After reading through three pages on "Latest Safari Magazine Travesty" I pose the question, "What would you like to see in a hunting magazine?"
I work for the Dallas Safari Club and contribute to all of their publications.
What would YOU like to see in DSC’s Game Trails?
More In The Field Hunts?
More political and conservation news?
More fishing?
More Africa?
More North America?
More Asia?
Less of something


BEFORE YOU ANSWER, keep in mind that DSC is a relatively small magazine in terms of readers (@ 6,000) and first and foremost it has to meet the requirements and needs of its members. And keep its members, exhibitors, and advertisers happy.

That being said…"What would you like to see in a hunting magazine?"

I know I really dislike magazines pre-occupation with new gear, new camoflage, etc. I prefer true articles. I prefer articles that talk about some of the "nits" of how the trip was planned, problems encountered, dates chosen to go, etc.
I like information about the area hunted, how the hunters got to their destination and how they picked their outfitter.

Gayne

Thanks for asking!

How about a simple recap of the situation in Africamon hunting, no politics, just facts (eg what's the actual situation with Elephant hunting in Bots)?
A section on Taxidermy?

Thanks!
Orvar

While not a member.....

I always used to enjoy Craig Boddingtons shorter articles on hunting different countries and game when they were published in Petersen's Hunting back in the 90'.

It was a good way to arouse interest and knowledge about other destinations and game.

Maybe have a regular column featuring a hunt in a different country.

So far so good.

And Strapman, "product reviews" these days are little more than press releases.

I have to agree with the gear BS articles and also other stuff
I don't think majority of readers read them. I know I don't
Mostly SCI and DSC is about international hunting so that is what most of us want to see and read
US hunting is covered in plenty of magazines around the country

My favorite magazines are related to hunting around the world. What I like best is that they give me the opportunity to dream… that is, I like reading stories about people's hunts. Afterwards, I sit back and think... "Wow! That sounds like a great hunt! I would love to go to Argentina" or "Wow! That looks like it is really a miserable place. Sounds like fun." "hmmmm… maybe I should go to Mozambique some day." Even if I don't make it to those places, I enjoy living vicariously through the author.

In addition to the things mentioned above, the think I hate the most are stories that sound like product endorsements. I understand that people have to make a living and that they have sponsors, but some of it is just bad…

"I looked over the valley and saw something moving. I searched through my Acme all-weather gortex backpack for my Acme binoculars. The crystal clear view I had of the monster mule deer told me it was a shooter. I then grabbed my Acme rangefinder, which not only told me that his range was 350 yards, but due to the angle I had to aim as if the shot was 328 yards. I calmly picked up my .388 Acme Bazooka-Blaster steel barreled rifle with composite stock and took aim. I slowly waited for the buck to turn broadside. I knew that my Acme 180 grain tungsten tipped, depleted uranium PDQ rounds would do the job. As I slowly released my breath, my finger, incased in my acme no-slip gloves, started to gently squeeze the trigger."

Ok… I know this is a little extreme, but some of the articles I have read have had product endorsements in almost every single paragraph in the article. They were horrible to read.

Game Trails is great. I would like to read about less traveled places. Like, Ethiopia, West Africa, Europe, and Asia.

Give Turner a belly rub.

Thanks guys. Keep the info coming
Turner is already spoiled.

Gayne, MORE TERRY BLAUKAMP! (Terry and Joanne asked me to say that) :-)

Gayne
Agreed - Game Trails is great.
Was looking at my side table again, at the magazines I have kept to re-read this month and The Field (from the UK) is there (2 issues actually). I think they do a really good job of balancing hunting stories, gear reviews, and the rest of the topics.
Orvar

Ha. Tell Terry hey

Gayne: As other mentioned,we have enough magazines on domestic hunting to cover just about everything. I'd like to see Africa and maybe Alaskan stuff thrown in. I also would like to see a dedicated stuff on "neat" gear like doubles, high end guns, etc.

