Chad- I can only speak for myself BUT- I used to be hard-core into the videos, I don't watch them anymore because they are: so cheesy, big commercials, massive land owners shooting young bucks I pass up daily (and acting like they are the pros you need to get advice from) & infomercials that cost $15. *I can understand having commercials on TV shows BUT when you pay $15 for a video and you know the bottom line for them is a giant commercial for every product out there- I'll quit buying them and have. OR the video guys thinking it's about them and obviously have a perception of such self importance - they think all other hunters percieve them as these giant celebrities. Just a waste of my time & $. I just watch other things that are on now. *There are a FEW good ones left BUT for the most part I just choose to watch other things now.
OBVIOUSLY, watch if you like them or don't watch them if you don't (of course). But 2 last things, #1 - with how many folks I know that quit watching them and can't take paying for watching cheesy guys, commercials, they are losing viewers left & right IF they were concerned from a market perspective (they need viewers and are losing them) & #2 - my far bigger concern is the videos that turn other folks off (especially new hunters or kids) who see the cheesy commercials and $ value only of hunting from these videos as well as the contradictions of management, shooting young bucks simply to make a film. I worry what SOME of the videos do for the hunting community in a negative sense.
Again, one dude's perspective here. Nothing personal, just my honest take/concern and by no means am I am labeling all videos, etc because there are some good ones (heck, even my close buddies do some videoing).
**Side note- what I mean by cheesy is the guys who are always crafting fancy words for the camera (it's now not called "the rut"- it's the "pro-creation period"), crying and overly emotional on every hunt (drives me INSANE!!!), think they are the pros of the hunting world, guys who love to call their 2&1/2 to 3&1/2 a fully mature buck OR try and justify why they shot a young deer in front of camera for whatever reasons, NERDS of the hunting world, celebrity wanna-be's, etc, etc.