I just finished reading Bill Quimby's (he posts here) book titled the "History of SCI". It was written 2004-05 and chronicles all that happened at SCI from its founding at a restaurant in 1972 led by CJ McElroy.

Bill suggested I get this book and read at as it sheds a different light on SCI than what we read here on AR. I have been an SCI basher for awhile as I am not a fan of the awards program or the entire participation trophy party at the annual show. However, after reading this book and seeing a little deeper into the organization, it struck me that SCI was more accidentally successful than intentional and that inspite of its problems, they have accomplished a great deal.

SCI filled a void in the world of hunting in several ways - holding the convention/show ignited the safari and hunting business in the age before the internet. This was one of the few places a hunter could go and meet the outfitters and other like minded hunters. The entire convention evolved into one big time cash generating machine as we all know.

The awards program was no big deal at first, but then it grew on two fronts - 1) the records portion was started in reaction to the complicated scoring by B&C, CIC and the simple system of Rowland and Ward. It was started to record who shot what and where. The awards aspect started a little after the SCI trophy listing. Again, it was popular and grew in a money maker. The book sheds light on the internal fights over this, so we are not alone in our concerns.

On the legislative front, other than NRA, no outfit was representing hunters. Most of the old organizations drifter away from hunting. The lobbying efforts have been going on for many years and there have been successes and failures.

On the leadership of SCI, there have been hits and misses. Any organization lives and dies by its leaders. SCI has been through a lot of messes that are well documented in the book. That part is worth the read by itself.

Bill did a super job on the book. It is well written, on super paper and bound elegantly. Bill did not sugar coat anything that I could tell. He even makes some forecasts of what SCI would be in 2015. Again, it is worth reading.

One other thing that I notices was that a lot of smart, successful people were involved in SCI and likely some still are - so it cant be the complete cluster f*#k we think it is.

Do your own homework on this and you will be better for it as you will have facts to discuss rather than just emotions.

Congress started out as a good idea and look at what kind of shite hole it has become.

Thanks for the post

dogcat,

I also thought Bill did a great job on the book. Below is my post from 2006.



posted 26 June 2006 01:05
I received AR member Bill Quimby's book "Safari Club International" from S.C.I. headquarters asking if we would be interested in selling copies of this book at our March 2007 Chicago Chapter fundraiser.

I read the book and thought Mr. Quimby wrote a fantastic history of S.C.I. along with great photos of the past.

I brought the book to our monthly meeting last week. After reviewing the book, 15 members immediately ordered a copy and the Chapter President told me to order 10 copies for our fundraiser.

I just wanted to pass this information along to the other S.C.I. chapters and anyone interested in the history of S.C.I. this book is a must read.

Kathi,
I did not see your previous post but fully agree with you. It is a very well done and objective book.
Bill backs up everything with facts and numbers.

thanks for the post i will have to take some time and read that one

Thanks for the kind words, Ross and Kathi. I wrote that book under contract to the club when my contracts didn’t have a provision to allow me to participate in editing my manuscripts.

As a result, when I finally saw a printed copy I found that the person who edited the manuscript ignored important contributions by staff members and attributed them to whoever was the club’s president at the time.

For example, the SCI Big Five Rifle project that set record prices for custom big game rifles was not C.J. McElroy’s idea as my text was changed to read. In fact, it was the brainchild of Administrative Director Holt Bodinson and gunmaker David Miller. Mac viewed guns as tools and not art and Holt had to convince him that members would pay big money for them. Since then, firearms auctions have joined auctions of art and hunts as significant revenue sources for the club.

I must admit I wasn’t happy when I first saw two presidents were given credit for my conceiving and launching Safari Times and the Convention News, but I was relieved when I saw little had been done to the rest of my manuscript. I was especially pleased that my description of how the club treated its founder after he was fired was allowed to remain in the book.

Ross, you are correct that “a lot of smart, successful people were involved in the club, and likely some still are.”

For an example, look no farther than John Jackson. He was one of the club’s presidents and went on to launch The Conservation Force, which has done so many good things for our cause that I can’t begin to mention them.

I agree with those who say Peter Capstick introduced America’s hunters to Africa, but without the conventions McElroy founded and built, its doubtful that our hunters and African outfitters would have found each other if Mac had not created a marketplace.

I also agree that emphasis on trophy hunting and the awards associated with it creates problems for SCI and everyone who hunts, but those awards would not exist if they were not supported by thousands of the club’s members, especially the outfitters whose businesses have been built on them.

At any rate, thank you again.

Bill Quimby

Bill,
Your contributions to SCI were and are enormous and much needed. Thanks for taking that on at the end of your career. Your skills as a writer and a publisher are superb. SCI would not have the public "face" via the printed word if nor for you turning them into a more professional organization.

I liked your forecast of what SCI would look like in 2015. What is your view on what you thought vs what it is?

Ross, it's been so long since I wrote that book that I'll have to read my predictions again before I'll comment, but like you I am interested in seeing what I predicted and what actually happened.

It may be a day or so before I can get around to it, though.

My tenure as an independent contractor hired to produce SCI's publications began in 1983, when I was 47. Although I was 63 in 1999 when I hung up my chaps and spurs there, those sixteen years were at what I call the middle of my career.

