Anyone else a little disappointed Wolffe Publishing traded Ross Seyfried for Venturino. I don't mind Mike but I think he is way too opinionated and close minded about certain subjects. If he doesn't like something personally, well, he will run it into the ground. The thing I liked the most about Ross was that he would look at both the good and the bad of a subject and withhold his biases. I would like to keep Mike at Shooting Times and see Seyfried come back to RIFLE,Handloader and Hunter. Just felt I needed to ask and see if I was the only one.

Isn't that what you're implying here about yourself?

I too will miss Ross also but I have to disagree with you about his opinions. Often he chose which two side of the debate to discuss. For example don't ask Ross about boat tailed hunting bullets. Many times I disagreed with Ross, at times he was correct, and at times it proved to be just that, an opinion. I really only like writers with opinions so lets wish Ross good luck and see what we can do to stump Mike with our looney questions.

I think that both of them are fine writers in their own way and enjoy reading both.
This kinda sounds like when Peter Pocklington traded Gretzky to L.A. people were up in arms and wanted to lynch Peter Puck.
They seemed to forget that Pete Owned Gretzky's contract, and business is business, which is really none of ours! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />
But anyway, I could read either at any time compared to some which will remain nameles ans unread.
Catnthehat

Readers' complaints and denunciations aimed at writers whom they don't know always make me wonder how in the world they can possibly enjoy a meal in a restaurant where the menu includes dishes that the very sight or smell of would turn their stomachs.

Or is it possible that they order and enjoy what they like there and quietly ignore what they don't like?

I've eaten in good and bad caf�s and restaurants from Miami to Kotzebue and from London to Jeddah for nearly seventy years, and I have yet to hear a customer complain even politely that the menu includes some food or other that he despises.

Or like fishing-keep what you like and throw the rest back.

I have always enjoyed reading Mike's work. Wish he would come over for the weekend and do some load development for me.

RD

I'm happy to see Mike in "our" mags. He's a good read, articulate, and 'tho sometimes he does an article on items that don't interest me he is very good at putting in writing what, and how, he thinks.

I do miss Ross' work, especially some of his articles.

Certainly those of us that really like to take a magazine to that best seat in the housem are blessed with the quality of the Wolfe publications. Even the "pop" magazines have an article or two that interests me.

Old publishing (and broadcast) axiom..."editorial content is there to separate the advertisements..."

His topics generally aren't of keen personal interest, but I suspect his manners are difficult to fault, & that's good enough for me. I recently had a client & his young son come up from Utah & shoot a buffalo. He dropped it off here for skinning, & then was off for Livingston to visit Venturino. They weren't acquainted; the client had contacted him asking if he could drop by. When he came by the next morning to pick up his peeled & quartered buff, he was more than impressed with Mike as a gracious host.
A wee bit different from another well-known gun writer who was recently raked through the coals here, perhaps deservedly. I still think Ken's assessment of the rakee's view of other people as "near-equals/useful inferiors/nuisances" is about the funniest (but still damning) thing I've read here in some time.

I've known Mike Venturino since January 1979 and in all that time have seen absolutely no reason not to think very highly of him, both personally and professionally. I met Ross Seyfried once, and that encounter left me with abundant reason not to like or respect him.

What it boils down for me is that with Ross on board I would grab a mag off the rack and buy it without even looking what articles were in it. With him gone, there is one less good writer at Wolfe, and now I look and decide if there is enough good articles written by writers I trust to buy the mag.

Mike maybe the greatest guy in the world, but when he wrote for Shooting Times he seldom wrote articles I found all that great. Maybe his articles will improve with Wolfe.

In other words an article needs to be well written, informative or entertaining. Ross' were, Mikes are not. Until I need to share a duck blind with either, I could care less who is a better guy or bigger boor.

Mr Howell, I am not saying that I dont like Venturino but when I bought my subscription to both Shooting Times and the Wolffe publishing it was for the distincitve writing styles that were in each. I buy "Guns" magazine for the simple reason that I like to read John Taffin. It appears you did not care for Ross when you met him in person but you do care for Mike, you have a personal interest in this question. I like both of their writings but after reading Mike for many years in Shooting Times and seeing that two of his recent articles are virtual reprints of ones done in Shooting times a few years ago, I am disappointed. I have purchased two of Mikes books and they flat out have biases in them. These biases affect how much work he is willing to put into it, ie load development and research. That was all I was trying to say, but it appears I got your dander up a bit. For that I am sorry because I have read your work for many years and like it. Sorry to offend anyone but as stated, I just wanted to know if there were any others that feel as I do.

