I am in the process of trying to figure out what camcorder to buy before this coming hunting season. My head is spinning. There are so many things to consider when buying a camcorder, and all of the information can be a bit overwhelming. I am currently using a Panasonic 3ccd camcorder that records to mini dv tapes. It has served its purpose, but I am really wanting to get something a little better.
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There are so many things that I want in a video camera, but I do not want to spend $4,000 to $5,000 to get it. The main reason that I want a new camera is that the Panasonic that I am currently using does not have an external mic input . I have gotten by using the onboard mic built into the camera, but the audio lacks a lot to be desired. As you know filming hunts outdoors there are a lot of ambient sounds that I would like to capture. The built in mic is just not powerful enough to capture that. Also there is no way to put an effective wind screen on the mic, so I end up with a terrible wind noise on my videos.
For years I have thought about getting the Canon Gl2. The Gl2 is probably the most popular camera for filming hunting and outdoor footage. I visit huntingfootge.com quite a bit and most of the better videographers on that site swear by the GL2. The Gl2 is considered a prosumer model camera and I believe runs around $2,000.00 new. Really the main hang up I have about purchasing the Gl2 is the size of the camera. I do not have a camera man in the tree with me, so I have to do the filming of my hunts by myself. Even with a really good tree arm, I do not know if the size of the Gl2 is going to be more difficult to work with than the smaller consumer model camcorders. The other problem with the Gl2 is that it is only a standard definition camera. I am not really sure if I need a high definition camera right now, but my feeling is that if I record the video in high definition it will always be available to me at that resolution at a later date when I do have the need for it.
That brings me to the Sony FX7. The Sony FX7 is a prosumer model high definition camera that is priced about the same is the Canon Gl2. My main problem with buying the FX7 is that I have had some problems with Sony products in the past and swore that I would never buy Sony products again. Well I may have to go back on my word.
Then there is the Canon VIXIA HF S100. This is a nice little camera that looks like and is the size of more of the camcorders that you see everyday. This camera is intriguing to me for two reasons. First it is an HD camera, and second it has dual flash memory. The dual flash memory has its advantages in my opinion. The biggest advantages are, no more mini dv tapes and it is easier to get your footage from the camera to the computer. However the draw back to it is that it is not going to have the manual focus ability (or ease of ability) as the Gl2 or the FX7 and with the camera being so small like most camcorders it is hard to eliminate shake and vibration when you are not using a tripod or camera mount. Also the cost of the Canon Vixia HF S100 is about $1300.00. when you get into that price range, you may as well start considering one of the prosumer models.
The FX7 like the GL2 has everything that I want and probably more than I need. I am not sure that it will perform in low light as well as the Gl2, but again unless I spend quite a bit more money, I am not going to get the perfect camera. I am only shooting video for my own personal enjoyment as well as sharing my experiences with friends. I hope to one day put video on this website to share with anyone that cares to watch. I am by no means a professional, or for that matter a good amateur, but I am very interested and enjoy filming and would like to become better. I worry about becoming a better videographer and catching footage of some really unique and memorable moments and then not being able to do anything with the footage because of poor video quality.
I hope to make a decision on this in the next few weeks and I will keep everyone that is interested informed on what decision I make. Instead of worrying about upgraded my equipment I should probably focus my attention on the many hours of video footage that I already have and try to make something out of it.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Heartland Bowhunter; Style and Substance
I have found a new hunting show that I am really impressed with. Many of you may have already seen it, but I just found out about it the other day while listening to an episode of Bowcast. The show is called Heartland Bowhunter. The owner/ creator of the show, Jeff Simpson was on this particular podcast discussing his approach to the TV show and the reasons that he left his real job to start a TV show. I was very impressed with what Jeff had to say, so I immediately went home and set my dvr to record the series.
Click Here To Read More
The show is actually in its second season and I believe that it just started a week or so ago. So far I have only seen episode 2 of season 2 in its entirety. I have also watched the season 2 trailer on their website HeartlandBowhunter.com. I cannot pin down exactly what is so intriguing about this show to me other than it just has a certain feel to it unlike any other hunting shows on TV today. On the Bowcast podcast Jeff explained that he was really into the photography/ videography aspect of the show and it is obvious. It appears that these guys care just as much if not more about the video quality and production of the show. Don’t get me wrong, there is still great hunting action and great deer as in all hunting shows, these guys just take it to a new refreshing level. Everything they shoot (by shoot I mean film not kill) that makes it to the final cut seems to be perfectly framed and composed as if you were looking at a fine picture rather than a video.
