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DZ,

If I remember correctly (and I may be wrong), JOC once wrote that Francis Sell shot the same crow over and over in his articles.

I have read most of the famous writer's stuff for 50 years but I could never get absorbed in Warren Page's articles. I have been reading his book on benchrest shooting for about 5 years now and have still not finished.

I loved to read JOC's articles and especially enjoyed the monthly updates on some of his African safaris. I liked Pete Brown of Sports Afield very much also.

Of today's writers, my favorite is our own Mule Deer. I also like Layne Simpson (maybe because I have met him and talked with him about turkey hunting in WV), Bart Skelton (and his late, great Dad) and some newcomers on the scene. I recently met Mark Keefe of the NRA and he is a really nice young man who doesn't pretend to be an expert.

I'm sorry to say I have not read any of your articles but would like to. If you would PM me as to the publications you write for, I will subscribe.

Thanks for listening...Bill.

Francis Sell was one of the first outdoor writers I read when I was trying to figure out the secrets of hunting Blacktail Deer. Later, I also found his writings on rifle handling and selection very helpful. He emphasized the handling characteristics of a rifle when it's needed in a hurry. Something you don't see much of these days. He went so far as to develop his own special peep sight setups including a large, white front bead for use in dark timber. Very few have written about this. To this day, I still remember his comments about the desirability of a rifle with some "muzzle hang" that allows it to come on target so smoothly and quickly. Something I've found very desirable as well.
You are quite right. One of the great ones.
Yes, JB is pretty much in a class by himself. E

Friends Bill and 7Steve,

I was always a no-name writer, so don't be surprised that you haven't run into my stuff.

I started writing by submitting an article on the .338-'06 to Wolfe Publishing in 1983. The article was published in the May-June 1984 (Number 109) of Handloader. I wrote as a free lancer for Wolfe for many years and you will find a few of my articles in Wolfe's huge volume, Wildcat Cartridges. Interestingly, Wolfe Publishing never paid for the republishing, but that's OK.

When it was obvious that Wolfe was NEVER going to offer me a Contributing Editorship, I walked away and eventually signed on as a CE for the then-fledgling Varmint Hunter's Association.

Varmint Hunter Magazine was my forum until a couple of years ago. Any issue of VHM magazine between 1992 and 2005, I will have two or three my articles in it.

Eventually, I walked away in disgust when a double-whammy of disappointment with the firearms industry hit me. Actually, my friends who turned out to be non-friends, pushed my life in a totally unexpected direction and it has turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. No, I will not talk about it more, other than to say that greed ALWAYS kills the greedy.

Will my stuff ever be published again??? Doubtful. Will I ever write commercially again??? Probably not. I am planning on eventually giving all of my journals (of hunts) and lots of notes to Johnny B and if he wants to use them as source material, he has my blessings to do so.

There is so much that I've done that is unpublished and it would be great to share it.

Steve

Thanks Steve,

I have always read your posts and gleaned much from them. I'm sorry you were treated that way by Wolfe. I could tell from your posts that you were a man who knew what he was talking about.

Thanks...Bill.

Steve,

I really enjoy your stuff here,a good mix of fun and fact. I actually feel like I know you personally from the words you have written, which speaks volumes about your ability to communicate.

Your friend,

Britt

Hey Bill,

It really wasn't Wolfe Publishing's fault. They were going through a plethora of editors at the time. Because of this, even though I asked for a CE, it apparently was not a top-level issue. Hey, it's just management.

No harm -- no foul. The folks at Wolfe are still my friends.

The last editor, who is still a darling of the industry, was not a person I cared for (Steve is being really nice here ). That, and the non-CE issue was reason enough to walk.

Please bear in mind that I owned a jewelry store at the time and my writing took back seat to making a living and accumulation of wealth (I retired at 49).

That being said, I can honestly say that I put my entire heart and soul into every single article I ever wrote. That is a fact.

Steve

My good friend Britt,

In a very real way, being able to hang out with the guys at the Campfire has taken the place of writing commercially. You folks have really enriched my life immeasureably.

As far as the articles go, who cares about the insignificant money that a writer gets??? Heck, I lose or gain fifty times that amount each day in the stock market. BUT, being able to talk to others, to touch each others lives in a very positive way; that is what it is all about.

Steve

Steve, unless you don't want it to be public knowledge, what name did you use in your writing?

At one time or another, I have read most of the hunting and shooting magazines, some more than others, and also a most of the articles in Gun Digest (except for the last few years) and also the articles is loading manuals.

I would actually like to know the author names of all the other contributers on this forum, if it would not run into privacy issues.

Now, that is funny!!!! I told you that I was a no-name.

