Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters "Gun Writer" Backgrounds

Thanks - DMB.... and look for upcoming cover photos for Precision Shooting.

Will do..
Just subscribed to Shooting Sportsman and Sports Afield today. My sons and I will be well read..

Thanks,

Don

Bill,

Turp writes for:
"Gun Digest, GUNS, RifleShooter, and Safari Magazine. At the moment, I'm working on a piece for the Dakota Magazine, two for Safari, one for GUNS"
His words.. I just cut and paste... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Don

Thanks Don! Bill.

As a reader i am only moderately interested in the background of writers, and more interested in the writing. There are writers whose work I avoid because I do not enjoy their writing, though some are certainly well respected and quite successful. I have little interest in 'me and Joe' stories and much greater interest in how-to articles. I have read a lot of Mule Deer's work over the years and have noticed that I have an interesting (to me at least) reaction to his work. He writes in a straight forward manner, with some of his own experiences melded in to illustrate. After some years of reading his work, I began to realize I could remember hunting trips with John. Yeah, I am old, a little older than he, but not usually delusional. Somehow the writing is so comfortable, I just kinda remember being there.

That's one of the greatest compliments I've ever gotten as a writer. Glad you could come along!

JB

The pleasure has been all mine!

I'm not a "Gun Writer," but I have written about guns. I prefer "Outdoor Writer," so I don't get boxed into one category.
I've hunted, fished, and enjoyed the outdoors my whole life (born in MI in '54), with five of those years spent as a Hospital Corpsman at Camp Pendleton, CA. I've been a hunting and fishing guide in Maine since 2001, and spent the last three years writing for several regional outdoor magazines. (The Maine Sportsman, Vermont's Outdoors Magazine, and Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife quarterly).
The problem with writing is that it takes me out of the woods and off the water, but writing has been a blessing disquised as work. I've met a load of wonderful people along the way.
I'm an awefully slow (but thorough) writer, and monthly deadlines are a killer. I'm thinking of writing a few books, at my own pace--and in my own style.
I like popping in to The Campfire now and then to see how the real writers live.
Thanks,
William Clunie

TM45 I believe your are referring to Isle Royale National Park in Lake
Superior where the park service and fish & game have been studying
the relationship between wolves and Moose since I believe it was in
the 1930's. Cheers NC

William--

Welcome to the club.

I used to be an outdoor writer--when I still wrote about fishing and hardly ever wrote about firearms--but over tiem that evolved. I am really a "gun and hunting writer" now but somehow that seems a little clumsy!

You really should write a book or more. Most of the slow writers I know are much happier writing books; the pace seems to suit their style better. Plus, there is something quite satisfying about a book, not just making it but hefting it in your hand!

JB

Thanks for the welcome Mr. B,
I've read articles and books by most of the writers on this board, and over the years have been quite inspired by their works. It's such a pleasure to sit down and read a piece that makes you feel like you're right there. My hat's off to all of you that have taken the time to formulate some of the finest entertainment for me over the years. And thank you Mr. B for putting this great board together.
William Clunie

I'd like to thank ALL you guys, and the generation that came before you, for an enormous amount of entertaining reading over the years. I am a gun magazine junky and avid shooter/hunter who looks forward to a weekly trip down to the magazine emporium for the latest edition of....whatever!Have enjoyed and followed John B. since I read an article in Gray's entitled, if a remember correctly, "WHAT IS THIS THING ON MY RIFLE,AND WHY AM I LOOKING THROUGH IT?" Still cracks me up...Love reading Tom T. since I agree with him on just about everything.My view is that there simply are no bad gunwriters out there today; you guys are all intelligent, articulate, informative, and highly entertaining, even though I don't always agree with you, which is OK because, as a lawyer, I understand the benefits of advocacy....Keep up the great work!

Man, that article in Gray's was a long time ago! Must have been close to 30 years since it came out. I just ran across it again while filing my old copies of the magazine.

JB

MuleDeer: I still remember, and quote, the reference to "Boobus Americanus". Great stuff and makes me laugh my %(&*&^^T off.I think, somewhere, I still have that copy of Grays!But please stop aging me!

Regards,
Bob F.

I read almost anything I can about guns and have a library of over 1,000 books on firearm history, development and use (civil and military), as well as cartridges.

Some writers may be knowledgeable, but do not interest me; the "Me and Joe" stories, or a firearms review that just includes a range test are not very interesting. I am interested in the development and technical details of the product, as well as how it shoots (variations between guns means that I'll probably not be able to duplicate the test gun's performance).

I enjoyed Bob Hagel's writings and currently like John Barsness, as well as most of the Rifle/Handloader writers.

