BOTB on Sportsman Channel
Dec 27, 2010 - Comments (0)
BY The Sportsman Channel - www.thesportsmanchannel.com
Dynamic new concept focuses on real people and backwoods bowhunting with an innovative blend of social media and reality-show elements
New Berlin, Wis. December 9, 2010 — More than 160 teams tried out for a coveted spot on the unique, reality-genre series Battle of the Bow, but only 10 made it for season two beginning on Tuesday, December 28 at 8pm ET, exclusively on Sportsman Channel, the leader in outdoor TV for the American Sportsman. This innovative series taps into the passion of bowhunters and the power of social media to create a fun and dynamic new show concept in the hunting genre.
“This is the first Sportsman Channel show to utilize mobile voting in this manner, and it has proven very successful so far,” said Gavin Harvey, Sportsman Channel CEO. “These teams are simply showcasing their everyday battles of hunting in their backyards. Viewers enjoy the realism and candidness they bring to the show. We wish every team the best of luck this season.”
Earlier in the year, the Battle of the Bow executive producers selected 20, two-person teams from online video submissions. Those 20 teams auditioned before a panel of judges consisting of last year’s “Battle” participants and a music video producer, who then whittled it down to 10 teams. Those teams are now busy shooting video of their fall hunts and posting reports in a blog at http://battleofthebow.com
Team Bow Brothers of Kevin Heisler and Nate Kahler, Kahler said of the final auditioning, “When we heard our names called out you could have knocked me over with a feather! But with that opportunity also came some pressure. I wanted to make sure we represented the teams that didn't make it. In the long run, I think that our team may not stand out as trophy deer hunters but that's ok with Kevin and I ‘cause in the end, we would rather stand out as just deer hunters.”
Beginning the week of December 27, each episode of Battle of the Bow will highlight the ups and downs of every team’s hunting season. Through web-based user feedback, sportsmen across the nation will vote for their favorite teams as the season progresses. The winners, who will be announced in the show’s season finale, will take home cash, prizes, and the ultimate title of “Battle of the Bow Champions.”
Last year’s winner, Team Plumber Hotter, was also given the chance to come back again for season two. Team members Mike Brunner and Jordan Zimmerman of Ellsworth, Wis, said they hope their fans continue voting for them in season two.
The selected teams showcase a diverse range of partners—mother and son, brothers, and best friends—who face the challenge of both hunting and documenting the hunt for television. All teams are once again from Wisconsin, but this year, they travel further to bag their monster bucks and also include special out-of-state guests.
“Team Cranky Pat's, only recorded one buck this early season so far, but we gave it everything we had in order to record great footage for a great bowhunting show. I'm hoping viewers see us as two regular guys who follow Wisconsin hunting regulations, practice quality management, have high ethical standards and respect the outdoors,” said Rob Lang of Team Cranky Pat’s.
“These teams worked hard, had a lot of success, but will also share some of the hardships that everyday hunters face when hunting their own land on their own time,” said Brunner. “This season will also feature our first Pope and Young buck on the show, a 167-inch deer shot from a ground blind.”
Team B/S in the news
Dec 27, 2010 - Comments (0)
BY Kaye Bird - of www.MyGatewayNews.com
It all began a year ago when Spring Valley resident Jared Supri was watching the Sportsman Channel. A show called "Battle of the Bow," a reality hunting show for the average hunter, came on the air.
Supri, an avid and accomplished bow hunter, recognized a few of the people on the show because they lived in the area. He was also impressed with the show and called his father-in-law Scott Behrens. Together they decided to become a team and compete for Battle of the Bow title, and they weren't alone.
One hundred and seventy teams from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan made the same decision, and the process began. Behrens and Supri contacted the producers and learned what they needed to do to be considered as Battle of the Bow contestants. "At the end of last year's season, we completed a written application and then sent in a small video application," said Supri.
Producers of the show were not only looking for successful bow hunters, they were also looking at the personalities of the men and women who wanted to be on the show. "We had to make sure our personalities came across in the video," Supri added.
Of those 170 teams, 20 were chosen; Supri and Behrens had made the cut. "We went to a camera shoot in August and met with the 20 other teams; we mingled with each other," said Supri. Past contestants on the show and representatives from the Sportsman Channel were also there. A panel asked questions of the individual teams, and then a decision had to be made.
Those 20 teams needed to be narrowed down to 10; the news came that same day-Jared Supri and Scott Behrens or "Team BS," as they called themselves, were headed to TV Land. Scott laughed, "We chose that name because we wanted people to remember it."
