Now that a few folks have had the time to receive and watch "Boddington on Buffalo", how are the reviews?

How are the production values and is it worth buying?

I have it and my take is:

Production Value: High! One of the best from a pure audio visual perspective.
Camera work is clear and audio is good.

Content: You see a lot of good hunting area, lot a buff and the way the topics are presented is done very nicely. Of course there is a bit of the ad-lib repetitive dialogue that comes with a non-scripted production but Craig and His PH pull it off well.

I liked it and recommend it.

I bought it in Reno. I like it. The visuals are good, there seems to be a minimum of scripted acenes, the content is good, and Boddington and his PH are personable. All in all a worthwile DVD.
I'm curious about the negative reaction that some posters have regarding Boddington. I find him knowledable and a good read. Also he is one of the few writers who will admit to missing a shot, a point which adds to his credibility in my eyes. I don't worship at his altar, but I do read his books, so why do some people get their panties in a knot when his name comes up?
TerryR

While on the Boddington topic, has anyone read "African Hunter II"? Which I think he co-wrote? Is it worth getting as an addition to Mellons original?

ErikD - one word YES!

Yes, the video is good.

very inclusive of all aspects of the hunt, from preparation to trophy care.

I can strongly recommend African Hunter II, it´s a great follow up on Mellons work (Mellon did a foreword for AH II).

I have the video and African Hunter2. Both are first rate. As someone posted earlier, I don't get the anti-Bodington group. He is clearly one of the most experienced gun writers of this time. He has used a great deal of his writing time and energy to write about African hunting, when books or magazine articles on "How Bob and I Shot the Big Deer" would have undoubtly sold better. His "Safari Rifles" is the standard in the field. I personally find his writing style to be interesting and informative. If a writer of this quality will take the time to go to Africa and video it and write about it, then maybe we should cut him some slack.

I really enjoyed the video and AHII. I too am a Boddington fan. I've had the opportuntiy to visit with him at length at a local Houston Safari Club meeting where he spoke on buffalo hunting and again at the convention this year. Always happy to sign books, take pictures, and just simply talk about hunting. Perhaps those who are detractors are jealous (I am). How many of us would like to have over 50 safaris under our belt, have "sponsors" to cover the cost of your safari, and be able to have a very successful career in something your are passionate about??

I am not a video hunter - but the Boddington video is excellent. It answered a lot of questions for me. I recommend it.

I watched about half of it last night. So far, it is one of the best commercial videos I have ever seen. It is great from an educational standpoint, though I think the General sounds a bit like a sales man when he talks about his equipment, etc...

Definately a must have.

Mark,
Shoot me off an email when you are coming out this way.

N'gagi,

There was a bit of salesmanship, but hey, those guys were probably footing the bill for the safari thus requiring/deserving their due recognition!!

I loved the video! It's near 3hr run time flew by. I find it really easy to watch folks hunting buffalo as well as talking about the equipment and planing needed to do same. I understand he is releasing Boddington on Leopard and African Experience DVDs later this year. I will certainly pick both of these up as well. I hope Craig does a whole series of African Safari DVDs with the same great production values as this one. It would be great to see him tackle some of the more notable plains game species such as Roan, Sable, Mt Nyala, Sitatunga, Lesser Kudu etc...

African Hunter II is a must have as well.

Regards,
Dave

Bwanahile, it's actually a bit more than simple jealousy that lead many to disparage the "General". I recently had dinner with a PH friend and the Boddington subject came up. This PH has hunted with him before and actually had to provide the hunt for free in exchange for the publicity generated by the subsequent write-up. OK, that's business and it was worth it as he got Boddington a superb trophy of a size that had eluded him in the past. Now, however, Boddington wants not only the free hunt, but also to be paid very, very well before he will avail himself the free hunt, and that is just a bit much! Nice work if you can get it, and as such, I am jealous of Boddington, but in fact, in a way, he is just a very expensive whore who will hunt for anyone or with any product or rifle and praise the bejeezus out of it, if the price is right! Kinda taints his journalistic integrity, IMHO. Joe.

