Jimmy Houston

[cook]

Man,the s#@t is hitting the fan.
I don't care.
He is still at the top of the list for me.
For those of you that don't know,I'm sure it will soon be apparent.

[sbursik]

????? What happened ????????

[TIM HAGAN]

Ok Cook so whats up with jimmy????????????????????

[cook]

I'm way too slow of a poster to list it all out.
Short story.
Was hunting deer for a show.
Nice buck.
Ended up being a 3-6 acre high fence game farm,rumors of deer being drugged.

He is getting bashed on a lot of other sites.

I can't link to them ,but shoud be easy enough to do a search and read all about it.

Jimmy issued a formal apology.

I still love the guy,that gigglegiggle-kiss-release gets me every time.:0a1:

[MadKater]

It all started at a deer farm here in IN owned by a Mr beller,apparently the "ranch" is around 1200 acres of high fence,Bellers ranch was under investigation for allowing peopl eto shoot these deer without tags and also he was accused of drugging the deer to put them in sort of a stuper to make and easier target for the "hunter",alot of people where questioned to find out the truth about the ranch and it just so happens Jimmy was one of the guys,along with a Mr Dunn from the singing group Brooks and Dunn.
I honestly believe Jimmy did not knpw about the deer being drugged,the illegal he did was shoot his buck with a bow when only having a gun tag. now everyone is bashing Jimmy for "hunting" these fenced in ranches and people are boycotting his sponsors like moth wing camo,people are actually calling his sponsors and complaing,they are trying to bury Jimmy for his mistakes,He sent out an apology on the internet and everyone continued to bash him,he even went as far as calling total strangers up to ask for forgivness.
if peopel are going to boycott jimmys sponsors for this they should also boycott every "celeb" outdoorsman on TV,they all do what ever it takes to get video for us to enjoy,I do not agree with any of this i simply dont watch thier programs,i dont go off the handle and make a big fuss over it..its just a bunch of crap.everyone is jumping on a banwagon.i say leave the man alone,he has done alot to promote the outdoors over the years....he made a mistake and should be forgivin........the way i see it anyway

[blkhawkdwn]

It all started at a deer farm here in IN owned by a Mr beller,apparently the "ranch" is around 1200 acres of high fence,Bellers ranch was under investigation for allowing peopl eto shoot these deer without tags and also he was accused of drugging the deer to put them in sort of a stuper to make and easier target for the "hunter",alot of people where questioned to find out the truth about the ranch and it just so happens Jimmy was one of the guys,along with a Mr Dunn from the singing group Brooks and Dunn.
I honestly believe Jimmy did not knpw about the deer being drugged,the illegal he did was shoot his buck with a bow when only having a gun tag. now everyone is bashing Jimmy for "hunting" these fenced in ranches and people are boycotting his sponsors like moth wing camo,people are actually calling his sponsors and complaing,they are trying to bury Jimmy for his mistakes,He sent out an apology on the internet and everyone continued to bash him,he even went as far as calling total strangers up to ask for forgivness.
if peopel are going to boycott jimmys sponsors for this they should also boycott every "celeb" outdoorsman on TV,they all do what ever it takes to get video for us to enjoy,I do not agree with any of this i simply dont watch thier programs,i dont go off the handle and make a big fuss over it..its just a bunch of crap.everyone is jumping on a banwagon.i say leave the man alone,he has done alot to promote the outdoors over the years....he made a mistake and should be forgivin........the way i see it anyway
I 2 enjoy Jimmy's shows and thing its not his fault that hte deers are being drugged. I agree that he should have gotten a bow tag. we as humans are so quick to point out faultsof others rather than look at the faults and wrong doings we ourselives have done. I'm not going to pick up a bolder and throw it at the man when i know a pebble will get his attention. the guy that owns the ranch is the one that should be boycotted not Jimmy .

