Did any of you know him very well? I always enjoyed his writing, but I know very little about him, like, where was he from, his background, did he do anything else besides write, and things like that. How did he come to write for Field and Stream?

Where did he live?

Can anyone answer some of these questions?

Allow me to add another question. Did he ever publish a book? Don't recall any. Back in his day dad was a JO'C fan we only got OUTDOOR LIFE so I never had an opportunity to read much he wrote. Only recall he was a 7mm advocate. Mashburn, maybe.

Page wrote a book of his hunting experiences, One Man's Wilderness. Some will argue with me, but it's as good as most anything O'Connor wrote, although different styles. He also wrote The Accurate Rifle, an early text on the intricacies of benchrest shooting. Both books are readily available on the used book market.

I recall that Page was a Harvard graduate, and post-WWII was teaching (English?) in a private school, when he applied for a position writing for Field & Stream as angling columnist. The then-editor offered him the position of shooting editor, which he accepted.

Besides being a hunter of very wide experience, he was a record-holding benchrest shooter, who did much to promote the competition.

I've hunted with one of his outfitters, who noted that Page was a pretty quiet person around a campfire, not putting up with a lot of BS.

--Bob

I very much enjoyed his book One Man's Wilderness and really enjoyed his writing style, more than Jack O'Connor. The Accurate Rifle is another good book, but much more technical.
I only wish I had access to more of his writing!

I don't know if it's true or not but I've read that he doidn't know much about guns until he started writing about them. I did enjoy his articles though. I think he had some to do with developing the 7 m/m Rem. mag., .243 Win. and maybe 6 m/m Rem. I could be wrong but, seems like I've read that.

Pretty sure he had a lot to do with promoting the 243/6mm bore size. I had a pre-64 featherweight 243 that was 'improved' to 240 PSP (Page Super Pooper). Essentially a 6 Rem improved or more likely a 6mm-257 at the time he made it. He had another 240 that was an improved 243...this was before the 243 winchester.

I remember reading about him going to NZ and killing a bunch of critters with the 240 PSP.

Page was a great gunwriter.While not as widely acclaimed as O'Connor he was more experimental and technically oriented.VERY experienced and well travelled hunter,who went about everywhere you legally could in those days.

He loved wildcats and his favorite rifle/cartridge combo was a rifle he called,I think,"Old Betsy", a Mauser actioned 7mm Mashburn(long?).He used almost exclusively a 175 gr bullet loaded to a bit over 3000 fps on just about everything. Another was a Remington 721 rebarreled and stocked at Weatherby(by Leonard Mews?) chambered for the 375 Weatherby Mag, a blown-out version of the H&H.Also a 35 Mashburn of some type.

He was a great writer with a different style from O'Connor, but just as interesting, I thought.It would be hard to assemble a better bunch of outdoor writers in one place than the group that wrote for Field&Stream in the 50's. Unlikely you ever see that kind of talent assembled under one cover again.

Page was a great writer, and 'One Man's Wilderness' is one of my all-time favorite big game hunting books.

Today's F&S is a pathetic, far cry from what it was when Warren Page was the gun editor, and it's a far cry from what it was when Bob Brister held that position. Like Page, Brister was one of the truly great, largely unsung shooting/hunting writers, but like Page, he really knew his stuff; he had deep and wide experience, and he was a superb writer.

Today, the shooting column is often a sophmoric, two-page shallow effort, and between the "how-to" and transparent marketing themes, as well as a turning away from anything but hunting whitetails and elk with the lastest off-the-shelf Wunder Gun, the whole magazine has lost most of its former class, depth, glamor, and substance.

AD

Allen,

My thoughts also. In the 50s as a boy I always read JOC, Warren Page and Pete Brown. I like Dave Petzal and Jim Carmichael but it just isn't the same. Thanks...Bill.

For even a person that only dreams of far flung hunts, One Man's Wilderness is a must read!

I had a book by Page a number of years ago (can't find it now) on benchrest shooting. He was an advid benchrest shooter and heavily influenced the developement of 6mm cartridges (243 Winchester and 244 Remington). His development of the "243 Page Super Pooper" led to the development of the 243 Winchester , while Fred Huntngton of RCBS focused on what became the 244 Remington (Huntington called his cartrdge the 244 Rockchucker).

Page was a big advovate of 7mm cartridges and pushed the reputation of the 7mm Mashburn Magnum, which led to the 7mm Reingtn. He wrote of this cartridges and his rifle ("Old Betsy") in a mid-late 50's Gun Digest. I believed he lived in the Hunson River Valley, north of New York City. He regularly wrote for the gun Digest in the '50's.