I am not a big fan of either, although Ross' material was significantly more varied than Mike's. I already read the 45-70 article and the 308 garand. It appears to me that Rifle/Handloader is really moving to Revolvers and old cartridges only and away fronm what the title implies.

Mr. Howell, is this realy a valid comparison? In a restuarant you do not pay for the dishes that you do not eat.
As for Mike vs. Ross, they each have articles that I like and dislike. Mr Seyfried probably has more that I like. I guess if I had to pick he would be my favorite resturant of the two <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.

I've enjoyed Venturino's writing for some time as the area of shooting sports he usually writes about interests me. I would rather read work from someone who has the benefit of special knowledge in an area than someone who is a "jack of all trades...".

As to opinion... please spare me any more articles by anyone written in such a pandering way that, at the conclusion, I'm scratching my head wondering what the writer really feels? All too often folks slam others for being "opinionated" mainly because the conclusions differ.

I burned out on gun magazines some time ago but Venturino has been at it for a couple of decades now. He has contributed quite a lot to knowledge about loading black powder cartridges- for instance, settling powder charges by dropping them through a long tube. I don't know if he invented this but I heard about it first from him.

He also assisted Tom Selleck in regard to the Sharps Rifle used in Quigley Down Under.

I wish him the best of luck

I happen to know that Mike's stuff at SHOOTING TIMES was sometimes heavily edited, and without his knowledge, before it showed up in the magazine. That will not be the case at RIFLE and HANDLOADER. So don't judge his writing by what you read in ST; he will have a much freer hand at Wolfe, one reason for the switch.

MD

Venturino was the ONLY reason I didn't cancel my subscription to Shooting Times any earlier than I did. That was about 3 or 4 years ago. He's kinda like Barsness in Handloader. Now that both are there it's highly unlikely I'll cancel the last gunrag to which I subscribe. I like facts, but I also like opinions being somewhat opinionated myself, and I can certainly handle opinions opposite to mine. I just hope Handloader quits all the stuff on pistols and gets back to what they were about.

Best of luck to Venturino and Wolfe.

Apparently he also went over to FMG Publications- AMERICAN HANDGUNNER and GUNS Magazines. In his first outing in AMERICAN HANDGUNNER, in the SpeakOut section on page 14 of the January/February 2005 issue, in a reply to a reader, he accuses Bill Jordan of killing his partner showing off his point shooting. This has set off a similar thread over at the S&W Forums.

http://www.smith-wessonforum.com/ubb/Forum13/HTML/016571.html

It now seems that even the internet comes out with the same topics/subjects at the same time that the gun magazines do.


Regards,
Gregor

Here's my reply just posted on the S&W forum:

� I first heard this rumor in the early 1950s and soon after heard that it wasn't true.
� For many years, Bill Jordan was my all-time favorite hunting partner. He told me that he was proud of the fact that he had never killed anybody. I believe him.
� If Charlie Askins � also a friend of mine � had told me this story, I'd be relatively certain that it wasn't true.

Bill Jordan was a very well known man, and if he told Ken Howell
that he never killed any one , then I would tend to believe him, as this is from an upstanding person who still happens to be with us, as opposed to all the others in question, who aren't!

"Nuff said on THAT subject!
catnthehat

I find Seyfried more ,well, literate and more varied in his subject matter than Venturino. Don't know him, so can't speak to his character or personality, and don't particularly care. I buy magazines for Seyfried's articles. While I sometimes enjoy Venturino's stuff, and respect his expertise in black powder/cowboy subjects, I've never bought a magazine because he was in it.

Mr. Howell, I remember the Bill Jordan story as well but I remember it being in print. For the life of me I can't think of the source. Maybe a book on shooting or safety?

S

I never heard that Bill Jordan killed his partner, but I heard, years ago, from a gun writer I knew, that Harlon Carter, who was also in the U.S. Border Patrol, did indeed, kill his partner, while practicing "quick draw."

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????

L.W.

I find that rumor easier to believe of Harlon whom I didn't know nearly as well as I knew Bill � but the crux of the matter is that this, too, is just a rumor as far as I'm concerned.