I am not a big fan of hunting videos in general but the buff video is very good. There is some self promotion but not very much as far as these kinds of things go. IT was a very well done production. As far as African Hunter II it is one of the best books in recent years. I also like In Search of the Spiral Horns but not quite as much. Craig is like any other commercial writer/hunter in that is how he makes his living. I dont care who the writer is they are all the same in that regard. Still, all in all entertaining and informative.

JoeR:

Not that I'm a Boddington fan as I've read only a few of his articles and 1/2 of one book (caveat below)... but exactly what do you do to feed your family? Do you travel for free and just waive a salary?

Hunting magazines aren't known for paying diddly-squat to writers. Is getting paid for what you do, being a whore. How often does Craig decline to write about what he's experienced because it would be negative?... Unless you know the answer to that, if I were you, I'd decline to call him a "whore".... a whore takes on all all who have a buck... I doubt that Boddington so acts and I believe calling him such is a cheap shot (unless it is made to his red-headed face).

In my very limited time of writing for hunting journals in the 80's, I took lots of "compted" trips. I always had an understanding that it was done at the risk that if the trip went "tits up", I just would not write anything, if I couldn't say anything complimentary. I've never asked Col. Boddington if that is his practice, but I'll bet that it is.

BTW, if you will search his c.v. that the Marines have on their official website, you will find that every single unit he has commanded from company level to his last job in Kuwait, received recogiton as the best unit of its kind in the whole Corps, be it USMC or USMCR. That tells something about the gentleman, whore or not.

Semper Fi,

Ernest Gilbert
Capt. USMC 1968-1973

Caveat: Maybe I'm just being loyal to a damn good Marine, but what the hell is the matter with that?

As a rule I do not like watching hunting videos. To me, it's like watching other people eat when you are hungry. That said I very much enjoyed the Boddington Video. I promptly went out and booked a Zambezi Valley 'buff hunt.

Recently had the pleasure of spending some time in his company over a couple days. He is a straight-arrow guy and knows from where he speaks. He gave an excellent seminar on 'buff hunting. Previously I sat in on one of his seminars on mule deer hunting. They were both first rate and well organized. There is no doubt he knows what he is talking about.

On a side note I also got to spend time with Geoff Broom. What a class act he is! Should you ever get the opportunity ply him with some scotch and have him tell you about the strong Chinamen he once met.

JudgeG, call off the Marines! I simply stated why some people have a bit of a problem with Boddington. Being comped a hunt is fine and accepted. Putting out the word that, among a certain group of African companies (not just anyone), you will hunt with anyone who pays you, is a different matter. Kind of like a girl you wined and dined a few years ago (at considerable expense) and ended up in bed with. Great. Now, you call her back and ask her out again and she says OK, but you're gonna have to pay, I only date paying customers anymore! Yes, in that way, Boddington is now kinda like a whore, and it IS different than he used to be, and some in Africa are upset with it. Just the facts. Accept them or not.

I say more power to him, if he hunts with you and writes you up, you get business from that writeup..He should get a comped hunt, we all pay for advertisment..It's just business.

The option is with the Safari company to take it or leave it..Same in my business, I am not goint to send a client to hunt before I have been there and checked it out and thats going to be a freeby but in return I advertise and put that company on the web page and get results for the company...

When the trouble starts is when some hunter decides to get into the booking business, hangs up his shingle and gets free hunts, then never sells a hunt and that happens all the time and thats a bad thing, even though the intentions were good, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions...

As to Boddington, he has been there, shot all over the world, he is qualified to write..and he is good at his job. I really liked his Safari rifles, the other books on hunting is just more war stories and I have been listening to those for many years..

quote:

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Originally posted by Bwanahile:
N'gagi,

There was a bit of salesmanship, but hey, those guys were probably footing the bill for the safari thus requiring/deserving their due recognition!!

