YouTube hunting/habitat channels in 2024

[Hoytvectrix]

What is everyone watching these days?

Any hunting/habitat channels that are sleepers or underappreciated?

He is super well known but I have been really appreciating Bill Winke since he sold Midwest Whitetail and started his own channel. I appreciate that he is humble and open about his successes and failures.

Purpose-Filled Habitat Solutions also puts out a bunch of great habitat content. It is upper Midwest focused, but the principles should be relatable.

In terms of just straight hunting videos, I don't think anyone currently does it better than The Hunting Public. It's so refreshing to see people having success on new properties that aren't shooting a buck over a bait pile from an enclosed blind. I feel like I learn as much about hunting and habitat from them as I do any strictly habitat videos.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Love Winke. I go back and just rewatch old chasing November all the time.
I know it’s stupid but I refuse to watch hunting public. Not a fan of people profiting off the expense of our public lands. They are crowded enough.
All the other goons getting geared up to go sit in redneck over a corn pile will never get a click from me. My favorite is when they try to be discreet with the corn and hide in the rows of the beans or behind a blowdown or broadcast it in grasses.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I don't watch any hunting shows on TV anymore. And I only follow one hunting/habitat channel. It's called Big Woods Bucks....a small business up in Maine that sells merchandise and gear specific to the Northeast tracking tradition. Legendary Maine tracker Hal Blood heads the group...they post all kinds of content and do pod-casts specific to tracking in Maine, the Adirondacks, NH, VT.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Back to Winke, it’s really wild how he doesn’t have bigger deer on his new farm. The place is big and gorgeous and he claims the neighborhood doesn’t get a ton of pressure. I’m very interested in seeing what he can make it in the future.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

Love Winke. I go back and just rewatch old chasing November all the time.
I know it’s stupid but I refuse to watch hunting public. Not a fan of people profiting off the expense of our public lands. They are crowded enough.
All the other goons getting geared up to go sit in redneck over a corn pile will never get a click from me. My favorite is when they try to be discreet with the corn and hide in the rows of the beans or behind a blowdown or broadcast it in grasses.

What I appreciate the most about The Hunting Public is that they show where deer are most vulnerable to be hunted in several different habitat types. I have yet to kill a buck on public land in MN despite hunting several years up here. They show up after the rut and make it happen in a week.

I see what you're saying about crowded public land. No doubt they have contributed to it. I likely wouldn't be hunting on public land if it wasn't for them. I think it's great they are promoting public land hunting though. Access to areas to hunt is going to be all the more important in the future, and I don't think there could be better ambassadors for showing its importance than those guys.

You might like what Missouri has done in terms of people profiting off of a public resource - they charge $500/day for people filming or photographing commercially on public land. I have no idea if this is actually enforced though, because I have seen several small YouTube channels filming on public land and it would be extremely cost prohibitive to make that happen.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

Back to Winke, it’s really wild how he doesn’t have bigger deer on his new farm. The place is big and gorgeous and he claims the neighborhood doesn’t get a ton of pressure. I’m very interested in seeing what he can make it in the future.

I couldn't agree more with your observations. I definitely am excited to see what the hunting looks like on his property in the next couple of years. I'm assuming that it was hunted really hard before he bought it.

 

[Electrodigical]

Different "cultures", different traditions, different styles. I do watch the Hunting Public a bit, but it's funny. In the deer hunting culture I grew up in, what they do a lot of... drive around, spot deer, then try to get close enough to take them, would be called "road hunting". One step above just shooting them out the truck window, right up there with poaching and jacking deer at night.

 

[SwampCat]

Love Winke. I go back and just rewatch old chasing November all the time.
I know it’s stupid but I refuse to watch hunting public. Not a fan of people profiting off the expense of our public lands. They are crowded enough.
All the other goons getting geared up to go sit in redneck over a corn pile will never get a click from me. My favorite is when they try to be discreet with the corn and hide in the rows of the beans or behind a blowdown or broadcast it in grasses.

They have ruined many a good plot of public ground when the word gets out where they were hunting

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

They have ruined many a good plot of public ground when the word gets out where they were hunting

I’ve seen some of these other outdoor guys have the nerve to literally complain about the amount of public land pressure, particularly out west, when their entire existence revolves around pimping the resource for personal gain. Meateater, born and raised, Randy newbergs show.
Hoyt that good about Missouri. Like you said probably not enforced. I would love to see any profiting off of public lands completely eliminated. That’s a can of worms though…

 

[SwampCat]

Back to Winke, it’s really wild how he doesn’t have bigger deer on his new farm. The place is big and gorgeous and he claims the neighborhood doesn’t get a ton of pressure. I’m very interested in seeing what he can make it in the future.

Comming from someone who spends half their waking hours - and half their expendable money - working on their own little piece of land to improve the deer hunting - I am reminded everyday just how easy managing whitetails can be, if you have the right conditions - or even mediocre conditions.

I have a neighboring cattle rancher who does not hunt. He owns 1200 acres - about 700 acres pasture and the rest low quality woods very little oak. A lot of cedar, ash, box elder, boi d’arc - mostly what we “land managers” would consider trash species. He plants fescue in his pastures but they also have some volunteer clover. He lets his nephew and nephew’s buddy hunt the place. He lets me have exclusive use of 100 acres bordering my property. Bow only - crossbow included, baiting ok - shoot anything you want - but you mount it.

Other than that, no deer management - strictly trigger control. No food plots, thinnings, tree plantings, etc. That land provides the nephew a 150” deer most years - in an area where five year old bucks average 113”.