For several years, I was a designated rumor-chaser in the firearms industry, and I chased-down more rumors than I can remember. Several basic truths came to light, among them these oft-repeated natural evolutions of error:
� Person A does so-and-so to Person B.
� The word gets out, at first accurately.
� Repeated retelling evolves the story into "Person C did so-and-so-B to Person D," with Person C's or D's name substituted because his name is better-known (thus more likely to adhere to the story in memory) than Person A's or B's name.
� This version sticks and lasts, in spite of the fact that neither C nor D was involved, and because some version of "did so-and-so" did indeed occur � and it spreads and sticks because "so-and-so-B" is a lot more melodramatic and memorable than plain old "so-and-so" was.

The story about Harlon could well have come from a certain prank that a couple of Harlon's fellow BPmen pulled on him. Only a blank cartridge was fired, and no one was even wounded. One BPman's cry "Oh, Harlon, you've shot me!" was part of the prank.

Two BPmen were working on guns at a workbench. Between them lay a cigar box rigged with a rat-trap device that would fire a blank cartridge if the lid opened. "On the day in question," as they say, a High Standard pistol lay as ballast atop the cigar-box lid. Harlon came to the door and stood talking to the two BPmen.

"Hey, Harlon," one of them said, "hand me that High Standard, will you?"

When Harlon picked-up the High Standard, the lid of the cigar box flew open, and the rat-trap device inside fired the blank cartridge (which must've sounded like the boom of doom in that small room).

"Oh, Harlon, you've shot me!" the other BPman cried as he grabbed his chest and "fell" off his stool.

"It wasn't me!" Harlon hollered. "I heard the bullet go by my ear!" (Bill said that this quick CYA thinking explained why Harlon rose so high in the Border Patrol.)

I can easily see how this prank, pulled on Harlon and widely told and retold, could have naturally evolved into "Bill Jordan killed his partner," especially when it spread beyond the Border Patrol.

Distrust rumors, especially anonymously originated gossip about notable names. Any wee element of retained fact merely adds to their deadliness.

Thanks for that explanation, Ken. As I said, I'd heard the "story" from a gun writer years ago, but never had any verification of the "incident."

Yep, rumors do tend to magnify more in frequent telling, don't they?


L.W.

Negative gossip is more attractive than the onions, leeks, and garlics of Egypt for people whose animus for certain well known figures makes them want to believe and to spread the worst (true or not) about those figures. To this common tendency, add the animus of those who originate tales and innuendoes that they know to be untrue, and off goes a reputation-killer that can span oceans and generations � even centuries.

A classic example in American literature is Edgar Allan Poe, one of the literary figures whom I studied quite extensively in graduate school. Poe's original "biographer" (Griswold, IIRC) published a body of dark calumny about Poe as a "biography" of Poe. That dark picture of Poe prevails among American-literature scholars to this day, despite later scholars' expos�s refuting that lying "biographer's" false testimony. Poe's well deserved reputation as one of American literature's most creative, innovative craftsmen has suffered much as a result of that forgotten writer's animus for Poe.

A current example is a well known gun writer whose readers revere him far more than he deserves. (I know him very well, personally as well as professionally.) This writer has long had a deep, jealous hatred for Elmer Keith and has done much over several decades to discredit Elmer. Many others, with their own distant dislike of Elmer, have latched onto this man's calumny and repeated it because they want it to be true, not because they have any reason or foundation to know that it's true.

Also, an expert calumnist knows little tricks like how to lie with the truth � like the guy whom I used to work for, who'd enter such gems as "Howell came to work sober today" into the official log and never mention of course that I didn't drink alcohol in any form and had therefore never come to work in any other condition but sober.

While we're kickin' various gun writers names around, I would like to bring up Rick Jamison of Shooting Times.In his writings he seems to be sort of a nuts & bolts type.I like that.How about you guys?

Back to Venturino...not a fan. Mike is probably a great guy and a good transplanted Montanan. I prefer Ross.

I just got tired of reading about the same things over and over again! I also noticed the reprints in G&A and ST.

Oh yea, I also got sick of hearing about Hank Jr.

(Snort) Coming to this thread late as I have been out killing deer (by design, not by accident). Sounds like someone has confused Bill Jordan with (Wild) Bill Hickock.

Do you know what I wish?

I wish that EVERY gunwriter who writes about hunting and hunting rifle cartridges would list the places they've hunted, and the actual cartridges they've hunted with, and the species they've taken with same.

Dr. Howell, let's begin with you -- let's let the truth rule over fiction and theory for a change!

Cash talks, bullshit walks, so let's get with it.............

AD

If I owed it to you to tell you, I would have told you already. But I don't.

