Craig Boddington:
I've read and watched Craig, pretty much from day one.
He, like most of us, gained most of what he knows from his elders, the written page and experience.
We take those things - what we've heard, been told or read and experienced----and form opinions of "our own". Craig too.
I like Craig.
I like the way he talks to me, tv or written. He tells me what he's been told. He tells me what he's experienced while using that same information he's gained...and then he tells me what really happened, while using that same tool in the same way... in the field. If he "F"ed up... he writes it as simple as it is... a 250 Nosler .340 Weatherby bullet to paunch of a departing Kudu is..... a mistake. Period.
Craig, has learned the same things, all the rest of us have learned. That the bullet that kills, is the bullet that is properly placed.
Craig's thoughts and values on what makes a good deer/elk/kudu/ or whatever rifle will be ever evolving...yours and mine too.
The .270/.280 are easy to shoot...that makes it easier to place good bullets where they belong. Most of us don't have Craigs experience and are better off with something more civilized than a .300 magnum. I am.
I'd like to see Craig in camp.
I'd be a shadow at first. Just there to sit, listen and learn.
The latter half to buy him a couple of drinks and stir the pot and ask semi-pointed questions of a man I've grown to respect.
I've just shared a hunting camp with Craig in Argentina, and he is a very congenial sort without ego. Quick with a laugh and generous with his time and opinions. We talked about many subjects which included filming hunts. Let me say this:
It is very, very difficult to hunt and make film at the same time.In addition to the camera, the sound man, the equipment stooges rattling around in the bush, you have to worry about the lighting, you not only need to get yourself into position to shoot, you need to get the cameraman and sound guy in position too. You don't think that goes unnoticed to the quarry?
How many trophies are taken in fading light, by spotting a horn or ear serendipitously in bush, or by old fashion hard work tramping threw the thick stuff. Can't do that with 1/2 of Hollywood on your tail.
Then add to that deadlines and costs. You can't extend a hunt an extra week if you had to pass up shoots that couldn't be filmed, and you can't whack everything you see without regard to the camera, which would be gluttony and unethical.
I am certain that when Craig hunts for pleasure, his marksmanship is to be admired.
As for the USMCR thing, it's appropriate on a book cover. He always introduces himself as "Craig" not "Colonel or General" unlike Art Alphin who is always "Colonel Alphin".