The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Ask Craig BoddingtonGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| Ask Craig Boddington | Login/Join |
| One of Us |
Don't get me wrong....if somebody wanted to give me a comped hunt that I would write a a story about.....I would be all over it! With that said however....don't say that you personally paid for all of your hunts. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I think that "somebody" just did......Mr.Passive-Agressive  | |||
|
One of Us |
I can't speak for Craig but know that he will answer about the same way I do. Yes, I get a lot of free hunts (free as in I don't pay for them but I do work for them) but I pay for a lot as well. And while, again, I can't speak for Craig, I'm not sure if he ever claimed he paid for all his own hunts. | |||
|
One of Us |
I should probably let it go after my original comment on the subject, but curiosity is just getting the best of me on this issue. May I ask why this subject is deemed important? Whether or not a hunting celebrity personality and an outfitter cut deals for hunts affects the rest of us HOW? Why do we need to know beyond the implications of a less than candid hunt report which we should already account for knowing that the two parties are doing business together. I suppose I see it differently than some but my take is that if an outfitter offers a comp or discount in exchange for a show or write up, he is really just investing in advertising. It's the same as if the outfitter placed an advertisement in "Sports Afield", "Outdoor Life", or set up a booth at one of the conventions. Have you ever seen an advertisement in a magazine that wasn't 100% positive? Of course not. The outfit placing the ad expects a 100% positive message in exchange for the price paid to the medium, regardless of what the medium is! I've never seen a Remington M-700 print spot or TV commercial that talks about the issue with unintentional firing of the weapon when the safety is moved to the forward position on M-700s ... has anyone else? Ad placed = business transaction. Consider the source! I've heard some say that the issue is that prices of hunts are raised for us mere mortals as a result of comping or discounts given to celebrities. I call BS. Again, it's a cost of doing business in terms of advertising one's services. We could just as easily argue that M-700 rifles cost more as a result of the advertisements Remington places in various forms of media. In reality, the rifles, and back to the point here, the hunts, cost what the market is willing to pay. The market should command what people are willing to pay for it. If they are willing to pay $11,000, they are willing to pay $11,000. The price of the comped or discounted hunt cuts into the outfitter's profit in the form of expenses. If he raised his price to accommodate the advertisement, he likely would have been able to command that price in the first place. Take the $15 per hour push for burger flippers that's going on in the USA right now. The price people are willing to pay for burgers will not support paying the flippers that wage. People aren't going to pay $12 for a burger just to support $15 per hour wages when the burgers' true value is $3.99. I don't see myself willing to pay $11,000 for a $10,000 hunt just because Craig Boddington hunted with the same outfitter. Now, because he hunted with the outfitter and I read about it, I might be aware of its existence from which I would include the company in my research if interested in going on the same type of hunt. But that's all. Rant complete. I'm now listening for counter points!  | |||
|
| One of Us |
Editorial is the best form of advertising bar none. And truth be told, hosting a writer - a good writer - is far less expensive than purchasing advertising in that same magazine. You know why you see no ads for hunting lodges in Outdoor Life? Because no one can afford it. Same with Field & Stream and a host of other mags. While I can't speak for all professional writers, I can say that Craig and I have both turned down a lot of hunts because we felt: There wasn't a story there. The outfitter wasn't reputable or one that we'd want our name associated with. Time constraints. The outfitter was an ass. The location blew. The hunt blew. It wasn't anything we were interested in. Or a host of other reasons. As for the outcome of the article..some people buy a hunt based on a write up. Some don't. Some read to dream. Some read to envy. Some read to study. Being an outdoor writer is a great job but one that's extremely difficult, time consuming, and filled with heartache and criticism (Especially now that the internet is out there! Haters gonna hate!) | |||