Also, many on this thread would see such a list as "bragging," so its usefulness would be limited and debatable. Since the 1930s, I've hunted in a dozen or more states and several foreign countries, for a variety of birds, for several species of small game and varmints, and for big game, with a number of rifles, several handguns, a few shotguns, and a long list of cartridges. I do not owe you or anyone else any kind of comprehensive list or foundational documentation to establish the truth of my assertions or the soundness of my opinions.

You are not entitled to judge me, or my experience, or my preferences or opinions until and unless I publish them for you to see.

I will write of my experience and conclusions if, when, and as I see fit. You'll just have to find what I've already written about and wait for the rest � which probably won't include everything.

Besides, if I wanted to lie to you about my past and experience, such a list would be one of the best ways in the world to do it.

Your suggestion is without merit and your comment too insulting to merit any respect, let alone compliance. Who are you to imply that without supplying you with such a list, I'm a liar?

Ken - You are right on. The problem with experience or lack of it is the readers, not the writers. Every word ever written must be looked at with some skepticism and put throught the filter of personal experience. There is no reason to expect any area of life to come with a certification of perfection. Gun writers write to ENTERTAIN us. If we learn a truth that is a nice extra, but it isn't guaranteeable. Unfortunately a lot of people want to be able to sound like an expert by quoting (usually without acknowlegement) some one else. That is far easier than gaining their own experience and using their own brain for insight.

Also, Ken: I bought a copy of your book: "designing and forming Custom Cartridges". I got it at the NRA Convention in Phoenix about 10 years ago. I think you were there selling them at a booth, but memory being what it is I am not sure anymore. Were you there selling them personally?

Anyway, it is a great book. The capacity (grains of water) data has been a really handy tool in sorting out BS from brilliance when reading about cartridges. It is a good thing you had it bound with such high quality binding. I would have worn it out years ago otherwise.

Your new book is on my x-mas list.

Allen Day,
You may be experienced but you are a condecending A-hole. That would be a capital period. Me thinks the only reason you asked Ken such a question is in the hopes that it would be turned around to you and you could list your acomplishments.

You're sidestepping the question.

Why?

AD

FVA, I've been called worse by better men than you........

AD

Nope. I've rejected it. Because it's stupid, insulting, and without any reason for me to honor it.

I always liked reading Elmer Keith's stuff, and I was partial to Skeeter Skelton. I also read Mike Venturino's work especially since a lot of it includes BPCR's. There are lots of others. I actually have some admiration for these guys that put their work out knowing how much they will get critiqued. It would be a strange experience to get your name tossed around in public by so many folks that don't know you. Glad its not me.

S

I don't remember. If you got it from me, I signed it to you � by name � and dated it, on the flyleaf.

That is a VERY transparent reply, one that any grade school kid could see through in an heartbeat.

AD

I meant for it to be as clear as new glass. Glad you find it so.

Allen, I generally enjoy your posts here and on AR as well as agreeing with most of your opinions. I base this on more than 40 yrs. actual work and hunting experience in western Canada and, although you have shot far more animals than I have, ever will or even want to, I have vastly more REAL wilderness experience, especially solo, than your posts indicate that you do. For example, I was living and working alone in the area of B.C. where your late Outfitter and friend, Bob Fontana guided you when you were in junior high school.

I find your comments to and about Dr. Howell to be absolutely unacceptable and indicative of an attitude that, quite frankly, would get your ass kicked in any bar in Fernie or Elkford, B.C. Who the f____k do you think you are and how does your obvious financial status give you the right to insult a gentleman who is highly respected throughout this entire sport and industry???

I think that you have made an egregious error in both judgement and deportment and should both withdraw your assinine comments and apologize. If, you do not, you certainly have lost my respect and, I rather think, that of many of the other participants on 24hr.

NO, I don't find it so.

Rather, I find your answer muddled and indirect , I think by intent.

Quite honestly, if you didn't have anything to hide, you'd answer my very direct question with a direct answer. The closest distance between two points is a straight line, so let's get with it.

If you find youself in a hole quit diggin'.............

AD

Your obvious but inexplicable animosity aside, you do not deserve any other answer to your stupid, insulting questions. You don't know me at all, yet you strongly imply that you consider me a liar or in some other way unworthy of your respect. Yet you give me no reason to imagine why I'd want you to respect me. Rhett Butler's departing line, sans the "my dear," says it for me.

