A Year With A Camera

       It was one of those mornings where everything was going right! My wife made breakfast, I was up before the alarm, and every song on the Radio seemed to be a good one. I had been thinking about trying my hand at filming my turkey hunts for the year, so I decided I was going to buy one that day.  We ran to Wally World and I purchased a little Handy cam off the shelf. It was basic point and shoot camera with a little zoom but no manual controls. I figured I would try my hand at it to see how I liked it. If I did, I would upgrade later in the year.

My Son and I with my first videoed hunt

       A couple weeks rolled by and it was now turkey season. I decided this year I would focus on filming than Killing. I set up were filming would be at its best, field edges. The first hunt of the year brought a Thunder Gobbling Longbeard within spitting distance of me. Problem was , he was behind me. He was the largest bird I ever encountered so I swung around and harvested the beautiful Longbeard.  So much for focusing only on filming!  I decided that was it, something like that can't happen again.  I was going to have to set up better, and focus on the filming.
        Two weeks later, I put a flock of birds to sleep. The next morning I was out before daylight. I snuck to the field edge and set up my decoy in the dark. I began shuffling through my pack and guess what? I forgot my tripod.  I sat there in the darkness wondering, "Should I go to the truck and get it? Wait!  I left it at home!" I got that sick feeling, kind of like when you miss a deer, and just sat there in the darkness.   How could I have forgot the tripod? I look over and my lights shines on two big boulders and a stump that was cut flat off. In the darkness I constructed me a camera holder out of boulders with the camera pointed toward the decoy. As it began getting light and I made some final adjustments of leveling and I had the Camera pointed right on the decoy.  If a gobbler worked the decoy it would be caught on camera.
        The sun began to rise and the gobbling began. I was close enough to see them fly down into the field. The two big strutters stayed with hens but a Jake split off the group. He was a good hundred yards out directly behind my decoy and my stationary camera filmed him coming into the decoy the entire time. He worked to 20 yards and I dropped him on film. I didn't care about him being a Jake, I had just called him in and self filmed my first hunt! I was so excited that I double punched my record button on the aftershot interview. Rookie Mistake
              After turkey season,  the addiction really set it. I couldn't wait till deer season so I filmed some fishing trips and was getting better and better with the camera.  Money is tight ,but I was addicted, so I began making my own homemade sliders and jib. It was all I could think about and soon archery season was upon us. A friend had two cameras and allowed me to use one of his! It was way better quality with all the manual settings needed. I was learning a new camera just when archery season had opened.
      Every year I  let my wife harvest a deer first. After a month of trying to get it on camera, we finally connected in October on a doe. I was excited , I had just filmed my first deer hunt. Everything was right, or so I thought. I had messed with the audio in the blind and turns out the audio wasn't the best: Rookie Mistake.
      When I started filming I said " I wanted to be a camera man first, and a hunter second." I stood by that during deer season, passing on whitetails that I just couldn't get on camera. It finally happened on Nov. 9 , I harvested a nice 8 pointer from the blind. Filmed everything, made a story line, and laid down some decent footage.
    I now have my own " prosumer" camera and am ready to chase some turkeys this spring. I still have a ton to learn.  I know I will still make mistakes, we all do. That is what makes filming so much fun. The challenge, the heartbreak, and the excitement all creating this whirlwind of emotions. To say, "I'm addicted" is an understatement.
   If your thinking of giving filming hunts a try then Go For It.  You will hunt differently. You will see what "preparation" is needed to get a hunt on film. You will pass up deer that you normally would have harvested because the camera was not on them. You will get to the stand earlier, and leave later. You will make mistakes but you will gain a better aspect of the outdoors. Me, I love it! I thought nothing would be more enjoyable than hunting. Turns out Filming hunts is addicting. I cant wait to see what I will learn this year! Capturing these moments and sharing them with Friends and Family, Now that is what it is all about. I just hope I remember to hit Record!                                         Justin