Amanda Lynn takes to the screen
AFTER LEARNING THE ROPES, SHE TAKES JUST HUNT TO AIR ON WILD TV
BY AMANDA LYNN MAYHEW
IF YOU THINK filming a hunting television
show is easy, trust me, it’s not. My show,
Just Hunt is just that, real, with no script.
Even tougher is casting the proper animals
and hoping they will show up at the right
time. Long hours of sitting, watching and
waiting are required.
During the spring of 2016 it was Ontario’s
first spring bear hunt since 1999, and the film
crew had to wrangle weather, team co-ordina-
tion, travel and, for me, getting used to doing
something I’d never done before – shooting
a show .
Not to mention working and living with a
cameraman for seven days.
Traveling 12 hours north from Owen Sound,
back to my home town of Manitouwadge to
shoot the first episode was an adventure from
the moment we picked up cameraman Kurtis
Harder in Sault Ste. Marie. All along the way,
it was hard to keep in mind that absolutely
everything I did or said would be caught on
film, to capture the whole story.
It requires quality equipment, experienced
and talented cameraman, an on-air host
personality and a cast of characters, including
animals. Not all 12 hours of video shooting
goes to air because editors take hours and
hours to compress the footage into 23
minutes of action-packed television. It keeps
you on the edge of your seat, wondering
what next will break down in the truck,
whether that bear lurking around the bait
site will show up, or how an experienced
woman hunter can pick up the ins and outs
o f the video world – fast.
This TV series is about hunting the way
I was raised in Northern Ontario, without
game farms or outfitters. I take viewers
onto my own land where I’ve hunted
since childhood. I take advantage of each
situation to fill a freezer with big game, pass
on hunting traditions to my son and show
women the road to the outdoors.
The 2017 series was shot six weeks after
my mom passed away, and I returned to my
home town where she grew up to film the
first episode. This is the town and the person
who made me who I am today, so the return
was very emotional. The second episode,
with camera shooter Corey Sadoway, brought
24 other women to Range Day to introduce
them to pistol, shotgun, rifle and archery
in a relaxed environment with one-on-one
mentoring. It was great fun.
The third segment was a waterfowl hunt
that took me right out of my comfort zone
as goose hunting is not something I’ve done
often. But when it was over, the Just Hunt
crew and I had captured awesome footage
of deer, geese and even some creative
fitness adventures and off-road footage with
the Argo!
Each episode has its individual challenges
along with thinking about yourself and your
hunt, but the cameraman too. Is he properly
concealed so the animal won’t see him, is he
moving, does he have enough room or light
for a good shot, does he need a different
angle? So many new things to consider.
When you are hunting alone, none of these
things matter but when a TV production
makes all the little parameters – personal,
team, environmental – are crucial. Personally,
having someone else along for the ride was
different – the crew wasn’t my son or usual
hunting partner. So I worried about how we
would get along, whether the shooter has
been in this situation before, whether he’s
safe? Both of them were.
Filming a hunting television show takes
dedication, commitment, passion and an
accomplished cameraman. Our stories have
now been captured for broadcast in the
upcoming Canada Hunts series, a memory
forever, or maybe even a DVD.
Watch for Just Hunt on Wild TV. For more
information visit www.wildtv.ca
(left) Amanda Lynn shoots skeet for Just Hunt TV Show, as
the camera crew films Amanda.
Scenes from the Just Hunt’s waterfowl hunt episode.
www.fishhuntandride.ca
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