Hello Motox and the other folks who have chimed in on this post. After reading it a few times, I have the following comments.
a.) I don’t watch much TV and have never seen an actual PQ show, but I do own all of Les’s DVD’s which contain footage from his show and have always liked Les’ camera work and storyboard.
b.) I like Les Johnson as well as many of the other guys on this board and others who make DVD’s or calls for a living or for a hobby. Some guys in this game have a lot of credibility but are poor PR folks and cannot or do not want to market themselves and some guys have very few miles, little credibility and limited coyote knowledge but are very good at marketing themselves. If you don’t know this, let me tell you first hand, Les Johnson has more miles and credibility than most of the other guys in the “spotlight”, combined. He is a smart, good looking, sensible guy who does a wonderful job of portraying our sport in a very classy manner and is a great ambassador for the game we all love to play.
c.) Every time I read a thread that starts out with something like “Don’t be fooled by Les Johnson……” or something to that effect, I get a little uncomfortable on several levels.
The first, and most obvious, is that most of the time it is done for the sole purpose of running the guy down. I don’t know if that was your intention or not, but based on some of your comments, it seems like that’s the purpose, but I hope not. Les is not a dishonest guy or a guy out trying to misrepresent his products or others. He’s simply a guy who’s worked harder and dreamed bigger than most of the guys who call coyotes.
Let me follow that up and tell you that it’s extremely difficult to film, produce and edit a show. My guess is that Les, by now, after a few years of shooting this thing, doesn’t even see the show before it goes on TV. There’s also a 99% chance that he is not involved in any of the editing of the thing by now and has turned over all of the production to someone else. That just happens after a while when the “polish” starts to wear off a little. (By the way, some of this stuff I have written about in the past on my blog at
www.markzepp.com if you care to read any of it)
I don’t doubt that you heard a Foxpro sound on a stand, but trust me when I tell you that sounds can get added and things taken out of context when you are not in the editing room. That has happened to virtually everyone I know who has done any TV or DVD work over the years and turned the long, lonely editing hours over to anyone else.
Although he is no longer sponsored by Foxpro or any other electronic call company, he will be the first to tell you that Foxpro makes an excellent product. Maybe he was using a Foxpro and mentioned that but the editing crew picked the only footage where he forgot to mention it because they liked his smile better on that “take” or a host of other possibilities. I don’t know and didn’t see the show, but there are several ways that something like could have happened.
d.) Les’s calls are nice, unique, and I am a fan of his as I am sure many others on this board are. It’s OK if you like his show or don’t like his show, that’s what helps make this country the greatest place to live.
Good Hunting Fella’s,
Big Mark