When or has John Wooters passed away? Back in the late seventies and early eighties, I used to get Peterson's Hunting, and really enjoyed his Whitetail deer articles. I knew a stock maker (Joe Balickie) that knew John personally. Joe hunted with him on his ranch in Texas. I enjoyed hearing stories from Joe about John and his wife. His articles always seemed to reflect personal experience. I remember seeing a picture of one of his favorite deer rifles in Peterson's Hunting- a .308 pre-72 Sako with a mannlicher stock and a 1.5-5x Leupold. I obsessed over that rifle and scope combo until I found one for myself. Anybody have info about John Wooters?

Haven't talked with either John Wootters or Joe Balickie for too many years. Both are fine fellows. Fervently hope that both are alive and well.

I met John Wooters at an SCI event in the 80's, and spent a few hours chatting with him when a friend and I took him to the airport. Great guy; one of my favorites, and how can you not like him and what he did. He was at least partly responsible for the whitetail craze we have today.And he was a very knowledgeable guy around a rifle.I think he is still alive, or at least I've heard nothing about him passing away.

Ken, Joe Balickie lived just minutes away from me. His stock work and checkering were first class.

Bob- yep, he was a QDM guy ahead of his time, and very knowledgeable about rifles.

Sako: Now that I think of it, I have a memory that Balickie may be deceased. I never saw his rifles in the flesh, but they looked very nice in the pictures. Wooters had, I think, a 280 and a 416 Taylor made by Balickie.

I read that Wooters suffered a detached retina and retired years ago. I have his book on handloading and its packed with common sense.

I was a big fan of Wooters. When he and Gary Sitton were both still writing for Peterson's times were good!

Bill

I too loved John Wooters, I read his work along with Keith, Cooper, and Bill Jordan in Guns and Ammo in the seventies.

I realy liked that Magazine back then.

BMT

I know John and at least as recently as last winter he was alive and well. One of the best gun/hunting writers of his era--or any other.

Maybe 15 ago at the SHOT Show, John told me something that has stuck: "We may think that gun ahd hunting writing is journalism, but I've done real journalism, and this ain't it. What we do is ENTERTAINMENT." And by and large, he was right.

JB

I just did a little searching, and I think Balickie is still around. He used to be quite a cook. I remember having some good spaghetti sauce over at his house. He was quite a character, and loved to talk.

I like JW's work too.

jim

John Wootters is a true gentleman of the old school. It is my understanding that John and his wife Jeanne are still living in their mountainside home near Kerrville, Texas. John lost the shooting vision in his dominant eye some ten years ago and then taught himself to shoot left-handed to continue work with cast bullets. I believe that he had a stroke or similar in the last year or so. Haven't visited with him in a couple of years.

John told the story of his Sako as having once been invited to a Sako collectors group. He gently deferred saying that he wasn't really a collector -- he had only one Sako. The response was something to the effect of, "That famous Sako of yours is a collection all by itself."

I remember seeing one other Sako of his. As I recall, the original version of his little .25 Copperhead was in a little Sako 461 action. That must have been 35 years ago, and the gun was later lost in a fire at his home in Houston.

Forty years ago he told me that there might not be a market for chronographs. "After all, a wise shooter could invest in a twenty-five cent ruler, shoot a few groups at various paced ranges, measure the drop at each range, and forget about muzzle velocities and ballistics tables." Hard to argue with that.

Whitetail season opens here next weekend, and I should take him a few rings of the smoked fresh venison sausage.

KenO

Was hunting with a good friend of mine from Kerrville last weekend who knows Wooters pretty well. He is indeed alive and doing well.

I knew Wooters a little bit and my main impression is that he was a straight shooter, which is not all that common in that business.

A forgotten fact is that he was responsible for the compromise that solved the SCI vs SCI local chapter dispute and saved SCI and allowed SCI to grow as it has.