I've testified in depositions, in open court, in a Navy court-martial, and before a House subcommittee. When demanded by duly constituted authority, I answer fully, completely, and truthfully. I do not, however, recognize merely constipated "authority," no matter how loud or fetid its borborygmic rumblings.

I'm confused,you are questioning Ken Howell's credibility,why?He has nothing to hide,look at his profile,compare it to your own,who is hiding what? There is another member stirring up things around here for his own childish reasons. There is a good guy list in the classified section,maybe someone should start an A-HOLE list,somehow I think you'd make it!!!

I suggest we have Allen tell how he earned all his money.
Or, did he inherit it all from daddy?

I have many friends who are on the wealthy side and I can say from experience that those who worked hard for it have charachter that treats all classes of people with respect.
I cant say the same for those who got it all from daddy and
enjoy walking on people and going out of there way to humiliate others. Poor little rich boys.

Okay Allen please start! Tell us how you earned all your money from your early youth. We want to hear all the details.

I am sure you having nothing to hide. Get with it little boy.

For all to know, I have requested this post be deleted as my original question has morphed into a fever of personal attacks, this was never my intention. I hope it happens soon as Ken Howell does not deserve the sudden attention he is getting from ALLENDAY. If he wants to attack someone on this forum he should do it with his own Post, not sniping from mine.

All right, AD � sketchy answer, as best as I can remember or care to bother with, off-hand � at least sixteen states of the US (not counting overseas), twenty-some or more species, over a dozen chamberings in handguns, rifles, and shotguns. I don't suppose that I've remembered everything from the last sixty-several years (and I don't worry about the probable omissions).

More pertinent, IMO, is the fact that most of these were hunts that I set-up myself, not hunts where I had a guide holding my hand, toting my rifle, field-dressing my kill, or packing the meat out for me � let alone an outfitter hauling me around, feeding me, sheltering me, or bedding me down. What's your record in this respect, AD? I don't really give a damn what you've killed with the paid-for help of others � what have you done completely on your own?

Have you built any rifles? I have. Built any handguns? I have. Designed any cartridges? I have. Designed any bullets? I have. Designed or invented anything else that's available commercially? I have. Written any books? I have. Edited any newspapers? I have. Edited any magazines? I have. Edited any published classic books? I have. Guided any hunters? I have.

I'm glad you spoke up, I hate to see members of this forum fighting. It's to nice a place.

I think it is quite obvious that Allen has decamped from the field as Dr. Howell has the support of about all of the members of the forum; in any event, Ken's mastery of the English language and REAL experience demonstrates that he is most able to defend himself, although it should not be necessary.

I don't care what anyone's financial status is or how, if honestly, they obtained their wealth (something I do not have and could not care less about) but, gratuitous personal attacks like this are simply not done, IMHO. However, perhaps Allen has had a rough day or has a bad hangover and will return and make amends; he is usually very informative and fun to "talk" to, so, hopefully this will happen.

'Nuff said.

In the short time I've been enjoying the Campfire I've come to the conclusion that Mr. Ken Howell is a man of years,pride and intellect.I have also concluded that in his time Mr. Howell has already "Been there done that"
Let's show a little respect.

AD, your posts in this thread fail to persuade me that under ordinary, every-day circumstances, you are the prototype of the industrial-strength SOB that the nature of your posts implies. No, I believe that you're ordinarily a nice guy, that something quite out of the ordinary has aroused your animosity and directed it toward me. What, pray tell? Let's get to the core of the boil and get rid of it.

Otherwise, I have no more to say on this matter.

All the best to you and yours, now and ever! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I do not know allen personally, but i do enjoy his posts. I just hate to see everything become personal.

"borborygmic rumblings"

I first encountered the word "borborygmic" in a not-very-nice poem Eugene Field wrote about Socrates and Alcibiades back in the 1880s. It also had such words as "sigmoid flexure"
Borborygmus is the sound of intestinal gas making its way aimlessly around in the lower aspect of the large bowell. It remains Borborygumus until it makes its way out- at which time it becomes "Flatulence" or "Crepetation" and depending upon timbre might be labled the "fizz"; the "fuzz;" the "fizz-fuzz"; the "fazzzz"; or the one that goes "BRRRRRROOOMMMPPPPP!"