My by-line was always "Steve Timm."

Steve

Steve,

You and DS couldn't find common ground?

I will say I have met DS........

Dave

Friend Dave,

Actually, I'd have to say that Dave S and I are very good friends and I've had to bite my tongue when folks were trashing him on the Campfire ... there is no defense for that. Dave is a really, really, really good guy and, in every possible way, one of us.

Dave, he is demented in that he (wrongly) believes that every rifle must have a lever, rather than a bolt, but friends accept each others lameness

I don't believe that I am betraying any confidences when I say that Dave was actively trying to recruit me for Wolfe during the last five years that I wrote. Being totally loyal to a fault, one of my many weaknesses, I stayed at the VHA. That was not the brightest decision; but then, I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

In looking back on our lives, we've all make mistakes and any life contains regrets and missed opportunities. We all do the best that we can and live life as it seems right. Life and speech is first-draft and many times we surely wish that we could walk back in time and change things. That's what makes us human, I guess.

Hey guys, enough about me .... the freakin' no-name writer.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Let me throw a name out there. WILL HAFLER Now there was a man, an elk guide and killer, a bushrat, a writer who should have been carefully cultured and coddled into what he chould have become. He was on the very edge of greatness.

I've read all of Will Hafler and stuff like [i]The Bestest Bush Gun - .458X2" is sheer genius. Excellent in every way.

Will had enormous bushkilling experience, great technical knowledge and the right word-twisting ability. And he prolly got chewed up and spit out by the editorial hassles that Wolfe Publishing experienced during that time.

What a shame. We are all diminished.

Steve

Steve,
I too thought he was good folks, very down to earth and let you sink or swim on your own.
Spent about 4 days in Mexico with him on a mule deer hunt. Very straightforward and no BS.

Guess I missed where some folks were bashing him..

I could see where he might be hard to get along with if you were on the opposite side of an argument.

Enuff...

Dave

Dave,

Can you think of a better fella to have with you when you have a bad elk down??? Johnny and Dave pass the test with ease.

I always grade folks by the following thought: Ya got a bad elk down in the bottom of a steep canyon (schit, I've been there a hundred times). It's dusk, it's about zero, your horses are two freezing miles away and it just started to snow. Is the guy a wimpy leg-holder or will he jump right into the guts with you??? Will he help skin, without slicing you??? Would you trust him to cut right up to the spot and not cut deep into your hand???

A "bad elk trustworthy" friend is a precious thing. Interestingly, every Campfire member I've personally met is bad elk trustworthy friend.

Steve

I'll be 100% honest and say hunting in Mexico is not a place to judge your hunting partners but going by our brief conversations I would say I would like to hunt with him again.

Mostly we laughed at a father-son in law pair in camp. They owned a LARGE sheetrocking company in AZ and hunted A LOT. They had the funniest stories you could EVER dream of and judging by the level of detail they were all true........

Dave

Steve, amen on Francis Sell. I read every article he wrote years ago, and looked forward to his next essay. He was a MAN, through and through. I vividly remember many articles he wrote on the 20 gage shotgun. The neat part about him was that I was always with him on his hunts. He wrote from the heart kind of like Ray Bergman in his fishing articles in OL back in the 50's and 60's.

Don

Thanks! The pics of the lightening done to the action was a surprise to me! Great looking stuff! I just wish the whole rifle picture was a bit better...

We have a lot of excellent writers with lots of experience today. I think it depends on your tastes and interests whether you approve or not. John B. and John H., Phil Shoemaker, Mike Venturino, Stevie Dogzapper when he was in business (I still want to see a book, Steve ), Craig Boddington, Greg Rodriguez (one of the newer ones)... The list goes on. That being said, Page, O'Connor, Skelton, Keith, and others of that era really shine. What's more impressive is that we learn so much from the good ones that we can tell who's full of prunes.

Sell lived in coastal west-Oregon (Reedsport?) and had a wealth of experience. He published regularly in the 1950's Gun Digests and wrote a number of good deer-hunting books. I wish I had his experience.

This is a real shame. Steve (dogzappper) and others have a deep wealth of information that will be lost unless published. I constantly refer to the early editions of Rifle and Handloader, Gun Digest and many other books and publications. I certainly encourage you guys to keep writing.

Steve,

I want to see a book too. That's not strong enough. I really, really need to see a book!

Your experience, combined with your exceptional ability to express it,is a gift I think we would all like to share .

But in fairness to you, I'm sure that writing a book could be a gigantic pain in the butt, and you should spend your retirement years exactly as you see fit. That's what I'm doing.

In any event, what you do is up to you, but I just wanted you to know how we all feel about you.

All the best,
(another)Steve