|
| One of Us |
| |||
|
One of Us |
Yes - Craig Boddington is a celebrity, and as such, he attracts attention and occasionally some unfair criticism and jabs. The Craig Boddington I know takes the time to talk to anyone and everyone who stops at his booth at the shows. He is a retired Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, and he should have retired with the rank of Brigadier General. Craig selected for BG and was sent into the fray of the first Gulf War shortly thereafter - and that was to lead Marines in combat, not hunt. His Commanding General directed him to put on his stars before the promotion list was confirmed by the Senate. Being a good Marine (they are ALL good in my book), he followed orders. One or more Senators got their panties in a knot over this and would not confirm the promotion list with Craig's name on it - so, the Marine Corps took his name off, and the Senate approved the list. Craig is a patriot, and he has served his country with more professionalism than most will ever understand. So, the next time you see Craig at one of the shows or want to take a poke at him on line, thank him for his Service first.  | |||
|
| One of Us |
Agree Subsailor! | |||
|
| One of Us |
I'm sure this will go over like a lead balloon, but...... Why don't you ask Craig how he plans to repay all of those creditors he screwed over by filing bankruptcy. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I'm not sure what that has to do with hunting or the outdoor lifestyle....Why don't you ask the former Marine face to face at one of his many public appearances? Just walk on up to him, poke him in the chest n' bark, "Hey boy! I'm JGRaider. How are you gonna pay back all those creditors you screwed over filing for bankruptcy?" I'll give ya' a dollar if ya' do. Can anyone match me dollar for dollar if he does? Maybe we could film the interaction and post on AR! Jeeze dude, be nice for Christ's sake. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Hmmmmm......let me think . Reading a review from a guy who just filed chapter 7 might just cause one to question the objectivity of his reviews. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I had not heard this explanation before Subsailor. it makes a lot more sense then the other stuff. Jeff | |||
|
| One of Us |
Todd the question simply is does advertising or cost subsidization impact content. Is the author a factual reporter or copy editor for a advertiser/subsidizer? Your comments seem to indicate it is all a business relationship and the author is basically a copy editor. That is fine too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_advertising Looks like everyone in the hunting and gun industry assumes everything is native advertising. Kind of like being on africahunting.com - all well and good till you criticize an advertiser. I just hope this standard does not extend to everything in the news media. Would hate to see WSJ or Bloomberg or Barrons list the price of oil at $80 a barrel instead of $40.72 cause exxon or pick your favorite major bought all the advertisement that day. Mike | |||
|
| One of Us |
Pass along one of those free hunts you get to go on, and you've got a deal. Seems like a legit question to me. | |||
|
One of Us |
Gayne..Question for Craig How many countries has he hunted,and how many different species of animals has he taken? | |||
|
One of Us |
I asked him that in person about 5 years ago. He laughed and then kind of blew me off. Something to the effect of basically he wants to but getting the time is kind of hard. | |||
|
One of Us |
By the way, congrats Gayne on your latest article in Sporting Classics (Sept/Oct 2015) entitled: The Ivory Hunters"  Greg Brownlee: Is that a Neal and Brownlee ball cap I see on Johan Calitz' head in the picture with Tony Makris?  | |||
|
| One of Us |
Thanks. I haven't gotten my copy yet! | |||
|
| One of Us |
Great article! | |||
|
| one of us |
I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy! Russ Gould - Whitworth Arms LLC BigfiveHQ.com, Large Calibers and African Safaris Doublegunhq.com, Fine English, American and German Double Rifles and Shotguns VH2Q.com, Varmint Rifles and Gear | |||
|
| One of Us |
Would you thank him for me for spending his time with me at SCI Reno on some double rifles I was gawking over, even though I explained to him several times there was no way I could even come close to affording one.. He was simply strolling by and must have seen my deer in the headlights gaze... MopaneMike | |||
|
One of Us |