Gayne - I enjoy the mag but not before I literally cut out the pages with Shane Mahoney. After doing that I can read it without reservation. Same thing when Mahoney did the stuff on TAA. Clicked off when he came on and many times didn't go back to finish the show. Since they don't have him on there anymore it's a watch. I'll keep the sicssors handy, make the cut, and continue to read until things change.

Larry Sellers
SCI (International) Life Member

Thanks for all the input. Keep the ideas coming

I'd like to see pieces on the small mammals in Africa- genets, caracals, honey badgers,civets, antbears, etc. Especiall serval, even Craig Boddington is still looking to bag one! I agree also that Shane Mahoney's column could be replaced. But then, "all the world's a critic

What's wrong with Mahoney? I've chatted with him several times at the Convention and he was a true gent.

Of course he's a gent, he's a Newfie- best folks on earth; I simply don't enjoy his writing style.

Newfies are great!
Back on topic guys

Gayne,

And whatever you do, PLEASE do NOT re-write articles so they can come out as if written by the same individual, and make them sound as if there is a mortal danger waiting for the reader around every corner

Mahoney rubs me wrong, too.

That horribly ludicrous, staged photo of him that they use doesn't help.

If I ever start taking myself that seriously, please shoot me.

I can tell you what I dont want - cigarette ads , Viagra ads, dating agency ads , and stories written to blow smoke up the arse of the person the story is about ....

Mahoney was a bit creepy during his spot on TAA. He tells a good message, but the delivery was not quite there.

Unfortunately, that nut, former green peace founder, gets more publicity. I'd look him up for his name, but he doesn't deserve my google click.

I bitterly like the format. Hunts I'd love to do, but vicariously experience them through those telling the story.

Thanks guys but, again, forget Mahoney. Back on track to the topic of magazines

What do I want in DSC magazine??

Free bloody mary vouchers for the convention - that's what I want!!

How about stories like this?


ONE MINUTE BUFFALO

A lot of hunting stories start out with the hunter in a tight situation with an unhappy animal off the barrel of his rifle. Well, mine doesn’t begin quite that way. Our adventure began when the hunting truck broke down for the second time in 6 hours.

We (we being me, my brother and his 19-year-old son) had left South Africa early the morning of day six of a fifteen day hunt for plains game and Cape Buffalo. The first five days had been occupied with collecting a Zebra, a Kudu, a couple of wart hogs and a very nice Gemsbuck (Oryx) by my nephew PJ and Sean, his dad. I was fortunate to take a very big, very old Giraffe with a handgun, but that’s for a later story. Then it was time to depart for Zimbabwe to hunt Buffalo.

Over The Road

Anywho, dawn arrived and we were in the truck and out of camp. Our route would take us across the border at the Messina, SA/ Beitbridge, Zimbabwe crossing, then up to a hunting concession on the Gwai River south of Victoria Falls. There were five of us in the Toyota truck – our Professional Hunter (PH) Peter, yours truly, Sean, PJ and Willi our tracker.

Our first taste of adventure came when the exhaust pipe broke off the header when we were about 10 miles south of Beitbridge. Once the truck was repaired at a muffler shop we proceeded to the border.

I’m not going to give a blow-by-blow of the border crossing fun and games, but suffice it to say a little over 5 hours were eaten up in transit. This and the exhaust pipe repair put us into Zim with about 2 hours until darkness. We still had 500+ km to travel, so it looked like we’d hit camp between midnight – one AM.

This just was not to be. As the sun set, we were about 250 km in-country, and had passed through Gwanda 15 minutes before, when Peter tried to downshift for a hill and the clutch pedal sank gracefully to the floorboards. No clutch. Yes darkness.

Off the Road
Closer examination showed a broken hydraulic line going to the clutch slave cylinder. Not only did we have no clutch, we weren’t going to have any clutch anytime in the near future.

Sitting on the side of the road in darkest Zimbabwe is not a place I really wanted to spend the night. Villagers and other people were appearing out of the darkness and within 20 minutes we had an audience of 10-12 men watching our travails.

