The hill country of South West Texas was the setting March 16-18, 2007 as eleven cameraman teams, representing twelve states, matched their skills in filming hunts in the Dew Claw Archery Hog Challenge as part of the 2007 Campbell Outdoor Challenge circuit. Winning the Challenge was Team H&W Trailer Sales of Van Ward from Illinois and Chad Hofer from Iowa and taking second place was Team Babin Ranch of Jason Babin and Steve Greis of Texas. Teams were participating to help raise awareness for the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes, Show of Support Military Hunts, Wheelin Sportsmen, Fraternal Order of Police, and Red White and Blue Outdoors as well as several teams made up of Military Veterans who have served in the United States Armed Forces.
Teams competed in this two day event by submitting video footage of wild hog hunts. The video was scored based upon a copyrighted scoring system from the Campbell Outdoor Challenge where teams receive points based on required increments of video footage.
The competition was very close, and it was anyone’s game up until the last evening. “With all the sign in our area and perfect weather conditions for filming, we knew we had a good shot at it.”, stated Hofer. “It was a perfect end to a great trip, we were so proud to be a part of this event raising awareness for all our fighting men and women who sacrifice so much to allow us the freedom to enjoy the outdoors.” He concluded
The Challenge was hosted by Rio Bonito Ranch in South West Texas. The Campbell Outdoor Challenge airs nationally on the Men’s Outdoor Recreation Channel on Direct T.V. channel 604 and Dish channel 218., and various Fox Sports Networks. "Most of the viewers of wildlife hunting shows and videos have no idea how much of a challenge (hence the name of the competition) it is to successfully film a hunt for free-ranging animals in the wild," stated John Campbell, host of the Campbell Outdoor Challenge TV Show. "This competition highlights the skills of the cameramen who help bring the 'outdoors' indoors to millions of viewers."
More information on "The Sport of Filming Hunts" can be found at www.campbelloutdoorchallenge.com, NWTF Wheelin Sportsmen www.wheelinsportsmen.org Rio Bonito Ranch www.riobonito.com Show of Support Military Hunts www.showofsupport.org Coalition to Salute America's Heroes www.saluteheroes.org Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #2 http://wifop.org/ and for information about Dew Claw Archery, call (541) 772-1896