Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters No longer with Wolfe Publishing

Good comeback.

JB,
My computer has been down for the better part of two weeks, and I just saw your posting here.
On one hand I'm sorry to see you depart Wolfe Pubs, but on the other I'm happy to see you begin writing for Rick, and for others too. This place is my living room, and I'll enjoy your offerings here just like I did when reading them in Wolfe Magazines.
Please let us know what other pubs you'll have articles in and I for one will be buying them.
One thing that you'll have now is freedom, freedom to set your sails in the direction you desire, not under direction from Wolfe Pubs.

Other that Successful Hunter which I'll continue buying, where I can read Phil Shoemaker's fine writings, I'll be dropping Rifle and Handloader. Phil Shoemaker is TOP drawer in every respect. I LOVED his recent article on Bear.

Keep in touch, and full speed ahead.

Don

You explained it clearly...twice you said you only had one cartridge in your pocked and also that that a single shot demands only one shot.

"To many, the classic method of hunting pronghorn is to stalk a buck into sure range and fire a single telling shot. That can be accomplished with any rifle. But a single-shot rifle strictly insists on one shot."

Really? I never had a rifle insist I could not reload it, single-shot or otherwise. With every shot fired at game the goal should be one well placed shot regardless of the rifle you are shooting and a single shot should not require any more concern for making that first shot count than a semi-auto 50 BMG. I figured all hunters new this but apparently not all gun writers do. At least you said stalk within sure range.

I'm gonna edit this because I don't want to come across as a total a$$. I used to enjoy your writing and there was a time when I read Rifle and Handloader cover to cover. About the time Ross left and MikeV and Clair Reese came in it was obvious things where going downhill fast. Anyhow, back to the single-shot issue...the appeal of a single shot to most people is the simplicity of the rifle, the more compact package and yes, the focus on making that first shot count though I never understood why that has a $%@* thing to do with a single shot since it should be SOP for any hunter firing a shot at game. Anything can go wrong while that trigger is being pulled (no matter how careful or sure) and a hunter should be prepared to get another round in it ASAP if it does. My problem with your comments is they seem solely focused one that one and only shot. What's the point of having only ONE cartridge in your pocket if there are others close by...there is no point. I shouldn't have called you and Scovill idiots. I strongly disagree with the wording of your article and will simply say it influences a lot of folks the wrong way. Scovill, well, he's just getting so full of himself I can't stand reading his stuff any more. Rifle and Handloader have been the only magazines I've read for about the last seven or eight years and at this point I usually read one or two things in them and most of them are not even worth saving for future reference. My subscription ends very soon and I'm not going to renew them.

I'm sure this will generate more comments like that of bulletbutt but I'm not a member of the worship and brown nose the gun writer crowd. The days of Skeeter and Keith are long gone...unfortunately.

YIKES !!! This thread sure has changed direction since the last time I was here. Just finished reading the last successful hunter and loved it. What a shame, what a shame, sure will miss JB ,won't be the same.

JB
I was just rearranging my old issues of RIFLE when I ran across the first issue I ever bought back in 1997. I reread the article you wrote on Rifles for Mule Deer. I subscribed to read just that type of rational, common sense information. No magnumitis, no kevlar covered game at extreme range, just reasonable cartridges at practical ranges. I also took your advice on an under $500 binocular and loved it, nice high quality glass for a price I could afford. Your writing for Wolfe will be sorely missed. Keep us posted on where your articles will be appearing. Thanks (-:

First Ross, now John. Wolfe is no longer getting my support. I will not renew or purchase on the newstand......I'm done with them. Good success to you JB.

Rob45; I'm not a member of your worship and brownnose crowd, and I still think he had a good comeback for your initial insult, in which you showed a lack of maturity.

Hmmm... so I'm not the only one who thinks NG has declined. After decades of subscribing, I'm seriously thinking of cancelling the next time it comes up for renewal.

