Carberry Hunter lands reality TV deal, begins filming

Carberry-based hunter Justin Lilley has signed a multi-season deal with Wild TV to star in a new hunting reality series, “Beyond the Blind Hunts.”

The agreement, finalized last month, commits Lilley to four seasons — 52 episodes in total — showcasing his and fiancée Ruth Spence’s hunts across Canada and beyond. Each season will include 13 weekly episodes that are replayed throughout the year, offering viewers an intimate look at the challenges and rewards of life in the wild.

For Lilley, the deal represents the merging of two passions: the outdoors and film production. Before becoming a hunter, he operated a small videography business, giving him the technical skills to capture hunts on camera.

“My next challenge was self-filming,” he told the Sun at his residence in Carberry. “It adds an extra layer of difficulty, but I love a challenge.”

That challenge is already paying off. Only days after signing, Lilley, Spence and a small crew packed their cameras and headed west to Saskatchewan, where they filmed the first episodes. Spence successfully harvested a 200-pound wild boar and a strikingly coloured exotic ram. Lilley, meanwhile, realized a childhood dream — taking down a bison with his bow.

“We walked more than 30 kilometres over two days, and three times the herd busted us before we could get close enough,” Lilley recalled. “Finally, at 52 yards, I got the shot. I didn’t expect to get so emotional, but it was something I’d dreamed of since I was a boy.”

Lilley’s journey into hunting began only about six years ago, when his brother bought a bow and encouraged him to try target shooting. “At first it was just for fun,” he said. “But pretty soon I thought, ‘let’s try more than a target.’”

Two years of bowhunting sharpened his patience and skills before he ever touched a rifle. Since then, he has harvested deer, elk, turkey, bear and, most recently, bison — almost everything Manitoba allows legally. “Bowhunting teaches you how to stalk, how to play the wind, how to stay invisible,” Lilley said. “When you pick up a rifle after that, it feels easier, but I’ll always go back to the bow.”

That experience — along with his taxidermy business — gave him credibility when pitching “Beyond the Blind Hunts” to WildTV. The network signed him for four seasons, a rare opportunity for someone relatively new to the hunting scene.

The Saskatchewan trip was only the beginning. Over the coming weeks, Lilley and Spence will film archery deer and elk hunts closer to home. Later this fall, they hope to travel north to South Indian Lake for moose — a trip delayed earlier by wildfires. In November, they’ll head west to the Fraser River in British Columbia for sturgeon fishing, before planning a return to B.C.’s Cassiar Mountains next year for mountain goats.

And the adventures won’t stop there. In October 2026, the couple hopes to take their hunts global with a trip to South Africa.

Hunting with a bow is difficult enough, but adding cameras makes every step more complicated. “You’re not just trying to sneak up on an animal,” Lilley explained. “You’re trying to sneak up with a crew of four people and multiple cameras. Every movement, every sound, every angle matters.”

The physical toll is real, too. Lilley has suffered injuries, including broken ribs, after a fall while turkey hunting a few years ago. He’s also had close calls with bears. “Once, I walked around a tree with my arms full of bait, and a bear was right there on top of me,” he said. “He wasn’t attacking, just startled, but he jumped on me as he took off. I had a paw mark on my leg for a week.”

Despite the risks, Lilley says being outdoors is worth it. “To me, it’s almost like a natural antidepressant,” he said. “It’s not always about the harvest. Sometimes it’s just about being in the bush, recharging, and escaping the craziness of the world.”

While Lilley continues to run his Carberry taxidermy and tanning shop, the television deal has already opened doors. Sponsors are lining up, offering ambassador programs where Lilley earns commissions when hunters use his discount codes. He calls himself a “semi-professional hunter” now — making money while out in the field.

“If everything goes well, there’s potential that I could close the shop one day and focus on hunting full time,” he said. “It’s a lot of ifs and buts, but it really could be life-changing.”

For now, Lilley is taking things day by day, focusing on producing quality episodes and representing Manitoba’s hunting community well. He’s also mindful to honour the animals he harvests. Every hunt provides food, butchered by Geese Brick and Sons in Austin, while hides and mounts fill his home — what he calls a “mini Cabela’s.”

“Every animal is a memory,” he said. “That’s why I mount them — it’s about preserving that moment, not just the trophy.”

As “Beyond the Blind Hunts” prepares for its debut, Lilley remains grounded. He credits his mentors, including Rapid City’s Kent Mickey of Trigger Effect, local guides, and his family and friends, for their support.

“This wasn’t something we ever expected,” Lilley said. “We’re just trying to be smart, to enjoy it, and to see where it all takes us. It’s pretty incredible.”

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