Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Bryce Towsley is one of the countrys best-known gun writer?

And I'll even go so far as to apologize a second time �

I'm sorry that it'd be a short putt.

Every time I go hunting it influences my writing and it�s impossible to separate the two. I think that just about every hunt I do has some element that will wind up in my writing.

However if you are asking if I will write a narrative story about this elk hunt I don�t know yet. I depends on how the hunt goes and what I can talk the editors into buying. I can say that I have no doubt some part of the hunt will show up in an article or column at some time. But, I rarely know what, when or where until after the hunt. If it�s a great hunt with lots of adventure I would hope to sell a narrative feature. But, I honestly don�t know at this point.

I will say that it�s unusual for me to do a hunt on horseback without an adventure or humor piece resulting. I am sure also that I will write about the guns, ammo and optics used on the hunt.

I just got in from the range and am happy to report that my .358 UMT likes this new load better. The average of three, three-shot groups is .7-inch and the last one was sub-half inch. I thought that would be a good place to quit.

My plan is for it to really suck to be an elk in the Bob Marshall next week.

On the other hand, my luck with elk hunting usually is what sucks and it often turns into camping with firearms.

Bryce

Camping with bear protection is still camping!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> 721

+1
t

Well, good luck on your elk hunt. Any horseback camping in the Bob Marshall Wilderness would have to be a story in itself, regardless of shooting game or not.

Been several years since I was on a similar hunt in the Leupold Wilderness in New Mex., but I can recall almost every minute of the hunt. Came up dry on that one, too. Was worth every penny spent.

That settles it then. (no joke)

Though, I not sure I wanna be a gunwriter if the standard for making the "A-List" is: "He can feed his family."

Jeez . . . .

That's a tough industry . . . . <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" />

Thanx John,

BMT

Got two things worthwhile in this thread.


Helluva nice ram UMT, nice horns, classic Dall face, but about the dirtiest coat I've ever seen on one (seen a few of them) only adds to his value as a trophy though IMO. Congrats.


and oh yeah the other thing, Steelhead is a good moral compass, everyone needs to get laid more. Helps keep the insignificant stuff well insignificant.


YMMV, but I'd like to think the campfire is a place where we can all escape our day to day businesses, occupations(including gun scribes) and let our hair hang down and such and talk about significant things like hunting, who makes a good 4 wheel drive rig and why I'll never be able to see anything through one of those dim Leupies!

Bryce, I am disappointed. When I looked at that photo after you finally figured out how to post it, I thought, Wow, at last a gun writer who isn't too weak to haul a bull barrel rifle around the hills. Now you tell us it is a mamby pamby featherweight. Bah.

Haven't climbed many sheep mountains have ya. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Chuck

Bryce, not to hijack the thread, but please give me your thoughts on the .41 magnum as a hunting handgun for hogs, black bear, and white tails. From reading some of your stuff in the past, I know you prefer the bigger bore heavier stuff, but the 41 mag with Winchester 240 grain Platinum tips or Federal 210 cast lead factory loads are as big bore as I am going to get for the time being...

thanks in advance

Better idea:

Start a new thread.

Bryce is gone huntin'. He flew out this morning for a back-country elk hunt in Montana, so he will beyond the Internet for a while.

John B.

Well I'll say this for him, he's in a way better place right now than any of use sitting behind a puter!

JB-I found "the" barry patch the other day, get your double rifle and head on over. We can get out and see if we can call in a big bruin and you can adjust its attitude with you double.

Make it your best day!

Mark D

I saw your topic and had to read through it as I'd no recollection of the name. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Mark--

Thanks for the offer, but the upland bird hatch has been so good this year that my dog and I are otherwise occupied. Best of luck in finding one for yourself, though!

John

You're spot on about the birds, there is a ton load of them out there.

I went out checking for bruins and made the mistake of not taking my bb gun. Wouldn't you know it, I saw a ton load of birds!

This day is killing me, it is colder and I want to be on the hill and can't leave town until later in the day.

Mark D

Now we know what puts a writer on the A-List; the writer can support his family and he is proud of the free stuff from the big companies.