I met John and his wife back in 2000. He had a wonderful knack for making you feel like you had been friends for the last 50 years. I liked him very much. I always read his whitetail articles in Hunting Magazine as soon as I got each new issue. Thanks...Bill.

I have always liked Mr. Wooters' work and think that he could have a successful book if he expanded his reminiscing about the early east-Texas deer camp(s) into a couple hundred pages. I still remember his stories about hunting with Mr. Fonville, who carried a Savage 99 in 250-3000 and a Colt Huntsman, and Palmer "Peg" Melton, who was a deadly jump shooter with his Winchester 64. I think that if he could put together a book, it would rival Skeeter Skelton's "Me and Joe" stories for easy reading entertainment.

Besides, a guy who shoots whitetails with Remington 141s, Sako mannlichers, Savage 99s, and Winchester 88s can't be too far off track.

Jeff

Have been a fan since I found his book Hunting Trophy Whitetails in the school library when I was a freshman in high school. Actually did a book report on it. Couple years ago I found out that book had been revised and I just had to buy a copy.

I agree, I'd buy a book of his stories in a N.Y. minute.

I read his stuff while growing up in the 70's as well. Always enjoyed it, and it was pretty obvious that he knew his subject. Hunting and G&A were really good magazines back then.

Jeff

I don't want to start a rant again, but the key words there are "back then."

I used to read Wooter's stuff first in Hunting. I too have a Sako Mannlicher 308 that is really my Wooter's tribute rifle. He was one of the first to write about management for big bucks and is largely responsible for people all over the country rattling and callin deer Texas style.

He wrote about hunting with lovely custom rifles, often with Mannlicher style stocks like his full stock Winchester 88 in 7mm-08 or his wife's full stock custom Ruger Ultralite in 308.

Regarding Mr. Balickie,one of the finest custom rifles I have ever seen was one of his. A custom stocked and tastefully engraved prewar model 70 in 375 H&H. The stock was a totally functional work of fine art made from incredible English walnut. It was owned by a friend who wanted to sell it for the princely sum of 2500 dollars in 1990. Yes,I am still kicking my self for not selling off a bunch of lesser guns and buying it. Did I mention that it wore a Schmidt and Bender 1.5-6 in custom claw mounts that worked and were engraved to match the gun?

Britt

Wooters was the only reason I subscribed to HUNTING. His was the only monthly article on whitetail hunting. Seems hard to believe now.

John Wooters has consistently produced what I believe to be some of the highest quality, in both substance and style, shooting and hunting prose that I have had the privilege of reading. His works have made my world a better and more interesting place.

Yes, put me on the fan list.
Many times while hunting I wonder to myself what would Wooters do with this situation.

Truely one of my very favorites.
I have a great many older 70's and early 80's magazine articles of his.
And an out of print book he put out in the 70's.

I've always enjoyed John Wooters writing too. He always seemed seemed to have deep, extensive knowledge about the subject he wrote on. He was easy to read, and his pieces always read in an honest manner. It never seemed like he was having to guess about something while sitting at the typewriter.

I'm glad to hear that he's alive and well. I'd love to visit over a cup of coffee with him someday.

I always enjoyed reading his articles, and learned a lot from his work when I was growing up.

And his Balickie Mauser 280? As a teenager I drooled over photos of that thing like it was a centerfold. It's no coincidence that years later, when I had my old P-64 fwt 30-06 restocked, it resembles that rifle.

I remember his "farewell" piece when he sold his deer camp because he was just offered too much money to turn it down. He should have waited a few years if he thought that was a lot of money.

I'm not faulting him and hindsight is 20/20, I'm just commenting on the parabolic rise in value for which he, no doubt, is partly responsible due to his writing.

To all,

Perhaps someone who knows Wooters well should invite him here to the campfire, to link this thread to him and to invite him to your get together next spring.

We was and still may be one of the best ever.

