Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters David Petzal

John B i was thinking your videos was what was loaded in the IPOD Obama gave the Queen of England.

Almost certainly!

I enjoy Dave Petzal on TV as well as I enjoy his writing. Currently, he and Mule Deer are the only two I look to for information.

I accept information from everyone but Dave and John explain things in a way I understand. In addtion, they both have a great sense of humor and more than a boatload of experience. They both have my greatest respect.

When I see or read Dave Petzal I think "curmudgeon" which is an observation of style and not a criticism. Whether he is or isn't I don't know.

I find it refreshing compared to the BS artist style which I see (and avoid) too often. With his style Petzal can convey information succinctly and, I think, with veracity. I'm certainly in no position to criticize his opinions.

I like him maybe he is over your head

I was agreein` 100% until you said this.
A very close 2nd maybe, but funnier? Nope

Recently stayed at Holiday Inn Express and had a bottle of Smartwater one day earlier in the week. Apparently important to some that we qualifiy ourselves.
My opinion of Petzal continues to grow as I think he was a good writer to begin with, and has continued to improve. Believe he's the real deal along with Boddington & Barsness, I appreciate anyone that is capable of making me think.
Haven't seen Petzal's TV show, so no comment.

The subject has been raised before on the 'fire. From the archives, here's a quote and a reply from about five years ago:




--Bob

WiseGeezer (whoever he is) once threatened to shoot me in the Achilles tendon if I didn't slow down while we headed up a Montana mountain one snowy November day. I complied.

The man anticipated your statement. Here's another quote from about five years ago.



--Bob

and about six years ago, you had known him half of your 52 years. Thanks for the reference to put the pieces together, MD.

Wish WiseGeezer still posted here, but it appears he hasn't posted here in six years. No farewell, just no more posts.


I read Petzal back in the mid-1980s in F&S. That was 25 years ago, and he had the curmudgeon persona in full gear even at that time (if he's turning 70 soon, he would have been in his mid-40s then). I enjoyed his writing and learned a lot from him at an impressionable age.

I was a new rifle loonie a few years back, and traded into a used Bansner Sheep Hunter in 7mm WSM. I couldn't get it to shoot like I wanted and began using the Internet boards for the first time to get help. Out of the blue, a fellow lefty gives me a real shot in the arm, and good advice......signed his post "D. Petzal". We carried on an Internet conversation and I've been a fan ever since, was prior also. If I want a BS article supporting every new product, there is plenty of that. But, when I want the real deal, give me Petzal.
Don

Here is some classic WiseGeezer from a post 6+ years ago:

I enjoy Dave Petzal's segments on the television show The Gun Nuts a lot.

Curmudgeon? Most certainly, but so am I, so we share a point of reference.

Knowledgable? Without a doubt.

Not politically correct? Bonus Points!

I do wish that his partner on the show Phil Bourjaily would not speak into the camera with his eyes closed. I find that an annoying behavior in anyone who practices it. In spite of this, he too is worth watching.

If I had the chance to go on a road trip or hunt with either or both of these guys (and of course Mule Deer) I would jump at the chance in a heartbeat.

I like the Outdoor shows and I like the various hunting celebs that you guys hate. I also like Dave Petzal.

Sums things up pretty well. Love his blogs on Field and Stream's web site. Lt's of people disagree with him, but a lot more seem to find him pretty sharp. I'm in that group. As to his wisearse humor, he'd fit right in with the folks at work.

My thoughts exactly! The man knows rifles and is intelligent.

I've been reading him since I was ten years old or so (1994) and find him refreshingly honest, practical, and as much of a smartass as I am, which I like. I haven't been around that long and I wasn't even a thought in my parents minds when guys like Elmer Keith, Jack O'Connor, Col. Whelen, or Warren Page were in their heyday, but people like Petzal (and a couple of others) serve my generation as a reliable tether to those of the "old guard" and help provide much needed direction in the days of marketing journalism.

Why do I think that the majority of the people who think Petzal needs to "give it up", especially those who would go so far as to verbalize their opinion without provocation from behind a computer screen, would be the first to boast of making his acquaintance at SHOT Show or in the field?

It surprises me how many people think Dave Petzal is O.K. or even good in his writing's or on T.V.
I thought he was the worst ever.......until I watched a horrific hunting show with Dave Blanton speaking some inbred dialect of english spending entirely too much time standing on the backside of a goat.

Its funny how some Internet commando says, "I've shot more, own more, blah, blah" only to find out he's a piker.

One thing I've learned on this site: if you can't back it up it's bragging. And if you brag, you'll be cut to pieces.

Did WayneShaw, the OP, ever post again after Mule Deer straightened him out on the facts/stats?