AR being the best african hunting forum on the net and a big thanks to one man "Saeed" to have given us the opportunity to meet and discuss what most of us love the most. It feels to me that AR as shifted over the last couple of years from a all round africa hunting forum from plaisngame to big five to a more progresivve big game forum with more and more big five related topics.

This means that obviously is has moved on to its real Name "Africa Big Game Hunting" it has sparked many hunters to start to save for big game and as made it possible for a lot to go and live out a dream.

My only complaint about this is that I cannot participate in much of the discussions as I do not have enough relevant big five experience. With the exception of a rhino dart hunt and some leopard hunting experience all in RSA. Anyway I have learned a lot and am very lucky to be a part of AR.

Thanks again Saaed

Your, feelings on this that AR has moved to be more of a big game forum ?

2 things;

1. What are you talking about?
2. Are you through kissing ass?

Dungbeetle

Dungbeetle,
2 things;

1. Why did you reply if you don't know what he's talking about?
2. Are you quite through being rude to Safari-Hunt for no apparent reason?

While it may be true that Safari-Hunt's post rehashes certain topics that have been covered before and relates similar sentiments of gratitude previously expressed, I can think of no reason to degrade his post for expressing those thanks to Saeed and company, however redundant they may be. And, furthermore, there is a GREAT difference between "kissing ass" and expressing said gratitude, a difference which you might do well to learn. It is not my intention to be the etiquitte police nor the hall monitor, and while I am the first to participate in good natured ribbing, I felt that your post was completely out of line and entirely detrimental to the atmosphere of friendship and camaraderie in hunting to which this website aspires. I believe I speak for Safari-Hunt and (I hope this is not too presumptuous) perhaps the entire board, when I ask you to please keep your unnecessarily cynical criticisms of others' posts to yourself, lest a great many otherwise valuable would-be-posters are driven away by needless and bad-natured cynicism.

Signed,
another self-righteous lurker

Sigh...here we go again.

Safari-Hunt

Like yourself I can only participate vicariously in the full African experience. However, having forums to visit and sometimes chime in makes my life better, so I take it as a plus. When I read someone else's experiences and advice (like "Go now! Don't wait. Find a way!") it motivates me to think bigger.

Many participate in professional sports in the same way. Buying a Stormers jersey, a Cowboys cap, a Manchester United banner (and so on) doesn't make a fan's life fake or less, just better to himself in a way he values.

Thanks from another little fish in a big pond. I've had fun swimming around the big fish and learning how it could be when opportunity and "fortune" present themselves in my future.

Another AR fan

BNagel

OK, let me refrain.

Over the years has AR moved from PG and DG to mostly DG ???

Simple enough ?

Safari-Hunt,
I think it just goes in cycles.

Dung Beetle,
Behave yourself!

Rich Elliott

I suppose Rich is right in that it does go in cycles. Whatever the case is though, I have learned a tremendous amount by hanging out here.

I think it is that folks have more quetions about DG and dangerous game rifles, as they have less experience with this type of hunting. There are any number of hunters here who have DG experience and can help with those questions. More of us, myself included already have plains game experience, so not as many questions asked.

I agree with jstevens. I would venture to say that most of the talk regarding DG is a result of posters not wanting to make any big or costly mistakes when contemplating or planning a DG hunt. I would say that this is a worthy motive, considering the costs involved. I have received several PM's from posters with questions regarding everything from boots to clothing to firearms to meals.

Geronimo

About every 4 weeks there is a fawning, drooling, brown-noser thread. It's one thing to show genuine gratitude. It is another to diligently seek out the crack and kiss it.

Some posters have no gratitude and less class. Fortunately for the remainder of us most have gravitated to another site or two where like attitudes bolster flawed egos.
In the past year or two AR has lost some good members that this alter ego sect chose up sides against in flame wars that were little of their business to begin with.
At least one poster to this thread has been told off by the owner of the site recently. Letting him know in no uncertain terms he is not now nor ever has been appointed the AR filtering agent. Sort of a public hand slapping here on AR.
The one constant of the African forums is that we all come here to share in reading about hunting there and the firearms used there. In that respect AR still rules the internet. And hopefully will continue well into the future.

500grains is the guy who ran Craig Boddington off this site a couple years ago.

Civility and graciousness have always been the mark of a gentleman. Unfortunately, there are a few on this site who will never aspire to the niceties. It makes me take heed of the bumper sticker I saw recently..."An armed society is a polite society."