Another thing that stands out to me is that Jeff and his team is really focused on telling a good story. By telling a story I mean by both the dialogue and the camera. They get all of the shots that let the viewer feel like they are part of the hunt. When I use the word “hunt” I am talking about all that goes into a hunt, not just the actual pursuit and killing of an animal. In my experience the best things about hunts are the little things. Sure killing a big buck is great, but there is so much more that goes into the hunt itself other than killing. The actual kill is the icing on the cake, but that part usually happens in a few minutes, the real memories and stories come from the companionship shared with your hunting party and all of the sights, sounds and beauty of the animals and area that you are hunting. Up until this show I think that Realtree Road trips were the only show that was doing a good job of telling a story, which is why it is also one of my favorite hunting shows.
I try to video all of my hunts and know that doing what the Heartland Bowhunter team is doing is really hard work. Granted I am self filming my hunts where as these guys generally have a hunter and a cameraman, but to achieve the artistic quality that this show has takes vision and talent. Just look at their website and it is obvious that these guys have a since of style that is not common in the hunting industry as it stands today.
If you want to see episode 1 of season 2 titled “Velvet” you can stream it in HD quality from the site Bowvidz.com. I am looking forward to watching the rest of season 2 and I am going to order the season 1 DVD on the Heartland Bowhunter website. I am really jacked up about this show, and if you like a little style along with your substance then you will enjoy it also.
Side Note: The website bowvidz.com looks like it is going to be a really cool site when it gets more of a following. I am not sure if it is owned and operated by Heartland Bowhunter or not, but I did find out about it on their website. I am going to look into it more and will write about it in an upcoming post.
Click Here To Read More
The show is actually in its second season and I believe that it just started a week or so ago. So far I have only seen episode 2 of season 2 in its entirety. I have also watched the season 2 trailer on their website HeartlandBowhunter.com. I cannot pin down exactly what is so intriguing about this show to me other than it just has a certain feel to it unlike any other hunting shows on TV today. On the Bowcast podcast Jeff explained that he was really into the photography/ videography aspect of the show and it is obvious. It appears that these guys care just as much if not more about the video quality and production of the show. Don’t get me wrong, there is still great hunting action and great deer as in all hunting shows, these guys just take it to a new refreshing level. Everything they shoot (by shoot I mean film not kill) that makes it to the final cut seems to be perfectly framed and composed as if you were looking at a fine picture rather than a video.
Another thing that stands out to me is that Jeff and his team is really focused on telling a good story. By telling a story I mean by both the dialogue and the camera. They get all of the shots that let the viewer feel like they are part of the hunt. When I use the word “hunt” I am talking about all that goes into a hunt, not just the actual pursuit and killing of an animal. In my experience the best things about hunts are the little things. Sure killing a big buck is great, but there is so much more that goes into the hunt itself other than killing. The actual kill is the icing on the cake, but that part usually happens in a few minutes, the real memories and stories come from the companionship shared with your hunting party and all of the sights, sounds and beauty of the animals and area that you are hunting. Up until this show I think that Realtree Road trips were the only show that was doing a good job of telling a story, which is why it is also one of my favorite hunting shows.
I try to video all of my hunts and know that doing what the Heartland Bowhunter team is doing is really hard work. Granted I am self filming my hunts where as these guys generally have a hunter and a cameraman, but to achieve the artistic quality that this show has takes vision and talent. Just look at their website and it is obvious that these guys have a since of style that is not common in the hunting industry as it stands today.
If you want to see episode 1 of season 2 titled “Velvet” you can stream it in HD quality from the site Bowvidz.com. I am looking forward to watching the rest of season 2 and I am going to order the season 1 DVD on the Heartland Bowhunter website. I am really jacked up about this show, and if you like a little style along with your substance then you will enjoy it also.