"It�s the 40X Titanium hunting rifle and mine is the first one ever made. It�s in .280 Remington, weighs six pounds and will shoot handloads into groups as small as two-tenths. That load averages .45-inch for six three shot groups. Most factory loads are sub M.O.A. Glass is a Swarovski 2.5-10X42 TDS. It�s a titanium action and a 40X barrel. The stock is graphite.
You might note the odd triangle shaped barrel, although I am not sure you can see it in the photos. It was an experimental way to reduce weight while maintaining stiffness. It�s funny looking at first, but tends to grow on you, particularly after demonstrating how well it can shoot.
On the side of the barrel it�s engraved, �The first Remington Custom Shop 40Xti presented to Bryce M. Towsley.

Not so bad for a guy nobody ever heard of don�t you think?

Bryce "


I can relate, so I'm going to crow a little, also: want you guys to know that I just received a very nice *hand written* $100 check last week for an article I wrote for a (non-firearms) magazine back in January 2005. Not so bad, Bryce! Not bad at all...

After reading this through a couple of times, I think Steelhead was about spot on.

It makes me wonder... if I were a masochist lurking around here, what better way to be happy is available than to announce myself as a gunwriter?

I am just back in from a terrible elk hunting trip. I didn�t even see a fresh elk track, let alone an elk. Due to a big mistake by the guy riding in front of me my horse was hit in the face, very hard, by a tree branch about an inch and a half in diameter. In the resulting rodeo I was tossed off and stepped on. As a result I am pretty much laid up with a back injury. (I will note that the fifteen plus mile trip out of the camp was no picnic. I walked most of the way because it was too painful to ride for more than a few minutes at a time.) But, I did want to check in to see how this was going.

(Please excuse any mistakes. I have been answering emails for the past two hours and right now am in a lot of pain. In spite of the arrival while I was gone of a new gun (that I bought!) that I want very much to shoot I am heading back to bed after I post this.)

My only question to you here is where did I ever say this rifle was free? Don�t jump to conclusions unless you have all the facts. Writers do sometimes pay for guns. Sometimes we also trade our services in consulting with gun companies for product (or money) and, yes, sometimes, but very rarely, they give us the guns. Not because they like us, but because we have a symbiotic relationship where we need the guns to test and write about and they need fair and honest promotion of their firearms. Most test guns are returned. Because of some very unusual circumstances this one is mine to keep.

I don�t ever recall stating which of these scenarios caused this gun to come into my possession. You are simply assuming things of which you have no knowledge.

Bryce

I have some experience with the .41 Magnum on all three of the critters you mentioned. I don�t keep track (although I should) so I can�t give you exact numbers. My guess is half a dozen deer and maybe that many hogs. I have not personally shot a bear with the .41 Magnum, but I have watched it done twice. I know some on the forum will say it�s not enough experience, but it�s what I have and from it I have formed some opinions. I�ll leave it to you to judge if they are valid.

My opinion, and I stress it�s simply my opinion, is that with the right bullets (and that is an important factor) it�s a decent whitetail gun in most hunting situations. It will work OK on bears and hogs, but I prefer something bigger. They can be tough and at times dangerous. Both times I saw the .41 Mag used on bears was while hunting with dogs. In that situation, to protect the dogs, I like a bigger gun to end problems faster. Also, in a bait or spot and stalk situation a bigger gun makes sense. Bears can be hard to track and I like a cartridge that punches clean through for a better chance of a blood trail. The .41 Magnum did not do that with any of the multiple hits on those two black bears. (Although it might have with better bullets.)

For the bears and hogs I would pick 250 grain, flat nose, hard cast, bullets in the .41 Magnum. I have used that bullet in handloads on hogs and deer. (The same bullet that Federal loads, from the same supplier.) I have not shot any cast bullets at bears, but that�s what I would load if I were planning to hunt bears with a .41 Mag. They also work well for deer, and I have had some good results with the Winchester 240-grain Supreme Platinum Tip ammo on Texas whitetails.

Bryce