SULLIVAN – Hallowed Ground Outdoors is a television show that aims to make hunters look around them. And by doing that, perhaps they’ll look up.
“Hopefully we can engage people and spark the thought that when they go hunting, it’s not just for the kill,” J.D. Huitt, executive producer of the show, said. “Rather than thinking just about the big buck, they’re thinking about God.”
In its first season on Sportsman Channel, the show is receiving lots of positive feedback. Filming has begun for the second season, which will air beginning in July 2012.
Hallowed Ground Outdoors records the adventures of a team of hunters. The men are filmed tracking down various types of game in diverse locations, though the show records much more than “hunt and kill.”
“We really want the show to be personal. We talk about what is happening in our lives, and Christ is central to that,” Huitt said.
A recent episode, for instance, recorded a hunt for wild hogs in south Texas. Team member Daniel Hood wasn’t able to participate because he was leading a mission trip to Africa. The show included footage of Hood, college pastor at Second Baptist Church in Springfield, on the mission trip.
Incorporating the Gospel message is natural, Huitt said. He and his wife are documenting their experience adopting children from Ukraine and including a storyline of how God adopts believers into his family.
“We’re doing something nobody else is doing by integrating matters of faith into the show,” he said.
The work on the television program is a ministry, as all team members also have regular jobs. Huitt is a high school teacher who got involved in video editing through his church, Temple Baptist, Sullivan. He started producing hunting videos six years ago and connected with Joe Sir of Iowa to begin the television show. Huitt does all the editing and post-production work.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it,” he said. “As they say, the juice is worth the squeeze.”
Airing the show is expensive, but Hallowed Ground has already picked up sponsors and ministry supporters to cover the cost. The show has 1,400 followers on Facebook and a recent discussion board on the popular Archery Talk drew many comments, both from supporters and those who didn’t care for the faith element.
The hunters at Hallowed Ground said they’ll continue to pursue the calling the Lord has given them.
“We want guys to see that it’s okay to enjoy hunting and to have a passion for the outdoors, but everything in the outdoors is designed to connect us to something beyond ourselves,” Huitt said. n
SUSAN MIRES/contributing writer