As for the writer's backgrounds, I like to learn about them. this knowledge helps me understand the writers expereinces and gives me a frame of reference in which to consider the article.

djs - I agree 100% with wanting knowledge of an author and his background and the helpfulness that knowledge provides in putting his thoughts into perspective. I refuse to "appreciate" the abilities of athletes as an entity separate from their qualities as a human being. I hold writers (as I do everyone else) to the same standard of not separating the person from his work. Best, John

These are all interesting posts.
Tom, I envy you your locale; when my mother was still alive, I visited her every summer near Huachuca City, and spent my free time hiking in the Whetstones or the Huachucas, just south of the Fort.
God's country, sure enough.
Regards,
- R

I've never been an outdoor writer but have had many thousands of paid written "reports" behind me. I've made a living a large part of my life writing "reports". I'm a real estate appraiser (now retired) and investor and it's obvious where my expertise lies.

I've, many times, wished I could write novels like Louis L'Amour or Peter Hathaway Capstick or could write outdoor articles like Mule Deer or technical articles about guns and shooting like Ken Howell.

But alas... "I am what I am and that's all what I am"...

I'd like to thank John and Ken and any other writers I've seen here, some of whom I don't recognize, for a lifetime's worth of enjoyment and education related to my favorite pastimes which have always been hunting and shooting.

I've been an avid shooter and hunter for almost 50 years now and have probably spent about 50 days a year at various gun ranges shooting and talking to other shooters but that doesn't make me any kind of expert because my efforts were always aligned toward enjoyment and making myself an accomplished shooter but never a competitor or expert.

I've spent an average of 80 days a year hunting too but I would NEVER class myself as an expert and don't want to ruin my fun by seeking to achieve expert status. It's my hobby.

I've found that true experts lurk in many places and some of them pop up where you'd least expect to find them. Some of them have been involved in shooting or hunting all their lives and some of them recently joined but have that native intelligence that helps them learn anything very quickly. It seems that expericnece counts but there is much more in the making of an expert than experience.

Then there are people that are wonderful writers and everybody seems to hang on their every word. They might know a lot about what they're writing about or they may just know how to write a really good article and have unique insights or a lot of passion to share.

But my favorite, and I'm sure many of us here will agree, is the guy that has dedicated his life to the hunting and shooting sports, and has a lot of analytical qualities and is capable of clear thinking. If that man is also an exceptional writer and is willing to put up with deadlines, publishers, editors, etc. AND if he is successful then he may become a great outdoor writer and surely John and Ken and probably several others here are in that league.

Thanks to you guys!! I seriously doubt that you'll ever receive the pay that you deserve for your dedication, knowledge, expertise, and talent but hopefully you'll find reward that will add to that pay in our undying thanks and appreciation!!!

Long live the outdoor writer!!!

$bob$

To all, thanks for putting together this post!

Thank God we live in a country where we not only have guns, but we can use them to hunt and shoot and we can write and talk publicly about them!

I once heard someone say "I wish I was born a 100 years earlier!". Well, for me I have no regrets about when I lived, for I propose we are in the Golden Age of shooting and hunting. And, I'm glad I'm a small part of it.

I've only one published article, one about the Blackhawk helicopter. Got a lot to say, just can't seem to put it on paper.

My days are filled with work. I'm happy if I can manage a couple of weeks of hunting and shooting each year. I know, only I can fix that, but.....

I do enjoy what I do. After a mediocre career as an Army enlisted man, Warrant Officer and Officer, mostly flying helicopters and playing cavalry, I've settled in as a contractor helping train our combat brigades at Ft. Irwin, CA on their way to Iraq and Afghanistan. It's a suck place to live with respect to weather, hunting and fishing, etc., but it's for a reason I live here.

I'm a long time hunter, mostly working on the premis that "even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then". I have a few heads on the wall. Having a bad case of tinitis tends to send me to the prairies to hunt, rather than to the woods. I admit to an affliction called Ruger Collector. Again, I'm not very good at it. I just can't stop myself from dragging out one that they only made a very few of to go hunting. Last year's elk rifle was a Ruger 1S in .300 H&H.

I've read every thing JO, EK, and BH ever wrote. As a kid the new issue of Field and Stream was like Christmas every month. My mom bought me my first Gun Digest for a Christmas present in '68. To this day, that's the present that means the most to me. I've been lucky that my wife of 32 years knows what I want for Christmas and sees fit to buy it for me. Yeah, I know it comes out in Feb or so each year, but I purposely avoid it at B&N until Christmas, cause I know after all the presents are opened I'll get to read it on Christmas day. It's always been worth waiting for. I really like the One Good Gun articles.

When I got back from RVN in '71 I gave myself a Christmas present of a new Ruger M77RS in .350RemMag. I bought it from SR&Co. in Fayetteville, NC for $165. I've been "stuck on stupid" when it comes to Rugers and .350s ever since.

To all you great gun writers now. Keep doing what you're doing. Kids, both young and old, still enjoy reading and dreaming over your work every month. And please, put some of yourself in every article. Be technical when you need to be, but be human the rest of the time.

Jim

Jim,

At this time I can only say one thing to you Sir...

Well written!!!

Thanks... I enjoyed it...

Wait a minute... Was that two?

$bob$