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This may be so, but I paid $40 for the video!!! Isn't that kind of like paying to see a movie and having to sit through commercials?? At least I can get up and go to the bathroom during a commercial.

I'm not saying the video isn't worth every penny, I'm just saying there is an aweful lot of plugs flying around for a $40 VIDEO. I heard they sold over 1500 copies at SCI. That would PAY FULL TICKET for the hunt as well as the videographer...I think they need to be aware of this on the next issue.

Don't know Boddington personally, but will say this. He's a friend of many of my friends - all good and trustworthy blokes. One's a Bronze star Leatherneck from the Somalia debacle. Thustly, CB is A-OK in my book. Furthermore with his professional candor and matter of fact dialog, he can only HELP our sport. Supporting him is a wise investment, if you ask me.

JW

"Always keep sight of the Big Picture"

My non-hunting girlfriend ask me if I bought a commerical about 1/2 through the video. With the exception of the sales pitch she thought it was a decent video.

But I loved the movie and plan on buying them all. I like reading Boddingtons articles and enjoyed movie just as much. There are not to many choices that I see for videos covering Africa and you get a chance at a nice rifle..

MOTORCYCLES!!! JW

Actually, Peter Flack did quite a bit of the work in African Hunter II. Then there were other volunteers...like the Ethiopia Chapter.

Rich Elliott

Boddington is certainly an interesting guy. His reputation in Africa is "Mr. Free Hunt"

I have run across one PH who was a bit bitter over the "business deal"

I/ve been saving for a hunt a little over a year now, yet it seems further away all the time. I love CB's stuff and begrudge him anything, as I have yet to hear directly from someone who actually has hunted him (pitcures would be nice too!). Let us not turn CB into an OoA debacle.

Jerry

quote:

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Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
Boddington is certainly an interesting guy. His reputation in Africa is "Mr. Free Hunt"

I have run across one PH who was a bit bitter over the "business deal"

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I've heard some complaints from PH's as well. But you know what? Who cares. Craig has worked hard for his reputation. He isn't obligated to dedicate his time or lend his name for free and the PH's aren't obligated to give him free hunts. If they do so it is a mutually beneficial deal. If the end result is quality video's and DVD's the rest of us can enjoy, then I think it's a win-win for everyone.

I would feel very proud if Boddington have been born in Uruguay. I don't understand you gringos

He is very good in his job as a writer and it seems he has done a good job in the army also. So what more do you want??

If you don't want him, just send him down here, we will adopt him, hey, we can even trade it for some spare communist we have down here, 100, 500, 1000..? How much do you want???
L

Lorenzo

You have a PM from me.

Boddington is my favorite writer on Africa and many other things. But I think the whole writing industry would be a bit better off if writers paid for their own hunts and wrote out of the love of writing, not to get comped hunts.

The whole industry has mvoed from being entertaining to one that is a marketing engine.

African Hunter II is excellent and a great reference book. Boddingtons video, minus the commercial content, is better than most, and more importantly, recent. If you want to see a truly poor video, lacking any and all hunting ethics, check out Marc Watts offerings.

i thought about this topic this morning when I was out shooting. The thought occurred to me that anyone who hunts anywhere based solely on the recommendation of a writer is a fool. You will never read about a bad deal. At least a booking agent will hopefully steer you in the right direction, but I have been burned by them as well.

I think the booking industry would be better off if those doing the booking paid for the hunts themselves, but I don't feel as strongly. After all, there is no conflict of interest. There is a HUGE one when a writer goes on a free hunt.

I for one hope the trend of free hunts goes away. Allen Day may not be a CB, but I would rather read his accounts of hunts he pays for. And by the way, I have been on a few comped hunts. One I tipped the guide almost as much as he would have been paid. I just don't feel that comfortable with them. Maybe I will when I retire and hopefully write full time, but I am working hard so that I don't have to.

