of a team effort.

    I've been in this competition before.. so I can answer this truthfully.. the type of hunter who thrives is the mobile hunter.. the go-getter.. the woodsman. The guy with the attitude to get it done today and not maybe tomorrow. The other guys who tend to wait for the deer to come by them and try to "learn" the deer movement on said land.. don't do so well.

    Lazy hunters.. party-goers.. guys who sleep in til 8 am.. won't deal well in these competitions.. and surprisingly there are more of these hunters than the other.

    Some guys depend on luck.. others make it.
     
  15. buttonbuckmaster

    buttonbuckmaster Grizzled Veteran

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    I think you'd have to go by inches of antler to get any ratings.

    No offense VS, but I think the whole idea is weird. We all talk about hunting being too commercial, too much sponsorship, hunting with guides, leases being the end of hunting,etc etc. Yet we'll throw those feelings away for an "entertaining" show that would equate to deer huntings Superbowl?:confused: That is one show I would pass on.
     
  16. dukemichaels

    dukemichaels Grizzled Veteran

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    I would have to agree.. the commercialization of hunting is a little weird..
     
  17. pick00l

    pick00l Weekend Warrior

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    I think I could compete with the best hunters in the woods.

    If I were given more time to hunt and top that off with almost private land where I am the only one spooking them. Heck, sounds a lot easier than what I do today. High pressured public land which I can only hunt on the weekend for 4 hour clips.

    Hunted very thick stuff, swamps, marshes, mountains, fields, etc. Heck, sign me up for the first spot. :)

    I like the idea with a few modifications mixed in. Season 2 could be Average hunter against the "professional" hunter.

    I agree, it may not be the best thing for the sport however, I really think that would come down to how it is marketed, edited, and the personalities on camera. It could be made into a real win for hunters. Doubt you would get the right producers to make sure that was the case.
     
  18. virginiashadow

    virginiashadow Legendary Woodsman

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    ButtonBuck I do agree with hunting being too commercialized. I just thought about this today and think it would be entertaining. Maybe I didn't think about the big picture well enough. Thanks for your insight.
     
  19. virginiashadow

    virginiashadow Legendary Woodsman

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    Not worried about the hijack. We'd have some average Joe Hunters blasting some big deer.
     
  20. GregH

    GregH Legendary Woodsman

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    Interesting concept. I think that there too many variables. Things such as luck of the draw (where the hunters start out), herd conditions, etc. After 5 or 10 years would we see a group of "super" hunters emerge? I don't think so, I think luck would be such a huge factor that it would be likely to have a different hunter "win" each year.

    Although it would be entertaining, I am against the idea because to me it would cheapen the reason for hunting. Personally, I hunt for myself and don't compete against anybody. If I did, hunting would become my job and that would certainly kill a lot of my enjoyment.
     

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