I'm also a fan of John Wooters writing. His hunting articles helped shape my understanding and love of hunting whitetail deer. One of his articles caused me to buy a Winchester Model 88. While I prefer bolt guns, I do agree with him that the 88 is a fine hunting rifle. It would be great if he were to join in here at this forum.

i remember reading an article about shooting the largest buck he ever shot. an old deer that he had to craw in the dark in south texas brush to get a shot at him at first light at a tank. if i remember the deer was was in the 150s and old. he wrote it was a natural real wild deer. a low fence buck raised on natural forbs not huge because of some unnatural agricultural crop. i don't completely agree with that. but i think he was commenting more on the quality of the buck he shot and how it had gotten to that size with very little help from humans either directly (supplimental feeding, high fence, selective breeding etc.)or indirectly (agricultaural crops etc.)

Place me high on the long list of his fans. Funny but I was thinking of him a week or so ago, wandering whatever happened. Thanks for the update. Good to know that such a knowledgable gentleman is still around.

Dave.

Back in the 80's there was friction between the smaller bore camp for big game (ala Jack OConnor) and the Elmer Keith camp that used the bigger bores. I like what John said. "Use enough Gun"! He was probably the one most responsible for awakening the desire in me for a .416.

John Wooters has cost me a small fortune but I sure aint' complaining. I have more rifles that I just had to have beause of his writing. Most recently the .416 project. It is shooting great and will soon be finished. Of all the gun writers I have read through the years he tops the list as the one I would like to meet. Glad to hear he is still around. reflex264

Wooters was and is a whitetail specialist who mastered the art of conveying the same quality in writing even if he was hunting a species for the first time such as his initial African reports.

I always like his subtle detail. He never drove a point down your throat, nor put himself on a pedestal. These are the gentlemen of the previous generation and we owe them for what they leave us and are bound to carry on, the elements of decency and self discipline they taught without intent.

He and his kind, are men of fabric. I never met John, but he took me on several hunts. I hope he lives long and smells Texas as long as it pleases him. Jeannie too, if she is like my American wife, she probably had a hand in his character.

AGW

I to am a Wooters fan and His writings got me on the right road to becoming a whitetail hunter. I bought a BLR in 308 because of his recomending that cal,also a 7/57 98 mauser because he taught me not to settle for a poor trigger.
I also stopped subscrbeing to hunting after he left now that people mention it.

A hunting buddy of mine actually bought Wooter's little Sako .308 with the mannlicher stock from Wooter's estate at the Tulsa Gun Show last year. Apparently John passed away in 2005.

Anyway I've got to shoot the little rifle that Wooters made so famous. It was a real thrill for me.

hubcap

hubcap: John is alive and well, living in Kerrville, TX

It took me years to find that same rifle, and I have hunted whitetails with it every year since I purchased it. I love hearing about all the connections to Wooters. One of the greats that will leave a lasting mark to the obsession with guns and whitetail hunting. That rifle started me out as a "Sakoluvr".

Can someone get this thread to him somehow?

Glad to hear the reports of John's death are exaggerated.

I must have misunderstood my hunting buddy's report. However, he does have the Sako .308 that Wooters made famous. He has all the paperwork and the whole 9 yds.

One of the all time greats.

Bump from the past. Any updates on John Wooters?

I came to love and respect Wooters' writing back in the early '80s when I was a kid. My favorite writers were Wooters, the late great Bob Milek and the "new kid on the block", Craig Boddington. I dearly miss the writings of Wooters and Milek but I often pull out old issues and still learn or re-learn things from them. One of my favorite Wooters articles was when he, Finn Aagaard, and Dunlop Farren hunted "wild cattle" in Texas. Seems like Boddington was in on that as well.

Yeah, the name is spelled with two T's: Wootters.

gun nut - I remember that 'wild cattle hunt'. Maybe a couple.

Didn't remember who is was.

Thanks for the reminder.

