Searching for West

[7mag.]

Doesn't Mark work for Mystery Ranch? A designer or marketing or something?

I guess he does. You beat me to it YK.

 

[LuJon]

Doesn't Mark work for Mystery Ranch? A designer or marketing or something?

I guess he does. You beat me to it YK.

Oh really I had no idea this guy worked for Mystery Ranch. Sounds like an amazing hunter to me.....

 

[MattEastman]

I personally am very stoked about this film. Im getting somewhat bored with the crap on tv.......this is a breath of fresh air. The "art" that Seacat, Steven Drake and others are creating is second to none. These types of films inspire! Can these guys hunt? Your damn right they can. But from my personal experience, these guys are good dudes as well.

Just my thoughts

 

[luke moffat]

I think you are missing part of the point of the film Luke. I haven't really followed Seacat's career, but I do know that he started at Mystery Ranch, and backpack hunting was supposed to be his thing. Part of the story in film seems to be that due to to the birth of his son "West" he is forced to make new choices. Of of those compromises is that he hunts close to home so he can be there for his family more than he normally would that time of year.

I can relate more than you can. Although I love the remote camp based hunts, and do them pretty much every year, family obligations have caused me to do a much larger portion of my hunting as "suicide run" type day hunts in the last few years. I've gotten pretty good at it. Counting on my fingers, my partners and I have killed 18+ moose and caribou in the last 6 years on our "day hunts". Sure, not my favored method either, but it's a balance that I have to strike as long as there are babies in the house.

Yk

PS oh yeah, and I think it's supposed to have an online release, so I assume it's free. At least that's the way I read the website. August 22, so I'll be sheep hunting.

YK,

I didn't read the back story on that. I know Seacat works for MR goes on a bunch of awesome hunts for sure. I certainly don't fault the guy for not being able to hunt like he used to due to making family a priority. That would be crazy. It looks very well done, just over dramatized with super slow mo. I agree the camera work is phenomenal obviously though. I'd just rather watch the first person style filming some of the guides in Canada are putting on youtube or what Billy Molls puts out for video. Just different strokes for different folks.

 

[Yellowknife]

YK,

I didn't read the back story on that. I know Seacat works for MR goes on a bunch of awesome hunts for sure. I certainly don't fault the guy for not being able to hunt like he used to due to making family a priority. That would be crazy. It looks very well done, just over dramatized with super slow mo. I agree the camera work is phenomenal obviously though. I'd just rather watch the first person style filming some of the guides in Canada are putting on youtube or what Billy Molls puts out for video. Just different strokes for different folks.

The filming style is going to be a matter of taste for sure. If the whole thing is like the trailer, I'm going to have a hard time with it. The music was a bit too... LOTR. I don't think it was meant to be a hunting story to compete with Billy Molls, but guess we will find out.

Yk

 

[Nick Muche]

Who is this Secat guy? Aron, do you know him?

 

[Matt Cashell]

I am starting to get the feeling that this guy is somewhat not liked on this forum. I don't know what the deal is, this guy has all the right gear.... MYSTERY RANCH PACK, SITKA GEAR and LEICA optics are in a league of there own in my opinion.

I don't have the skinny on who likes who (I wasn't even on the ballot for Homecoming King myself), but Rokslide is all about gear and the hunt. So what, in your opinion, puts Mystery Ranch, Sitka, and Leica in a league of their own when compared to Kuiu, Kifaru, Zeiss, Swarovski, etc.? That seems like a discussion Rokslide members can get into.

BTW, I really like the stylized footage, but I didn't see much hunting footage, as all the animals were filmed from aircraft. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

 

[dotman]

I am starting to get the feeling that this guy is somewhat not liked on this forum. I don't know what the deal is, this guy has all the right gear.... MYSTERY RANCH PACK, SITKA GEAR and LEICA optics are in a league of there own in my opinion.

No I don't think that is it and gear doesn't make the hunter. I feel just based on the trailer this is going to be more like "Planet Earth" was on the discovery channel. Great camera work but there is no way it can be a great hunting show based on what I saw in the trailer, camera shot from helos, camera shots out in the wild from in front of the hunter. I don't know this Seacat guy and i'm sure he is an ok guy. To me this will be a documentry of a guy out in thhe woods, could be good just as an outdoors show but you cannot take a huge production crew with helos and hunt.

 

[Matt W.]

Its a great promo; scenic shots, good music, dramatic over voice.. Has my favorite truck in it and the gear (although not what I have and use) is arguably decent stuff. Interest concept that I'm willing to watch. Should be back from my sheep hunt just about the time it comes out.

 

[HellsCanyon]

WoW, interesting thread for sure... theres obviously some underlying emotions in here (first I've seen on this forum...)!

Its a promo video designed to draw people in (hence the slow-mos, and helo work). I'm not one to judge a book by its cover so I'll say that it looks like something I would check out for sure! Entertainment comes in all forms for myself and just because a guy/crew are hunting different then myself doesn't mean I'll fault 'em for it. To each their own and if I don't like it, I'll just turn on something else or watch a different video. Camera work looks awesome and yeah it does seem a bit 'hyped' but it could be easy to do while making a promo video. I agree if its like that the whole time then its going to be a "no-go" for myself but hey, why not check it out? Ain't going to kill ya...

Mike

 

[HvyBeams]

I will check it out. I agree with Matt Eastman's statement about Steven Drake. He's a pretty talented guy and I like watching his videos.