Side Note: The website bowvidz.com looks like it is going to be a really cool site when it gets more of a following. I am not sure if it is owned and operated by Heartland Bowhunter or not, but I did find out about it on their website. I am going to look into it more and will write about it in an upcoming post.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Going To Kansas Again!
Just found out today that all non resident applicants drew a tag for either sex whitetail in Kansas. It looks like Robert, Shane and I will be making another trip in November. I hope to have the same success that I had last year. This year I am going to be more selective, I hope to take a true pope and young class buck this year. The buck I got last year was big and old, but he was only a 7 point. I also am going to make a better effort to film my hunts this year. I am really looking forward to another great week or two of hunting. It is about time to get the Bowtech out and start practicing!
(The picture above is of me with the 7 point buck I arrowed last November in Kansas)
Monday, January 12, 2009
Follow Up: The Spider Bull
It Looks Like the "spider bull" will become the largest non typical elk ever recorded by the Boone and Crocket Club.
Calico Buck
Here is a picture of a cool buck that I was emailed to me. I have not researched any of the details, and have no when the buck was shot or if Wisconsin was where the deer was actually killed. The message that accompanied the email stated:
Here is a crazy Buck that a hunter got over in WI.
He sent these pictures to a bunch of people to see what he could get and
the owner of Cabela's paid him $13,000 for the head and hide.
Type The Rest Here
Monday, January 5, 2009
Brady 20" Management 8
My dad and I decided to drive down to Brady on Thursday night for a weekend hunt. There was a cold front moving through and the deer were in full rut, so we figured it was going to be a good weekend. When we arrived at the lease at about 1:00 am the temperature was about 30 degrees.
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The next morning when we woke up it was even colder, the thermometer in my jeep said that it was 24 degrees. I decided to go to my honey hole that I have had so much good fortune in seasons past. I knew that there was a big eight point hanging out in the area. I had a few trail camera pictures of him from late summer when he was in velvet, in fact I posted them on the blog back in September. Click Here To See The Blog Post.
So far I had not seen him, but the weekend before my cousin Tyler sat in the stand and got him on video. He was very wide, we estimated him to be about 20” inside. Up to this point I had not seen any deer that I would consider a “trophy” by our lease standards, so I decided that I was going to focus on taking a mature eight point management buck. From the video I could tell that he was a perfect management buck, he probably was not going to ever be any better than an eight point.
I got into the stand at about 6:45 am. As I was getting everything situated and my camera set up I noticed a small doe walking toward me at about 30 yards. Well, as usual I dropped something out of my back pack and she ran off. After getting set up, the sun was just starting to rise over the trees. I pulled out my grunt tube and rattle bag. I hit the grunt tube once, and then proceeded to lay down a pretty aggressive rattling sequence. As soon as I stopped rattling I noticed movement out to my left. Then I noticed movement to my right, then straight in front of me, and the whole time I heard movement behind me. Within a minute of finishing my rattling sequence I had five different bucks in my area.
It was still too dark to shoot, and really too dark to see, but I could tell that the big wide eight point was coming in at 10 o’clock from my position at about 60 yards away. I watched as he continued to make his way to about 30 yards from me. The whole time the other four bucks (all of them smaller) where chasing does and carelessly walking right into my setup. I watched all of the deer for about 20 minutes, even though I had decided that I was going to take the eight point, I was still holding out hope that something bigger would come in.
At 7:30 the feeder went off and temporarily scared all of the deer out of bow range. About 5 minutes later the big eight point made his way back to within 25 yards of me. I decided that I should go ahead and take the shot. I grabbed my bow and focused my camera on the buck. Just as I got ready to draw back he moved out of the cameras view. This happened several times. I finally got the camera focused on him long enough to allow me to draw back and take the shot. I touched the trigger and watched the Easton Full Metal Jacket arrow disappear right in the boiler maker.
The buck darted away like a scalded cat, and I tried to refocus the camera on him, but could not find him in the view finder. I could see him, just not in the camera. I watched as he crashed to the ground about 60 to 70 yards from my stand. There was not going to be any tracking job on this deer, which was a huge relief. I have had some very long tracking jobs on deer I have shot out of this stand in the past. I actually had to hire a tracking dog to help me find a buck last year.
