Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Re-reading old Hunting magazines

My uncle had subscriptions to all the magazines back in the early 90's when I was just old enough to be reading. He'd pass them along to me every couple of months or so. Then, I finally got my very own subscription to Petersen's Hunting for my birthday in 1996. It looks like I have a few issues from '94 and '95, as well as three years' worth of my own subscription. Mom drug them out of the basement and said it was my turn to store them or do something with them. So, I've been re-reading them for the last few days.

First, it sure is funny to read about how the .223 was wounder for coyotes and a guy needed at least a .300 Magnum to go elk hunting. I haven't read a magazine in years, but people on this very forum now regularly take deer with the little .223 and consider the old "marginal" elk cartridges to be all a guy ever needs.

I really enjoy re-reading the few things that JB has published in these magazines. It seems that his opinions of the day line up more closely with today's ways of thinking. I really enjoyed an article about pronghorn hunting called "The Big Sneak." There was another piece in the optics column about mounts and rings that I found interesting. It would be even more interesting to see a contemporary version of the same article for comparison's sake. Also, I see that JB had another NULA(or was it just an ULA?) but chambered in 7x57. I wonder what happened to that rifle, and why it's replacement was/is a 30-06.

Finally, I find myself really enjoying the "Backtracking" column at the end of each issue by G. Sitton. I don't remember any of them, because I probably couldn't relate to any of them when I was a kid. But I can as an adult. Sitton's style in writing that column was different than his normal columns. It's a style that I enjoy reading, in addition to appreciating the content.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. If anyone has any old magazines that they haven't read in a decade or two, maybe get them out and give them another look. It has made me wish that I had more of the old magazines to read. Might just have to go book shopping.

I read one last night, put out by G&A in 1981 as a special edition. "All Around Big Game Rifles". Each chambering got an article by a different author. Aagard on the 7x57 and .375 H&H, a young Boddington on the 7mm Remington Magnum, Wooters on the .338 Winchester Magnum, Milek on the 30-06, and the list goes on. No telling how many times I read that magazine as a kid and I still enjoy it.

Thats quite a list of good gun writers!!!

These days I find it difficult to stay awake while reading a gun rag, unless there's something I am specifically interested in at the time to be read. Twenty-five years ago it was the complete opposite. Maybe it has something to do with finally having almost all the stuff I ever wanted...maybe reading was just vicarious ownership of the same things.

I have a stack of a few years worth of Rifle and Handloader I should probably get out of here. I wonder if they have any monetary value?

I had a fella from the campfire that was downsizing and asked if I’d like some old magazines. Wellllll, he sent me 4-5 big darned boxes full of Outdoor Life, Guns, Guns and Ammo, Sports Afield, Field and Stream from the 60’s onto recent ones. I’ve never loved reading so much. Hagel, Occonor, Page, etc. I can’t get enough of them.

I've got about 100 pounds of old Wolfe rags in a plastic hamper in the basement. Every so often I rotate a bunch upstairs for re-reading.

Old JB has aged well; he's a lttle funnier now, and a bit more laid back. Still the best in the business, I think.

I miss Al Miller.

One of my uncles had PA Games News from the 60s 70s and 80s. Loved looking through those old magazines.

Pappy,

Thanks!

I have a bunch of old magazines as well, and my history of reading them goes back to the mid-1960's, when at the age of 12 I spent my paper-route money to buy a subscription to Outdoor Life (mostly because of Jack O'Connor) along with a membership in the NRA, mostly to get American Rifleman. Didn't know I'd eventually write for both, among a couple dozen other magazines.

It's been interesting watching the evolution of hunting/shooting magazines since then. I started my professional writing career in the mid-1970's by selling a story--not an article, but a narrative about one afternoon of winter flyfishing In Wyoming-- to Sports Illustrated, which back then ran both fishing and hunting stuff. Pretty soon I sold my second article to a new magazine named Gray's Sporting Journal, another narrative about elk hunting.