 

[2rocky]

I think good film making runs contrary to what we like about hunting. The solo aspect, of being alone and in a place few people know about is at odds with documenting what the experience is about, and sharing it withthe world.

I see what has happened with other famous backcountry hunters, and wonder if it is really good for the sport and the wild places. It would hurt my soul to run into a film crew in "my" hunting spot. We are never gonna get the Genie back in that bottle.

As much as we SAY we need more young hunters, the woods and mountains seem to be getting more crowded every year. 10 years ago 3 miles from the trailhead was undisturbed, now you will see camps from mile 2 to 7. I credit that to the great job Television, and magazines and the internet has done to educate hunters about back country hunting.

Great for Gear companies, Subscriptions, and video sales until it is your Ox being gored...

I hope SFW is something that makes my non-hunting friends appreciate why I hunt and what I enjoy about it. At the same time I hope it doesn't spawn half a dozen Primos production wanna be's from bastardizing "our little secret".

 

[johnnylaw]

very good point 2rocky! i am new to backpacking, but not because of realtree, or primos, i am just looking for something more wild and challenging then treestand hunting whitetails. on one hand i would love to see more but on the other hand i cant watch 10 seconds of lee and tiffany, realtree, primos..etc fake hunting surrounded by sales pitches leaves a bad taste in my mouth! even Eastmans TV makes me feel like sponsers are being jammed down my throat. would much rather watch youtube video of a DIY regular joe who is doing it cause he loves it!

 

[luke moffat]

I think good film making runs contrary to what we like about hunting. The solo aspect, of being alone and in a place few people know about is at odds with documenting what the experience is about, and sharing it withthe world.

I see what has happened with other famous backcountry hunters, and wonder if it is really good for the sport and the wild places. It would hurt my soul to run into a film crew in "my" hunting spot. We are never gonna get the Genie back in that bottle.

As much as we SAY we need more young hunters, the woods and mountains seem to be getting more crowded every year. 10 years ago 3 miles from the trailhead was undisturbed, now you will see camps from mile 2 to 7. I credit that to the great job Television, and magazines and the internet has done to educate hunters about back country hunting.

Great for Gear companies, Subscriptions, and video sales until it is your Ox being gored...

I hope SFW is something that makes my non-hunting friends appreciate why I hunt and what I enjoy about it. At the same time I hope it doesn't spawn half a dozen Primos production wanna be's from bastardizing "our little secret".

I agree Rocky, maybe thats what I was trying to convey when I say it doesn't appear to be my style. However, if its free I'll certainly watch it. Though likely I won't get to watch it until about Sept 19th when I get back to work and out of the field. If nothing else it'll be something to pass the time by for my 2 weeks at work before I head off to Kodiak for two weeks in October. I am a fan of good footage of animals for sure and this seems to have that in spades. I guess I was thinking it was more gonna be a hunting video, but maybe dotman is right, it might be more akin to planet earth with some camo, guns, and bows in it. Either way it'll likely be entertaining none-the-less.

 

[fillthefreezer]

from the trailer im not sure how much you can gauge but it looks like it might do a good job of showing that we as hunters are not just out to kill, like the leaf lickers would make us out to be, but show how much we really do love the animals and the outdoors and the pursuit of all thats wild

 

[Rent Outdoor Gear]

I know Seacat personally and he's a Grade-A guy. I love the artistic cinematography - which by the way doesn't require a whole film crew with today's SLR video capable cameras with interchangeable lenses. I certainly wouldn't base opinions on the film by a few camera shots and angles used to inspire interest for the trailer. Unless you prefer the shaky handi-cam shots used by a lot of videos.

Mark is trying to capture the hunts visual elements in a more realistic and eye catching manner. It's tough to fit that onto a television, but he's going to give it a shot. I'm sure the hunting action will be a little more "standard", but the additional story of what's really going on inside could be a nice change of pace. At any rate, I think it's cool to see someone stepping outside the box to create a new genre of hunting movie. Good luck Mark! I'm looking forward to seeing it!!

Coop

 

[MattEastman]

I know Seacat personally and he's a Grade-A guy. I love the artistic cinematography - which by the way doesn't require a whole film crew with today's SLR video capable cameras with interchangeable lenses. I certainly wouldn't base opinions on the film by a few camera shots and angles used to inspire interest for the trailer. Unless you prefer the shaky handi-cam shots used by a lot of videos.

Mark is trying to capture the hunts visual elements in a more realistic and eye catching manner. It's tough to fit that onto a television, but he's going to give it a shot. I'm sure the hunting action will be a little more "standard", but the additional story of what's really going on inside could be a nice change of pace. At any rate, I think it's cool to see someone stepping outside the box to create a new genre of hunting movie. Good luck Mark! I'm looking forward to seeing it!!

Coop

Well said Darin.

 

[Beastmode]

Alot of good opinions on her and I see where people are coming from. 2rocky makes valid points about wilderness areas becoming crowded, but it is public land. I dont like it just as much as you but it is public and everyone has as much of a right to be there as me. But still frustrating. All in all I will probably watch it.

 

[Foldem]

I liked the trailer. It had some good camera work and got me pumped for the back country this fall. I hope there are animals and success in the film too.

 

[dreamingbig]

I thought the slow motion view of the arrow release was pretty cool. I agree with most that this appears to be more show and artistic in nature than actual substance/reality. I will check it out when it is free online.