I very much appreciate Saeed and his generousity.............But it is a very expensive forum .......Someone posts a photo of a nice rifle leaning against a dead elephant and suddenly Old reliable looks embarisingly ugly...and you end up on the Westly Richards web site looking at 40,000.00 $ side locks even tho the rifle you,ve hid behind and shot for your life with for years still works just fine..... But I sure like all the stories and pics......Nickudu ,s postings are GREAT !!!!! Where else can a guy call someones favorite rifle a girl,s gun and not get a nukle sandwich ... Thank you and please keep up the good work all ....Gumboot...

quote:

Originally posted by WPN:
500grains is the guy who ran Craig Boddington off this site a couple years ago.

Dan, that true?

quote:

Originally posted by JBoutfishn:

quote:

Originally posted by WPN:
500grains is the guy who ran Craig Boddington off this site a couple years ago.

Dan, that true?

Actually, he left the site of his own accord after being caught in a couple of public statements which were shown to be....misleading....concerning the general's star fiasco. But there is no need to be disappointed because as usual the sycophants lined up to give a nice smooch.

Funny, but all of the other posts except the following were deleted. I distinctly recall one about Miller Rifles by Boddington and several others. I think he lasted three or four weeks here. 500grains challenged him almost immediately.

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...?r=58710691#58710691

quote:

But there is no need to be disappointed because as usual the sycophants lined up to give a nice smooch.

LOL New you would not dissapoint......

Boddington posted here on AR within the last month on a rifle topic. I don't think he's been run off by anyone.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
10 point,

I bash Boddington because I find his writing empty and uninformative. He seldom takes a position on anything, no will he find the flaws in any product. As a result, I learn nothing from his articles. If he were not such a big self-promoter, I would leave him alone.

It is the nature of specialized forums such as this one that very experienced and knowledgeable participants (as yourself) will not have much personal use for the popular press, even on their favored subjects.

Your own self-promotion is self-evident in your signature line. Nice hunt report, by the way.

But as prof242 said above, "Civility and graciousness have always been the mark of a gentleman." Obviously, you missed that lesson.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:

... there is no need to be disappointed because as usual the sycophants lined up to give a nice smooch.

Be careful of what you say. The following quote was lifted from the same thread.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
craig boddington,

Welcome to the Forum.

I have all your books in my library, and have enjoyed your writing.

Apparently Saeed is on your growing list of Boddington sycophants.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Boddington posted here on AR within the last month on a rifle topic. I don't think he's been run off by anyone.

What is the screen name he posts under? (PM me if you would rather...)

It's better to have 500grs on the sight than Craig Boddington because he likes firearms and hunting.

quote:

Originally posted by WPN:
500grains is the guy who ran Craig Boddington off this site a couple years ago.

Actually that is only half the truth.

500grains and a couple others did question him on somethings, and some people were quite rude.

But what probably also turned him off, so the sheer magnitude of crawling and sycophancy that got posted. Just because a guy is famous doesn't mean you should treat him anything other than like a regular guy. Normal famous people actually prefer that.

If I was him I would post only under an anonymous alias, to avoid these results.


***

Safari-Hunt, didn't you post something very similar only a few months ago?

quote:

Originally posted by 577NitroExpress:


What is the screen name he posts under? (PM me if you would rather...)

His name.

(If you search, it looks like he was registered twice with capitalization being the difference.}

If you really enjoy learning about shooting and firearms then there is not much that can discourage you from participating on the forums.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
If you really enjoy learning about shooting and firearms then there is not much that can discourage you from participating on the forums.

Unfortunately, too many times "contributors" don't stick to those topics. It seems they would rather find some, or any, thing less than absolute perfection in someone which they can attack in an apparent attempt to invalidate whatever contribution that person is making - especially if that person has achieved some level of public acclaim. You know the deal - tear the other person down to try to make you feel better about yourself.

Dave

500Grains,
Were you abused as a child ? You never pass up a chance to piss in someones Cheerio's.

What is wrong with you ?

I am beginning to think you have found pictures of someone else and post them as your own. Because someone who appears to have done as much hunting as you claim you sure are not very happy.

The screen name was none other than Craig Boddington. I don't know how you check a person's most recent post on AR, but if someone knows how to do that, they could find his latest post here on AR in the last month. Come to think of it, it might have had something to do with a hunting area rather than rifles, but it was a posting of Craig's nonetheless.

quote:

Originally posted by beachbum:
500Grains,
Were you abused as a child ? You never pass up a chance to piss in someones Cheerio's.