My point being - deer are relatively easily managed. My neighbor’s land has moderate to heavy hunting pressure all around - but they aren't shooting just anything - usually a two or three yr old 8 pt. I know the 1000 acre property on his west side had 21 bucks killed off it last year.

All that to say this - deer basically take care of themselves. If you have a decent sized piece of ground where you offer them some protection - it doesnt take a Winke to make something of it - all it takes is a cattle rancher who doesnt give a flip about a deer. I am reminded of it everyday. I see my 8 acre food plot of wheat, rye, and clovers separated by a barbed wire fence from a field of fescue, with some cocklebur, ragweed, and other weeds. There may be fifty deer out in that forty acre pasture compared to five in my well manicured 8 acre food plot.

Point being, winke will do fine with his large piece of property in an area with not a lot of hunting pressure. He will have an easier time of it than me and my 15 adjacent landowners, or Dawgs and his neighboring outfitter

 

[Turkish]

They have ruined many a good plot of public ground when the word gets out where they were hunting

They ruined it? Or the hordes that followed ruined it?

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

They ruined it? Or the hordes that followed ruined it?

Chicken or the egg. Their encouragement is leading to people wanting to be them. I’m not saying they are bad folks, but it’s the law of unintended consequences. Though I think the ends justifies the means with them. More followers more money. And that’s what it’s all about.

 

[SwampCat]

They ruined it? Or the hordes that followed ruined it?

The hordes that followed - they just instigated it

 

[Turkish]

Chicken or the egg. Their encouragement is leading to people wanting to be them. I’m not saying they are bad folks, but it’s the law of unintended consequences.

I don’t hunt any of those places so I can’t say first hand. But logic dictates that if they ruined places they hunted, they wouldn’t keep having success.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I don’t hunt any of those places so I can’t say first hand. But logic dictates that if they ruined places they hunted, they wouldn’t keep having success.

Ruined is relative…ask the guy who has been hunting it quietly for years if the exposure helped or hurt. Additionally they have the flexibility to bounce all around the country. The local or the guy coming for his week hunt generally has a set location. Like I said they aren’t the devil but i personally feel like monetizing public lands for personal gain should be illegal. Leads to no good

 

[Turkish]

Ruined is relative…ask the guy who has been hunting it quietly for years if the exposure helped or hurt. Additionally they have the flexibility to bounce all around the country. The local or the guy coming for his week hunt generally has a set location. Like I said they aren’t the devil but i personally feel like monetizing public lands for personal gain should be illegal. Leads to no good

I actually do agree with what you’ve said here and would support outlawing monetizing public land the way they have. That’s a different debate than whether they ruin the places.

I just happen to think the notion of ruining the spots is a myth. It’s public land… there are tons of factors beyond one’s control that can make it less productive. I’ll leave it at that and not sidetrack things further.

To contribute to the thread. I will watch THP on occasion. I am super interested in Winke’s progress and have so far felt that the wind in his new hill country is a much bigger factor than he first realized. I wish there were more shows based in the SE about things other than just building food plots and sitting over feeders.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I actually do agree with what you’ve said here and would support outlawing monetizing public land the way they have. That’s a different debate than whether they ruin the places.

I just happen to think the notion of ruining the spots is a myth. It’s public land… there are tons of factors beyond one’s control that can make it less productive. I’ll leave it at that and not sidetrack things further.

To contribute to the thread. I will watch THP on occasion. I am super interested in Winke’s progress and have so far felt that the wind in his new hill country is a much bigger factor than he first realized. I wish there were more shows based in the SE about things other than just building food plots and sitting over feeders.

I agree about the se. I like to watch the occasional Midwest whitetail regional when they are in the se. It’s a change of scenery of some Midwest ag field (which I love for the record)

 

[PatinPA]

I love the Hunting Public guys. I'm pretty sure they've talked about their own spots getting ruined too by people figuring out where they're going. The two main things they preach is being flexible and going where the other hunters aren't. I used to primarily hunt public ground growing up. I've showed up to "my" spot on the first day of rifle season only to get flashed by flashlight after flashlight. Moved to another spot and ended up finding a great rifle stand on the side of the mountain in between two easy walking hiking trails that hunters would walk in and out but no one would walk up the side to where I was.

 

[gwm]

Habitat Solutions 360 (Jake Ehlinger)

See More Bucks (Randy VanderVeen)

Management Advantage

Jared Mills

Bill Winke

Purpose-Filled Habitat Solutions

Love The Grind TV (more of an outfitting business but I think it's pretty neat what they've done with food plot architecture.)

Bowhunt or Die / Bowhunting.com

Whitetail Properties

Growing Deer TV

I don't subscribe to any of these channels but enjoy watching them. I like to see what others have done on their properties.

 

[Telemark]

Ruined is relative…ask the guy who has been hunting it quietly for years if the exposure helped or hurt.

The problem with that argument is that it assumes that guy has some special right or privilege to that public land. He doesn't have any more right or expectation to it than anyone else. He should just feel lucky he had it to himself for so long. Getting upset about another person enjoying their right to public land is not only foolish, it's downright reprehensible.

I think overall, increased participation on public land is a good thing. It gets more people involved, which means there's a lot more people who care and will have something to say if the government tries to sell public land or ban hunting on public land. I understand that can be challenging for some people, but it also causes us to adapt and become better hunters. In Norway, all wilderness is open to the public. It definitely makes hunting challenging, but I never saw the point in letting it bother me. I just take it on myself to learn to be a better hunter.