Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Is there any chance of getting Ross back?

Well, Ross doesn't have to be writing for Wolfe for this group to be reading his Most Excellent stuff. I am thinking that he could even be writing here if we could find a way to compensate him for the work. Perhaps he retains the Internet rights to his work?

Yes, things change, but often the changes set in motion other forces. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

jim

Uhhh...sorry for my rant of last night guys. I just get irked that the old days of watching the mailbox for the new issues of RIFLE and HANDLOADER with true anticipation are gone (for now at least) because Scovill's inferiority complex will not allow him to to exist in the shadow of Seyfried in either of his magazines. I do not think "inferiority complex" is an improper assessment of the old fellow considering his O'Connor piece last month. Why else would he depricate the works of two acknowledged greats in the genre if not in an attempt to delude himself into thinking that his own body of work has comparable merit?

OK...I will not piss and moan about Scovill running Seyfried off anymore. I've subscribed to DOUBLE GUN and will look to that publication for my Ross fix. I've accepted my fate. Heck, I might even be forced to start reading COMBAT HANDGUNS again.

PS I know his name is "Dave"...the "Dick" thing must have been a Freudian slip...sorry.

Peco, no need to apologize. You spoke from the heart about something that was important to you. I think that is what this place should be all about. Not only that, but as I said, you had (and have again) some very valid points and good thoughts. Thanks for sharing. John

I agree I do not subscribe to any mag that does not have articles by Seyfried he is the best

I lost my desire to read any more of Ross's writings after he mindlessly bad-mouthed the 458 Mag.
Articles like that by any writer probably make people like Phil Shoemaker laugh !
High time he found another occupation...

I don't believe it's enough to be knowledgable about firearms to be a gun writer... the ability to write is also necessary. Ross fails on the second requirement IMO.

Ross never said that the 458 Win was not effective he just said that he did not like it because it had to operate at high pressure and for an African stopping rifle the high pressure was not prefferable.The 458 win has been known for squibs in Africa because the small case requires a heavyly compressed charge. As for his writing ability BRAD I find his style quite enjoyable and extremely knowledgable I also like his choice of adjetives

I've always found his writing style clunky and sophomoric... tough reading. However, I absolutely respect him as a guy who's "been there, done that."

Dunno what other folk consider most important about writers, but for me and mine, the most important is real information.
Seyfried harped away on some stuff that was either really dated or ridiculous, the .458 thing, boat tail bullets, and the pre 64 praise all were a little over the top.
That said, Seyfried was one of my most favourite writers for the information he passed on to ignoramouses like me.
Ross impressed me with his sense of ethics regarding the hunt, his love of wildlife kept him from makin statements that brought others down into the pits. Eg; one writer has said that elk are stupid. Well, I'd like to show Mr. stupid elk our ungulates, cuz they are anything but stupid.
Every time Ross decided to really write, it was like I was in school, but better.
I wish that all the towering egos would cast an eye down here to the insignificant readers. We don't need advertising sycophants, we don't need propoganda. We just need good solid information.
Glad we still get Pearce, Bernsness-and sometimes Venturino.

We all have out favorite writers and not everyone's prose is going to please everyone. That's just the way it is.

I do consider Ross to be a great writer, and I hope he produces a book or three before his career is over. I remember a superb story that he wrote for Wolf in one of the hunting annuals about his multi-year quest from a trophy Alaskan brown bear. It was a stunning, riveting story -- one of the finest hunting stories of any kind that I've read in my life, and it should be in a permanent, hard-bound book of classic hunting adventures.

The talent is there....

I'll also say this: Ross's brand of all-around hunting and firearms experience is somewhat rare in a gunwriter. He's been a world-champion pistol shooter, an African professional hunter, a professional rancher and North American big game guide, a world-class trophy hunter, and an advanced student of fine firearms. He's no fake.

On the other hand, there are writers afloat who ARE fakes. They have very little hunting experience, and they try their best to phony their way through that part of the program, even though some of them DO write like angels..........

AD

I've often wondered what the proper pronunciation of Seyfried is. See-freed, Say-freed, See-fryed, Say-fryed and so on. Anyone know how HE pronounces it?

He pronounces it 'SIGH-FRED'.

AD

Thanks, allenday. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Allen, ironically, I went hunting for that article last night. Found it and read it again. It's a great read. Phil Shoemaker has a great article on the 416 in the same issue. Another of my absolute favorite's.

They can be found in Hunting Annual Fall 1999 Number 3 if anyone is interested.


Chuck

I first encountered him (or his tracks anyway) when I went to Gunsite for the first time in '90. There was a life-size picture of him on one wall in the classroom (building "Luke" in those days IIRC), with the caption "You can't miss fast enough"; I understand that was a saying of his about handgun shooting.

I liked reading his work in the Wolfe publications because he could draw you into some technology you cared little about with the quality of his experiences with it and his descriptions of real use in the field. He intrigued me with things I was not "in to", the same way Skeeter Skelton could. The Wolfe magazines are poorer without him, at least for me.

He did get off on tangents from time to time, and some stuff he claimed just is not true to my knowledge. But so what: on the balance he was a large plus.

jim

Chuck,
It's odd that you choose that magazine to post. Ross's Brown Bear Article was an absolute classic that cemented my admiration for his work. I have looked high and low for my copy with no luck. Though I'll never forget the hide on the side of the cabin or the picture of the paw print in the snow... I'll no doubt be branded a Winchester Looney, however, when he desribed examining Morris Talifson's old M70 in .375 H&H, his Three and Six Bits, it literally brought goose bumps up on my arm. An incredible piece or work...

Thank you for the reminder. I'm ordering that copy from Wolfe today...

Regards, Matt.

Ross wrote some good ones including an excellent article on handloading the 45 Colt for big game. I believe he might have taken a buff or two with the 45 Colt along with a friend/guide.

Ross took an excellent muley not too long ago with an old muzzleloader too - over 30" wide or nearabouts (I'm sure it was on private land though)

MtnHtr

I think this is a very fair statement of what I usually feel also. There was no questioning his experience, but sometimes I myself found his writing a bit short of others.

I think it's interesting how often this subject comes up. If it keeps up I expect someone someday will write a column entittled "I never read Ross Seyfried". <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I was at the NRA annual meeting a few years ago when it was held in Orlando, FL, and came upon the Wolfe publishing booth. I was talking to the guy in the booth (Don't remember who it was) when I turned around and saw Ross. I acted like a fool introducing myself and shaking his hand, because I didn't know how to pronounce his name. Very tall (I'm 6') but with a rather high-pitched voice. I'm sure I gushed about how much I enjoyed his writing and he, in turn was very gracious. But I'm sure I walked away red-faced because I never called him by name.

Great Post Idared

Soon we�ll deny that we ever read the greats (like Ross) because they had a controversial opinion.

I love to read his writing because he actually has an opinion and experience to back it up. Hopefully he is well and getting fresh controversial experiences to write about for a long time in the future.

It is funny that some feel he was not a �writer�, but IMHO if I wanted �fine literature� I would read anything but a shooting or gun magazine. He was always entertaining and informative and if he had an opinion it was because he had some experience with the subject.

I�ll buy his stuff.