Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game General Craig Boddington

I have just heard that Craig Boddinton has been promoted to Brigadier General. One of only nine in the United States.

Wow, that's an awesome achievement! Congrats there General! As an enlisted man, I better watch what I say about him now! <P>By the way, that must be just nine Brigadier Generals in the Marines. Seems like every major Army post has at least one General.<P>Here's a tip for remembering the different Generals...<P>Use the sentence, "Be My Little General". The first initial of each word equates to the appropriate rank. <P>B - Brigadier General<BR>M - Major General<BR>L - Lieutenant General<BR>G - plain ol'General<P>------------------<BR>Brian<BR><A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/bw_99835/" TARGET=_blank>The 416 Taylor WebPage!</A>

I thought he was retired.pak

hey,<BR>good point, I thought he was retired too, or is he retired for Peterson hunting mag<BR>86

I believe he is in the reserves. Despite the apparent promotion, I don't paticularly care for his writing.

I like his writing. <P>He was in the US Marine Reserves, and if he still in and makes BGen, then he must be one of nine USMCR BGens. The US military has a few hundred generals.<P>In the USAFR and ANG, general officer slots are often full-time. I wonder if it is the same for the Marine Reserve, and if he'll write as much as he does now?<P>BTW, general promotions are extremely political. For every guy that makes it, there are a bunch of guys who are as sharp who just weren't as lucky. Of course, this takes NOTHING away from those who do make it. Most of the generals I've known have been good people, solid leaders, and sharp individuals. I've only known of a couple who shouldn't have made it.<P>From Blaine, the "iron" major <BR>(and most likely a permanent major)<P><p>[This message has been edited by AFP (edited April 27, 2001).]

Thanks for saying that Blaine. I wanted to. I have been told many times that almost any body can make Colonel if they keep their nose clean but making General depends on which horse you back.<BR>BCR

BCR,<P>Actually, Colonel is highly political nowadays as well. Lt Col is not usually too hard. <P>Blaine<p>[This message has been edited by AFP (edited April 27, 2001).]

The Right Honorable Kentucky Colonel (now General) Craig Boddington U.S.M.C.R. (Usually Suggests Magnum Cartridge Required) certainly has the experience from which to speak. I have several of his books and while they are well written, IMHO they are highly repetitive. While he will deny a bias toward magnums, he certainly appears to have one. As I feel that magnum cartridges have their place (elk hunting over 300 yards, if you must), I don't understand someone like Boddington, who feels that a 300 magnum is optimum for big deer because even if the deer is too far away to be shooting at, you must have a gun that will take the shot because you have travelled a long way and spent a lot of money and you don't have a lot of time left and it's the only shot you'll get you don't have the common sense to pass on the shot. His writings are riddled with examples of shots he has taken with a magnum that, IMHO, he should never have taken (even he agrees on some of them). I understand that he doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to pass on marginal shots, but I dislike the fact that, IMHO, he preaches magnum use to others so that they will take them also. I realize that it is easy for me to pass on shots, since I don't have to make them to have something to write about, and I don't have to wax poetic over the latest coke bottle sized cartridge that will extend my killing zone from 475yds to 525yds, because I'm not paid by the word, but I liked his earlier writings better (before he decided he had to outrank Colonel Askins).

Old Dog,<P>Maybe it's not a lack of "intestinal fortitude" for him to pass on shots you think are too long. Maybe it's that he HAS enough guts to take a long shot even if it means being criticized. He obviously has enough guts to admit when he makes mistakes. That is more than I see most people do. <P>I'm sure Boddington's massive experience hunting virtually every type of animal on almost every continent under all kinds of conditions has NOTHING to do with his preference for magnums. It's obviously lack of common sense that makes him like magnums. If Craig Boddington doesn't have common sense about hunting and shooting animals, I pray that I never get any either.<P>And no, I do NOT agree with everything he has to say. (Crud, I just barely agree with everything I MYSELF have to say.) I just cannot out-of-hand dismiss a man that has arguably more varied hunting experience than anyone else alive today. <P>Besides, taking long shots on game is NOT a moral issue. Morality has to do with being honest, telling the truth, having integrity, not cheating on your wife, etc. The range at which you choose to shoot game is a personal decision based on your own proficiency. No one ever seems to criticize the guy who takes a 50 yd shot on a deer running flat out, but hunters muff those shots each year. I myself won't take such a shot. That doesn't mean I am morally superior to the guys who do. It just means I haven't had enough of the right kind of practice to make that kind of shot with confidence. But I WOULDN'T have a problem resting my rifle and taking a 400 yd shot on a deer under the right conditions. I wouldn't care if I had my 30-06, my 300 Win, or my 338 Ultra.<P>One time I made a well placed 318 yd (med long range) frontal shot on a Texas Whitetail--dropped him in his tracks because I hit him within an inch of my aimpoint. Maybe those 300 rounds through my 300 Win the month prior and the sub 1/2 moa load weren't a waste after all. Regardless, the hunt director gave me a lot of grief for taking such a long shot. However, he didn't say a word to the guy who missed a nice buck at 60 yds becuase his scope was loose. <P>Blaine

Blaine, <P>I can't believe that you would admit that you can't shoot the right eye out of a running deer at 100 yards, even if he is running from your right to left.<P>If you are really going to move back to TEXAS you are going to have to get better than that. At telling them, anyway. LOL

I think perhaps Boddington's wife's .260 is changing his mind about the need for magnums. He's impressed that nothing shot with it so far has managed to stop a 140 grain bullet. I coulda told him that, but he'd never speak to a squid!

I think perhaps Boddington's wife's .260 is changing his mind about the need for magnums. He's impressed that nothing shot with it so far has managed to stop a 140 grain bullet. I coulda told him that, but he'd never speak to a squid!

Regardless of one's views of General Boddington, the guy lives the life most hunters wish they could(yet they may not admit it), and thats world wide hunting. Damn, I'd like to be able to do that! Heck, I'd settle for a bear hunt in Alaska, let alone the world. Gotta admire that portion of it. ~~~Suluuq

Yesterday I was cleaning out some three-year-old gun mags and I came across an article by Boddinton in which he compared what he called "the three best all-round" deer pills-the .270, .280. and the ol' .06. Go figure.Maybe he hasn't always speed crazy. Doug

I wouldn't consider Boddington to be too much of a magnum freak, actually... in a piece he did a few years ago where he opinied on the optimal cartridge for each of several species of big game, not all chosen were magnums. Granted, he does love his custom 8mm Rem and his David Miller .300 Win. amongst others.<P>Frankly, I agree with Rusty Gunn... who wouldn't like to have the hunting experiences that Boddington has? Is he creating a "magnum craze" with is writing? Perhaps he's aiding it but the responsibility ultimately rests on the shoulders of the individual. If I can't shoot my .300 Weatherby accurately, it stays home.

In the past 6 months, I have read dozens and dozens of his articles in magazines, and frankly I can only recall one or two in which he even told what rifle and caliber of gun he used. The only articles he mentions the gun is if he is writing about a cartridge or a gun, his hunting articles never speak of the gun since I started paying attention to him. <P>As for envy, your damn right! The guy has a dream life, traveling the world hunting every big game on earth. I only dream of being able to do a handful of such hunts in my life, where as he gets to do more in several months then I will be able to do in my life. Envy, damn envy.