Field Journal

Life has a funny way of teaching us lessons when we least expect it. For me, one of these lessons came at 13,000 feet in the Caucasus Mountains of Azerbaijan. Chase and I were there to hunt Dagestan Tur. This was two years after we hunted Dall sheep in the Alaska range, and we were anxious to get into the

I’ve been making outdoor and hunting films for a while now, about fifteen years. Over the course of that decade and a half, I’ve learned an awful lot. When I compare my work now to my work back then, it’s clearly improved. My cuts are clean. Audio levels are normal. Color is corrected. It’s a testament that you get better

There’s something romantic about the solitary hunter: a lone figure moving silently through the woods, testing themselves against nature. Those who can film solo… wow. Here’s a moment of silence for their effort. Sometimes, we need the solitude. We need to prove to ourselves that we harvest and pack out an animal entirely on our own. These solo adventures can

Like most beginners, I made a lot of mistakes when I first started making hunting films. But this was the biggest one, by far: Every cut I made was made to hit a beat on a music track. Here’s what happened: It was so easy to make cuts this way and viewers seemed to like it. But, it’s also worth

I get asked this question a lot: “Hey Jay, hope you’re doing great! I’m going on a hunting trip and I want to try my hand at filming it. Do you have any recommendations for a good entry-level camera I can get at Best Buy?” It’s always the same: “What camera should I get?” When I was just starting out,

There are numerous books about photography and filmmaking. I’ve read most of them, but the best book I’ve found on filmmaking, especially for beginners, is “How To Shoot Video That Doesn’t Suck” by Steve Stockman. Here are a few reasons why: If you’re even remotely interested in making hunting videos, I highly recommend this book. (And if you’ve read it,

I don’t consider myself an expert in filmmaking. Not in the same sense as anyone working in Hollywood, at least. However, I have spent over 10 years reading and learning about cameras and video editing, and at this point have used that knowledge to create hundreds of hunting and hunting-related videos that have garnered millions of views. I’ve worked with

The Great Gear Lie: How Our Obsession with “The Best” Steals Both Money and Experience Our fixation on gear is costing us more than just dollars. The modern hunter faces constant pressure to buy better gear for better results. But this assumption deserves scrutiny. We’ve become obsessed with having the best of everything, down to the most trivial items. When

watched a video on YouTube this week and that was the title. “I’m Dead.” It turned up in my suggested videos with over 3 million views at the time (as of writing this it’s wracked up more than 7 million). Me, with my fascination with death and the psychology of death couldn’t resist watching it. At least for the first