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

5sdad,

Simple and easy! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Click on the reply button of the person you want to quote. Use your moust to highlight what you want to quote... Then hit Ctrl "C" (That's hold the "Control key down and hit "c". Then place your cursor where you want the quote to go; the scroll down to below where you are writing and click on "quote". You should see this: quote] [color:"red"]here [/color] [/quote. Then place your cursor between the "quotes" and hit "Ctrl V". Wallah! Done. Amazing how easy that is..... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

BTW: Control C means "Copy", and Control "V" means "insert" or "paste". (Control "X" means "cut") Hope this helps....

Grasshopper

GHopper - thanks for the info - will run it off now and give it a try sometime. If it is possible to foul it up beyond recognition, I will be the man for the job. Best, John

'Lo, Matt,

Getting about time to change the tag end of that call sign, ain't it? Send me an email when you get a break and let me know how the Virginian is doing out West.

Doing more shotgunning and fly flinging than anything else, but you oughta see this new 45 I'm toting. I'll let you know where you can see some photos of it.

Apologies for the diversion of the thread.

Trading Ross for Mike V was a bad move! All this ends up doing is allowing Rifle/Handloader to play catch-up to the cowboy action scene. (Nothing wrong with CAS, just about all magazines have cowboy stuff these days- quite saturated!)

I'm not sure who on the current staff is supposed to write about the guns Ross wrote about? Who on the current staff has the experience Ross has in Africa? I'm not interested in hearing about which scope might be best in Africa! I want to read about interesting firearms, like only Ross could write them. I've bought plenty of Rifle/Handloader copies because Ross had writen something. I've yet to buy one because Barsness wrote something! ~~~Suluuq

Ross also had a spot in "BLACKPOWDER HUNTING" (The "Official Publication of the International Blackpowder Hunting Association"), published by Bradbury Communications Group. He is conspicuously absent from that club magazine as well as Wolfe's two, all enthusiasts mag's. Purportedly, there was more than merely a professional relationship between he and the editor/publisher. If so, and that situation went south (or is that 'went sour?') there is little reason to wonder about that particular absence... WHEW!!!, 'nuff explanation about that for your humble writer or any other guy I know! Anyone else enjoying Ross's work in BH as well as Rifle/Handloader as much as I would miss him too. Jim Shockey does some OK stuff for BH (minus the silly humor backpage), but I'm getting awfully tired of seeing him featured in so many product ads... not to fault a guy for earning a living, but it lends doubt to one's authenticity in articles and evaluations.

I subscribed to Rifle and Handloader specifically so I could read Ross's stuff. His interest in classic hunting rifles parallels my own. When he left, I left. I will pick up a Double Gun Journal on occasion when he's writing about something that I'm interested in. I will echo what has been said about Ross and the internet - he doesn't use it. I had to write him a letter once about a caliber that was obscure to say the least. A letter! He responded within two weeks and was great - he recommended a load that I could use. The man knows what he's talking about and has opinions. Isn't that what a gun writer is suppose to be, knowledgable and opinionated?

John

I miss Ross. He is one of the few comporary gunwriters I read fo the sheer enjoyment. It didn't matter if the topic was about something of which I knew nothing, would never own or even want to own. He is a cosmopolitan writer who frequently leaves me thinking, 'I didn't know that', or 'Now that you think of it'.

I liked Ross stuff, his reloading of odl guns, he did a story ( the little flag) something like tha t about loseing his hunt spot to a golf couse, i can relate to that. JB

"I had to write him a letter once about a caliber that was obscure to say the least. A letter!"

Here is his e-mail address: R1313S@eoni.com

Bandukwalla,

I stand corrected about the e-mail - when I tried to get this from Wolfe (before he left) they told me me he didn't have one. Anyway, it's good to have.

John

From what I understand Ross has a habit of burning his bridges so it's doubtful you will again see him in any Primedia or Harris publication. If all of you want better writers with varied experiences call Scovill and tell him rather than bad-mouthing him and the current staff. I know there are other writers with REAL African experience, like Kevin "Doctari" Robertson, who would like to write for Rifle, Handloader and Successful Hunter magazines. Editors need to hear from their readers.

The real problem with finding "good writers" is their knowledge comes from their years and years of experience. When they finally put pen to paper there's not much time left. Like Elmer titled his last book, "Hell, I was there".
Regards,
GeoW

GW, I think you spoke a whole mouthful there. You know, it's funny, but guys who spend a lot of time afield likely get hooked on it very early in life, and just can't quit. They'll neglect to get schooled well, often, and thus aren't the greatest writers around, so it's hard to interpret what they mean by what they say sometimes. Funny how that works, ain't it?

It's actually pretty darn rare to have doers and writers be the same person. O'Connor, for instance, was probably one of the best gun writers of all time. Really good writing of ANY kind is a combination of many things, and there's a darn good REASON that we lift up such writers as Hemingway to such lofty positions of honor. Largely, too, it's an acquired talent, and much training and experience doing it is required to become really good at it. Only the virtual savants, who come by the talent "naturally" seem to have it flow from them like water. Music's the same. Ain't many Stevie Ray Vaughns or Dwayne Almans.

I have to say that, though it's taken a long time to discern what's meant by what was said, some of the best "learning" I've done has come from guys who were doers, but had poor teaching or even basic communication skills. Mostly, I've let experience teach me what they meant by what they said.

To plunk some quarters down for a glossy mag, the thing has to have nice pics to catch my eye, good titles to make me read the first paragraph, and a good first paragraph to make me read the whole story. We're always in a hurry today, and only what reaches out and grabs you gets noted.

Good writers are not too rare, but great ones ARE. I put ol' Ross in the "very good" category, but you often had to have some interest in the stuff he wrote about, so he'd never be as much of a general draw as someone like O'Connor, who was much more populist in his pursuits, hunting deer more than anything, but loving the bigger stuff enough to teach us dumb country boys to love it too.

Bottom line is, business is business, and I've come to trust MD enough to know that if he says there was a reason for the rift, then there was a reason, and it's just none of my business what it was. I can deal with that. Yeah, I miss Ross, but I'll live, and I wish him well. Same for Rifle and Handloader, too. I wish it were different, but it aint', and something tells me Ross did indeed burn his bridge, so I'll keep reading and hoping a really good replacement comes along.

And I'll keep listening closer and closer to some of those folks I know that many laugh at for their disabilities, rather than for their abilities and knowledge. Funny how it all works, ain't it? Sometimes you find Truth in the STRANGEST places!