A friend writes for HL and Rifle, has for several years now. He tells me that they do not want to make the readership think too hard these days.

Ya gotta love it...

quote:

Originally posted by Larry Sellers:
DC - I have been subscribing to Sports Afield for several years now and agree that it is/was he best out there. I always renew at either SCI or DSC but having real reservations this year.

I always have to cut out the pages containing Shane Mahoney and his crap immediately upon arrival. Now my last/current issue had 12 pages of high dollar Real Estate ads. I don't buy Real Estate from a hunting mag, so most likely will not renew if this is the way they are headed. Anyone else out there see this as odd?

I still get "new" Sports Afield and have done for many years now. I look at the real-estate ads as a curiosity. As long as they help pay for the magazine and don't replace any of the written content then I don't much care. I think the tie-up with DSC is a big reason for the Mahoney editorials. I think they are a bit too long and probably more suited to a rear-page final thought rather than featuring so prominently up-front, but if the DSC aim is to educate or at least provoke debate, then I guess that is a good enough reason. Given the ongoing issues in the hunting world, it may be a bit complacent to cut it altogether - if they do, what is the purpose of the DSC tie-up?

I still get Grays too. I guess you either like it or not. At least it is well written (unlike many of the UK gun magazines which are edited by ex-gamekeepers)...

Eastmans Hunting Journal is interesting for me as a foreigner and is not expensive at $25 for 6 issues. Pity it doesn't cover whitetails too, but it is targeted at 'western' hunting.

My Rifle and Handloader subscriptions have now lapsed.

I buy the G&A annuals and the odd special issue like Sniper that they did last year.

The Field and Fieldsports I can buy off the shelf when the mood takes me. I don't subscribe.

I'm wondering whether any of the NZ magazines would be worth getting hold of?

Oh, and if you have any Scottish connections then the Scottish Sporting Gazette is a nice magazine and comes out twice a year...

Those are the magazines that Terry Wieland writes for.

I can sugar coat this but I am not going to, I don't care for him or his writing. He is on a very short list of writers I think have full time clown-shoes on.

The other two have passed to the happy hunting grounds and I won't speak ill of them, at least not today.

Scottish Sporting Gazette is a nice magazine as is Sports Afield.

Guns and Ammo, Rifle and Peterson's hunting I get and happy with most of the time. The sniper issues is great.

The Aussie and Kiwi magazines are incapable of rendering a bad review on any product. Beyond that they have nice articles on their local hunting.

The German hunting magazines are exceptional.

We need some sort of rifle only precision magazine like Precision Shooter and the Varmint Hunter Association used to be.

Oh, i just remembered one. Gunwerks makes a nice magazine on long range. It is pretty good for what it is.

I have been hand-loading, hunting, target shooting and working on guns since 1953 as an erstwhile machinist with my lathe, miller and my late dad's tools. He owned and ran a tool and die shop.

'All' of my reading seems to be off the internet.
I still get the 'Rifleman' and American Hunter with the NRA life memberships however the 'Net' is a superior library.

Same with our other reading in this house as we don't get a newspaper, or other magazines anymore.

The newspaper building is for sale in a large wealthy CT city! There is no paperboy anymore.

I got this thread confused with Hunting the Spiral Horns. Don't laugh, I can't be the only one

Jack O'Connor earned his living and he was no sponge, When he mentioned a gun builder or hunting guide or Safari operator, their business went sky high...It was the best advertisement of its day..Today it just doesn't work as their are so many outlets of advertising to compete with gun scribes, and gunscribes are many. Jack and a few others owned that media back then...

If your going to make statements about what was happening before you were born probably, get the facts straight..

Today we have some sponges in the gun scribe business and that's to be expected, and many that are not, that is an individual thing, and basic human nature. Good and bad in every business. Its the ones that produce that earn it.

I have had a few gun scribes hit me up for a custom rifle and many for a free hunt to wherever many times so I could get a mention in a rag or on a TV show..I don't normally do that, as I don't have that ability.

That said, our own Phil Shoemaker, Master Alaskan Guide and poster on AR, booked a Bison and Elk hunt with me, did a fantastic write up and paid his way..Can't beat that..Fact is I would have comped Phill that hunt but he wouldn't hear of it...

Saeed, on three or four occasions had me book hunts in Tanzania for him and his many guests, prior to his obtaining a concession..He booked me a free 21 day hunt in each case, made me fly first class with his clients even at my resistence telling him the hunt would be free to me anyway..He gave me no choice in the matter and I am forever grateful to him for that.