Back then many outdoor magazines published hunting and fishing STORIES that took us along for the ride, just as many hunting books were story-books. I made most of my living for the next 20 years writing hunting and fishing stories, including a few more in Sports Illustrated, and several dozen for Gray's Sporting Journal. Eventually I edited three magazines, including Gray's, a job I left only because my boss was a real jerk--God rest his soul.

During the 1990's it was obvious, however, that the market trend had turned away from stories and toward gear. I'd always written some about gear, but the demand for that sort of writing became stronger. That's why I started writing more about hunting guns, which eventually became most of my living.

But I still prefer writing stories, one reason I like writing for Sports Afield, one of the few magazines that still runs 'em. And I still like reading good hunting stories, the reason I still have stacks of older magazines, and shelves of older books.

We bought one our farms from an elderly cousin, who's husband was an avid sportsman. He took Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, and Sports Afield, and had since the 1930's. He gave me some of his magazines from the late 70's, and told me that a few years earlier, he'd dumped all his old ones in a sinkhole. He said that there were about 35 years worth, and that was the only time he'd ever thrown any away. I wished I'd gotten to him in time.

Up at the deer camp, we have stacks of them that were my Dad's back to the 40's. I think I've read every one, as with no electricity there, evenings can be on the quiet side. Much of the information is still very pertinent. But what I drool at most was prices, and simply calling a number, ordering, and it arrived at your door. Different times to be sure.

I hope Heaven allows time travel.

Know what you mean. Sure brings back memories.
Found Guns Magazine has a bunch of their old magazines that are able to be viewed online. Goes back to 1955 when they started to 1967 sometime.
Loved Jack O'Connor's writing. Love JB's too.

I enjoyed Al Miller as well. I prefer stories written by outdoor guys.

In particular..

Gordon MacQuarrie "The Bluebills died at Dawn" and John Barsness " A Hunter's Story".

I too have some older issues of Rifle and Handloader. Afew Peterson's Hunting and one Outdoor Life from 1954[?] with two O'Conner articles in it. Gadzooks, the prices back then!

Rifle and Handloader, they ain't just for entertainment, they can be used for research.

I am so dam forgetful, a year old story is almost new to me.

My oldest magazines go back to the early 40's.. I am not that old, but friends gave me a bunch.. Long range shooting is not new.. Guys were shooting chucks to 1000 yards in those days with .30 Newtons and a 6,5 QT that shot a 160 grain bullet.. The same in the early 60's .. I began my magazine buying in the late 50's.. First I loved O"Connor, but he is ok.. Hagel was the best, then Page, and of course Elmer..
When those guys were gone, my interest waned in magazines.. I still have a few of Handloader and maybe Rifle, if they seem to have good stuff.. Ah the good old days..

About ten years back the deer camp I was hunting from had old issues of Fur, Fish and Game. After a week reading the old issues I signed up for it as soon as I returned home.

The new issues are good but I would really like to find some from the 60's!

I enjoy your writing.

I also enjoy sporting classics, gray's for the writing

Thanks!

Wrote some for Sporting Classics in the mid-1980's, but other magazines started paying me more. From what I heard SC's still paying about the same, over 30 years later....

Love my old magazines have over a thousand. Sports Afield, F&S, Outdoor life, Rod & Gun, Alaska Sportsman, Fur Fish & Game, Argosy, True and many others from the 30's to the 70's. Also have a full year of Outdoor Life from 1919 and full year of Outers Recreation from 1918 in one of their binders. They ran some of the stories in series over 3 or 4 months so you would have buy the next months to finish the story. I like the cover paintings and art throughout the pages, the advertisements. I enjoy the stories, many embellished with a lot of bullshit and notions which is part of the appeal of them.

I found a passel of old "Rifle" and "Handloader" in an indoor flea market 20-odd years ago, including the first three of "Rifle", IIRC. Good stuff, but some of that old loading data is pretty sporty. Those old ones stay on a bookshelf, not the tub in the cellar.