A quick consultation and Sean, who had a number of years as a race car driver, jumped into the right, driver’s, seat. Yes, right seat! Zimbabwe was set up like England in that the steering wheel was on the right and driving was on the left. We all pushed while he hit the starter and the truck lit off in first gear. Much jumping aboard then ensued!

He was able to operate the truck, shifting the five-speed transmission without the clutch by double-clutching and matching the transmission speed to engine rpm, until we made it into Bulawayo where we spent a very thankful night at the only Holiday Inn within 500 km in any direction. A small amount of alcohol was consumed later, yessir.

More Truck Games

Come the morning, and after a repair was made, we departed scenic Bulawayo (no employment, no food and zero gasoline in the entire country) and headed towards camp - where the engine proceeded to blow up 10 miles before our destination. It could not be repaired in the field, so there we sat until rescued. Hours later we drug into camp.

What has all this to do with hunting, you may ask? Well, the short version is that between all the fun with the truck and some paperwork problems back in SA, we lost 3 of our 7 days set up for hunting Cape Buffalo. The plan had been that PJ would take a cow buffalo and I’d go after a big bull with my handgun, a Smith & Wesson 500 Magnum shooting 500 grain flat points from Hornady factory loads. With only 4 days to get both animals, we were going to need to be up early, out late and very lucky.

A spare truck was supposed to arrive that morning, but by 8:30 no such luck. Finally, we got out chasing tracks in the afternoon, but everything we saw was at least 2 days old. Back to camp by 7 pm and asleep by 9.

Camp

Let me digress here a moment and describe our camp. It was called “Malindi” and was constructed out of railroad cars arraigned in a “V” around a central fireplace area that was raised up to the lever of the car’s entrances and made out of poured concrete. It was a very beautiful camp and we would have enjoyed it immensely except we never saw it in the light as we were up before daylight and back after dark.

There was a water hole about 125-135 yards in front of the camp where a lot of animals would come to drink, we were told, but about all we saw were a few female Sables and some fauns. The cook said buffalo sometimes watered there, but the only tracks we found were quite old.

The next day, before it was light, we were back tracking tracks and busting a lot of bush. Oh yeah – the bush. The undergrowth and trees in Zimbabwe usually are no higher than 15 feet, with the bush being around 4-5 feet tall, but it contains some of the nastiest thorn bushes known to man. Their needles resemble a #24 hypodermic needle and would probably penetrate more Kevlar than a .44 magnum. Plus they break off and fester in the wound. So we walked and grew lots of nice, round red holes. I have absolutely no idea as to how the PHs do it wearing only shorts.

PJ’s Buffalo

In late afternoon we got on some fresh buffalo tracks and followed them for quite a while through the bush, but the buffalo heard us and kept moving away. We later found out that they were just leading us in a big circle, so it was time to jump into the truck and run down to head ‘em off at the next crossing.

We covered a little less than ½ mile when Peter slammed on the brakes bailed out of the truck and pulled PJ with him. As we followed, he whispered to PJ, “Cow … get your rifle.” PJ pulled his rifle, a Ruger #1 in .458 Lott, out of the padded clamps on the roll bar and ran up to where Peter stood. Peter motioned him forward and pointed down the trail. Seventy-five yards separated them from a cow standing sideways on the trail watching our antics. She wasn’t concerned, just curious.

The Rifle

Before the hunt, I had spent a lot of time with PJ and the Ruger
( Actually, it was my rifle, but upon seeing it for the first time, PJ permanently adopted it.), going over where to place a shot depending on how the buffalo stood and what part of its body could be seen. I told him to smack the buff behind the shoulder and let the bullet do the work.