JUST MY $0.02

[MadKater]

I agree...good post

[catfishcentral]

I like old Jimmy Houston and have meet him several times over the years at shows here in Tulsa. He is a nice guy but I believe he knew what was going on and should have known better than to particpate in this sort of hunting.


here's a video link.

http://real-hunters.com/full.swf

[MadKater]

I know this Bellar guy, his place is not to far from here. I did not know about all of the illegal stuff. What i do know is he had Canadian deer brought in and charged people thousands of dollars to come in and hunt these fenced in animals. The thing that pisses me off is a guy like Huston that i USE to respect is the fact that he shot a deer with an illegal weapon for the tag he was using. There is absolutly no exuse for this.
I also agree with your post..there really is no excusse for shooting a deer with a weapon he had no tag for.............but what really ticks me off is these deer farms.....thats all we need is one sick tame deer to escape an dgive our whole herd CWD.....then we would really be screwd and that would be the end of our dee rhutnign for a very long time.not to mention all th eproblems it would cause for our wildlife.

[Mutt]

With the years of experience jimmy has i would have to agree that there is no excuse for having the wrong tags and as far as hunting on a "game farm" i wouldnt call that hunting or sporstman like. just another reason why i can say i dislike this guy.

[H2O Mellon]

Jimmy Houston's response from his web site is as follows:

"During the first week of February, we received a message from Kyle Crawford about a vicious attack against Mothwing and me by the National Wildlife Federation, PETA and "concerned" hunters.

I asked Kyle to get me the numbers of those who sent e-mails and I would call them. I called every number he gave me on Friday, February 3. Naturally several of the numbers were probably PETA affiliated, some were not available or didn't answer, but I did get to talk to eight or ten actual hunters. I didn't ask these guys to alter their opinion or their passion. I simply wanted them to know the facts from me.

First, I want to apologize to any hunter or non-hunter who has been personally hurt or damaged by my deer hunt at Bellars. The primary inference on the video produced by the National Wildlife Federation is that I shot or was hunting drugged deer and that I
was doing it in a 3-6 acre pen.

1. The Federal Drug Administration asked me for three packages of the meat to test for drugs. I had no idea what drugs they were testing for - I actually thought they might be looking for a steroid maybe used in raising big deer. They tested the meat and found no drugs. Then they asked me if I would give them the rest of the meat. I voluntarily did this and this meat was also tested. I specifically asked the FDA agent at the trial if any drugs were found in my meat and he told me NO-there was none. By the
way, we had already eaten some of the meat and it was perfectly ok.

2. I was not hunting in a 3-6 acre pen. We were hunting in a high-fenced area and the stand that they had me in was within 10 yards of a fence. This fence went over the hill and we could not see how far it went. As I testified in the trial, we went over the hill and never did reach the other end of the high fence. There is no way I could estimate the size of the area. It could be 50 acres, it could be 500 acres. The entire high fence area, as I was told was 1200 acres, but, yes, there were section fences. The fence that is seen on the video is the same fence we were beside. There is video shot in one direction and video shot in the other
direction of the same fence. Bear in mind that the camera was in a different stand than the one I was in. I got in this tree stand at 7AM on this morning and shot the deer at 11:10. That is over 4 hours. It was 20 degrees.

3. Russ Bellar did come out and check on us around 9:00AM. We saw several deer; we even saw a deer go under the fence. The buck I shot was a 6 ½ or 7 ½ year old buck and was chasing a doe. There were literally hundreds of deer on Bellars place. At the time, nothing seemed unusual other than it was really cold. I completely agree with all hunters about shooting drugged deer in pens. This is wrong. I share your same passion and have spent my entire life hunting and have worked diligently to promote,
protect and preserve this great heritage.

Have I ever broken a law or been put in an awkward position? Of course. Should I be singled out and crucified for hunting at Bellars where hundreds of others have hunted? I don't believe so.