I watched the deer for about 10 minutes and decided he was down for good. I decided to get out of the stand and go check him out. While making the short walk to the deer , it was very obvious that the deer had been hit very well. There was blood everywhere. So many times in the past I have had deer that did not leave a blood trail at all. That was not the case with this deer, Stevie Wonder could have probably followed this blood trail. I have to say that the 100 Grain Grim Reaper broadhead is worth every penny. It does some serious damage and makes for a quick and humane kill.
As I got closer to the buck, I could immediately tell that he was definitely the widest buck I had ever killed. His inside spread measured 19 3/4". He had decent mass, but was not anything special. After removing his jaw the wear on his teeth showed him to be 5 1/2 years old. He was the perfect management type buck to remove from the heard in order to let the younger bucks grow up and breed the does.
Click Here To Read More
The next morning when we woke up it was even colder, the thermometer in my jeep said that it was 24 degrees. I decided to go to my honey hole that I have had so much good fortune in seasons past. I knew that there was a big eight point hanging out in the area. I had a few trail camera pictures of him from late summer when he was in velvet, in fact I posted them on the blog back in September. Click Here To See The Blog Post.
So far I had not seen him, but the weekend before my cousin Tyler sat in the stand and got him on video. He was very wide, we estimated him to be about 20” inside. Up to this point I had not seen any deer that I would consider a “trophy” by our lease standards, so I decided that I was going to focus on taking a mature eight point management buck. From the video I could tell that he was a perfect management buck, he probably was not going to ever be any better than an eight point.
I got into the stand at about 6:45 am. As I was getting everything situated and my camera set up I noticed a small doe walking toward me at about 30 yards. Well, as usual I dropped something out of my back pack and she ran off. After getting set up, the sun was just starting to rise over the trees. I pulled out my grunt tube and rattle bag. I hit the grunt tube once, and then proceeded to lay down a pretty aggressive rattling sequence. As soon as I stopped rattling I noticed movement out to my left. Then I noticed movement to my right, then straight in front of me, and the whole time I heard movement behind me. Within a minute of finishing my rattling sequence I had five different bucks in my area.
It was still too dark to shoot, and really too dark to see, but I could tell that the big wide eight point was coming in at 10 o’clock from my position at about 60 yards away. I watched as he continued to make his way to about 30 yards from me. The whole time the other four bucks (all of them smaller) where chasing does and carelessly walking right into my setup. I watched all of the deer for about 20 minutes, even though I had decided that I was going to take the eight point, I was still holding out hope that something bigger would come in.
At 7:30 the feeder went off and temporarily scared all of the deer out of bow range. About 5 minutes later the big eight point made his way back to within 25 yards of me. I decided that I should go ahead and take the shot. I grabbed my bow and focused my camera on the buck. Just as I got ready to draw back he moved out of the cameras view. This happened several times. I finally got the camera focused on him long enough to allow me to draw back and take the shot. I touched the trigger and watched the Easton Full Metal Jacket arrow disappear right in the boiler maker.
The buck darted away like a scalded cat, and I tried to refocus the camera on him, but could not find him in the view finder. I could see him, just not in the camera. I watched as he crashed to the ground about 60 to 70 yards from my stand. There was not going to be any tracking job on this deer, which was a huge relief. I have had some very long tracking jobs on deer I have shot out of this stand in the past. I actually had to hire a tracking dog to help me find a buck last year.
I watched the deer for about 10 minutes and decided he was down for good. I decided to get out of the stand and go check him out. While making the short walk to the deer , it was very obvious that the deer had been hit very well. There was blood everywhere. So many times in the past I have had deer that did not leave a blood trail at all. That was not the case with this deer, Stevie Wonder could have probably followed this blood trail. I have to say that the 100 Grain Grim Reaper broadhead is worth every penny. It does some serious damage and makes for a quick and humane kill.
As I got closer to the buck, I could immediately tell that he was definitely the widest buck I had ever killed. His inside spread measured 19 3/4". He had decent mass, but was not anything special. After removing his jaw the wear on his teeth showed him to be 5 1/2 years old. He was the perfect management type buck to remove from the heard in order to let the younger bucks grow up and breed the does.