My Dad introduced me to Warren Page, Fred Huntington, Mike Walker and other shooting luminaries. Dad was an accomplished benchrest shooter [my son and I counted over a hundred trophies, including a world record] when he passed away] and was friends with many of those fellows. Dad was also a wonderful wingshot and very accomplished deer and elk hunter. I found Page to be more than a little reserved.
jmr

I used to work with a couple of guys in the East Kootenays over 40 years ago, who had worked on a hunt Warren Page had made in B.C.'s Flathead Valley, back in the good old days. He wrote a story about this in F&S, entitled, "The Judas Moose", which I had read just before going to work there.

These guys had also wrangled on an O'Connor hunt and had strong opinions on both men, Page was well liked and J'OC was not popular among the crew. Page was always denigrated by O'Connor, who was a very talented prose stylist, but, seems to have been an arrogant guy in person.

I was an O'Connor fan, then, I started working in the bush in many of the regions in Canada he wrote about and I stopped reading him, when he refered to native-born Albertans as ...slobs in pickup trucks... because they DARED to want to hunt the Smokey River country of THEIR province which he seemed to consider a special playground for him and his rich foreign hunter friends.

Page always seemed far less of that type and was evidently pleasant and just a "regular guy" in camp and treated the local Canadian guides, wranglers and other camp staff politely, to his credit. But, the glory days of hunting mags. are long gone and I seldom even look at one now.

I too enjoyed Page and his books the Accurate rifle and "OMW" is on my bedstand.

Lets see, I used to run a 240 PSP (but now run a 6/06), I also run amuck with a 7 Mashburn Super and a 375 Wby. Ya spose he had some amount of influence on how I go about things....?

He and Hagel were no doubt my favs along with Bowman, man how I wish that Les had written some books. IMO those boys truly knew how to get out and get it done and then write about it.

IMO the 2 best of our day is CB amd JB and they've gotten out and got it done as well!

It's very easy for me to respect those who have formed their opinions from actually getting out and doing it, a lot!

Make it your best day!

Dober

That is why I enjoy reading Phil Shoemaker's writing so much and respect his practical, realistic opinions on guns, hunting and bears. Too many of today's writers and "experts" seem to me to develop opinions based on VERY little field experience and then will often denigrate anyone who differs from said opinions.

I will also say, that for serious hunters, like Dober, it is hard to imagine better cartridges than the 7mm Mashburn and the .375 Weatherby. If, I ever went to wildcat rounds, just for the hell of it, these would be, along with a .416/.404 or maybe a 9.3/.375RUM like the old German 9.3x70, my two first choices.

I have never cared for the 7mmSTW, but, like the Mashburn configuration, some of the old guys KNEW their chit.

Well Kute, I aint an old guy, and I certainly don't know my chit....

Dober


by the way, I'm ordering my 4th tube for my old Mashburn this week....

Nope, you are a young guy and I am not old, I'm just well-seasoned! I don't know my chit, either, keep forgetting it all.......

Going with Schnieder again or maybe trying a Lilja?

Schneider is the best bet for me, but who know's I may even givew PN a go. I sent them an email late last night.

I did just get in a new Lilja for my G33 though, a new #1 06 Imroved tube...(that's 270 for those who don't speak Dober).

As you know I am a bit weird but I like Schneider for Stls tubes and Lilja for when I go CM. Now if Gary made CM tubes I'd just go with his all the time. Chanlyn is another tube that I really like but this is digressing from the original thread a bit, go figure with this group eh.....

Dober

You'll get a grin out of this one of my fav old bullets is the old 175 Semi Nozler. I have a strong stash of them and when ran by 7828 or R25 it really gives game the old Nozler Nap as I like to call it.

I used to read and follow the writings of Page, Brown, O'Connor and Keith.
I wrote a letter once to Page when I was about 16 or 17 yrs. old. I got a very nice response. Not just and quick and short letter, but one that detailed answers to all of my questions.
Because of that letter and his description of "Old Betsy," I got to considering light rifles and Nosler Partition bullets. A set of ideas that have served me well to this day. E

What??? No Patrick McManus??? The last laugh??? I think??? I always looked forward to getting to the last page...

I like the last page as well, mainly cause for the most part he's speaking from tons of experience and a lot of our writers of today are not, or at least that is how I feel about it...