One last thing - it would be a step in the right direction if writers would simply state that what they paid for the hunt. I have never heard CB admit he got a free hunt, but he has received more than anyone. I have seen some writers at least admit they got the hunt free.

Ever notice how anyone who takes out a writer for a free hunt is their "buddy?" I guess so!

AzWriter, I'd like to present an example to buttress your statement. When I was getting ready to book my first safari, I went to a few of my acquaintances that like you say, have been on many safaris and paid for them out of pocket. Well, That's exactly what I did.

I whittled down to two, outfits, Roger Whittall recommended by another friend and John Sharp recommended by Allen Day.I went with Allen's choice and my hunt exceeded ALL my expectations. Now I am sure, that had I asked Craig "off the record", I'm sure he would have helped me out, but Allen's candid and accurate opinion of JOhn Sharp's operation was one you won't get SCI or any gun/hunting magazine. jorge

Jorge, having hunted with Roger, I can assure you that had you gone with him instead on your first safari, all your expectations would have been equally exceeded! You were flipping a coin that was winners either way.

JoeR: You are absolutely right. Another good friend of mine swears by him and the only reason I didn't pick Roger was the high probabilty I would have hunted with one of his PHs and not him. Since John Sharp is for the most part, a one man show, it was guaranteed. Both are great gents! jorge

I haven't seen the video, but will have to look into it. For whatever reason, buff hunting is the only African hunting that interests me.

As far as Boddington, I see two reasons he has detractors. One is plain and simple jelousy. The other is that some folks prefer authors that do a better job spinning a yarn, or do have more nitty gritty technical information in their articles.

If someone becomes an expert in their field, then they can command a premium for their services. It doesn't matter if it's doctor, engineer, mechanic, or a gun writer. There is no doubt that those concessions Craig hunts will get their name out to allot of prospective customers.

The real question for the hunting concessions and guides is, does the cost of advertising via a Boddington article yield a return on investment? As Jorge posted, the savvy hunter won't use a gunwriters article as a basis for evaluating a hunting concern.

As a final observation, I don't think the best camps and guides need to comp hunts, as their reputations precede them, and they are booked well in advance.

quote:

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Originally posted by Paul H:

As a final observation, I don't think the best camps and guides need to comp hunts, as their reputations precede them, and they are booked well in advance.

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That is the key. So it may be best to avoid the areas where famous gunwriters go to hunt for free, as those areas are unlikely to be the real premium areas anyway. However, I do know of a case where the famous gunwriter mentioned in this thread actually paid full retail price for a hunt because the safari operator was not about to give away a hunt when he was booked 3 years in advance, no matter how much the gunwriter begged and pushed.

As for writing, I like to read articles and books that I can learn from. Since CB's articles and books seldom take a definitive position on anything, I learn little from them and actually gave up on reading them about 4 or 5 years ago. But perhaps the buffalo video is turning over a new leaf.

Gee, I was thinking about this thread this am while I was dry firing...

You guys are right - the best operators don't need anyone writing about them, and consequently, no one ever does.

I think the point of ridiculousness was reached some years ago when Petersen's HUNTING kept publishing story after story on Owl's Nest Lodge. I kept thinking, "Even if this place is good, all these free hunts they are comping out must raise the price."

I have an aritcle slated to run in a well known publication; part of my sales pitch for that story was that I paid for the hunt myself. I don't think that had anything to do with the accpetance, but I want to start a trend.

CB is better in his books than his articles. When I read a positive report on a BSA 8-32 from him i almost lost my cookies. I tested that scope and it is garbage.

Am I jealous of him? I wished I have done more hunting than I have, but I don't want it to become a job. Even training manager at a whore house gets old after a while. And there are some things about his personal life that I surely don't envy. Call it 'division of marital property."

But he is a good writer. I like his stuff.

Training manager at a whorehouse? add "and on the flight schedule every day?" man, talking about dying and going to...never mind