Gathering Light

By John L Brown

What would do in order to make your hobby, your job? 

For John Brown Jr., it meant replacing his gun for a video camera, his bow for an editing desk. One of the pioneers of the early days of outdoor cable television productions, Brown shares much of the path that led him to work for companies such as Primos Hunting, Mossy

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gathering Light Media
• Release date: Apr 30, 2024
• ISBN: 9798990477612

Book preview

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Gathering Light

John L Brown Jr

The story of a small town boy, his love of the outdoors and how he used a video camera to become producer to some of the biggest names in the hunting industry.

For my Father

© 2024 John L Brown Jr

ISBN: 979-8-9904776-1-2

Foreword

If you are an outdoorsman, you owe it to yourself to find a comfortable spot, take a load off and give this book a read. It is chock-full of those special moments that come from a journey through John Brown’s professional career. I can relate to the words penned by John at many levels… personally and professionally.

John and I both have spent our professional careers working within the same outdoor Industry. I’ve known of John’s work and his reputation for 30 years and can attest to the mark that he has made as a television and video producer. If you are a turkey hunter on any level and have been doing it for a couple of decades, odds are you have been entertained and informed by John’s work. The vast majority of John’s career was spent with the National Wild Turkey Federation as part of their team and directing their television production efforts. John’s work has certainly played a major role in shaping the brand identity of the wonderful conservation organization known as the NWTF.

In the mid-1990s, outdoor television became a springboard for a few outdoor companies and brands to elevate their exposure and increase their influence with outdoor consumers. John Brown was in the thick of it and certainly played a major role in shaping the minds of outdoor enthusiasts as a lensman and producer.

I cut my teeth producing outdoor television working with Mossy Oak camo. It was in 1995 when we debuted our first season of Mossy Oak’s Hunting the Country that aired on TNN – The Nashville Network. Much of Mossy Oak’s passion is rooted in spring turkey hunting and the NWTF was an important partnership of ours due to the great conservation work that the organization was doing for the wild turkey. That was where I met John. Although John and I didn’t work together much, we did run in the same circles hunting with many of the same people. John’s name came up a lot and it was easy to see that fine work that he was doing.

In reading Gathering Light it was easy for me to sense the reverence that John has for the stories he shares. I’ve gotten to know John personally over the last decade and many of these stories echo the love for his professional journey. John is a fabulous guy and has a depth about him that I admire. The depth comes through in a way that only a seasoned steward can communicate. It’s that depth that John exudes that makes him a brilliant outdoor communicator and producer.

As consumers of outdoor entertainment, we often only see the finished product of the producers’ work. That stuff just doesn’t happen on its own. John has a gift for making it look easy. Trust me when I say, it ain’t easy! He has a way of developing stories and capturing those intrinsic elements that give his work a great perspective on the subject.

Conservation is John’s roots. Wildlife conservation is a product of people doing their part to leave it better than they found it. Conservation work is an effort and is a common thread that all outdoorsmen share. If you stay the course in your own outdoor pursuits, you will at some point in your own outdoor journey begin to apply the effort of doing your part to improve habitat, introduce people to the activity and most certainly become an activist for it. This is where John shines, and he does an incredible job of offering a great perspective through his work.

Gathering Light represents those moments that defined John’s storied path and sums up what he holds near and dear to his heart. If you know John, it will not surprise you at all why these stories landed in his book. The book is proof that he is proud of his roots. Like me, it’s all about the people you have met along the way who have helped shape what you value the most. That’s the beauty of it. It’s the people and the friendships that make everything worthwhile.

Thank you, John, for allowing me to be a part of your journey. And once again, JOB WELL DONE with Gathering Light. You have trod lightly and left the world better than you found it.

Tack Robinson

Friend & Colleague

Chapter 1

In Gathering Light

When the turkey gobbled below us in the creek bottom, it startled me. It was early and a heavy fog shrouded the field between our position and the gobbler. My eyes strained, trying to see the decoys Rob Keck had placed in front of our setup moments earlier, then smiled and returned to my thoughts, my hands gliding across the video camera, flipping switches and turning knobs.

No light was needed.

It was late April 2019 as I sat under the camera and tripod, my back to a large pine, all too aware that my time with the National Wild Turkey Federation was coming to an end. For 26 years I had been blessed to make my living telling stories about hunters, and the animals they pursued. Contemplating the future, I wondered what I would miss most. Certainly, the people who shared their experiences, allowing me to capture something that was often sacred. I would miss the land, the opportunity to see it, walk it almost daily, I would miss the excitement of capturing wildlife on camera, sharing those experiences with others.

Regardless of where I worked, who I was with or what species pursued, there was one thing that never changed. The fleeting moments each morning when light began to gather, when the grays and shadows would first come to life. For me, so powerful were these moments that I often found myself silently praying, softly speaking to God.

Just as the wildlife responded to the light, so did I.

The notion that someone like me earned a living in the outdoors for a quarter century behind a camera was a fact not lost on me. Devine intervention was often at work, and the people who supported my dream are numerous.

I grew up in northeast Louisiana, hunting and fishing, the way most males of my generation did. I began my hunting education along the banks of the Tensas River, a slow-moving watercourse with humble beginnings in East Carroll Parish. The Tensas is where I was introduced to fishing, hunting, and camping as a child.

The only child of an only child, much of what I learned about hunting and fishing was accomplished by trial and error on my own, a difficult task prior to outdoor television or the internet. By the time I was in my early teens, both my grandfathers had passed, and with my father living and working out of state, I was dependent upon the kindness of our small community to provide me with outdoor opportunities.

I read every outdoor magazine I could get my hands on, and later when hunting videos became available, I began watching The Truth video series from Primos. Will Primos, Ron Jolly, Cuz Strickland, Bob Dixon, Will Walker and others would become my instructors. I also watched videos from Realtree, learning from David Hale and Harold Knight, Joe Drake, Chuck Jones, and Walter Parrott. At the time I could never imagine that I would not only one day meet these men, but hunt with them and eventually come to consider them personal friends.

The gobbling turkey appeared in the fog, ghost like, joined by his fighter. My hands slowly moved to the controls of the camera, as if being guided by some unseen force. Record, zoom, focus, iris. It was natural, something I had done hundreds of times over the years.

The fingers on my left hand now barely touched the focus ring, while only two fingers of my right hand contacted the tripod handle, preventing the camera from shaking as my heart raced, adrenaline surging through my body. By the time Rob Keck pulled the trigger I had collected several minutes of the birds’ strutting and gobbling. The sun was just beginning to burn away the fog as we slowly walked to the downed bird. Now the real work would begin. Interviews, recreates, drone shots. The hunt would turn out to be my last for the National Wild Turkey Federation.

It was a good ride.

Chapter 2

East Of The Macon Ridge

Before we reached the west bank of the Tensas, black smoke rose in the distance. My Father, 27 years old at the time, quietly steered the Bronco along the gravel road running away from the blacktop, east of Gilbert, Louisiana. Snaking through the open agricultural fields, the road seemingly searched for higher ground, evading the cypress-lined sloughs of water. When the road straightened in an easterly direction, we were close to where the last remaining hardwoods stood of what once had been the Three Buck Bayou Hunting Club. Oaks, hackberry, pecan, elm, ash, all stood above flats of thick palmetto. Deer, rabbit, turkey, squirrels and ducks were abundant, and the combination of wildlife and habitat made for a paradise as I excitedly scanned the woods, hoping to catch a glimpse of deer.

Slowly we rolled to a stop, bringing my search to a halt for the time being.

Now standing on the western bank of the Tensas, looking eastward, the cause