I also remember them recommending fairly heavy cals/rifles for the 'wild' cattle. There were good reasons.

Sako -

I CERTAINLY HOPE it IS the END of a trajedy.

It has been a MISTAKE and a CONSTITUTIONAL nightmare.

I hope that a book or magazine of John Wootter's articles gets published sometime. I'll buy it.

I have a piece that John wrote on cast bullets in my fovourites pile. The Jan 1983 Guns and Ammo has his writ-up on cast bullets in the various 7mm cartridges and it was and is my oft re-visited authority on the subject.
His enthusiasm for the 7x57 has him favourably remembered and his writing missed.
Best wishes for his continued good health.

Von Gruff.

I am a fan of John Wootters and Gary Sitton's writing in the mid 80's. I read a lot of their stuff in the Gun's & Ammo speciality magazines that were published then, line "Deer Rifle", All Around Hunting Rifles and other such one off publications of the time.

Wootters & Sitton-two of the very best. Both of them used rifles for turkeys and the above referenced 7x57 article by Wootters dealt with cast bullets. Great writers and much missed.

I did a quick search and discovered that Johh Wootters writes a column in the West Kerr Current.
His latest column is dated today. It is very interesting and worth the read.
http://wkcurrent.com/outrage-p1861-71.htm

Jerry

Back in 1971 I clipped an article by Wootters on the revival of the 250-3000 cartridge in the Savage M99A. I failed to record the source.

The article is printed on newsprint paper. The column was called "Versatile Handloading" and titled "Savage's Revival Of 250/3000 Cartridge Best News of Season".

By John Wootters
Associate Editor

There is a picture of Wooters wearing a silly looking cowboy hat.

Any ideas what publication this was?

Wayne

CaneSlinger, Thanks for the research and for posting the link.

beefan,
If you click on the Hunter's Guide on the left side of the page I linked previously, it goes to a good article by JW on field judging deer antlers.
I haven't been able to locate links to previous columns in that paper.

Jerry

Good piece.

Thanks for sharing this link and letting us know where John is, and that's he's doing OK.

DF

?

He is/was a good writer. I learned things from his articles.

Hi Carl,

I think jwall wrote it because of sako's signature: 2012 end of an error.

Good night

Dom

Back a number of year ago when the NRA had a traveling show John was one of the guest speakers. At break time I was sitting alone at a table and John came over and sat with me. Nicest guy you'd ever meet.

Read a few of his Articles, but never meet the man .

I really enjoyed reading John Wooters articles.

He wrote some really cool stuff, like the development of the "Wootter's Tooter," which was the .222 Remington case necked up to .25 caliber. Sort of a rimless .25-20.
I really appreciated his great book, "Hunting Throphy Deer." The guy really knows something about hunting mature bucks. E

I always liked his articles in the gun rags and have his HUNTING TROPHY DEER and COMPLETE HANDBOOK OF PRACTICAL HANDLOADING. Both great reads. I always was a fan of Mannlicher stocked rifles but was never able to find one of those SAKOs. I did have a couple of 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenaurs but sadly they were stolen. Finally just bought a Ruger M77 RSI in .308 and I like that one. I'm another one that misses his writings. I've got stacks of those old gun rags so maybe it's time I went through then and read those articles once more.
Paul B.

John was a great writer.I really enjoyed his stuff.

He was a great writer and I miss his articles. I still read his articles in old mags I have saved.

Yeah, the Wootters article was in Petersen's and Aagaard wrote it up in the American Hunter. I've still got them somewhere. I'm working off memory but I know Farren, being a blackpowder nut, used a .54 cal smokepole and they determined it was not enough! I think John used a .375, Aagaard used a .338 and then switched to his .458 and I think Boddington used a .338. Don't know why I remember these things...

