quote:

Originally posted by juanpozzi:
I miss the greats Jack Lott ,Elmer Keith ,Jack OConnor ,Ross Seyfried ,Finn Aagard ,Jeff Cooper ,Col. Atkinson ,Craig is ok ,so Joe Coogan ,and other with experince .But seeing and reading boring articles by a fat boy in pijamas like Mike Venturino and the likes is really disgusting .He even states that he is always inside his house .....Elmer tested his guns in the fields so the others what happens now are all the gunwriters emasculated .That why i love African Hunter at least they are written by people in the arena.A world apart althug is a hunter and not a gunwriter is DAVE FULSON ,his articles are very interesting by a gentleman ,with unveliable field experience.

I think Mike has some very serious health problems. I would guess that he has to do this to make ends meet.

There are still a few out there that deserve what they make. Phil Shoemaker is the real deal, Ross Seyfreid has more knowledge on guns and ammo than anyone I know of plus he was a PH in Africa for 11 years as I recall, Craig Boddington has hunted a bunch, knows his stuff, writes good books and articles, Joe Coogan, Pierre van der Walt, and others deserve recognition...but like any business, some good and some not so good and some just bad...

I think we need to keep jealousy out of the posts, most would give their right nut to be in such a position...

+1 but For sure I would not want to trade places with Phil Shoemaker. I would have heart failure trying to kill an aggressive, animated brown bear with a 9mm pocket pistol.
I was charged by a gut-shot bobcat one time. That was all the excitement that I needed for that day. He's a full body mount now that sits on top of my dresser.
IMHO Craig Boddington rates right up there with all the great writers of the past. For sure he has been there, done that and tells it like it is.

I too miss some of the writers that used to contribute to Hunting.

Unfortunately I think it's pretty difficult for any magazine to get by without running endless articles about the latest "tactical" stuff. Add to that the internet has done in a lot of print publications. Younger folks just aren't hunters anymore. They're more into blasting away with their AR's & AK's.

I still subscribe to both Hunting and Handloader. It's about the only gun magazines that has articles on what I want to read about even though each issue is pretty skinny. I really enjoyed the article on the .450 Ackley in the current Handloader.

Personally,I thought Handloader went all to hell several years ago when they got rid of Ross Seyfried. He was the best writer they had. I read somewhere that the cause was a fallout between him + Barsness.Whatever,the magazine suffered.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Salary is one thing. Sponsorships, endorsements and appearance fees are another.

Why was he bankrupt not too long ago then?

I didnt mentioned Phil Shoemaker ,because when i use to read Hunting ,he was most probaly guiding full time and writing very few .
Currently i follow his articles very carefully ,hes the real deal .
I love African Hunter because most of the writers are on the arena .I miss my friend Ganyana ,but Ira ,Pierre ,Kevin Robertson and many many of his writers are from the old school .
In America there is a new wave of very experienced riflemen ,many came from the military ,just 2 names that came to my mind are Caylen Wolcyk ,and Kyle Lamb .They have experience and write not bulshit at all .
Cheers Juan

Another american that is a modern scout and writes the real deal too is Cody Carrol ,a lot of experience in the field .

I see two major problems. The first being that the hunting stories are nothing more than infomercials for the rifle/bullet being "tested". In itself some value can be gained from this. The problem is the writers do not have the space or ability to discuss it within an interesting story. The best is when such information appears to be just part of accurate reporting. However, the default is let me tell you about all the ways this chassis stocked and four hundred dollar rifle is better than the wood stocked pre64 I would have brought except I am being paid to tell you how such rifles are inferior. I am not saying I have the talent to do so, but that is the problem.

The second problem is the editors need so much add space, so stories have to be 2,500 words or less. This lack of space to tell a good story feeds into the First problem above. In addition, the powers at the publications do not think we will read anything longer. I think this is a major miscalculation. Let's be honest and face it, those of us interested in reading about international hunting and destinations are on the average readers. Our professions and interest have made us so. We want more than they believe we want in our stories.

A third minor problem is that vulgarity (not profanity, but vulgarity) and hubris have replaced clever and witty. I am talking about you James Tarr.

quote:

The second problem is the editors need so much add space, so stories have to be 2,500 words or less. This lack of space to tell a good story feeds into the First problem above. In addition, the powers at the publications do not think we will read anything longer. I think this is a major miscalculation.

The size of a magazine (total number of pages) is based on the number of pages of ads that are sold for that issue. (A common ratio of ads to articles is 50%.)

With advertising in all types of print media steadily declining, shorter articles are a necessary evil caused by fewer ads resulting in fewer pages for articles.

Bill Quimby

Its a different world, and the new boys just havn't got the experience to write interesting articles, who wants to read about a deer hunt with an AR?

The old boys like O'Connor, Keith, and a few others had suger daddys that paid the bill and took them to the 4 corners of the earth hunting, that is no shame as some seem to think and they would jump out there ass for such a deal..If not then they are just plain stupid..These guys hunted a lot and blessed us with great hunting articles back in the day..

Ive been comped a lot of hunts, and Im forever greatful, and I earned them for sure, lot of work believe it or not..Ive assisted the client many times and he took me with him as he was uncomfortable traveling alone in foreign countries for instance or in ill health, and in every case he tried to pay my bill, and in many cases did just that..The PH always at some point after I sold enough hunts for him to trust me, allowed me to hunt for free..Its a perk and will come about if you do him a good job...Today some hunters pass themselves off as booking agents with the agreement they get a comped hunt to start with, take the hunt and that's the last they are heard off, most are crooks, some just didn't realize how tough the business is t break in on..so they fail before they get started.

That's how it used to work for gun scribes also, A good gunscribe would sell hunts, a good booking agent would sell hunts and it was a greased machine..Today not so much, like any business you get what you put into it and you better have another real job until you make your bones...

Ray:

What killed the print industry was the creation of the PR company. I might be wrong, but I think Kevin Howard, when he worked for Winchester-Olin, first concluded it was less expensive to pay for writers' hunts than it was to buy ad space. He later created his own PR company, and still runs it. Many others have copied the model. Today most magazines are nothing but infomercials.

Gone are the days when you had guys like Norm Strung, Jim Zumbo, etc. writing about their DIY hunts, and for sure writing by the likes of a Ted Trueblood is history. Sporting Classics makes an attempt, but their writers are often too flowerly and a bit fascinated by their own sentence construction.

Sporting Classics sucks. I'd love to read more quality writers, but who?

Juan, amigo, in defense of Mike Venturino, he has a tremendous amount of experience with black powder cartridge rifles and has shot the BPCR national championships at Raton, NM, almost since their inception. He has hunted the West with these rifles and did hunt plains game in Africa some years ago. He has extensively shot almost every important revolver, single shot and lever-action rifle of the Old West and documented the peculiarities of a host of obsolete cartridges dating from the 19th century, with load data, accuracy notes and reloading advice in his several books.
I can think of a lot of so-called gunwriters who couldn't carry Mike's water when it comes to first-hand experience with historic firearms.
That said, I am in full agreement with you regarding Lott, Keith, O'Connor, Aagaard, Seyfried and many others I am sure.

I am Boddington fan and find Ventrinos articles informative.

Definately liked O'conner.