Dober

Over the years, I have read most of what Warren Page wrote: both his books and his articles. From my reading of both Page and O'Connor, I think O'Connor was the better writer in terms of style and expression, but I always enjoyed Page's writing more because he was much more on a "gun-nut's" level. He enjoyed loading for and hunting with wildcat cartridges; O'Connor could have cared less!

My all-time favorite article by Page is "Around the World with Wildcats" that was included as the lead article in P.O. Ackley's HANDBOOK FOR SHOOTERS AND RELOADERS published in 1962.

In the above article, Page does refer to using, on a trial basis, in Africa, a short 7mm magnum that could well have been a Mashburn version; however, I think his main all-around rifle was the long version of the Mashburn 7mm. His other favorite "go-to" rifle was the .375 Weatherby which was really a wildcat at the time he was using it.

If I remember correctly, Andy Russell, the Canadian hunting outfitter/guide and author, who was a contemporary of Page and O,Connor, discribes Page as an ideal client: he was a supurb hunter, a good rifleman and seemed to be utterly fearless in a tight spot or two they encountered together in the southern Alberta mountains.

M. Bell

I began reading Warren Page's writings back in the early 1950's and continued reading what he wrote till he died around 1968.
He was a very available writer, and I liked that a lot. And, he had a wonderful sense of humor that few writers posessed back then. His writings about the 7mm Mashburn were what had me get a 7mm Ackley Magnum built for my first custom rifle in 1957, right after graduating from Penn State. I've been a 7mm loony ever since. He also shot benchrest competetively, and was a very good shot.
He had taught high school English, in New Jersey I think, before going full time as a hunting and shooting writer.
Warren Page was a high class guy.
I have his book.

Don

MM,

Yes, I liked Patrick McManus and also Corey Ford with the Lower Forty and Mister McNabb. Thanks...Bill.

And I highly recommend Mr Russell as well. I treasure a copy of "Trails of a Wilderness Wanderer" I got from my Grandfather. The two other shooting books that most influenced my shooting opinions growing up were Page's "The Accurate Rifle" and Jim Carmichael's "The Modern Rifle"

Allen

kutenay - you mention that Page was more or less a regular guy in camp. He was, however, not without his prejudices and by todays standards not politically correct.
I remember hearing him speak at an annual dinner of the Hart House pistol club at the University of Toronto just a short while before his death. One of his topics was a hunt he went on in some French protectorate in Africa. I was very surprised about some of his comments about Frenchmen made during that speech. While I am no particular fan of Quebec I was surprised that he would come to Canada as a speaker and then denigrate the residents of one of the provinces.
At that time Page was in poor health. Don't know whether it was just a severe cold or flu or if it was something which eventually contributed to his death. In spite of this he did honour his commitment to come and speak even though he was obviously not feeling well at all.
Just another aspect of the man that may interest some of you.

Some of the guys I mentioned worked for Andy Russell when he guided into the "Kishinin" as we called it and Page was among his clients, as was O'Connor and divers other famous dudes from all over.

The anti-French animus is quite common among many Americans as witness many comments on THIS forum. However, I would point out that Quebecers are NOT ...French..., they ARE "les Canadiens" and the French Protectorate Page hunted in had/has nothing to do with Canada, other than a common language.

Now, if you want to discuss DE GAULLE, THAT is a different situation.......

Anyway, I detest PC rhetoric, historical revisionism and lies of any type, only imbeciles, crooks, dictators and their followers and other such scum indulge in being PC...as is obvious on one section of the Campfire, from time to time. So, as far as I am concerned, I couldn't care less what Page said about the French, some of whom ARE azzholes.

Dober: HOORAHH on the Mashburn decision! I enjoy reading Page and Hagel articles on their exploits with the Mashburn,which is why I bought a 7mm Dakota...a modern version of the Mashburn.Could not help myself.....

Bunch of well-read guys on here, and judging from the comments,there are a lot of people on here as old as me,which makes me feel good

Page was one of my favorites when I was a kid, back when F&S and the other mags had some editorial substance and weren't just newstand informercials. His book, The Accurate Rifle, set me on the true path. In those days, it seems we had a number of good writers and a few BS artists, today the situation seems reversed. Maybe it's just the perspective you get looking at the world over a beard gone white.

That is really true, IME, I recently had a self-styled ...modern gun writer...on a small Canuck forum earnestly and quite rudely tell me, from his enormous experience as he is about half my age, that the Foster-style shotgun slugs SPIN a little bit, due to the fins on the back.........ayuppers!