From the very first day I was contacted by the Federal Wildlife Department, I have cooperated fully and truthfully. I was always called "a witness and or a victim" by the prosecution and I did testify for the state. This is indeed very hurtful when you have given your entire life to the promotion and betterment of hunting and fishing.

We see on television every day where individuals attack, blow up, kill and maim people all over the world. We call these folks terrorists and wonder how anyone could develop that much hate. Yet with a few seconds of produced video, hate has welled up so much in some as to want to destroy me, our television show, and any company we are involved with.

Again, if I have hurt anyone, I apologize and ask your forgiveness.

By the way, we did not air that hunt on television and never portrayed any pictures to anyone as fair chase, high fence or otherwise. I just learned this week that the picture was on some websites and asked that it be removed. We decided not air the hunt when we learned there was some controversy surrounding Bellars Place.

Yes, had we known then what we know not, we would not have hunted there but that's why hindsight is 20-20. Was it wrong for me to hunt there? Absolutely!

Obviously this letter won't satisfy everyone, particularly those anti-hunters whose desire is to keep this on the front burners and watch Jimmy burn. They love nothing more than making hunters attack hunters. But, to the real hunters who read this, I apologize for any hurt or disappointment I have caused you.

Good hunting, good fishing and May God Bless!

Best Personal Regards,


"A hundred years from now it will not matter what kind of car I drove, how big my bank account was..but that I was important in the life of a child"

[H2O Mellon]

Response #1 from his web site:

"Well let me be the first to say thank you for the reply.After reading it about a dozen times i am more disgusted then ever.First a vicious attack would be an attack that is not justified.This i belive is.Second to even bring up terrorist on your part shows your lack of morals.Real people die from terrorist everyday for no reason. The day of your hunt only two things died, a captive bred deer in a small pen and any and all respect i had for you.The deer died because you made a choice to hunt in a pen with no license,no morals and no respect for the men and women you claim to represent.I have to admitt the part about not knowing the size of the pen is kinda funny. could be 50 or 500 acres well then why not 3 or 6 acres then? this took long enough your spin Dr's sure could have done a better job on your try at saying your sorry."

[H2O Mellon]

Response #2 on his website:

"I'm not sure what to think of his response yet. There was a big delay in getting any response out, which means a lot of time to come up with "appropriate wording". I still don't know what to believe about the enclosure size issue. One source (website where the video link is) says 3 - 6 acres and the other (Jimmy) says it was much more than that. It was very clear that he had one fence very close to him and another just up the hill. I'm not sure where the other fences were, but It sure did look as if the deer were being run to him from off the fences and from the other direction as well. Deer just don't act like that (rut or not) and I didn't see the buck chasing a doe in a good segment of that footage when it was right next to his stand. To hell with PETA and the anti's. I'm more concerned about the black eye to hunting as a whole. It was a wise idea not to air the footage on TV and it was also wise to get rid of the picture in the gallery of this website of the deer and Jimmy staged in an open field. It was not wise to publish the photo in the first place as an effort to show what a great hunter Jimmy is and it was less wise to hunt there in the first place. It's going to take me a while to figure out if I'll buy anything from any of his sponsors again (those that keep him). I probably won't watch his shows again."

[H2O Mellon]

Response #3 from his website:


"Blah Blah Blah very politically correct answer. Tell us how you really feel now. You were clueless as to the ongoings at the Bellar Ranch before you entered the cage? I've talked to several Indiana hunters who say it was a known fact what goes on there. Kind of like everyone knows the poacher in the neighborhood. No reason you should ever have considered going there in the first place. I guess that wouldnt' have mattered if you didnt' get caught would it have?

I think what distgusts me the most (aside from 100 other things that make me want to puke) is when you were sitting in the stand watching that buck bounce off the fence and trying to grunt to him. You kind of chuckled at the events and made some sort of comment to your camera man about him not stopping. Was it that humorous viewing such a thing?