I like the cattle hunt article but the one story that had me rolling on the floor was were he and his uncle(?) arrived at camp. The uncle carried some stuff into the shack and John heard a tremendous racket and horrible noises from inside. As he was reaching for a rifle and ammo, the end of the shack literally came tumbling down and a big old boar hog ran away. Seems the uncle found the boar sleeping inside with his butt to the door so the uncle hauled off and gave a big kick. The boar came to his feet and took off in the direction he was facing, right towards the rear wall.

Still grin every time something makes me think of it.

Dale

Hi E,

In Europe too John Wootters was known by rifles loonies, i appreciate his writing and he gave me some wildcatting ideas. He wrote good piece about the 25-20 in lever gun for short range varminting, but it's 25-222 Copperhead was closer to 250 Savage with 75 and 87grs bullet than the old 25-20. And very well balanced small round indeed.

Dom

I think of him every time I pick up his book that is about 3 or 4 inches thick.
PET LOADS
It has given me a lot to think about when it comes to performance of some rifle calibers that are seldom seen these days.

Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to visit with Mr. Wootters in his home a couple of times.
You will not ever meet a finer, and more knowledgeable, gentleman than he.
He has a link to the thread now.
I was reading his articles a long time before Hunting Trophy Deer was published. That is still my favorite Whitetail book. I have probably owned 30 copies; I give one to all the new young deer hunters I meet.
BTW, Pet Loads was Ken Waters! Many years ago, Mr Wootters gave me Mr Waters address; after about 10 years, I was able to buy his Ruger No.1 in .280; the one he wrote up in Rifle magazine several years ago.

Good afternoon Numero 1,

I'm sure Mr Wootters is a gentleman. I know about Pet Loads i have it with last add and it's in good place on my bookselves. Mr Waters is a man i would have liked to meet and talk with.

Dom

Back when Mr. Wootters was writing for the major publications he was my favorite. He still is one of the all time greats. I still remember him walking the isles in Houston at one the hunting shows or could of been at the rodeo with that hat he camoed with differant colored markers.
I like his early stories when he hunted around Columbus Texas.

I really enjoy reading and re-reading John's articles. I really enjoyed an article he wrote entitled "Cartridges to Start With and Stay With"

Hunting Trophy Deer by John Wooters is a classic book that belongs in the library of every serious deer hunter. Great read!

John was/is one of my favorite writers as well! I do hope that he is still alive and well. Many years back I worked with his brother, Denny. Both those guys were class acts! I wish them well.

Always impressed with his common sense and his savvy on hunting deer in the brush.

Always enjoyed Wooters, recall his love for mannlicher stocks, something I like as well. I think he had a custom 88 full length maybe by Rogue River Rifleworks, unless that was someone else.

Seem to recall a few works, one I believe was in Guns magazine around '77-79 IIRC, write up on the Interarms Mark X Mannlicher I believe, it was in 7x57, butterknife handle, I passed on the sporter version a few years later, for $200, regret that...

Another about sporterizing a Mil-Surp Swede Mauser in a Shooting Times article or other mag, really got my thinking cap on re: the 6.5x55 so I p/u 3 and had 2 sporterized.

Lastly, I seem to recall he could 'Get R Done' w/3 rounds. 308, 338 WM, and the 223 as I remember.

He seemed to tell it how it was, and true to his experience.

Just received an email from Mr. Wootters. He has not been well, but is getting better! He had read all these comments and said he felt overwhelmed- and inspired to write again! He did say that he still owned that Sako so many of you commented about.

John, get well soon. You owe me $5 for when I bought your lunch in Sonoma or Amarillo or someplace...

John Wooters was a great influence to me back in the day (late 70's).

I hope he gets well and writes again.

May God Bless him

BMT

Mr. Wooters, please come visit us at the fire. I still have my pre-72 full stock sako .308 It sees use every year. I took off the 1.5-5 Leupold and replaced it with a 2.5-8 leupold. It was the first sako I ever bought- thanks to you. Get Joe Balickie here too. Have not seen him in 15-20 years.