We tend on the internet to deprive other folks of taking comped hunts etc, but bottom line its been part of the business for many years, and the nay sayers are basically suffering a bout with jealousy it seems..Every one of you would take a free hunt to Tanzania or Mongolia given the opertunity, just that some won't admit it, or just plain dumber than a box of hammers..Sorry if Im not politically correct on the subject, its business and all of us have our perks, and most of earn them, its not an easy job being in the hunting/shooting industry as some might think..just telling it how it is, and not directing it at any individual, and I personally have no problem shaving every morning..

My favorite Jack O'Conner story was that when he was taking his family + all their worldly goods in their station wagon going west during the great depression,he saw a sign that said 'turkey shoot'.He pulled over + asked how much was a ticket to stand in the firing line. $1.00 a ticket was the reply. So he takes his place at the firing line @100yds. + there is this kid ready to fire prone. So Jack says,"Whoa,we are firing offhand standing at 100 yds. + you are allowing him to fire prone?!!!"The judge says,well you can fire prone if you want to as well. To which Jack responds,"I'll take 10 tickets". I'll bet his family although not hungry ,never wanted to see a turkey again.

I grew up during the Elmer Kieth, Jack O'Connor feud. It was quit interesting to me to see what they would come up with next.
Currently every hunting rag that I read is promoting using live big game animals for long range target practice. I abhor the practice of long range big game hunting. I believe the animals deserve a better fate. IMHO it is just an excuse not to put in the necessary time and energy required to do it right, replacing hunting skill with $6,000.00 rifles, $2,000.00+ scopes and $1,000.00 ballistic computers. There is no hunting to it, just long range shooting. Not for me and I have no interest, hence I don't subscribe to any of them anymore.
I do thoroughly enjoy long range target shooting though, just not at live big game animals. I'm still missing Varmint Hunter Magazine and Precision Shooter.

The problem today is the gun scribes have covered the whole enchilada a dozen time, pretty much run out of material, and perhaps the majority of newbies only interest is AR-15, SS guns, plastic stocks, a sack full of gimmicks like rangefinders, wind readers, mattress to shoot off, and all mannor of shooting crap! ..good stuff but not interesting reading IMO...

Jack and Elmer entertained, and earned the right to "sponge". that's considered good business in any other line of business, so cut the holly than thou BS...Without this practice many a great article or book would not have been written.

Many of todays gun scribes have very little hunting experience and no one to sponsor their job, short of a magazine, and that promotes damn few, so they starve.. and that's a shame and thru no fault of their own, it just doesn't work that way in todays hunting society...

Which brings up the subject of Jack and Elmer taking free sponsored hunts with wealthy donors, without that sponsership we would have missed out on some of the best articles ever written by the best of skilled hunters. To them it was making a successful living, lets cut them some slack, especially since all you nay sayers given such an opertunity would have jumped on that band wagon in a heart beat, I know I sure as hell would, and have to some extent and I appreciated it, it helped my business and kept the dogs away from the door....I suggest you get over it.

The sad fact is..is that there are far more gun owners than actual hunters these days, and it is just going to continue to get worse and worse. We do practically nothing to promote hunting opportunities for our young people to enjoy the sport of hunting. It is no wonder that they migrate to their Gameboys, electronic gizmos etc. when there are few opportunities for them to actually go hunting. When I was a kid growing up on our 350 acre farm, I hunted every possible day. There were scores of farms that allowed hunting, and most you only had to ask just once and you were invited in. These days, forget about it. Virtually no hunting opportunities past the state/federal owned lands. It's either posted..no hunting period, or it is leased to the clubs or individuals paying the most money. There is only one end to that story...in 50 years the number of people hunting will be 1/10th of that now, which is itself about 1/2 of what it was when I was a kid hunting 40 years ago. A very sad state of affairs for the hunting community. Oh, as for hunting related articles....none get my attention these days. It's either pure BS and lies, or the writer has zero skills in pulling the reader into the story.

Your ever so right, My brothers and cousins all hunted almost daily if not working on the ranch, and we ran trap lines..

Jack O'Connor asked my dad how the hunting situation looked and dad told him, well if the boys having shot everything on the ranch you have a pretty good chance of getting a good buck. Jack said I want that youngest boy to guide me, dad said well hes pretty young and I can send a Mexican hand with you..Jack said no that damn kid knows where every shootable buck on ranch hangs its hat..Dad said well you got a poing, I let him go with you and send a Mexican to clean up his mess!! I showed him a awesome coues and mule deer every time, Id been saving them for myself, and that's the rest of the story, other than I got a hell of a tip, my first scope sight that Christmas, a Weaver 2.5X.

One writer I read every once in a while is Walt Prothero. I read one of his books and some of his magazine articles. I enjoyed what I read. Less product hype and more hunting.

quote:

Originally posted by cessna:
One writer I read every once in a while is Walt Prothero. I read one of his books and some of his magazine articles. I enjoyed what I read. Less product hype and more hunting.

You are right about that Cessna. Slim Randles was another.