Back on topic, I, too, will miss Mule Deer's writing in Rifle Magazine. I'm not ready to drop my subscription, but Wolfe has lost a first-class writer.

Stuart

If you want to call it a lack of maturity you go right ahead. I call it being a VERY long time subscriber to a couple magazines I used to really enjoy and now under Dave Scovill the quality has gone straight down the tubes and it's very disappointing. I already said above I shouldn't have called Haviland or Scovill idiots. Basically, these magazines are appealing to a different crowd than they were when I subscribed. They used to be geared to the more advanced and technical reloaders and now they are VERY VERY basic. Now there is little to be learned from the average Handloader magazine that can't be gleaned from a reloading manual by a rank amateur. To make matters worse, they have stooped to the level of "if you don't have something intelligent to say, insult someone else" and they have recently insulted my friend Mic. McPherson in the 32 Winchester Special article a few months back. I don't remember who wrote it, might have even been Barsness, but that was when I had fully made up my mind I didn't need Wolf Pub any more! You call it what you want my friend. I call it dropping my subscription.

That is extremely disturbing to me!

While I was there, we got a lot of appreciative feed-back to the effect that our writers consistently gave our readers useful dope that they couldn't get from the other magazines "that I grew-up on" � "that I learned the basics from when I was a beginner."

Also, several readers and writers have told me � in detail � of their experiences that echo my own � that two of my successors have been very rude and insulting.

I should have worded my initial response with less animosity and I readily admit that. However, I used to live for Handloader and Rifle magazine. Now, I set it on my desk and get too it when I have enough time to choose the one or two articles I'm interested in and then I'm done with it. There have been a few issues where I've opened it and found nothing to read in it. When a couple of the writers that are there now came over (one from G&A and the other from ST) I wrote a very respectful email to Scovil and told him that I loved the magazine and seeing Ross leave and these other two come aboard has me wondering if this will continue to be a good magazine and that I had just dumped ST and G&A for the entry level, "this is a gun and we shot a deer with it and this is why you should buy it" form articles...and low and behold the two worst offenders were the new writers for Rifle and Handloader. I was told "XYZ will write what I tell him to write and as for ABC you should listen to him because he's a very advanced handloader"! I just about spit coffee on my keyboard. If he was a halfway average handloader he would have figured out he had problems with his 45 Colt dies YEARS ago rather than making a career out explaining to those who know better that the 45 Colt isn't as accurate as the 38 and 44 WCF only to admit his dies where not creating enough neck tension just a few short months ago!!! Anyhow, I have all my old issues and they are cherished! I know it can't be an easy job running those magazines but being as condescending as Scovil isn't helping him or the magazine much.

BTW, I'm not trying to offend anyone with what I've posted on this. I'm just disappointed in the way Rifle and Handloader are going. Thinking about replacing them with Guns and American Handgunner just because they are different and heck, there's John Taffin! OTOH, ABC writes for them as well but that's easy enough to ignore.

Let's focus close and tight to make the matter clear �

The man who owned the company when I was there is long dead. The raw kid whom we hired right out of school and trained � whose family later bought the company for him � has sold it to a man whom I do not know (he and I were personally introduced and shook hands at the 2008 SHOT Show � a matter of a few seconds, with no mention then that he'd just acquired Wolfe Publishing).

So I feel and owe no loyalty to the present owner.

But I still feel the same old deep loyalty to my writers and our readers.

It's for them that I grieve when I hear what I've been hearing here. I almost feel that we wasted our time, back then.

Ken,

Your time was not wasted! I still use loads and other information that was gleaned from the likes of Bob Hagle, Ken Waters, Bob Milek, John Wootters and others, including yourself. You fellows provided a service nobody else even came close to at that time! I, for one, want to thank you for it! I'm sure there are a lot of others out there that feel the same way.

Thanks again,
M. Bell

Not to beat a dead horse, but I think the quality went down after Ross left. I can only imagine how bad it's going to go down now that JB is leaving. Like so many things in our society, the quality isn't what it used to be...........

I for one will not be doing any more business with the company. I was leaning this direction when Ross left, and with JB leaving it has secured the deal for me.

Exactly! Just because the current leadership is lacking doesn't diminish the past success or contribution to the shooting sports.

X 2 )even though I like Pearce and Shoemaker.(

I have to tell you John, this is going to dampen my enthusiasm for long trips to the lil' john. ;)(was that a little too honest?)
I have enjoyed your writing with the three for awhile now, and the real problem this is going to cause in the future is having to hunt down your articles in the myriad of other magazines.
Could you please ask Rick to put up a "Mule Deer's articles of the future" sticky so we can just go out and buy the right one. I would hate to have to hang out at the rack and search every mag for your name. That just borders on creepy...
I wish you a road heavily burdened with good hunts, friends, and moments in the future. Please don't stop writing, or we will suffer for it.
Thank you for the great work of the past.
Your fellow looney,
Andrew.

Mr. Howell,

I've always aDmireD your writings anD will continue to reaD them from time to time. I think we all know where you stanD on the subject of Wolfe Publishing. A little less angst from you may be may be in orDer though given the time removeD. You aPPear to have a long burn for then. You shoulD let it go...you yourself have maDe a larger mark than they.

Sorry for the strange caPs, but my keyboarD is acting uP.

John:

This is dark news. I am plainly not alone in thinking that. I'm glad that you can move on to greener pastures, but will miss the ease with which I could have most or all of your articles in any given month by simply subscribing to Rifle, Handloader, and SH.

Keep us posted where your articles are being published, and I'm looking forward to reading your books.

It is always interesting to hear of similar or different experiences with the same people.
I have written to Dave Scovill several times over the years. In these letters I have often complained about the changes taking place in Handloader magazine, the content and the format. I took Dave to task for the purple and blue pages � hard for me to read with black print, and for the red font at the paragraph breaks. I honestly disliked these changes and may have been rude in my letters. I complained about glued inserts and once mailed an insert with a good chunk of page attached. I didn�t ask for a replacement magazine but they sent one out anyway.
The point is Dave answered each letter personally and was not only considerate; he took time to explain what he was trying to do; save the magazine. Dave explained the only way to save the magazine was to increase circulation and Handloader must change or die.
I have written and criticized various articles; Dave answered each of these letters with interesting comments and examples of why I was both: right and wrong.
While I wouldn�t say we were correspondents I have enjoyed reading his comments and felt that he had at least listened to me.

I have ordered a number of books from Wolfe publishing and I can say it is a pleasure to talk to the office staff. I ordered �Varmint and Small Game Rifles and Cartridges� � a compilation book. When I received this book I sat right down and read it from cover to cover, then composed a �hate mail� letter to Dave. This book was missing a page from two articles and the table of contents does not have page numbers. These are minor problems but I wanted Dave to know I felt page numbers in the table of contents is a necessity and the missing pages was not acceptable.
Dave wrote back as did a Ms. Frasquillo (I haven�t forgotten the name as I had never seen it before). Both letters were apologetic and friendly. They also sent copies of the missing pages.
Twice I have ordered books from Wolfe Publishing and received the wrong book. I called once and my wife called the second time. We were fully prepared to return the books to Wolfe. On both occasions Wolfe immediately sent out the correct book and told us to keep the other books with their compliments.
When �we� talk about Wolfe Publishing I probably have a different picture in my mind than others. The format of Handloader has changed considerably from the 1970�s to today but the magazine still has merit. I don�t know Dave Scovill or anyone on the office staff but I believe they are professionals trying to do the best they can.

No doubt a very worthy idea but easier for one person to say than for another person to do �

How many magazines (or similar projects) have you carefully, laboriously, assiduously nurtured into a very satisfying fellowship with a couple of communities of outstanding people, only to see your successors flush 'em away? Hurts closer to the heart hurt longer.