Guys like Page, J'OC, Pete Brown, a much under-rated writer-gunny, "Spud" Sell, Pete Kuhloff, Elmer, and especially Hagel, my all-time favourite KNEW WTF they were talking about while most of the younger generation seem to be primarily advertising agents in new camo suits with little real wilderness hunting experience...or dsire to obtain any.

Going on a bazillion industry-paid guided hunts in fenced enclosures IS NOT an adequate substitute for longtime wilderness hunting experience, regardless of having shot 4-5 hundred animals while doing so. But, "bullschit walks, but, money talks,".....

Details on W. Page. Born 1910 the son of a carpenter. Went to Harvard on a baseball scholarship and taught school, english I presume, in N. Mex. and Lawrencville Prep in N. Jersey prior to the wau. During the wau he was a Navy officer teaching skeet to air gunner crews. Died Jan 1977 at home in Conn. from heart failure. (F&S,May 1995, Lefty)

His 7MM Mashburn, Old Betsy #1, has recently surfaced (2006) and has been refinished and re-scoped but still shoots. (D. Petzal blog, 2006) It supposedly accounted for 475 game animals with Warren at the trigger. The .375 Weatherby is unaccounted for but supposedly had been rebarreled 3 times because of control shooting use against CB in Kenya.( F&S April 1969)

Although J. O'cnner seemed more literate as a writer and he left more of himself in the piece, Page's writing was weighter. It left me more filled up. Warren was more the technical reporter and less the PROFESSOR.

Our good mule deer is much the same to me as Page but shows more humor on the page.

Docbill: Where is Old Betsy?

WOW! I'd like to have a rifle with 10% of that to it's credit...

I'd be greatly appriciative if anyone has any pics of that rifle!

Darn Hookt on Foniks.

Luked all thru his book i bot. No huntin storis. Luked at kovur-it saes "warr en peace"

Bruce

Sad part is, I`ve wrote this way myself so long I can read and understand it with no trouble................ Then again I`ve never claimed to be a gun or any other typewriter

For a current picture of Ol' Betsy, go to David Petzal's blog at Field and Stream and do a search for Ol' Betsy or Warren Page. A blog entry from 2006 with current pictures will come up.

A rifle like Page's "Ol' Betsy" is the sort of rifle that I love and respect the most: The heavily-used, veteran rifle of many and varied hunting expeditions. And I'm sorry to say it, but that's the only sort of "field test" that means anything at all to me, and needless to say, such rifles are not exactly weekend-wunders.........

That's part of the reason why I loved to read Page's hunting stories, as well as the hunting stories of O'Connor, Jobson, and Carmichel. All of those guys hunted extensively with a comparatively small collection of solid, well-built, quality personal rifles, and those rifles were featured in hunting article after hunting article for many years.

Today, this practice is almost unheard of. Now it's the souless, classless "Rifle-of-The-Month-Club", one-hunt-field-test, appease-the-paid-advertisers, payback-the-freebie, I-never-met-a-rifle-I-didn't-love, 'Pimp My Ride' approach, which not only doesn't prove much, but it's stale, thin, and ultra-transparent.........

AD

Yup, I noticed this,too and it is one reason why I almost never read gun/hunting mags, anymore. To me, the whole point about obtaining a few good trusted rifles is to USE them and for every aspect of one's life where you need a rifle. I always used the best big game rifles I could obtain for both hunting and wilderness working....never had a purpose-built actual bear rifle until after I retired from bush work in 1993.

The type of "gunwriter" we have today, a VERY few such as JohnB, obviously excepted, leaves me cold and especially the younger ones who tout the least expensive production rifles as the absolute livinf end.....because they don't know any better and are too dammed arrogant to listen to anyone who does.

Case in point, the OLD CRF Browning FN rifles were and still ARE in high demand here in B.C. and I am very fond of these. Yet, self-styled "modern gunwriters" such as the lad who recently told me on a small Canuck forum that Foster style slugs ...spin... because of ...the fins on the back... are now praising Browning's introduction of yet another mediocre PF rifle as being an improvement......sad, really.

Count me as another fan of Warren Page. I simply love his writing. I have read and re-read every word Warren Page ever wrote and he "feeds" the reader totally. He is your friend.