The .458 Lott is a .404 Jeffery necked up to .458. It is a great deal more powerful than the better-known .458 Winchester Magnum – 5873 ft-lbs of muzzle energy vs. 4622 ft-lbs for the .458 Winchester. Muzzle velocity is up also with the Lott at 2300 fps, and the Winchester coming along at 2040fps. Both shoot a 500-gr. bullet, but the Lott will take the fight out of any dangerous game much better than the Winchester. It do kick a trifle harder, though. The only animal I had ever shot with it was a California wild pig, and that was with a 500-gr. solid. I think the bullet’s still traveling.

The Shot

This cow was almost perpendicular to us, offering a good shoulder shot, but she was starting to get antsy. Peter leaned towards PJ and said something as PJ brought the rifle to his shoulder and flipped off the safety. Booom! The recoil drew him back a step. I heard bullet hit buffalo. The cow found first gear and disappeared into the bush

Here we go again, more tracking, more thorns. Willi, the tracker, found blood on a branch where the cow had stopped to try and wipe off the pain. We tracked. After 5 minutes, or so, we heard the cow moving in the bush about 20 yards ahead of us, but could see nothing. We tracked some more. After a few more minutes, I backed off and returned to the truck so as to have fewer people making noise.

Outcome

My watch said 5:30. The sun dropped below the horizon. The ground, surrounding vegetation and nearby bushes all turned the same shade of gray. Tracking was done for the day. We’d have to return in the morning.

PJ came back to the truck very unhappy with himself. His Kudu had dropped with one shot. His wart hog and Impala did likewise – why hadn’t the buffalo. I reminded him that a Cape Buffalo was a bit tougher than a plains game animal and that my first one had absorbed four .416 hits from my Remington Magnum before becoming steaks and chops. For some reason he wasn’t too interested in war stories right at the moment.

We split up the next morning – me to hunt for a bull and PJ to follow up on his cow. It wasn’t a very good day. I saw exactly nothing and PJ followed tracks for over 3 hours until the blood trail dried up and the cow’s tracks merged with the rest of the heard and disappeared.

Why No Buffalo (we think)

Later, after we had returned to the US, we went over the video of his shot in slow motion. Both shot and impact were clearly visible. The only problem was that the shot was too high and was only a flesh wound that would heal fast and the cow be none the worse for wear.

What happened?

Remember when Peter leaned over to PJ just before he shot? Well, Peter told him to aim for the point of the shoulder, not behind it as we had discussed. PJ errored in thinking a buffalo’s shoulder was like a human’s and up high on the body. It isn’t, it’s down more towards the middle of the torso. He had hit where he aimed, the bullet had blown through, but the cow will see another summer or two. A lesson learned, which I think was good, because he was beginning to think this hunting business was easy. He said (through clenched teeth, I might add) that he’ll be back, and next time bring a Cape Buffalo home.

The End of the Hunt

I spent the next day wandering through the concession trying to pick up some fresh tracks, but to no avail. Darkness intruded, so that was it for the hunt. We were leaving the next morning for Victoria Falls. To add insult to injury, on our way back to camp, we spotted a huge herd of buffalo about 600 yards away over open ground. Too bad! They were fairly smart buffalo and they were in a photograph-only area and could not be hunted. Needless to say, I was not in the best frame of mind when I returned to camp. I spent the evening in my room and skipped dinner. I was pretty graveled because if we hadn’t lost all that time to that bloody piece-of-junk truck, we’d still have days to hunt. Sleep was a long time in coming.

Departure

Six AM came ‘round and up we got. Wasn’t a lot of talking going on this morning until we found we were out of coffee. Now, I can put up with a lot, but no morning coffee was about my limit. Black thoughts!

Time to go. Truck was packed, cameras and suitcases put away, guns in their cases at the bottom of the truck bed. Wasn’t a very happy group of hunters departing camp. Even the trackers were subdued.


One Minute

I was riding shotgun, Sean and PJ in back on the raised seats. Peter sat down and pushed in the clutch; hand on the gearshift.

Then.

Then.

Then!

The cook came running out to the truck, sputtering and shouting!

“Buffalo, buffalo! They come! They are to the water hole.” He pointed over his right shoulder. “They come!”