Just say Hi to Craig. Good guy and doesn't carry Hallo around his head I consider him from few meetings with him, pretty regular guy with same problems rest of us have. " Until the day breaks and the nights shadows flee away " Big ivory for my pillow and 2.5% of Neanderthal DNA flowing thru my veins. When I'm ready to go, pack a bag of gunpowder up my ass and strike a fire to my pecker, until I squeal like a boar. Yours truly , Milan The Boarkiller - World according to Milan PS I have big boar on my floor...but it ain't dead, just scared to move... Man should be happy and in good humor until the day he dies... Only fools hope to live forever “ Hávamál” | |||
|
One of Us |
I am a Boddington fan and I have a couple of hunting questions Is he planning on someday hunting the forest elephant and forest buffalo ( about the only African game I have never heard him taking) What hunt un NA is he yet to do but would like to. As a young hunter that is yet to be to África, how does he sees the future of African hunting Does he has a book planned? And if so what would it be about? | |||
|
| one of us |
He implied he did in a story for Petersen's HUNTING in Aug/Sep/ or Oct 2009. He did say he is the guest of suppliers at times, but the overall tone was that he paid for the vast majority. I think he stated he saved his combat pay to hunt desert sheep. I remember reading it while I was in the Selous. Don't have a copy. As for the general rank controversy, it really would have been usurped by his filing for BK; it is very difficult to maintain a TS clearance with a BK (subsailor, you would know) on your record, and generally any field officer or higher has a TS clearance. And then there is the embarrassment - you may not think it is a big deal, but it is for the military. One of my classmates just retired at O8 due to a financial conflict. Here is my question: why didn't you disclose you were a part owner of California Rigby when you wrote about them in glowing prose? That was clearly a conflict of interest. Any writer who has a vested interest in what he is writing about has a moral obligation to make this disclosure. Someone mentioned Barrons - every time a writer mentions a stock they disclose their interest. Disclosure is sorely lacking in the outdoor industry - maybe you make that a topic. | |||
|
One of Us |
This is for Gayne, do you really drink as much as your reputation aludes to? | |||
|
One of Us |
 | |||
|
| One of Us |
and What has being a former Marine really got to do with Boddington becoming bankrupt as a celebrity gun writer? I have no doubt a number of people go to civilian gun/hunting expos to fawn over celebrity hunter CB specifcally because he is an X-marine, but at the same time want to selectively ignore his more recent hunting industry career related bankruptcy. Some Boddingtons fans are so dillusional, that they even went to the extent of inventing completely fictitious distorted accounts of the incident where Boddingtons daughter shot her native tracker. iF those fans had actually bothered to soberly read her own police statement, they would have noticed how full of utter BS nonsense and false hood their own silly keyboard version of events were. Trying to protect ones favorite celebrity hunters name/image by submitting a false misleading account of a serious shooting incident invoving them, ...is really really dumb!...  but it aint really surprising, ones just got to look at the pathetic excuses people made for celebrity hunter Tim Herald after he ineptly put a .458 hole through a PH. And heres a most bizzare thing: There are a multitude of threads on AR about the shooting of an animal called Cecil, but when humans get shot by celebrity hunters you don't see any where near as many threads on the subject, despite it being the far greater tragedy......come to think of it, even the guy called' Shootaway' gets Far more flack for shooting the wrong animal (vs) a celebrity hunter shooting a human. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Here are the questions we answered for Episode 6. We'll get to the rest for Episode 7 analog_peninsula What's your favorite bird hunting and where? Crazyhorseconsulting Gayne, what is your or Craig's view on the future of hunting in general, Africa in particular? Dogleg Craig, how many buffalo have you killed now? matt u How many countries has he hunted, and how many different species of animals has he taken? GunsCore Do you think Botswana will eventually re-open for hunting? bakerb When will he write a sheep and goat book? Ongwe Is he going to be doing a fourth "ten years in africa" book? Beretta682E Craig, do you pay list/full price for hunts or are they paid/subsidized by outfitters looking for free native advertising. How has the decline of outdoor magazines effected him? (Think we know the answer to that!) | |||