I don't know about Allenday, but I would say that was about as good a "broadside hit" as it gets.
I especialy loved the last part of you post Dr, Howell!
BTW, I have a flag coming, please PM me where to send it to Stateside when it arrives.
I would be honoured if you would Consider it my contribution to a very worthy project....
Catnthehat

I expect Dr. Howell's adventures and experiences acquitted in sufficient detail might take up several hundred pages of this forum and why should he take his time to do so except at a time of his own choosing and in a venue of his own choosing. It is a rather odd request and really not stated in such a way that it could ever be answered so write it off to a temporary brain glitch.
I hear he has written many books and edited more and substantial magazine works that the inquirer could read that may give him a slight insight into the answer.

Actually slasher I was very surprised that someone would call on Dr. Howell to for ANYTHING but advice!
I do believe that AD was properly blown out of the water with that last post of Dr. Howell's and it also goes to show , once again the the good Dr. is as articulate as he ever was.
I will probably never get the honour of meeting him, but would jump at the chance to do so.

Catnthehat

I've read Mike Venturino's articles for as long as his articles have been published in nationally distributed periodicals. I welcome him and his work to Wolfe Publications. No, I'm not a black powder shooter, but I am fascinated by firearms technology of all kinds. And given Mule Deer's statement about the significantly better editing that his work will receive at Wolfe, I expect to enjoy his work even more.

Dr. Howell, obviously I've offended you with my question, which I thought was a very fair and reasonable one. Since that is the case, I offer my apologies.

I'm not any sort of pillar of the gun industry -- just a guy who like guns and loves to hunt -- like 'most everyone else around here. Whatever I've been able to do in life I've earned the old-fashioned way, again, like 'most everyone else around here.

AD

Now, THAT is the behaviour of a REAL man and a gentleman to boot!

Your question wasn't offensive, just nonsensical. Your repeated insistence that I must answer you as you expected was mildly offensive. Your implication that I'm a liar with lots to hide is beyond mildly offensive. So exactly what are you apologizing for?

Happened to notice today at a magazine stand, that "Guns" magazine is headlining that Mike Venturino is now writing for them. If Mike has ever written an article on a subject I am interested in reading, I must have forgotten. I didn't buy that issue.

Nothing at all against Mike but I just don't have much interest in the stuff he writes about. Really liked Seyfried's stuff much better but that says nothing at all about the character of either writer. As far as I know both are fine gentlemen.

Venturino signed on with Rifle/Handloader and Guns/American Handgunner at the same time.

As to Mike V... I sometimes enjoy his writings, but not enough to buy a magazine based on what he writes, nor to buy a magazine just because he's in it.
Don't care much for Barsness either, but a few were tolerable.
I skip the shotgun/water fowl aticicals, the truck articals, and most of the varmint articals - these do not interest me.
I enjoy Seyfried very much. His articals interest me. As does Shoemaker. Aagarrd was a favorite, too. I can easily buy magazines simply because these folks are in there. ~~~Suluuq

BTW "why" isn't Seyfried writing for Wolfe? ~~~Suluuq

Sulu we don't know for sure. He was "let go" details unavailable. Some here tried to get Mule Deer (John Barsness) to tell the bloody tale but that was a no go.

I guess there are some things us mortals are not meant to know no matter how curious we are. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

BCR

FVA - He's been called worse by better men than you, and they were all the more right...

Regards, sse

P.S. He's also been called better, by worse men than you. They, on the other hand, were wrong.

LMAO sse, There were alot of comebacks that came to mind but I didn't want to get in a one upsmanship pissing match.
By the way. The Wife made quite a ham dinner with all the fixins the other day. Couldn't help but think of you.

This may not be what you're looking for Allen, but since I write about guns on the internet, I'm sort of a "Gun Writer".

My shooting career began near Frostproof, Fl. in 1952 or so. My brother had been given a 98 Mauser(war trophy and disabled) so he gave me the pellet gun to lug around while he carried the Mauser on our squirrel hunts. I don't recall that we ever got any, but it wasn't for lack of trying or enthusiasm.

A few years later he graduated to an H&R Topper in .410 and began to hunt Dove and Quail with my father. He could no longer be bothered to hunt with empty rifles or pellet guns, I was too young to set out unsupervised, so my shooting career foundered until 1963 in Oklahoma when he managed to purchase his Rem. 870 in 20 Ga., and mom started hunting with the .410. I was taken on occasional hunts for birds and upland game as well, and thus began my love/hate relation with the .410. Also, I managed to purchase a Benjamin 312 in .22 cal, and so began my love affair with the stalk after having read a Gun Writer's article about hunting with a...Benjamin 312, just like mine!