I do appreciate your attempt at an apology and clarification (finally), but it doesn't change much from my point of view. Take away the sugar coating smoke screen and it's still disgusting IMO. This HUNTER will never view another show that you're on or buy another product from your sponsors as long as they are affiliated with you. Stick to fishing and let the hunters do the hunting."



etc..... you get the idea. :crying: He hs really gotten a lot of bow hunters angry. I guess you'd expect more/better from him. I too have to agree that it took long enough to get a response & the response was very suspect at best. It is very disappointing, I must agree w/ others. I've talked to this guy before & he was great to my little boy, that kind of stuff wont change, but he has given a black eye to hunting, not to mention a new boat load of ammo for PEAT & other HUNTING HATER groups. :mad:

[H2O Mellon]

I found the following summary of the whole case: It's a good read. pay attention to the amount the undercover ODNR officer had to pay for the hunt: $23,000 +!!! The description of the hunt for the undercover officers should make you SICK, if your a sportsman.



"Heres a summary of the case against Bellar from QDMA.com

Valley Outdoors: Indiana millionaire disregards hunting laws, heads to
prison On Sept. 6, Russell Bellar will go to prison. Bellar, a self-made
millionaire, owned a construction company, entertained celebrities, was
a member of the state Cervid Council, had political connections, and ran
the state's largest deer farm. Bellar was leading the fight to have deer
farms and ranch hunting legalized in the state of Indiana.

However, somewhere along the line, Russell Bellar disregarded those laws
that he felt didn't apply to him. On May 6, 2005, he was ordered to
serve 366 days in prison and pay $575,000 in fines. His permit to run a
deer farm was revoked and his days of entertaining the rich and famous
at his 1500-acre ranch are now over.

The case against Russell Bellar began in the fall of 2003 when the
Indiana Department of Natural Resources began receiving tips about an
enclosed 1500-acre deer farm where hunters were killing pen-raised
trophy bucks. The IDNR, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the FDA combined
forces and planned "Operation Orion," an undercover sting operation
controlled by the Special Investigation Section of the IDNR. The sting
included more than a thousand man-hours, thousands of documents, hours
of taped footage, and encompassed ten other states.

Bellar's, a two-mile-square farm known as Bellar's Place, was a complex
of high fences, feeding stations, fields, woods and roads surrounding a
modern lodge. The farm was promoted as a private hunting lodge where a
trophy buck was guaranteed.

The complex near Peru was rumored to be home to 2000 captive deer. It
was also rumored that Bellar was disregarding laws regarding hunting in
enclosed areas. Among those rules being broken were hunting out of
season, using illegal weapons, hunting without a license, transporting
deer parts illegally over state lines and using tranquilizers on deer
for the purpose of hunting them.


An undercover officer set up a hunt on Dec. 11, 2003. He spoke with the
manager of the farm, Thomas Jones, who arranged a hunt for a trophy buck
in a pen. The cost was more than $23,000. On Dec. 12, conservation
officers visited Bellar's residence and questioned him about the
practices on his deer farm.

Bellar stated that he let people hunt on his farm, but they hunted the
entire 1500 acres, the hunters had to be licensed and they obeyed all
the laws regulating deer hunting; furthermore, Bellar assured the
officers that stands were placed away from feeding stations and that no
illegal baiting was taking place.

Bellar also assured the officers that he understood all of those
infractions were felonies. A few days later, the undercover hunters
stayed a night at the lodge and hunted the next morning.

Jimmy Houston, the popular outdoorsman featured on ESPN Outdoors, was
there. Videographers had just finished filming a "hunt" where he had
killed an enormous buck within the confines of one of Bellar's "killing
pens." Fans of Houston should be interested to know that the trophy buck
had been drugged, driven under his stand, and killed over a feeder. The
entire hunt had been staged with the intention of promoting Bellar's
Place.

