Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Who was not influenced by Jack or Elmer?

I wasn't influenced by either, but I'm a little younger than a few in this crowd.

I did always like Bob Milek when I was a lad.

Milek was a good guy...nutz and bolts and no BS.

Both men influenced me. While they had different opinions, Each had a great deal of experience. Early in one of his books. O'Connor wrote something about opinions and advised the reader to "pick your expert." He was, no doubt, the better writer of the two, but I enjoyed reading what both men wrote and learned from both.

I liked Finn a bunch too and enjoyed the backpage stories by Gary Sitton.

JOC for me. Outdoor Life when I was in middle school started my love for hunting and guns etc. I belonged to the Outdoor Life Book club and got one of JOC books "The Hunting rifle" . my first big game rifle was a Remington 721 in .270 win. I think I have re-read that book 3-4 times. Pretty spot on. I never read much by Elmer. I really did not find out about him until later. Read bits and pieces of many others, by stuck with JOC. I have to say today I like our own Mule Deer....no non-sense backed with a ton of knowledge. goodshot

I own a 270Win, a 44 Rem Mag a 7mm Mauser and a 338 Win Mag. so I guess both.

My biggest influence was my dad's good old hired man Melvin.

As a kid(12-14 yrs old?) I was fascinated by ballistics and cartridges.

Melvin was the first guy I knew who reloaded.

He shot meat deer with a 22-250 and Breaks cow elk with a 243.
(my first big game rifle was a 22-250 but I do love the 270)


Read a lot of magazines as well.

I have never been influenced by any so called writer and such.I was lucky and always was able to hang out with and hunt with older people,DAD,Aunts and Uncles and learned many things that I was able to pass on the other people that hunted.I just never trusted people I had never met and looked in the eye or shook their hand.That is what and the way I was taught and it always worked out for me.

Dad had a subscription to OL so the early influence was JOC. Started hunting w/ a 30-30 carbine(Mom's rifle) The first rifle I bought was a 243 and I enjoyed much success with it. Got a new neighbor about 26 yrs. ago who was/is an Elmer clone & has ALL of his books which he allowed me to read. I have to agree w/ Elmer's philosophy when it comes to elk!
Cheers

I have grown and prospered reading many authors. Keith, O'Connor, Skelton, Askins, Hagel, Sell, Jobson, McIntyre, Waters, Bear, Barsness, Popowski and Roosevelt, to name a few. There are many more that have enriched life.

Neither, course I'm younger than many here.

I never really read a specific writer or magazine. I read them all and never paid much attention to the writer.

Sorta.

I noticed John Barsness when I read a Nosler manual where he had, IIRC, a custom Ruger in 6.5 Swede. (prob wrong on that) and that's what got me to pay attention and seek out his writing.

I liked Boddington, Barsness, Aagard and Seyfried's writing but I wouldn't say I followed any one of them religiously.

Read both O'Connor & Keith's books as a kid. Elmer made me want a .44 mag and a .375 H&H.

Jack never made me want to buy a 270, but did influence me to buy a 7x57. So did Bell.

I started reading Skeeter Skelton & Bill Jordan as a High School Freshman and was probably influenced by Skeeter as much as Keith. And that's why I'm probably more of a handgun guy than a rifleman.

Despite reading O'Connor as a teenager I was not influenced by him. I got tired of reading about him and the .270. I spoke with Elmer a few times and thought he was a nut because he didn't like higher velocity. One time I wrote to get something from him in writing. He sent me a postcard. He, apparently, put his fingers one line off and typed his answer. He signed it and sent it. Until I figured out the code I couldn't read it.

I read mostly O'Connor in Outdoor Life as a teenager and admit to being influenced by him. My first rifle was a .270 but not a Model 70. I bought a Sako Finnbear in 1969 and still have that rifle.

They were before my time. When I started really reading it was in '82, and by then they had kind of left the scene.

I read Boddington, Jack Lott, Finn Aagard, Bob Milek, and Rick Jameson.

Finn Aagaard and Milek were favorites. I was also influenced by some of the Hoffman's writings that along with Agaard got me started thinking about Africa. Also liked Boddington's writing back then and read some Chuck Adams, too. Our scool library had several O'Connor books, which I enjoyed and still think he was a great writer. Those books are the reasons I like .270s, .257s and 7x57s, all of which O'connor advocated. Hemmingway also had an effect on my hunting thought process, but in a different way. Never got into Keith despite being a huge handgunner my whole life and a mega fan of the .44 Mag. Never gotten through his book and don't remember being that interested in his articles.

I enjoyed reading JOC & by assimilation, probably learned a bit.

Never read a thing of Keith's, probably never will.

Learned a lot about loading & load development from Hagel, The Colonel & shooting from Carmichael. Picked up a nugget or two from Barsness.

MM

Nearly all my early hunting was with bows. So, Chick Adams was a guy I liked to read. I also read Randy Ulmer for his technical and shooting technique writings, and Cameron Hanes DIY Backcountry Bowhunting book definitely influenced me. Now I just choose to take a rifle instead. Since I like .308s and .338 Federals I guess Jack and Elmer didn't influence me.

Finn was my favorite ever.

Zumbo, and Wayne Van Zwoll and BobinNH are some of my favorites