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This has been one of (if not the) best and most enjoyable threads here so far.
It is kinda cool to know the person, not just his (or some of his) works. There are some non-writers here that are real experts in certain areas and it would be great to know them a little better also.
And yes I do respect those who wish to remain somewhat anonymous and/or not be in the point position.
It is much better to "know the pro", than just a nickname. Maybe the rest of us rookies can ask better questions now, and better respect the source and content of the replies.
IMHO
Anxiously waiting for more to chip in, should they so choose.

Come on Ken, we've been waiting to hear about you!
What do I know about Ken Howell?
He edited Rifle during the years that it was the favorite magazine for all gunsmiths, he wrote THE book on modern cartridges, he is very well educated (got that here) and he has a sling swivel base named after him that I frequently use on custom projects.

How about how about these thing came to be?

SDH;

Ya gotta stop posting pics... a man is only so strong, and many more of those is likely to break me...

Seriously, you do BEAUTIFUL work, and I look very forward to the day that I find one of your creations in my hands during the fall season.

One of the most facinating articles I ever read was the one you wrote about mountain lions in F&S. I picked up the mag from a pile in a second hand bookstore maybe a couple years ago. The mag was pretty old even then.

I must have read that story at least 3 times. That article alone must have sold boatloads of mags for F&S.

As much as I enjoy your firearms and hunting articles - dang, if you can let rip with more stuff like that lion article - or even put it in books - I'd gladly help finance your next Africa trip! Ha, ha!

I read your book on fly fishing too and was quite impressed - especially the part where you loudly ignored the "elbows in" instruction of some self proclaimed expert... Ha!

TM

When I was much younger, some of Elmer's tales in G&A often caused me to chuckle out loud at his descriptions of people and events, or because of the way he "crowed" about his accomplishments.

As I grew older, it occured to me that he wasn't crowing, as much as he was simply narrating his own unique experiences.

I've been lucky enough to have known some real characters over the past 59 years and would've been happy to have known him too. A friend lent me Hell, I Was There several years ago and I couldn't put it down until I'd finished it. Chuckled some while reading that one too, but more from appreciation, than anything else.

Never enough characters in this world to suit me, glad to have more than a few around this place.

Glad you liked the flyfishing book. I still get a little bitty royalty check for that one now and then!

You sure I wrote the mountain lion story? I can't remember writing it, but then again I can't remember everything anymore.

John

Might could be an answer in there somewheres.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I'll be 60 in a few more months. Despite all the comments one hears about the legs, lungs or knees bein' the first things "to go", don't you believe it. My long term memory works fine, but it's often a waste of time asking me WTH I was doing yesterday, or last week.

Only a matter of time now afore you achieve exalted curmudgeon status.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Very interesting topic with lots of good stuff in it.

HBB

Yeah, it was yours, ha! I must have it stashed around here someplace, I'll have to dig it up. It was an old story even for a secondhand store.

There was one part about an island in Canada and wolves and moose and how the animal populations rose and fell and there wasn't really equilibrium or something like that.

The part about cats that spooked me was that they watched little kids at the zoo like desert entres being paraded in front of them.

The part I thought almost funny was the attitude of farmers or ranchers - shoot, shovel, shut up. I do agree with it. We certainly don't need them in Ohio.

What really bothered me was the attitude of state DNR officials - they aren't here, it's a figment of your imagination.

Sheesh, I remember reading this like it was yesterday - I'll never go out unarmed now, ha, ha!

TM

Isle Royale? There is a boom or bust there with moose and wolves.

Oh, yeah! It wasn't a mountain lion story specifically, it was about predators in general. Man, I thought that story was pretty recent, at least in geological time....

John

LMAO @ recent - may have been the 80's or even 90's but those days seem like ancient history to me.

Might have been a predator story generally, but I was on a lion reading kick at the time and took it as that.

For what it's worth - Ohio is drawing its share of predators. Deer season opened early for me as a farmer pal was issued 20 permits good till November to get rid of some of the population. I'll be going commando early tomorrow AM at O' Dark thirty with 12 ga and 000 and slugs. Any gun is ok - I may get to try out most of them on live game.

I've seen more coyotes dead on the road this year than any in the past. An entire pack seemed to have gotten clobbered by a semi on one highway. I've heard packs in my suburban, wooded, ravine lot and really wanted to arrow a fine 8 pointer bedded in my back yard... when asked, local authorities frowned on that even though I had my tags. Go figure,,, LOL

Bobcats, black bears, and some form of lion have been said to have been spottted or killed here lately. In southern Ohio there is definitely habitat for them.

Anyway, it was a neat article.

TM

Yeah, they used a mountain lion photo as the lead, which is probably why you remember it that way. Plus, I believe the article started out discussing lions.

There are a lot of predators in much of the country, which mostly indicates that they have lots to eat!

John

Don't know if you expected this to turn out like it has, but this is some kind of fine read! Thanks for starting the thread MD! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

My writing background is rather unique in that I would likely not be working for a gun magazine had it not been for my dad, Skeeter. I grew up shooting - the old man had me plinking with a .22 rifle at age four or five. He had me in a Winchester pump .22 at about six, and a Colt .22 SA at about ten. I knocked around in the New Mexico desert with those guns for years. Of course, I also had the chance to shoot quite a few of my dad's test guns, too. I was also blessed with the opportunity to grow up knowing some fine men who are frequently mentioned in this forum.

Went off to various colleges, rodeoed and cowboyed in the summer. Worked several big outfits, including the famed Vermejo Park. I was accepted to the New Mexico State Police academy in 1984 and was an officer with that fine department for about five years. When my dad passed on in 1988, Shooting Times asked me if I would be interested in submitting a few stories, which I clearly accepted. I later went to work as a special agent with the U.S. Customs Service, working on the New Mexico/Chihuahua border. I had a monthly column with ST for a few years, too.

G&A hired me back in 1998 to write my "Down on the Border" byline, which, fortunately, I still have. I'm currently the Resident Agent in Charge with ICE (formerly the Customs Service), and am still on the border. G&A and Jerry Lee at Handguns occasionally permit me to submit feature articles, so I tend to stay on the busy side.

I've written a novel, "Juarez Romance", a story about things I'm familiar with - drug smuggling, murder and corruption on both sides of the border. I hope to have it published in the near future.

The opportunity to write for ST and G&A has been quite an honor for me, especially in following my dad's footsteps, though I know I'll never fill those boots.

Bart,

Please let us know when your book is ready. I bought Down on The Border from you in Pittsburgh and was happy for my wife and I to meet you there.

I spent a while in El Paso courtesy of the Army back in '68. Was in Curley's Bar on the main drag in Juarez one night, heard about three gunshots, and a guy was lying on the sidewalk in front of Curley's, dead.

I've also witnessed how the Juarez police would arrest someone, take all his money and his shoes and then fine him and put him in jail because he then had no money.

Thanks...Bill.

Bill,

Good hearing from you. Juarez has always been a tough place, and it's just gotten worse over the years. Good place to stay out of, though I've spent my share of time down there.

Take care,

Bart

You fill your own boots pretty well, Sir!

An old lady whom I saw on this last trip up to Montana and back really filled her T-shirt so that it looked like a lumpy billboard proclaiming �

"At my age
"I've been everywhere
"Done everything
"Seen everything
"Heard everything
"The problem is
"I can't remember everything"

It showed.

I know how it is too. Too well.

How's that for a quick 'n' dirty "background?"

Think that would probably work as quick and dirty background, KH!

After that much time and quantity of everything and/or can't remember everything, I think we could probably allow a fair degree of improvisation, LOL!

Edited to add: quantity to the much time.