Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters How Come Gunwriters Don't Do Manual Labor

I met Allison when she was 12 and I was 30, not too long before Eileen and I got married, when she'd made a pile of money off a lemonade stand and invested it in stock that did real well. I called her the Lemonade Queen, though she may not remember that.

She eventually became a hot-shot in promoting Montana for movie-making, and Eileen and I see her every couple of years, and always have a great time. She's a lot of fun, and smart as hell--so smart no guy has ever been able to catch her. If I were lot younger and single, she would be right up there on my list.

I used to be the captain of the university fencing team � on our way to the Olympics � when some *&^%$#@! stole our post-hole-diggers.

Only Ken H could come up with that --

A fellow in our area occasionally runs a clever ad in the classifieds:

FOR SALE: One truckload of post-holes. All or part. New, unused. Will deliver. Call for price. 555-xxxx.

Years ago, some wag advertised "pulled-up" wells that he'd chopped-up into post holes.

This farm labor stuff reminds me of how I got my reloading press. Buttreys in Glendive had an ad in the paper...Rock Chuckler combo for 54.95. I couldn't quite afford it at 18, but was going into town with the folks, and was trying to figure out a way to get one. Neighbor flagged us down...he and his brother had the railroad tie contract for the Glendive-Brockway route, and were picking up ties with the farmhand and loading them in a grain truck. Needed another hand and offered me $50 if I'd help. I told dad what I wanted, and went to work! Still think of that when I reload.

I used to buck small roundbales for 3 cents a bale, back in the early '70s. Got fed lunch, though, so it wasn't too bad. Danged old timothy hay, baled tight, and a hayloft that got plenty hot wasn't much fun, though swimming in the pond between wagonloads took the edge off a bit. That old John Deere G would just putter along at the exact right speed so we could wrassle the bales onto the wagon.

To answer the question,they do not want to break their trigger finger.

Or their "recoil shoulder."

Plus, why would they, if they can get paid for handloading, shooting and hunting?

And ALL those "free" guns.

Wtih emphasis on the quotation marks around FREE!

Yep Bad news MD,I don't have any questions for you today.

That's such bullshit. No way a big family sized bag of chips could last 2 days!

Damned capitalists squeezing the poor working man!

Are gunwriters free guns in any way related to our own "Free Classifieds"? They've cost me a couple grand over the years.

That's why I do not look in the "free classifieds."

Perhaps the better question is, "Why don't manual laborers do gun writting?"

Some do--but if they become good enough writers they eventually quit manual labor.

My old friend Bill McRae was an ironworker who came to Montana during the Cold War to work on the Minuteman missile silos. He started taking wildlife photos, partly because he ended up fairly close to Glacier National Park, and eventually started selling some to magazines. After a little while he was encouraged by at least one magazine editor to write a hunting story to go with his photos. He did, and after some years quit ironworking and became a full-time wildlife/hunting/gun/optics photographer and writer. He's mostly retired now, but still does an article now and then. The last one I saw was on optics and appeared in American Rifleman a few months ago.

Shrap, no "gun writer" here and maybe because, DID do manual labor during college, '67-'70. Convinced me to stay in school too. Worked bridge and culvert construction here in NW Iowa.

Sorry to say, the first mallard I killed met it's demise in a small explosion in the process of taking out some old concrete footings next to a stream bed. Actually, not a very efficient way to take ducks but you do what you have to do. And when you are a 19 y/o college student,..you do a little extra.

I do hope that they are socking it away for retirement as they are on their own when the time comes which can come late depending upon what they write about... My best friend growing up is running a pretty good hunting related business but I do worry about him when he turns 70. Scary for me but I am sure they do consider this in "the plans" as they generally are pretty practical folks.