Southeastern Channel airs graduate's deer hunting video
Contact: Christina Chapple
11/25/08
HAMMOND – Jason Aycock of Ponchatoula, who earned a marketing degree and received hands-on television production experience at Southeastern Louisiana University, has converted his passion for deer hunting into an award-winning, two-hour video documentary for Louisiana deer hunters.
“Bayou Bucks,” produced by Aycock’s new Limelight Productions video production company, will debut Thursday, Nov. 27, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 30, at 8:30 p.m., on the Southeastern Channel, the university’s educational cable access channel.
General manager Rick Settoon said the video will air in four 30-minute segments on Thursday and Sunday nights during deer hunting season in Louisiana.
“Bayou Bucks” spotlights deer-hunting in parishes such as Avoyelles, Tensas, Bienville, St. Mary, Natchitoches, Beauregard, Concordia, St. Landry, Rapides, Vernon, and Caldwell.
“There actually had never been a Louisiana-based deer hunting video produced,” Aycock said. “I figured that would be an excellent way to break into the hunting video market, which is my passion.”
“Bayou Bucks,” recently honored with the “First Place in Craft” award by the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association, features “everyday folks who live to deer hunt and do it on their own terms on public lands or private leases and with their own skill sets,” Aycock said.
“There’s no commercialization, no paid hunts, no high-fenced hunts,” he said. “The video brings deer hunting back to its roots by offering a realistic perspective of how it’s still done in the Deep South.”
The documentary is broken down into four segments covering deer hunting in various parishes. Segment begins with historical sketches -- such as the origin of the Bowie Knife from Jim Bowie’s travels through Concordia Parish – followed by video of public land hunts. “Big Buck Profiles” includes interviews with the record-setting hunters.
Dave Moreland, former wildlife administrator for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, also discusses issues important to Louisiana deer hunting, such as deer-hunting opportunities on public land, whether cougars and panthers exist in Louisiana, antler restrictions, and how the explosion of the feral hog population will impact deer hunting.
Aycock, a hunter since childhood, earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing and Master of Business Administration degree at Southeastern. In one of his business classes, he conducted a feasibility study to determine the market for a Louisiana deer-hunting video. He said the response from deer hunters statewide was overwhelming.
“I lacked the knowledge to produce a hunting video myself, and I knew I couldn’t afford to pay people to do it,” he said. To get hands-on experience, Aycock signed on as a Southeastern Channel student worker and took a Communication Department television production course.
Working his way up to a graduate assistant at the channel, Aycock learned the professional crafts of camerawork, lighting, sound recording, and editing. He produced dramatic segments and documentary shorts, and performed the camerawork and lighting on the channel’s 2007 Emmy Award-winning “Tomorrow’s Leaders” university image campaign.
“The hands-on experience at the Southeastern Channel was just fantastic,” Aycock said. “The talent is just amazing, everybody feeds off each other, and it really gives you a chance to be the best you can be.”
Having purchased his own equipment, after graduation Aycock began contacting deer hunters, filming hunts, editing and developing marketing strategies such as his Web site, www.bayoubucks.com, where the video can be purchased on line. The video is also for sale in retail stores, such as Archery and Fishing Unlimited in Hammond. To date, more than 3,500 copies have been sold. “Bayou Bucks II” is in the works for release in August 2010.
“The response from deer hunters has been overwhelming,” Aycock said. “They say we’ve needed this type of video for a long time.”
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