So You Think You Can Film???

[Justin Spies]

This will be my fifth year to go up and hunt Kansas in November. Over those years I have had some awesome encounters from the stand. As I sat here day dreaming about the rut and not getting any work done, I get to thinking that I sure wished I would have done some filming to have those memories to look back on. I always tell myself this year you are going to film it all, but it never seems to happen when game time starts.

I have a nice Sony Handycam that I carry with me, and have even tried to mount it to a $20 tree arm and film a little. The problem is that when I see a deer that I think might be a shooter I go straight to get this dude in range and kill him mode and never jack with the camera!!! Does this happen to anyone else? Any advice on overcoming this?

I'm thinking if I get a better user friendly camera arm it might give me some more confidence to get more filming done. Any good recommendation for arms or just self filming in general? It may not be cut out for me but man I sure wish I had some footage to look back on and share with family and friends down the road.

[Rat]

Self filming ain't easy. A good camera arm is golden, a three section arm is best I think, liquid filled head (smooth pan and tilt) with padding on the attachment (for camera noise reduction).

I mostly hunt out of ground blinds so a good heavy tripod is what I use.

I hate to say it, but the best teacher is experience; and there will be a lot of trial and error.

I am like you though, I would not sacrifice the bowshot for the camera shot.

[BlackHogDown]

Following along.

[Shane]

I like taking photos. I hate trying to film, even if I'm just the camera man while somebody else is hunting. I'll never be a good videographer.

[Bort]

From what I've been told, you've got to be willing to sacrifice about 1/2 your opportunities to get one on film. My suggestions is to start recording early and leave it as a wide shot.
Better too much footage, than none at all.

Then, get a lot of follow up shots, setting up, close up of bow, shallow depth of field shot on the arrow, drawing (most people fake it) , etc. If you look at most hunting shows, 95% of the video is fluff. However, if fluff adds to the story, it's all good.

That's my 2 cents, coming from a guy who gets too excited about hunting to even bring his camera along half the time!

[Justin Spies]

What do you guys use to edit? I dont need TV quality just to clear up the garbage

[EastTx]

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Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[Skinny]

I've self filmed and edited hundreds of hunts. Experience, good setups, and good equipment is a must if you want good footage.


Skinny

[TexasBowtech]

I have a muddy basic camera arm that was only 40 dollars. It works great if ur looking for a good cheap camera arm.

[quarterback]

Back in the day it was considered almost impossible to successfully film a bow hunter making a good kill shot. Now people are doing it all over the place. This is something I'd love to be able to do. Every time I think about it I am afraid I'd mess up and scare the deer/hog/turkey/whatever and not get the shot. Best of luck to you.

[RS3]

Would you rather have the memories on video or the horns in your hands? I've done some self videoing and it's difficult but can be done. I'd spooked a decent mule deer in Kansas trying to get the shot on camera. Sure wish I didn't have the camera with me that evening.

[Elite0429]

i just bought a hawk camera arm with head included. I have an older model camera that im going to try and film with this year to see if I will like it. if so I will upgrade cameras for next year. ive tried it in the past and it didn't work out, but im wanting it to work out!

[lanceodom]

I have filmed so many of my bowkills over the years. A good blind set up is the key, then I have my camera at the ready and hit record when the deer is coming in. In most situations, you have plenty of time for the deer to come in and get comfy, film and shoot. I use Trophy Tools which is an aligator clamp with a camera mount. it clips on most anything and most blinds have something you can clip to. just do it, you will be happy. My problem is I have hours, if not days of footage that I need to get put on a computer and edited. I have never learned to edit.

I am now trying to figure out how to film my elk hunts. Those are hard and I have tried a go pro but it has many drawbacks. any advice on this would be appreciated.

[PublicLandFreaks]

I am filming an elk hunt in a couple of weeks. I would only use the go pros for over the shoulder shots where you are not worried about getting the animal on camera. Make sure you have a camera that will reach out and be able to get a good clear shot of the Elk. if you have a spotting scope i highly recommend a diy phone scope mount or just go out an buy one. dont forget your cell phone will shoot awesome video quality. like one of the guys said above much better to have way more footage than not enough. when it comes to editing you can use hitfilm 4 express. Its free and pretty easy to get the hang of. it comes with lots of preloaded special effects and there are TONS of videos on how to use it on youtube. good luck and let me know if i can help answer any questions.

[Hobbs]

I've filmed and self filmed many hunts with kill shots. They are as good as anything you will see on TV without all the fancy editing. It's not easy. Setting up in a pop up blind with a tripod to hold the camera is the easiest. Up in a tree is a lot tougher. Trying to move the camera in position while not getting busted then trying to get the bow pulled back and hoping the buck doesn't move out of the frame before you can shoot. One time I had to move my camera using the cam of my bow while at full draw to get the buck back in the frame before the shot. It's cool now but at the time I was sweating it.