What is wrong with you ?

I am beginning to think you have found pictures of someone else and post them as your own. Because someone who appears to have done as much hunting as you claim you sure are not very happy.

Pardon me, but I did not impersonate a Brigadier General. Nor did I take the action by the SECNAV in disciplining the person who did. Nor did I make misleading (false?) statements about those events on AR.

Perhaps you should be asking why a person entrusted with our national security would do those things instead of asking why an ordinary citizen would challenge the actions.

I can't help but wonder what the brown-nosers hope to achieve with sycophantic posts. Is it in order to try and gain favors or future business? Or perhaps in other cases, does it just make them feel closer or more connected to the "celebrity"? And thus more important themselves? If so, they must have very low self-esteem.

Whatever the reason, it's truly pathetic, and the funny thing is that in most cases, the "celebrity" thinks so too.

Boy did this post ever get off track!

To return to the original topic, I think what happens to a lot of us here, is, we dream of hunting in Africa, we figure we'll start off with something within reach, like a nice RSA plains game hunt, then realize that there might be a little more ecitement to chasing a buff or an elephant, so we put the trip off an extra year or two to fund the DG hunt, and now that's all we can think about.

Shumba and I joke all the time about how we've become "Safari Snobs" because we have no interest in hunting plains game, strictly for the plains game. If we see something shootable while on a DG hunt, that's okay, but I couldn't see myself just doing the former at this time.

BUT, that's just for the moment. That may all change in the years ahead..who knows? I still have a hard time identifying all the different antelope species, so there is a lot left for me to learn about plains game, and there is no better place on the internet than AR!

N'gagi, or we do the plains game thing first, as everyone advises, and then are planning the next step!
Peter.

To fully answer 577NitroExpress's original question as to when Mr. Boddington last posted here on AR, it was on January 8, 2007 in reference to the post of mrlexma's dealing with Splitting A Full Bag Safari Between The Selous and Masailand. Sorry, I was off the month's mark by 5 days.

I have been wanting to ask this question but have never gotten around to it. I think this is a good time.

Who is Mr. Saeed or Saeed Bey? Is he a "celebrity"? Is he a business leader? Is he a political leader?

From his posts, my perception is he's a resonable and pleasant person but I don't know any more than that about him.

Thanks in advance for a response.

I only know of one Saeed on AR and he is indeed a celebrity!

I realize Mr. Saeed/ Saeed Bey whichever is most proper is the principal of AR. I would appreciate knowing a little more about him.

According to 500grains he is a sycophant. Can you imagine insulting one's host in his own domain? I'm baffled by it.

Main Entry: sy·co·phant
Pronunciation: -f&nt also -"fant
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin sycophanta slanderer, swindler, from Greek sykophantEs slanderer, from sykon fig + phainein to show -- more at FANCY
: a servile self-seeking flatterer
synonym see PARASITE

Well folks, I've stayed out of this just about as long as I can stand!

My "thoughts on AR of the last couple of years" are the instance of threads, exactly like this one, have become the norm here!

Rarely a day goes by that one or two soreheads is not bound, and determined to through a monkey wrench in the coggwheels of anything anyone want's to discuss. This used to be a very nice relaxing place to talk hunting, and guns, or anything relateing to the outdoors,but now it seems to be a ing contest at every turn.

In the last year, at least ten of the most knowledgeable posters on AR, have either been run off the site, or have gone elsewhere, because of the confrontational attitudes, of a few, found here today. What the hell happened to the old "ROUND THE OLE CAMP FIRE" discussions that used to go on here for page after page, without someone getting pissy,and flameing everyone in sight, or leaving in an angry tizzy?

I'd like it much better if those who left in disgust, would return, and the angry a;;holes, would either take a pill, or get a life, and leave everyone else alone! This place is supposed to be fun, not war. The place for war here is in the political forum, that is the place for angry folks who can't get along,and every political forum, on every website, is a nothing but war all the time. It seems that has spilled over into the whole website here in the last year. It is bad enough to be getting very old, and not being able to hunt the way I once did, but to replace the hunting with nothing but strife, is a real bummer!

...........................End of opinion of AR today

WPN,

No, I can not imagine insulting the host of AR. What has he done to be insulted? From what I've seen he accomodates all reasonable requests. He conducts tests such as barrel crowns etc. Where does he get the rifles he conducts destructive testing on? Does he buy them? He posts findings and is thorough doing what he says he will do.

In addition, I think he is a World Trap Shooting Champion.