Another move to Guam, where I purchased a Win. Model 50 in 12 Ga from the money I made with a paper route, and from spearfishing. Yes, there is/was hunting on the island, doves, hogs, deer, and feral goats. Tough work, but rewarding! My best adventure was the monitor lizard I intentionally "grazed" one day with a thought of having it mounted. It came back to life after I got home, and though I held it by the tail as this occurred, it still managed to completely filet my chest and shirt before finally meeting it's end. There was a good lesson learned that day. Always carry enough gun, and don't pull your punches!

Upon returning to the US I had the pleasure of hunting wild quail throughout central FL, with family and friends, and even alone on odd occasion. It was perhaps the period I hold dearest in my historical perspective as relates to hunting.

Next thing I knew I had been recruited by Uncle Sam to hunt VC/NVA. I pursued this with a bent for survival first and foremost, used a broad array of weapons from the Win. Mod 12 to the mini-gun, and a wad of things inbetween that dated back to WWII. My favorite source of humor was the M3, but that is another tale. It was a rather exciting time, often terrifying, and it left lasting impressions. In the context of hunting animals, my most memorable observation was the bagging of an elephant with a single shot from an M-16 to the brain. Another was the harvest of a water buff with a .45 ACP, again, one shot. From this experience I learned that you never know until you try.

Time passed and as access to wild quail and small game became restricted in the Windy State, I began to hunt deer and other larger game. I have found success with a wide array of rifles and shotguns, and as time has passed have come to the conclusion that most anything will work within its limitations, and mine.

A couple of years back on another forum, a fellow took the occasion to kick me in the teeth without good reason in regards to the queston of 'wind drift'. Stinging from that a bit I launched into a study of the three divisions of ballistic science, firstly by reading the likes of Vaughn, McCoy, and a few other learned gents as they spoke of the science of external ballistics. Then came the muddy waters of Internal and Terminal Ballistics. So I guess I'm up to about the 3rd grade with that, just far enough to realize that 99% of the shooting public knows less than I. And I know less than ALL of those fellows. I am petty enough that I drifted back to that sight and delivered a well deserved kick in the seat of that fellow's pants, unfortunately the delivery was too subtle for the rank and file I believe. One even thought I was "dizzy". <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />My target understood I think, he never did respond to the post. Maybe next time he will be less arrogant, and more thoughtful. It is possible for some truths to be published on the Internet IMO.

I have hunted in Laos, Cambodia, North and South Viet Nam, the Bahamas, Guam and the US. That includes Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Kansas. I did bag a ground squirrel with a 2000 Impala about 100 miles northwest of Great Falls, MT, but don't think that's important. I've pretty much lost track of the deer and hogs I've killed, the small game and upland birds, well, it's a wad and that's a fact. I shoot clays a fair bit and really like SxS guns, rifle or shotgun, or both. I like pumps, leverguns, single shots, black and smokeless. Don't have a lot of use for handguns though, got tired of that a long while back.

I have been writing on the 'net for several years, and find that if you read a fella's posts for awhile you can pretty much see his/her character. You can learn things here, and you can swallow something HL&S if you're not objective and thoughtful. It goes with the territory, reading skills need a lot of excercise to be useful. I have even published tales unrelated to hunting! Would you be interested in hearing about my first colonoscopy? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Well, that about sums it up. Yeah, I left out some fine details, and a whole lot of philosophy! There are a lot of truisms out there, and I've seen enough crazy stuff in this arena to know better than to question what somebody says without good reason. Sometimes writing skills don't match thinking skills and things are tough to translate. Doesn't mean they are false or quetionable, just that a few questions have to be asked to get to the bottom of it. You know, like, "What's a good deer rifle?"

There's my particulars, and that's my take on cyberspace. And real space. Yep, the world according to Dan...

Gun writers. Yep that is what i call 'em. God bless 'em all. We are so lucky to have 'em. If the gun scribe is writing about something which catches my eye I then read it. No matter what his or her name is. I like 'em all.

Seeing as to the fact this Mike Venturino is from West Virginia , welllllllllllllllll i read his writings, when they catch my eye. Hell, I liked Charley Askins very much, liked his style.

..keep your powder dry..
.

allenday, answer Ken's question, 'what are you apologizing for?". Been waiting to hear your answer,or have you left us?

I think he's left us, Bart � hasn't posted anything on any thread since his "apology" here.

I Googled Mike Venturino and found this page. I side with what Allen Day had posted.