Out of the truck. Up on the patio. Sure as God made little green frogs, there they were. A herd of about 60 had come to the water hole. They were still in the bush, 300 yards from us, 150 yards from the water. Cows and calves in front, bulls in the back. Little movement. They were checking out the area.

“ Willi, unloadthetruckgettheguns.” My emotions were outpacing my brain and my tongue was caught in the middle. The binoculars were in a case. The binoculars were in my hand, case on the ground. Check out the animals. They were still too bunched up to make out the bulls.

Peter scanned the herd. “There’s some bulls way in the back. They’ll push the cows ‘n’ calves out, then drink last.

The gun cases were open. This was going to be a 125 + yard shot, so the S&W 500 was left behind. I opened the action on the Ruger and fed it a 500-gr. solid. Cranked the scope up to its max – 4 power.

We moved to the front of the patio. I took off my jacket and used it like a sandbag between the gun and table. Peter joined me with his rifle.

“Peter, this is going to be tough. When I shoot, as soon as I shoot, follow me up. If we don’t drop him he’ll disappear into the bush.”

“Ok Tom, but wait until there’s a clear shot.”

One clear shot was all there was going to be. The cows were approaching the water, but milling in tight. Any bulls? Hell, I couldn’t see even one!

My heart finally slowed down enough to where the crosshairs quit bouncing around.

“Tom, look on the far right. There’s a big bull right at the water. He’s got a cow directly in front of him, so wait.” The cow acted like she owned the water hole and didn’t want to leave. ‘He’s going to finish, then turn to go. Wait. Wait until he’s clear the cow.”

The bull finished his drink and turned his rump towards us. He stepped back from the water hole on his way to the bush. The cow in front of him turned and moved to the right. The bull started walking off.

He stopped. Turned to a nearby cow as if to say something. Turned back with a quartering step to the right and stopped. Open! It was going to be a Texas brain shot, but it was the only shot.

He stood still.

I pulled the trigger.

The gun barrel lurched towards the ground! Dead silence.

Did I mention releasing the safety? I thought not. Because I hadn’t. Nice work, Tom!

Ok. Stop. Take a breath. Kick off the safety. Reacquire the sight picture. Same picture – same tail end shot.

The Ruger belched! The bull kicked high into the air and jumped to the side.

“He’s hit,” Peter said. “And hit damn well.”

“Whewwww,” I said.

The bull ran into the herd and they all took off into the brush. They got about 20 yards into the jess and stopped for a short time, then took off. We waited a few minutes before following.

The herd had stopped because the bull had only made it that far before dying. He only went that far on nerves. The bullet entered the left hip, traveled all the way up through the lung and heart and came to a stop just under the hide on the chest. When recovered, it looked like it could have been reloaded and fired again.

The last minute of the last hour of the last day of the hunt.

One minute buffalo!

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Gayne, MORE TERRY BLAUKAMP! (Terry and Joanne asked me to say that) :-)

Thanks Biebs, appreciate that.

I'll second the request for more Terry...

jorge

Gayne,

I agree with others that international hunting is what I enjoy reading about the most. LOTS of American magazines already have North America hunting covered really well. I really enjoy reading The Field (from the UK), Sporting Classics, and Grey's Sporting Journal. Anything you can do to somewhat immitate those three magazines would probably make me want to read it. And thanks for asking for our opinions!

Gayne,
My favorite domestic mag is "Sports Afield." Why? Because the articles tell the story, without sponsor or testosterone overload. Writers should tell, not embellish, the story. If a hunt is dicey, or goes suddenly pear-shaped, readers are intelligent enough to realize it without hyperbole. As far as your mag goes--we can never get too many hunting articles.
Tim

Thanks for all the comments guys. Keep 'em coming

Let's start with TV shows.

The thing that gets me to not watch is the infommercials that most stories turn into. A thirty minute show for example.