For the past 17 years, I've written and ghostwritten two dozen or so books about or for some of the world's most successful big game hunters. At the moment, I am working on two more books simultaneously.

At age 80, there is one more book I want to do before I retire.

Bill Quimby

Bill,
I will buy it when it comes out!

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
At age 80, there is one more book I want to do before I retire.

Bill Quimby

Well Bill, if you live long enough to finish the book maybe I will live long enough to buy and read it, as we are both the same age!

...................................................................

Ross:

The eight predictions I made in 2004 are below so others can decide how I did. What I did not foresee was that SCI's membership, which was on track to hit 50,000 in late 2004, would show little growth after that year. Here’s a condensed version of what I said:

2004 -- Hunting will remain a popular activity in the United States but the number of participants will shrink slightly from about 14 million in 2004 to about 13 million 2015. (2015 -- It increased to 14.85 million with more women buying hunting licenses.)

2004 -- American media will continue its infatuation with the animal rights and anti-hunting movements. (Witness what happened with Cecil the lion.)

2004 -- The number of hunters who travel internationally will increase substantially ... The South African model of removing livestock from farmlands and “farming” game animals will spread across Africa and the South Pacific, and to more countries in Asia and South America. (2015 -- I’ve no hard data, but I believe I was spot on.)

2004 -- If SCI’s membership can reach 60,000 to 70,000 by 2015, an ambitious but perfectly possible goal -- Its conventions will peak at about 25,000 attendees and 2,000 or so exhibitors, and revenues of $15 million to $18 million. In an attempt to grow past these numbers,SCI will investigate convention venues on America’s East Coast as well as in other countries. (2015 -- Note the word “if” up front. Membership remains flat at about 50,000.)

2004 -- By adding book sales to its magazine and newspaper advertising, the publications division’s net income could approach the revenues of today’s conventions in Nevada, but only if membership reaches 70,000 to 100,000. Such numbers are needed to take advantage of savings in production and printing, attract the largest advertisers, and provide a large-enough market for vigorous sales of books and electronic products. (2015 --See No. 4)

2004 -- A lot more money will be needed to fund the various new conservation programs SCIF will be involved in, and additional money for SCI’s extensive legislative activities will have to come from new funding sources and not just from the donations of chapters and individuals. ... More staff members will be needed to service the additional members, programs, and services. (2015 --With flat growth, SCI increasingly has been turning to “sponsors” in the hunting industry for new funding.)

2004 -- Unfortunately SCI probably will not have solved its management and political problems in just ten years. Adding 75 to 100 new chapters by 2015 will increase its board of directors by approximately the same number, making the board extremely unwieldy. ... the club’s volunteers, especially its Executive Committee must give up control and trust staff to implement and maintain its programs and policies. Today a new committee is formed for each new program, resulting in at least one senior staff member having to report to five different committees whose faces change every twelve months. (2015 -- As I predicted, nothing has changed. Micromanagement by volunteer committees continues.)

2004 -- SCI’s convention, marketing and publications divisions will make the club even more visible and much better known among the world’s sportsmen, legislators, and wildlife officials during the next ten years. This will make SCI and its members even greater targets for animal rights and anti-hunting groups. (2015 -- This has happened. See No. 2.)

2004 -- SCI will have even more influence in the U.S. Congress,state legislatures,and governments around the world. SCIF’s conservation programs will continue to grow and make greater impacts on wildlife and wildlife habit. Happily, the club will be well-enough known to finally receive the credit it deserves for its successes in these areas. (2015 -- I came close, but missed the mark a tad because other groups sometimes are credited for legislative battles SCI has won. The size of the warchests the club and its chapters have raised are mostly ignored.)


Bill Quimby

So Bill,

where can one get this book now, since it was written in 04?

crbutler, the link will give you several buying options.

http://www.bookfinder.com/sear...ub%2520international

Bill,
I agree. You are a good prognosticator. I think a potential prediction going forward will be flat to declining growth due to continual press for cash and the expense of hunting itself. I think international hunting will increase due to the cost of quality hints in North America. When I can go to Namibia and hunt 4 or 5 elk type animals for less than a guided elk hunt in the US, I will head there.

I also think that several fringe or specialty groups (quail, pheasants, goats or mule deer) will drift further toward irrelevance as the cash dries up and memberships sage. Same may happen to SCI.

THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR THOUGHTS.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Bill,
I agree. You are a good prognosticator. I think a potential prediction going forward will be flat to declining growth due to continual press for cash and the expense of hunting itself. I think international hunting will increase due to the cost of quality hints in North America. When I can go to Namibia and hunt 4 or 5 elk type animals for less than a guided elk hunt in the US, I will head there.

I also think that several fringe or specialty groups (quail, pheasants, goats or mule deer) will drift further toward irrelevance as the cash dries up and memberships sage. Same may happen to SCI.

THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR THOUGHTS.

Yes Canada, New Zealand, the United States and Australia have priced themselves into a place that makes Africa look better all the time.

My first African safari in Namibia was $5500 and included 10 days hunting, over a thousand miles driven and 14 animals. This was 12 years ago, and the same hunt today isn't priced much differently.

There are 5 kg red stag hunts in Europe for less than $2000. These aren't big stags, but you can't do much in America for $2000. Even most black bear hunts in Canada are $5000.