Ken, AD (a very good man) passed away a number of years ago. I have no doubt he would have responded to you if he had wanted to. Obviously you will have to agree to disagree.

Again, leave AD alone, God rest his soul.

Ugh, Ken is likely with Allen.

Nothing like digging up a 12 year old thread.......

Why someone would dig up an ancient post, and interject themselves to take sides against one of the parties to a private dispute from over 12 years ago, is beyond me. The fact that one or both of the disputing parties have passed to the Happy Hunting Ground, suggests why this may not be a good idea.

...and jumping into an argument between two guys who are both dead.


Only on the Campfire.

Uh, WTF. over ?

The good and brilliant often die young. Long life to you.

PS: Why would Allen Day like an Obama cocksuker like you?

brooksrange - ?



































note to self -

Jerry

Just another example of the infinite possibilities of cyberspace.

Is Mike still writing?

I quit paying for all the gun rags except Handloader.

Handloader and Rifle for me.

Well, before the wife canceled them and all I get now is Guns and Ammo and shooting times.

She was not supposed to do that.

I'm still waiting for Jack O'Connor's reply to Elmer's latest column in G&A.

C'mon, Jack, what've you got to hide...?

Might as well throw in Truman Fowler's latest snide letter to Jack in Elmer's defense.

And we can all be glad that Mike is still writing and educating us.

After re-reading this entire thread I find it amazing that no one even mentioned the part the editors play in the entire thing. All of the writers are hired and fired by the editors -- sometimes for good reason and others for political or private issues.

I have always found it interesting how a magazine can improve or decline with the entrance of a new editor.

Which also happens to be one of the biggest reasons writers move between publications.

I died in 1999, but came back due to popular demand. Admittedly, it's been an on and off thing.

I taught and wrote for a newspaper for several years, until it was bought out and a bunch of us was handed pink slips. With nothing better to do, I died again.

After being dead for a year, I got bored and talked to the host of Ghost Tours at Old Fort Henry. He suggested that I become alive again and chat with some of the folks at local gun clubs. I said okay, but before agreeing, he would have to explain why they called my haunt OLD Fort Henry when there wasn't a new one.

The tour guide didn't know, but he seemed like a nice young man, so I re-energized myself and started explaining to deer hunters why over 90 percent of the shots and distances to game in Ontario did not require a magnum.

As in the past, the 75 yard hunters continued buying 300WM rifles (or similar) for whitetails, and, along with Barnes or Accubond bullets, kept losing game.

I work with several indigenous friends patching the holes left in deer by monotonous, copperized or baked bullets, used by know-it-alls. They prove every year - with 100% reliability - that hunters can use expensive premium bullets with no devastating effects on animals.

The ointment we use on the whitetails has a long chemical name, but we just call it "Mag-Patch" after the inventor, Al Magpatch, of Cowlips First Nation.

Anyway, this has nothing to do with Ken or that other fellow. It has nothing to do with Mike Venturini, paper magazines or the itch associated with psoriasis. I just wanted to add my 2 cents and affirm my belief in the resurrection of dead threads and deer with patched over holes in them.

Happy New Year! And thanks to my old buddy Jim Stafford for this. You can catch him in Branson occasionally. Bien sûr!

Yeah, kinda like the fortunes of a sports team can rise or fall with nothing more than a change in head coaches.....

That reminds me of a John Wooter's statement.

He wrote this and I'll never forget it.

"Them as can writes........Them as can't edits"



Jerry

Can't please everybody!

Yep, sometimes I can't please myself. grin

Jerry

"I went to a garden party; to reminisce with my old friends ..."

Mike's interest have changed a lot over the years and he writes mostly about his current interest, nothing wrong there. He writes well enough that I read most of his articles even though I'm don't share that particular interest. I wish he dump the "Duke" nickname though.

Generally one of the better writers IMO,doing ,and doing well articles on everything from buffalo guns to varmint guns.I agree about the "Duke"part-it used to be comical how many times he(or the editors) would refer to "Duke"in an article,despite his uncanny resemblance to John Wayne.

His nickname has been Duke since he was a teen in West-by-God-Virginia. And I read every article he writes, whether it's of particular interest at the time or not. Somehow manage to learn new things.

Gonna have lunch with Duke and another friend today. Will give him regards from some of the people on this thread.

Please pass long my regards, as well. Met him in a cafe in Livingston some time ago and he was gracious enough to chat for a few minutes about mundane stuff.

Where can you find the article where he says he won't go back to Africa because of all the snakes he saw?