First eight minute infommerical: "Hello, I'm Fred Smith and I am hunting with ____ ______ in RSA/Moz/Bots/etc. I appear in the outstanding wardrobe provided me by _________, carrying my 458 Lott built by _________. I am using softs and solids factory ammunition provided by ________. My rifle is carried in a sling provided by_______. Binoculars provided by ________, and a custom chest harness by _______. My Laser Rangefinder is a top of the line model by _____.

Six minute preliminary safari story: This trip we are testing a new _________. All of our diesel is refined by the __________ corporation, and we feel that the new 10-ply _______________ tires will crawl thru any terrain. We will be in search of the Nile Bokrat, a heretofore undiscovered species."

Now: the second eight minute infommercial discussing the PH company, complete with a blurb showing their land location and website, as well as half the first eight minute infommercial sponsors.

The next six minutes features the actual hunt, all participants nattily attired in sponsor logo-ed clothing. Finale: Nile Bokrat surrounded by Hunter, PH and safari crew, all nattily attired in sponsor logo clothing.

The PH and hunter are particularly noteworthy in that they are wearing the new camo one-piece overalls; festooned with enough sponsor logo patches to make the average NASCAR driver blush.

Closing promo: two minutes of unabashed brown nosing of the major sponsors...

If this sounds familar, it is because that is what we are getting.


Limit the commercials to fifteen minutes, and the actual purpose of the show, hunting, gets the other half.

The magazine should have the same focus. The single thing I find most repugnant is the unnecessary splitting of stories. The phrase "continued on page ___" is beyond obnoxious. Run the articles straight thru, and leave the outside column for ads related to the story.

psst, money makes the world go round...I have no issues with that but even more important, I KNOW the difference between a sales pitch and enjoying/living vicariously with what is presented and in fact I like most of the infomercials.

I love African hunting ,specially articles written by professional hunters .
Im interested in articles written by PHs around the world.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Let's start with TV shows.

The thing that gets me to not watch is the infommercials that most stories turn into. A thirty minute show for example.

First eight minute infommerical: "Hello, I'm Fred Smith and I am hunting with ____ ______ in RSA/Moz/Bots/etc. I appear in the outstanding wardrobe provided me by _________, carrying my 458 Lott built by _________. I am using softs and solids factory ammunition provided by ________. My rifle is carried in a sling provided by_______. Binoculars provided by ________, and a custom chest harness by _______. My Laser Rangefinder is a top of the line model by _____.

Six minute preliminary safari story: This trip we are testing a new _________. All of our diesel is refined by the __________ corporation, and we feel that the new 10-ply _______________ tires will crawl thru any terrain. We will be in search of the Nile Bokrat, a heretofore undiscovered species."

Now: the second eight minute infommercial discussing the PH company, complete with a blurb showing their land location and website, as well as half the first eight minute infommercial sponsors.

The next six minutes features the actual hunt, all participants nattily attired in sponsor logo-ed clothing. Finale: Nile Bokrat surrounded by Hunter, PH and safari crew, all nattily attired in sponsor logo clothing.

The PH and hunter are particularly noteworthy in that they are wearing the new camo one-piece overalls; festooned with enough sponsor logo patches to make the average NASCAR driver blush.

Closing promo: two minutes of unabashed brown nosing of the major sponsors...

If this sounds familar, it is because that is what we are getting.


Limit the commercials to fifteen minutes, and the actual purpose of the show, hunting, gets the other half.

The magazine should have the same focus. The single thing I find most repugnant is the unnecessary splitting of stories. The phrase "continued on page ___" is beyond obnoxious. Run the articles straight thru, and leave the outside column for ads related to the story.

Could not agree more and this is the exact reason I don't watch any hunting shows on TV, don't read any hunt magazines except the African Hunter and why the first edition of Boddington's Safari Rifles is treasured and the new edition was discarded.
Somewhere there must be a fine dividing line between making money and sponsor ass kissing. I mean, how do we know if the product really is a good product or just made so due the amount of money paid?
Cheers, gents.
Cal

Face it fellows, without sponsorship we would not have TV shows or magazines of any kind.
IT'S A BUSINESS!!! They have to make money.
Now, just because Ivan, Craig, Tim or anybody else tells me Brand XYX is the best they've ever used does not mean I'm going to buy it.
But I for one appreciate that Ruger, Hornady & Trijicon sponsor shows that I enjoy watching.