The undercover officers were each given a picture of the trophy buck
they were to kill and told that a videographer would film the hunt and
later edit it. They were instructed not to shoot the buck while the
fence was in the background.

The day of the hunt, the officers were directed to sit in stands inside
a six-acre enclosure. A feeding station could be seen from their stands.
They were told that the 190-point Boone and Crockett buck had been
drugged and was already in the pen and that the other buck had just been
drugged and would be turned loose once the hunters were inside the pen.
The bucks and a number of does would not leave the safety of the fence,
so farm workers had to shoo the deer away from the fence so it wouldn't
be in the filming. After killing both bucks, the officers requested that
the meat be shipped to an address in Tennessee, a clear violation of the
Lacey Act.

The IDNR then obtained search warrants. A long list of hunters were
subpoenaed for testimony.

Caches of tranquilizers and tranquilizer guns were seized. The drugs
used to tranquilize the deer were deemed unsafe for human consumption.
In spite of the danger, hunters on the ranch were given the meat from
the tranquilized deer.

Some of the witnesses for the prosecution included Houston, Ronnie Dunn
(singer from Brooks and Dunn), Jeff Wickersham (Dolphins quarterback),
and Fred Rowan (CEO for Carter's Clothing Inc.).

Violations included baiting, hunting without a license, using
high-powered rifles, killing drugged deer, hunting out of season,
hunting over feeders and violating the Lacey Act.

Before the commencement of the trial, Jones pleaded guilty and agreed to
testify for the prosecution.

Bellar's attorney called one witness, Bellar's accountant. The defense
argued that Bellar's deer were his own personal property and that the
state had no right to regulate it.

Before a verdict was reached, Bellar decided to plead guilty. Operation
Orion has received little public attention. One reason for the lack of
publicity may be due to Bellar's political connections. A business
associate of Bellar, state Rep. Bill Friend, introduced Bill 1780, which
would place the regulation of deer in the hands of the department of
agriculture, to the Statehouse this spring. It was shot down when the
Democrats walked out."

[centralcalcat]

My problem with this whole situation is this, hunting and fishing are attacked regularly by PETA and other such organizations hardcore. Which means basic hunters are in the spotlight non-stop. Now for a televised show to go out and not research into the area they are hunting, the local regulations in the area, or any other aspect of the hunt is not acceptable. That show only gives PETA more ground to stand on in their fight against sportsmen as a whole. It is noble that he came out and publicly apologized, but too little too late, the damage has already been done. The sportsmen who get to make a living putting on shows hunting and fishing need to be doing it cleaner and better then the average Joe, breaking laws and poor preformance like we have seen here is not acceptable. If he is pulled off T.V. and he has to find a new way to make a living after all this then so be it. it is a privledge to be able to do what he does and he abused it.

[Mutt]

I myself never did care for the guy period. What has gone on dont suprise me a bit. And as you just said he abused his privlidge of haveing a tv show and make a living doing this is correct. I hope they find someone a lit better to do a new show and with some fresher ideas and styles. I myself dont really car to see some man giggling like a 10 year old girl and go around kissing a fish. My opinion he should be brought up on charges and even do some time for hunting without the proper class of tags.

[David Knotts]

What was that guys name I think Noal Feathers, did the same thing, some tears back. He did a few years in jail, and I think he can't hunt any more. Plus he got a big fine. Now Jimmy did ask for us to forgive him and as asked of us we should. Should he pay for his crime yes.

[nosnag]

This is the first I have heard of this issue.
#1 I do'nt know of any outfitter that does'nt supply the license for the hunter as part of the package.If a gun license was issued ,Houston should have known that he was hunting with an illegal weapon on this hunt.
#2 His sponsors and crew are the ones that pick out the places for the hunts and fishing places to be aired.They are at fault for not doing a better job of selecting and investigating the outfitter and his area of the hunts.