Cassie "Big Guns" Hampe's First Buck
This is a deer that a good friend of mine Cassie shot this past weekend. What a great first deer. The funny thing is that I was just at her wedding on December 20th. What a lucky man her husband Clark is to be able to talk her into deer hunting instead of a honeymoon.
Click here to read the story written by Cassie!
Ok so Clark wanted to take me Deer hunting this past weekend..no, not our official honeymoon, but it wouldnt surprise me if he offered that up!
Anyway, we got to the deer lease on Friday and went hunting that afternoon. I got to take my dog, Tucker. Anyway, Tucker is the gayest dog you will ever meet.
He is scared of everything so I wanted him to get out in the country. Well, we took him to the first deer stand that was on the ground and we all got into the old crappy deer stand and well lets just say, Tucker was panting so loud that he scared off any animal that might have come into a mile radius.
So we gave up and went to another deer stand. Tucker stayed in the car, which was fine by him! We climbed up into this really nice deer stand and watched for about 2 hours... 9 doe and 2 bucks come up and eat corn. It was really cool. Of Coarse each one that came up, I asked Clark " can we get that one?" 11 times I asked and 11 times he said "no there too young" so I was kinda happy that I/we didnt have to slaughter any animals.
Then next day we got up early to hunt and went to the same deer stand (nice one) and saw nothing! Then that afternoon we moved to another stand which is crappy. basically 4 pieces of thin wood somehow put together. There were 2 stands side by side. Clark was in one and I was in the other! Believe it or not we had to text message each other to talk and only 1 pair of binoculars. He used them. I used my scope.
So we are sitting there and 1 comes in and I text him" ...huge deer 12:00...clark texts "nope too young" then another deer comes in and I say "huge deer 2:00" he says "nope too young" again this happens with 2 more deer. Then an hour before it got dark i see horns move in the bushes and type so fast i misspelled every word to clark..."huge deer 12:00" well , he saw it too and I was right this time it was huge. Clark said that it was a shooter and if HE could do it. I said
"yes" and then he texted me again saying no you do it! ...My hands were shaking soooo hard and then he said "now" so I shot and cant believe I got him!
Well , then we had to go look for the deer. I knew exactly where I lost it ..so we went there and there he was. He did look alot bigger in my scope! (he looked like an elk)
So, my deal to go deer hunting was that I would shoot but not clean. Clark was ok with that. So we found the deer and then I went off to get the car and bring it around. About 20 minutes later i pull up and the gross stuff had been done and we took it to the barn. Thank god 2 guys drove up and helped Clark cause I could tell by the look in Clark's eyes that I was gonna have to help or do something near all that blood. So they helped him hang it and jesus, they talked about the horns for about 30 minutes...kinda like golfers talk about EACH stroke they hit playing 18 holes.
It was really fun, but the house that we stayed in scared the crap out of me. It was a..i dont know what to call it, but when you got about half way thru the house it started slanting and you had to put on the breaks before you ran into the wall on the other side. Plus the oven was dated from like 1920! Oh yeah and Tucker was just as nervous as I was in the house, but as soon as he got his tennis ball he was fine. I never found my "tennis" ball so of coarse the more time we could spend in the deer stand the better for me! I couldnt stare in one place for too long in that house or I would have had a melt down.
All my friends kept saying, "cant believe you shot a deer" . We were staying in town next to a crack house and between the crackies music next door and Clark snoring, I would have shot my own mother to get home sooner!
I also got to carry my gun on my hip like a cowboy and shoot up some bottles and cans. That was a lot of fun... and after our Snake story, You better believe I had my snake boots on/ and gun at my hip (with those special snake bullets) (I added the snake story below)
my deer:
Used to be 8 point but a horn had broken off so it was 7 points.
It was the biggest deer caught on all three ranches so far this year!
Clark says I am spoiled now!
Here are some pics of the weekend.
The first one is of Tucker looking pretty handsome...as you can see his ball is next to him and it is the only way to get him out of the car.
The next deer picture is of me and then the next one, I made Clark put the deers tongue back in his mouth.
-Cassie "big gun" Grimes..oops I mean Hampe.
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