Beginning on the third week in September (the start of bow season), Jared and Scott, who have been hunting together for 14 years, began filming each other with a video camera supplied by the Sportsman Channel. The filming continued through the third week in November. "We would spend 24 hours to get an hour's worth of material that could be used on the show," said Behrens.
Each team was asked to send in eight to 10 films. More editing takes place, and of course, the producers of the show make all the final decisions recording what footage is actually aired. "There are 13 episodes, and each show is just 22 minutes long," said Supri. For many amateur hunters the attraction of the show is this: the men and women they see on Battle of the Bow are people just like them-people who work 40 hours a week and then hunt whenever they have some free time.
The first show of the season will air on December 28 at 7:00 p.m. on the Sportsman Channel. Those readers who have Dish Network may turn to channel 68 to watch the show. "I know Spring Valley Cable offers that channel, but I don't know what number it is," said Behrens.
Viewers will be asked to rate the teams. "If you get the most votes, you are automatically signed up for the next season," said Supri adding, "All 13 episodes will have to air before the voting is complete.
Local viewers will find the show especially interesting since all 10 teams are from Wisconsin, and six of those teams are from this area.
Scott describes himself as "an avid outdoors man." He holds degrees in both wildlife management and biology from UW/Stevens Point and is the owner of Behrens Enterprises, a company based in Roberts. He is also an experienced hunter. "I spend most of the fall pursuing trophy whitetails with bow, logging nearly as much time hunting as time spent at work," he said.
Jared works for Scott at American Pest Solutions, a subsidiary of Behrens Enterprises, as Wildlife Department Manager, and he too hunts every spare minute he has. "Hunting is a passion for me," he said, "and I have been lucky enough to harvest three bucks over 150 inches in my short time of hunting."
Tune in to the Sportsman Channel every Tuesday at 7:00 beginning on December 28. Visit the website www.battleofthebow.com and/or text TEAM BS to 22333 and vote daily. "One person can actually vote twice per day by visiting the website and texting," said Behrens adding, "Those who tune in will most definitely see us."
Congratulations to Scott Behrens and Jared Supri on this impressive accomplishment and good luck!
Bow Brothers in the News
Dec 26, 2010 - Comments (0)
BY Andrew Munger - of The Northwestern
For deer hunters Nate Kahler and Kevin Heisler, of Oshkosh, the hardest shot on the Sportsman Channel’s Battle of the Bow season 2 did not involve a bow.
Instead, shooting the hunt with a camera proved to be more difficult than lining up a shot at a deer.
“When you have a camera, there’s more pressure running the camera than there is shooting the deer,” Kahler said. “How many deer have I shot? That’s not a problem, I can do that. How many deer have I videoed? Not many.”
Kahler and Heisler were one of 10 teams that spent the first half of the 2010 Wisconsin bow deer hunting season filming for the show Battle of the Bow season 2, which premiers on Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. on the Sportsman Channel.
The two will appear between five and seven times throughout the 13 episodes of the show’s season. Throughout the 13-week season, fans and friends have the opportunity to vote for their favorite team, with the winners coming back for season 3.
Although Kahler and Heisler wouldn’t mind winning the vote and participating in season 3, the experience of season 2 was enjoyable.
“The coolest part is we go hunting so much and we are away from our families and now they can see what we do,” Heisler said.
Getting the deer in frame and on camera wasn’t the only problem that cropped up for the duo that has been hunting together for eight years.
Dealing with the pressure of having to perform on camera was another hurdle that needed to be overcome.
“It seemed like it was forever (before we got a deer),” Kahler said. “We tried not to let the pressure in on us, but you’re trying to produce for them. I think in the end both of us cracked a little bit.”
For Kahler and Heisler it didn’t take long before the pressure relented, as the team was the second team to shoot a deer.
The team put in a ton of work before and during the filming for the show.
They had to do the normal setting up of stands and bait piles and cutting down shooting lanes, not to mention learning to use the camera equipment. But on top of all of that, Kahler and Heisler leased land in Waupaca County from an older woman who, instead of cash, wanted work done on her house.
“We framed in walls, put closets in, drywall ceiling, flooring, electrical,” Heisler said.
Doing the show was an experience the two will not forget, but if they are selected to come back for season three, they have a way to make the experience memorable by hunting in a friend’s junkyard.
“If we come back I think we are definitely going to try and get a junkyard deer,” Heisler said laughing.
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