A enclosed hunting area to hunt can be just as hard to hunt as an open area.
The reason for the enclosures are threefold:(1) keep out trespassers.(2)Control the herds of game by selective harvest. (3)Feed and medicate the animals for maximum Health.
Other things governing these game farms are the states themselves.They require that the animals are restricted to the ranch itself.This is mute though because a deer is one of the hardest animals to keep confined.They can go over fences that are seven foot tall.If they ca'nt go over them they will go under them.Just ask any grain farmer who has tried to keep them out of the fields. I have never hunted an enclosed area,but I have taken deer that were exiting them.
Houston should have noticed the illegal license,I agree,and I would hold him guilty of that.Actually that should be enough to get angry at him.It was legallyand morally wrong.
I blame the show for not doing their homework on the operations of the outfitter.I would'nt put that on him,but heads would roll for their incompetence.
There is a place for different modes of hunting.I do'nt agree with a lot of them
but without game ranches and hunting and fishing guides there would be a lot of people that could'nt get away in their two week vacations and hunt or fish.Also there are special handicapped hunts and fishing trips that would never come to be without them.
So I guess I agree to disagree on some of the posts here.

BILL

[catfishrus]

its all about the money boys and girls. how many video tapes you think they where going to sell off this b.s. this just makes it harder for the one trying to be honest about hunting. as for the pens it should have never been allow to start with. i do believe in forgiving but i believe in knowing better to start with more. looks like a bunch of rich pen pals to me!!!

[TIM HAGAN]

Well Its not just jimmy is 75% of the ones we watch they just do their best to hide it from us. I have over 200 videos of hunting . And have saw things in alot of them that must of us miss when we watch it. Just when I was work at the hunting shop i saw the same tapes over and over. We started to pick up on things that was set up just for the tape. We saw a guy driving the deer in for a bow shot. One deer was shot on the right side and when they found the deer the arrow was going in on the left side . If you looked at the horns side by side you can see its two different deer maybe they didnt find the first one.

So jiimmy just keep on doing the show we will watch them as always or even more now to see if you mess up again.

[Fatkat]

I think most of the fishing and hunting shows are staged, just this past weekend on Shaw Grigsby's show ever time he hooked a Bass they showed the strike up close under water. How the hell could that be possible if it wasn't staged in a controlled inviorment?

I agree with Tim, I think most of them are fake.

[centralcalcat]

I think most of the fishing and hunting shows are staged, just this past weekend on Shaw Grigsby's show ever time he hooked a Bass they showed the strike up close under water. How the hell could that be possible if it wasn't staged in a controlled inviorment?

I agree with Tim, I think most of them are fake.


It all depends on the Videos you watch. jack Frost made a video about hunting Kodiak Island deer. i know him personally and have hunted beside him, nothing in the video was staged. Given it took him several years to create the video, but nothing was staged. A lot of those guys out ther Bill Dance, Roland Martin, jimmy Houston, all fish private ponds. Therfore sticking a camara under watetr in the vincinity of your bait won't hender you getting a strike the fish are stalked and recieve little to no preasure so of course they can catch 40-50 fish a day and show the best.

[David Knotts]

If Jimmy were a baseball playerin the pros, and he got busted for drugs, he gos to rehab, and starts to play again most of us would say lets give him another chance. I give you Daryll Strawberry to name just one.I know baseball aint hunting, but we do need to give him another chance. He has done way more good for our sport than bad.

[David Knotts]

Didn't Bill Dance get kicked out if a tournament a long time ago for stakeing out bass. I have allways heard that, if it's true then we need to stop watching his show to.

[okiecop]

I think jimmy knows what he did was wrong. Heck maybe jimmy and dunn need to go over to welch,ok and hunt the brooks and dunn co-owned farm. Hey there is 180+ acres to hunt there.

Lets not be too quick to condemn the guy. I know we have all made some sort of mistake somewhere along the line.

[Mutt]

there is making a mistake but that is flat out breaking the law and he knew he was. inexcusable in my eyes.