Now back to the topic: I like articles written by the hunters themselves more than any other.

Topic seems to be moving well...a few distractions with Shane and TV but overall I'm pleased...

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Let's start with TV shows.

The thing that gets me to not watch is the infommercials that most stories turn into. A thirty minute show for example.

First eight minute infommerical: "Hello, I'm Fred Smith and I am hunting with ____ ______ in RSA/Moz/Bots/etc. I appear in the outstanding wardrobe provided me by _________, carrying my 458 Lott built by _________. I am using softs and solids factory ammunition provided by ________. My rifle is carried in a sling provided by_______. Binoculars provided by ________, and a custom chest harness by _______. My Laser Rangefinder is a top of the line model by _____.

Six minute preliminary safari story: This trip we are testing a new _________. All of our diesel is refined by the __________ corporation, and we feel that the new 10-ply _______________ tires will crawl thru any terrain. We will be in search of the Nile Bokrat, a heretofore undiscovered species."

Now: the second eight minute infommercial discussing the PH company, complete with a blurb showing their land location and website, as well as half the first eight minute infommercial sponsors.

The next six minutes features the actual hunt, all participants nattily attired in sponsor logo-ed clothing. Finale: Nile Bokrat surrounded by Hunter, PH and safari crew, all nattily attired in sponsor logo clothing.

The PH and hunter are particularly noteworthy in that they are wearing the new camo one-piece overalls; festooned with enough sponsor logo patches to make the average NASCAR driver blush.

Closing promo: two minutes of unabashed brown nosing of the major sponsors...

If this sounds familar, it is because that is what we are getting.


Limit the commercials to fifteen minutes, and the actual purpose of the show, hunting, gets the other half.

The magazine should have the same focus. The single thing I find most repugnant is the unnecessary splitting of stories. The phrase "continued on page ___" is beyond obnoxious. Run the articles straight thru, and leave the outside column for ads related to the story.

Why are you so apparently bitter?

Do you want to go back to a time when there were no hunting TV shows?

FFS - dont watch them!!

I do agree on the split articles though... they suck.

As far as a magazine on hunting:

Stick to hunting and conservation. No fishing, "culture," or obituaries.

Make sure that there is "full disclosure" in that the financing of the trip is noted- I'm not talking IRS level, but rather if the writer is being sponsored on a junket or if they are not paying the full going rate, it should be noted. If the hunt is donated by someone, that should be stated. Any "industry" relations should be documented.

Since its a membership organization, any payment for the article that differs from the usual members' compensation should be noted.

Since this is a membership magazine, the ads should be clearly marked as such, and sponsorship noted- (it does not have to be negative, a comment like this article was generously donated by XYZco. is fine.)

For any magazine on "international hunting" there really is little need for articles on hunting species available in the majority of the readership's locality. No white tail or turkey, no local bird shooting ( I would say bird shooting in general, except there are some limited types of bird hunting that are only available by traveling.)

If its a hunting magazine, avoid publishing articles on animal control shoots- TX aerial hog shooting, night time hog shooting, prairie dog, etc. Essentially, if its high volume shooting its not hunting (not that it is bad, but it is just not hunting.)

Ideally, the advertising should be less than the content number of pages.

In a membership organ, I much prefer to have mostly (read exclusively) member content over professional articles- I can get the pro stuff from paid sources; its very hard (and why I spend so much time here) to get nonprofessional affectionado writing that is done just to share the fun that someone had.

How about an article on a "common" game animal, but seeking big guys/ "trophies"; warthog for example. Hunts could be in different countries (include Ethiopia!) with different climates, methods, etc?