Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters FINN AAGAARD & LES BOWMAN on the 7mm Rem Mag

In case you missed it, I would read the article John Barsness wrote on the 280AI in Handloader 251 (latest). He uses the term "churners" (and has in the past as well) to describe all rifle looneys (himself included of course). This would encompass every one that owns more than a 30-06, 12g and 22LR by my estimation...even Mr. Scovill.

I doubt that Scovill dreamed the term up on his own.

Kutenay:Amen to your comments on the good folks here!!

Now don't anybody flame me here if I've maybe been misled by what I've been reading for 15-20 or so years, but that guy Walt Prothero, who has been writing about his hunting for quite a long time, seems like a very experienced guy who has logged a lot of wilderness time; by himself or with companions in Alaska,mexico,etc. He has hunted guided quite a bit lately, but hell you have to in Asia/Africa, etc. where he goes....

Anyway I enjoy reading Prothero's stuff

djpepper,

I first heard the word "churners" was from my buddy Brad Ruddell, who works for Weatherby. Brad uses it to describe the people who constantly buy and sell firearms, often trying everything new and enjoy that aspect of the shooting game. And I believe I said that in the article you mention.

I mentioned this to Scovill one day on the phone, and the next thing I knew he had used the term himself in an article, but in a somewhat different way than Brad did, that I have never been able to quite pin down.

Brad's point was that "churners" are the people that actually provide the profit margin in the shooting sports. If not for them, the industry would be in real trouble and we'd have a MUCH smaller array of products to choose from, whether firearms, bullets, or boots. I suspect he is right.

Kute,

You're absolutely right, but the reasons for the trend are many. When I started out writing 30-some years ago, the magazines actually looked for writers who lived in rural areas (which were far more abundant back then, both the rural areas and writers who lived there) and hunted and fished. If a writer went on a trip beyond his normal haunts, it was often paid for by the magazine, instead of an advertiser. Consequently there were an awful lot of hunting writers who actually hunted on their own, and many who were also guides.

Eventually, however, there came a trend for manufacturers to take writers on hunts, hoping for stories. Things did not change overnight, but today the trend in magazines is to hire writers who may have killed a few whitetails, and then send them on "industry" hunts to gain experience. Some of these guys actually begin to think they are real hunters, when many can't even gut and skin a deer. They also tend to take this hunting as perk of the job. In fact, one manufacturer I know well says that these days he is besieged by writers who ask, "When are you taking me on a hunt?"

On the other hand, it is becoming harder and harder to hunt on your own in many places. John Nosler used to hunt British Columbia every year more or less on his own, the reason he got to kill 30-some bull moose in that province alone. But now it is mandatory to hire a guide/outfitter, and that opportunity is gone. In fact, it is hard to find places anymore where somebody can hunt even caribou on their own, if they're not a resident. Alaska is about it, but the percentage of charlatan "drop-camp outfitters" is rapidly discouraging the practice. You can hunt in Quebec on your own, but only out of a camp with a "camp manager" present.

But it is still possible to do a lot of DIY hunting in other places. The present state of the "hunting magazines" is one reason I still make it a point to do more than half my hunting in Montana. Once in a while I hunt with an outfitter here (though I have also done some guiding for at least 3 of these outfitters), but mostly it is on my own--and on public land. In fact, ALL the game my wife and I took in Montana this year and we hunted a LOT) was on public land, or private land enrolled in the state Block Management system, where anybody who signs up can hunt it. I know some other writers who do this too--but they are becoming scarce, and none that I know are much under 50 years old.

It is also the reason that very few of the features I run in SUCCESSFUL HUNTER involve industry hunts--and then only if the hunt itself is a good story. Mostly I try to run stories by writers who actually hunt on their own, or guides themselves.

OK. My two cents. I post here for two reasons. I want to learn things from others that will make me better at hunting and shooting. And I want to share what I've learned and why I believe what I do.
For that reason, I don't indulge in personal attacks nor do I ever suggest that anyone post a certain way or not post at all.
The reason for this is very simple. Even people with limited expereinces can, sometimes, pass on to me something I need to learn.
What has this all got to do with the 7mm Magnum and the authors cited here ? Simple. My sources of information back when the 7mm Magnum came out were limited to gun magazines and gun books. As I got more experience with these, I discovered alot what I read wasn't worth much. But some authors, like the two cited here were worth reading in everything they wrote. It's even better here. We get world class writers and world class hunters. We get people like Savage 99 with whom I often clash on the subject of some optics. But I can assure you that he, just to use as an example, is a real gentleman and well woth listening to. We've talked several times on the phone. I consider him a friend. We are richer because of the wide variety we have here. Much more so than just reading the few select authors that are the real thing. E

E - well put. Best, John

I have Finn Aagaard's book on rifles and cartridges. In it, there are stories both by Finn and Les Bowman on the 7MM Mag., a great man (both of them were). It makes for some very good reading. Thanks...Bill.