Rob, Mike, JZ, Mike, Greg, Dan...this question is directed towards you guys.... When your hunting solo, and filming your own hunts. How do you lug all your equipment to the stand? I stuff all my stuff into my field & stream backpack, but it gets pretty full and i probably wouldn't be able to if i had a bigger camera. Do you guys utilize duffle bags?
Great question Caleb. I have wondered that also. Last year I had a hard time the one time I tried to take my camera so I gave it up. Haven't tried to take it with me yet this year but will be soon!
Its very frustrating Ferg, i can get all my junk into the woods, but then it takes forever to set up and trying to be quiet and as motionless as possible too. This filming game is no easy thing Mad props to pros'
I don't have a big nice camera but just a small cheap camera and arm but I use a back pack that has side pockets that my camera goes in and the main area for arms and hangers and all the essentials.It does get pretty heavy.What sucks is when I am carrying my Lone Wolf hang on and a bow.I have a bow in one hand,pack in another and stand on my back. The doe I got on camera this year,I walked about 400 yards with this equipment by myself and then hung my stand. Once I got my deer on film and my son's,I quit carrying it.
My buddy spent a small fortune in getting set up for his filming, kinda funny watching him lug all that stuff into the woods trying to get it on film..... he never did get it on film. That lasted about 2 weeks, last season! :D
I pretty much film myself. I keep it pretty simple, I like filming most when I am hunting off the ground in a natural blind. I carry my camera and tripod in my hmk backpack.. bout it. If and when I film from a tree I use a little lonewolf camera arm. Works pretty decent. I dont film in the rain anymore either. cost me a grand last year when I tried it.
We carry it in on our backs. Hunter carries stand/hooyman/muddy sticks. Cameraman carries stand/camera arm and base.....hunter carries bow while camera man carries camera plus extras. It likely adds up to 35+ lbs each rather easily, and setups (mainly the camera arm) are less than silent, but it is the trade off you make to film......EVERYONE would be filming hunts if it were a walk in the park and as easy as hunting solo. It's not, to do it right, it is MUCH MUCH harder.
Generally speaking, if I'm alone and going to hang/hunt a set right then and there I won't carry my camera gear with me. Did it a few times last year and it SUCKED. Way too much stuff and really takes the enjoyment out of it being that much of a chore. If I had a smaller camera and smaller arm, it may be a different deal. But all of my stand hanging gear, plus the camera and arm is a no-go for me. On solo hunts when I'm filming myself I generally pack less stuff into the woods with me. We have a big "ruck sack" style bag that our camera arm fits into along with additional tapes, batteries, etc. I will snag my bare necessities out of my normal hunting pack and toss them in here when filming myself. Stuff like calls, rangefinder, hand pruners, etc. The pack goes on my back, camera gets slung over my shoulder, and off I go. One thing that's really helped me tremendously when carrying all of this gear, whether I'm filming or not, is a good bow sling. Not having to carry your bow in your hand frees up a lot of extra ability to carry other stuff, and makes it easier to get through the woods. GamePlan Gear is supposed to be making a CameraMan Pack designed specifically to carry camera equipment, but they keep pushing the availability date out every time I check. It was supposed to be here in August, now we're staring at November with no pack. *sigh*
Caleb, I have a day backpack that's large enough to carry all my gear and I strap the camera arm on the backpack with the backpacks outside straps. I also strap my cloths to this as well and when using my climber, I hang my backpack on my climber and carry it all in without complaint. Sacrifice and reward.
I have been taking my camera along this season. Haven't captured a kill yet but got some neat footage so far. I have the Pine Ridge Archery Arm. It's small enough that I just fold it up and slip in under the chest buckles of my HSS Safety Vest with my Handycam attached. Works fine for me. http://www.bowhunting.com/blog/post/2009/10/22/Pro-Bow-Cam-Camera-Arm-by-Pine-Ridge-Archery.aspx
I would be very interested in seeing one of these. I use a lumbar pack with big compartments for a bow or rifle and a camelback bladder. I don't need the water, so I use the storage for equipment. I carry my bow and put the camera arm and accesories into the large compartment on the pack. The pack has external straps and loops that allow me to securely attach my muddy sticks horizontally across my back. Then, I just carry my hangon under one arm and my bow in my other. But it is a huge pain in the butt. I had to replace my external mic because the shoe that attaches to the camera got busted off. That cost me about $150. I would like a pack that had a compartment designed to carry a camera with the extra padding built in to protect that type of equipment.
I bought 2 large backpacks from Bass Pro. If I self film I am able to get everything into the single pack, but it weighs about 30 pounds. I can get everything in there though.:D The pack was $79.99. After all the money I dropped I couldn't afford the "Cameraman Pack" that you see here in the Bowhunting.com store. The Red Head pack allows me to fit everything into it including calls and all the other things.
I can get my camera equip. plus my muddy arm into my backpack. Although its heavy and things could get broke in there. As for hauling stand, sticks and bow at same time, I've done it but as others have said. No fun! Most of the time I have an existing set up and just have to haul camera equipment and bow in. The thing that gets me is the set up time in the stand. Im anal as it is and sometimes it takes me a 1/2 hour to get myself and camera ready. I get a kick out of letting others see what I see!
When I filmed myself last year with my climber I was carrying in at least 75 lbs. of gear. At that time I had a much heavier camera arm than I do now and I hand carry my PD-150 because A. it has a handle, and B. I don't trust having it in a pack with other gear shifting around. After doing this several times I resolved to no longer put myself through that unless I have a stand hung and can just climb in and hunt. I do have a lighter camera arm now, but still only plan to film on pre-set stands. It is extremely rewarding to film a hunt and to get a kill on film and doing it all yourself would be awesome, but you have to balance everything so you still enjoy the hunt, because that is the point afterall. What is it you always say about not putting YOUR beliefs and way of doing things into someone else's hunting and blah, blah, blah? Maybe not THAT interesting to "YOU". BTW, how you type that way all the time is beyond me.
Same here. If I'm planning on setting up and sitting at the same time, I don't bring my camera gear. Too damn much work and it killed my enjoyment. When I head back to IL Johnny and I are going to be sitting seperate and self filming until one of us kills one. I have a couple mobile sets that I'll hang and leave in key spots (Knox County property) with a camera arm at each. (I have 2). I'll just take the head, LANC and camera with me each time I go out, in a large backpack. If I plan on moving a set there, it will most likely be less than 100 yards and will make 2 trips to do it. When Johnny and I are together, its a breeze and can run and gun with no problem. Its still all about hunting and filming comes second for me. If its going to lessen the enjoyment I get out of the experience, the camera stays in the truck.
Perhaps then you should have wrote: "It's interesting....but not THAT interesting TO ME." It makes something that sounds like a statement of fact unquestionably a statement of opinion. It's all good though.
Thanks for the input guys... I LOVE filming, but it sure does take alot more effort and time then just plain "hunting". The afterproduct is worth it though.