|
One of Us |
Pablum. Mike | |||
|
| One of Us |
I drink less beer now than I used to only because of weight gain (gayne?). I had a physical last week and, swear to God this is true, my Dr. suggested I switch to vodka or gin rather than beer four nights a week to quell some caloric intake. But, yes, I love beer...you got some? | |||
|
| One of Us |
I guess there are no more used T-Shirts available then.  | |||
|
| One of Us |
I was using one while talking to Craig. Won't tell you how though. | |||
|
One of Us |
Gayne in all seriousness, do you plan a follow-up interview with Putin? Your other article was great and a lot has changed since then for Putin (mostly for the better for him anyway). Paul Smith SCI Life Member NRA Life Member DSC Member Life Member of the "I Can't Wait to Get Back to Africa" Club DRSS I had the privilege to fire E. Hemingway's WR .577NE, E. Keith's WR .470NE, & F. Jamieson's WJJ .500 Jeffery I strongly recommend avoidance of "The Zambezi Safari & Travel Co., Ltd." and "Pisces Sportfishing-Cabo San Lucas" "A failed policy of national defense is its own punishment" Otto von Bismarck | |||
|
| One of Us |
I would love to do more interviews but... Outdoor Life, for whom I did the Putin interview, has all but threatened me about talking about the Putin interview again. They feel that he is "too political" now and asked me - in very strong language - not to write about my interview and or how it came about it my book, And Monkeys Threw Crap at Me: Adventures in Hunting, Fishing, and Writing. I did not include as a courtesy. I will include that story in my follow up book, Blood, Sweat, and Alcohol: More Adventures in Hunting, Fishing, and Writing although I have been asked to change OL's name or leave them out of it. Seriously! MY big issue with the Putin piece was that I became the focus of the story. The media concentrated on me and how I got the interview rather than with how Putin stated hunt conservation was an important tool, how it works to save animals, and how it should be embraced by all. He also stated that he hunted and fished. The media ignored all of that. The outdoor industry is VERY interested in not offending anyone, as silly as that sounds. An example: As a journalist I could have go to Cuba to hunt and fish legally. I was invited to do so numerous times. Not one magazine wanted that story saying it would upset people. Another: Same with Iraq. Yes, I was invited to go fishing in Iraq and could have done so legally but no magazine wanted to cover it. Yet another: After Putin I tried to interview Jimmy Carter as he was the last rural (no electricity, running water, had an outhouse) president we will ever have. He was an avid fly fisher, hunter, and one of the first farmers to put aside land strictly for wildlife (he managed land on his farm for quail). No magazine wanted it saying that he was a crappy president. So! He was a president and one that said hunting and fishing are the best conservation tools. The outdoor industry is probably more PC than any other out there. They worry about hunters' image n' such way too much in my opinion. What's next? I'm seriously considering using all my tricks to see if I can go deep sea fishing in North Korea. If that happens I'll publish on my own! | |||
|
| One of Us |
If you do go to No. Korea, you might want to take the Korean homeboy's best basketball friend, Dennis Rodman, with you; that way you increase your odds of not getting thrown in a Korean prison or surviving a nuclear or other missile attack on your little fishing boat. (Although Rodman allegedly now tearfully regrets his trips there) Personally, I don't think I'd chance getting thrown in a North Korean prison or being blown up for some saltwater fishing in No. Korea. Just my 2 centavos worth. | |||
|
| One of Us |
What's worse, a nuke attack on your fishing boat or binge drinking with Dennis Rodman in Pyongyang? I'm going with the latter. See Exhbit 1  | |||
|
| One of Us |
Gayne, I hear the fly fishing is phenomenal in Yemen. | |||
|
| One of Us |
John: It seems like there was a movie back in 2011 entitled: "Salmon Fishing In The Yemen", . . . . .is that what you're getting at? | |||
|
| One of Us |
Watched the movie for a few minutes and lost interest. I hear Mongolia has some great fishing. | |||
|
| One of Us |
That it does!!!! Taimen on the fly rod!! | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata | Page 1 2 3 4 5 |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia