Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Col. Craig Boddington

Col,<P>Glad you are here! I have a ton of questions for you--but I won't ask them all at once.<P>#1. Is the 35 Whelen that impressed you with it's moose knock-down properties the one Spike now has?<P><BR>Blaine

Welcome Col., I'm new here also.<P>I have read your articles for more years than either of us would like to admit. I am also a southpaw and enjoy seeing and reading about your left handed rilfes and would love to get into your gun safe.<P>Also proud to be a fellow jarhead (USMCR 1963-69 Paris Island grad.)<P>I'll have to make this site a regular stop.

Welcome Colonel,<BR>We just assumed you were a "connected" guy. You have a great piece on "Huntingmag.com" right now about your elk hunt at the Whittington Center.<BR>I've got a beautiful copy of the Hunter's Handbook that I keep putting on the coffee table and my wife keeps replacing with a books on roses. Oh well, she is a wonderful girl in spite of this one shortcoming.<BR>I appreciate your writing about tactics and strategies as much as anything. Carried a pair of heavy Fuji 7x50's this year, worth every ounce! Quality glass is more essential than an ultra-accurate rifle in my opinion.<BR>Are the Rogue River Boys ever going to put up a website? Your the only one I've seen who talks about their work on Model 88's(my personal favorite rifle). If they would just put up a photo gallery that would be great.<BR>Great to have you on board!

Welcome Col: Glad to have you with us, I'm one to have made a wise crack or two. But in all reality (grin), I would be glad to supply you with my computer link, if you would download your data base to my back burner. It's always nice to have a place to look up reliable information.<P>Phil

Hello Colonel. Nice of you to stop in. I do enjoy reading some of your articles. <BR> Not to be rude, but don't use too many sloppy shooters to proove your point. I read your article on western plains rifle, and I think it is more the guy behind than the .270 for his needing 9 shots for the one deer. Heck, if he needed that many, he shouldn't have shot the first one. I also doubt a .300 would help as much as you might think.<BR> There, now you have something to reply to.<BR>Welcome to the board, nice to have you here. By the way, is it really fun shooting guns for a job? Now, that's what I want to do. <P>------------------<BR>Give an inch, and they'll take a mile.

Oh yeah, thanks for checking in. We were starting to make Spike out as a liar.<P>------------------<BR>Give an inch, and they'll take a mile.

Col.Boddington Sir,<BR>Paso Robles? Near Camp Bob?Same Same?<BR>How the heck did you end up there?<BR>I realize by Kalifornia standards The area is about as PC as the midwest,but I kinda figured it too close to the enemy for most tastes.<BR>I did MCSF F.A.S.T. training down there and found it "Homey" after the insults of Oceanside,even the local gunshop was kinda comfy.<BR>One jarhead to another..stick around if ya would.We might not always agree with what ya write,but lots of educated opinions here and no one clearly wrong.The folks here are good people.We attack ideas and not the individual.<BR>Good ta have ya!<BR>E4E

Col Boddington, <P>Welcome aboard, sir. I suppose we expect for you to hesitate before giving away what you would normally sell, but it would be a good idea to keep an eye on this chat room. There are some extremely knowledgable folks here, but some of us need adult supervision now and again. If nothing else, we keep each other entertained, and we hope you'll join in the fun. Okie John.

Colonel, please enjoy your visit. And don't let your wife catch you looking at some of the posts. These guys like to post pictures of women in bikinis for the obvious reasons. SO avoid "the 2-point spike passed up" and "shooters check in here" when you have her around. I'm just assuming here, so please don't take it the wrong way if you don't hav a wife.

Spike, -- you can come back in now. What the heck are you going to do with a lousey 35 Whelen? Heck, even the Col. sold it, course if you want to sell it I might use another one just in case.<BR>Welcome to the campfire Col. just a bunch of hunters setting around this Cyber-Campfire shooting the breeze. You might just pick up an idea for a story if you have time to hang around some evening. Just drag up a log and sit a spell, we are glad to have your company, but don't be supprised if someone has a different view. You will find out we are not bashfull and some have been hunting many years, we have posters here from all over the world. Me, I'm older than dirt and have hunted the Rocky Mountains since 1951 and pretty set in my ways. Welcome. -- no

Craig,<P>Glad you could make it (as I wipe sweat from my brow wondering if you'd show).<P>You mentioned I received a "sweet .35 Whelen" from you...what an understatement. <BR>That gun shoots like a dream (see below).<P>Looking forward to seeing it in action soon as a 'bacon blaster'. <P><BR> <BR>Three shots at 100 yards<P>psssst, got any others you want to part with? Shhhhh, don't tell these guys, they're like sharks in a feeding frenzy when it comes to accurate rifles.<P>Welcome to the campfire and please consider yourself among friends.<P>-John (aka Spike)<P><p>[This message has been edited by Spike (edited February 20, 2001).]

Col Bodd,<P>Spike here has been crowing about how he kicked your behind in a shootin match and you didn't even pay up 'cuz you were so mad--is that true? If it isn't, we'll understand. Spike does have a tendency to...embellish. Have you ever met his sister-in-law?<P>Wade

Spike: Have you ever thought of using that picture of your "Sister-In-Law" as your Signature. (grin)<P>Phil<P>------------------<BR>Take that Computer, Throw it out the window, "And Go Huntin"

Craig,<P>Please excuse Wade...he's an attorney (nuff said) <P>

Hi Craig,<P>Welcome to the fireside. If you can handle Tex's brand of humour you will fit in real well.<P>I'm a great fan of your writing, and I hope you will check in often to share your experiences.<P>Cheers<P>Pete M<P><P>------------------<BR>Pete M<P>I hunt, not to kill, but in order not to have played golf....

Col. Boddington just wanted to post and say I'm a huge fan of your writing and hope to see you around here more often. American Hunting Rifles is one of my favorite books. I just bought Safari Rifles a few days ago and it's sure to be a favorite too. Keep up the excellent work.

Spike,<P><B>"He's an attorney (nuff said)"</B><P>If you say so...

Hi, Guys--<BR>Whew, for darn sure I can't provide the adult supervision you need . . . prob'ly can't handle the volume, either. Back to Spike's .35 Whelen. No, the .35 W. that flattened that Alaskan moose was a right-handed prototype. Impressed me so much that I ordered the left-hand rifle Spike has. So why did I let it go? No good reason. I have a good .358, a M71 .348, a .350 Rigby, and THEN, in a fit of passion, I got a really slick .350 Rem. Mag. on a left-hand M700 short action. Now what in the heck am I ever gonna do with that many.35's? So I decided it was time to cull the herd. Figgered the plastic-stocked .350 Rem. Mag. was identical in performance to the Whelen, but lighter and handier, so let the Whelen go. Already regret it, of course, but my loss is Spike's gain . . .<BR>Okay, somebody asked about an incident where a guy took nine shots with a .270 in a plains deer story. Problem is I write a lot of stories. (Can't change a tire worth a damn, but I can write awfully fast.) Problem compounded by the fact that, once I write a story and send it off, I forget about it and go on to the next one. It might be as much as a year before a given story gets printed. Which is a long way of saying I have no idea which story you're referring to. But I think I was talking about wind effect. The guy doing the shooting was an easterner (which means, only, that he wasn't used to shooting at distance). You're right--it probably wouldn't have mattered what he was shooting. But the wind was really howling on that day, and heavier bullets DO carry better in the wind. The .270 isn't bad, but you can really see it with the .25's--no matter how fast, they really get blown off course quick.<BR>What's it like to do this stuff for a living? Good question. Nothing is as much fun as a business as it is when it's a hobby. You make your bed, you lie in it. I've been very fortunate, and certainly wouldn't trade; I've gotten to do an awful lot of what we all like to do, and have done some things I never dreamed I'd be able to do. It's not necessarily easy; I work at it pretty hard, lotsa hours. Our business doesn't pay Playboy or National Geographic rates, so in order to make ends meet and go on some of the hunts I want to go on it's kind of a volume business. Like I said, I write fast (not always well, but fast). No complaints on that; I'm a workaholic by nature. I think the biggest downside to my business is the self-imposed pressure. I can't think about a hunt as the hunt itself; I have to think about it in terms of the story. It's business, so failure is unacceptable. Once in a while you can write about the one that got away . . . but not often! This means that, at some point, good enough has to be good enough. Lots of times I would just as soon keep hunting until the last minute and look for the really super trophy . . . and walk away empty-handed and happy if he doesn't show up. Usually I can't do that. The story comes first, and that means that all too often I have to settle for an animal that is less than I really want. That's the down side. Playing with different guns, that's mostly fun if you're a rifle nut like me. Except I often have an obligation to use somebody's new super-banger on a hunt when I'd much prefer to use one of my own familiar and trusted rifles. So there's a down side to that as well! But I'm certainly not whining--I have been well blessed, and I know it!<BR>Gotta run, hear the deadline alarm ringing in the distance. Regards to all, will check in along the trail. Craig

Good point Craig, the best way to ruin a hobby is to get payed for it,,BEARHUNTER

Col,<P>Thanks for the insight on the profession. Interesting as my wife has said that I should go into business with some of my hobbies, but I have stoutly refused. I can see doing a couple of them part time, but wouldn't want to do them full time.<P>Hopefully you'll hang out and get a chance to get to know some of the guys, it is an eclectic and somewhat eccentric bunch, but by and large a good group of guys. <P>I also think some of the guys are off base with their comments. I may not be the biggest of your fans, but asside from that, if you're coming here to yack with us, we should treat you as one of the gang, not that you necesarrily won't to associate with us. Anyhow, we wouldn't tollerate someone harping on one of the guys about whatever his profession is, and just because you happen to be a hunting writer, doesn't give them leeway to do the same to you.<P>Kinda funny you posted after my KFC picture. This group while loosly associating as big game hunters is basically a group that likes to hang out and banter, and the big game hunting is just the common interest that binds us. So, sometimes we go from slightly off topic, to outerspace. Thats allright, as we enjoy one anothers company, and many of us have known eachother long enough to really pull eachothers leg pretty good. <P>Anyhow, if you have a life, you won't have to time to waste as the rest of us degenerates, but you might get a few laughs once in awhile, and any info shared is greatly appreciated. This truly is one of the best resources for sharing and learing about our sport. We range from the working Joe, misc professionals, farmers, guides, PH, to the occasional Sheik, though he's be hanging out as his own board lately. Oh, I forgot to add you as the noted hunting writer.