Featured photo: Videographer John Brown has collaborated with Chuck Jones to produce a You Tube series, Chuck Jones Expert Collective (Courtesy Photo)
I can’t help but admire folks who have that certain drive to do the very best at what they do and they just keep on keeping on. One such fellow who has captured my attention is John L. Brown, Jr.
Brown was born and raised in Gilbert in northeast Louisiana and he first came to my attention when he and friend, Rex Moncrief started a local television show, The Outdoor News, some 30 or so years ago that aired on Monroe stations. Since I was did some work writing for Willamette Industries and that company signed on as a sponsor for the program, I appeared a time or two with these guys on their program.
After the show ran its course and Brown and Moncrief moved in separate directions, I lost track of John for a few years until I learned that he had hired on running cameras for the National Wild Turkey Federation, a job that sent him around the country filming hunts with outdoors celebrities.
Brown has since retired and moved back to north Louisianabut he can’t seem to sit still. He contacted me recently to tell me about his latest venture, producing a You Tube series with well-known outdoorsman, Chuck Jones who is also a native of north Louisiana.
“Chuck is a member of the National Outdoors Legends Hall of Fame and worked as a video producer for such well-known folks like Will Primos and Cuz Strickland, eventually joining up with Knight and Hale where he spent the majority of his career,” said Brown.
“Chuck has always been a talented producer but his talent is simply being a hunter. I have had the honor to hunt with many considered the best hunters or our generation and Chuck is right there at the top,” he added.
After returning home in 2020, Brown never thought he’d return to outdoor video production. Writing had become his passion and he regularly contributes to such publications as Louisiana Sportsman magazine.
“This past spring, I began feeling the need to once again carry a camera to the woods and I’m happy to report that over the past few weeks while filming with Chuck, I have once again discovered my passion for looking through the viewfinder,” Brown continued.
Brown and Jones are collaborating on a You Tube project they are calling “Chuck Jones’ Expert Collective, a program that does less bragging like some of the earlier shows did and concentrate more on education.
“Viewers can expect high quality cinematic production combined with a heavy dose of ‘how to’. The show will concentrate on turkey, deer and ducks but will feature some fishing. We’ve featured Ruston’s Luke Lewis talking about the early days of turkey restoration in north-central Louisiana. We’ve done shows with wounded combat veterans in Tennessee and will feature what we feel to be some of the best hunters in the country, like Rob Keck, Joe Drake et al and many others who will share the secrets that made them great hunters,” said Brown.
To subscribe to the program, go to You Tube and search for Chuck Jones Expert Collective.
“Presently, the show is only available on You Tube, but if the public enjoys our efforts,” Brown added, “we could potentially move it to the Outdoor Channel or another outdoor venture in the future.”
Kudos for John Brown and Chuck Jones for taking the plunge to provide a show more educational and with bless bragging.