My last editor thought that O'Connor was the ultimate outdoor writer and sent me loads of his work (which I had already read) to prove the point. Frankly, O'Connor never turned my crank, then or today. I truly wish that I could worship O'Connor as many obviously do. To me, he was an super-arrogant professor who also wrote. (Steve speaks total heresy and is not even one little bit sorry )

Oregon's own Francis Sell is a dark horse that is seldom recognized; his stuff is SUPER. A local legend has it that Sell could neither read nor write and that his educated wife wrote down his words as he dictated them. True???? Who knows? Sell's work leaves the reader fed and satisfied.

Today, Johnny B is IT. Period.

Steve

Steve,

+1 on all you said, except for O'Connor. Was and still am a Francis Sell fan. Never heard of his possible illiteracy though. Makes him even more interesting.

Bob Hagel and Ted Trueblood, along with Jack O'C were my top three.

I believe our JB is better than all of the old writers however, and far and away the best of the current ones. His writing, analytical and knowledge skills surpass anyone who has gone before him or is still in the business.

I've only read one of your articles and that is the one that is posted in the forum, and would love to read more. Could you pls tell me how I can do that?

Thanks,

Steve

DZ,

If I remember correctly (and I may be wrong), JOC once wrote that Francis Sell shot the same crow over and over in his articles.

I have read most of the famous writer's stuff for 50 years but I could never get absorbed in Warren Page's articles. I have been reading his book on benchrest shooting for about 5 years now and have still not finished.

I loved to read JOC's articles and especially enjoyed the monthly updates on some of his African safaris. I liked Pete Brown of Sports Afield very much also.

Of today's writers, my favorite is our own Mule Deer. I also like Layne Simpson (maybe because I have met him and talked with him about turkey hunting in WV), Bart Skelton (and his late, great Dad) and some newcomers on the scene. I recently met Mark Keefe of the NRA and he is a really nice young man who doesn't pretend to be an expert.

I'm sorry to say I have not read any of your articles but would like to. If you would PM me as to the publications you write for, I will subscribe.

Thanks for listening...Bill.

Francis Sell was one of the first outdoor writers I read when I was trying to figure out the secrets of hunting Blacktail Deer. Later, I also found his writings on rifle handling and selection very helpful. He emphasized the handling characteristics of a rifle when it's needed in a hurry. Something you don't see much of these days. He went so far as to develop his own special peep sight setups including a large, white front bead for use in dark timber. Very few have written about this. To this day, I still remember his comments about the desirability of a rifle with some "muzzle hang" that allows it to come on target so smoothly and quickly. Something I've found very desirable as well.
You are quite right. One of the great ones.
Yes, JB is pretty much in a class by himself. E

Friends Bill and 7Steve,

I was always a no-name writer, so don't be surprised that you haven't run into my stuff.

I started writing by submitting an article on the .338-'06 to Wolfe Publishing in 1983. The article was published in the May-June 1984 (Number 109) of Handloader. I wrote as a free lancer for Wolfe for many years and you will find a few of my articles in Wolfe's huge volume, Wildcat Cartridges. Interestingly, Wolfe Publishing never paid for the republishing, but that's OK.

When it was obvious that Wolfe was NEVER going to offer me a Contributing Editorship, I walked away and eventually signed on as a CE for the then-fledgling Varmint Hunter's Association.

Varmint Hunter Magazine was my forum until a couple of years ago. Any issue of VHM magazine between 1992 and 2005, I will have two or three my articles in it.

Eventually, I walked away in disgust when a double-whammy of disappointment with the firearms industry hit me. Actually, my friends who turned out to be non-friends, pushed my life in a totally unexpected direction and it has turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. No, I will not talk about it more, other than to say that greed ALWAYS kills the greedy.

Will my stuff ever be published again??? Doubtful. Will I ever write commercially again??? Probably not. I am planning on eventually giving all of my journals (of hunts) and lots of notes to Johnny B and if he wants to use them as source material, he has my blessings to do so.

There is so much that I've done that is unpublished and it would be great to share it.

Steve

Thanks Steve,

I have always read your posts and gleaned much from them. I'm sorry you were treated that way by Wolfe. I could tell from your posts that you were a man who knew what he was talking about.

Thanks...Bill.

Steve,

I really enjoy your stuff here,a good mix of fun and fact. I actually feel like I know you personally from the words you have written, which speaks volumes about your ability to communicate.

Your friend,

Britt

Hey Bill,

It really wasn't Wolfe Publishing's fault. They were going through a plethora of editors at the time. Because of this, even though I asked for a CE, it apparently was not a top-level issue. Hey, it's just management.

No harm -- no foul. The folks at Wolfe are still my friends.

The last editor, who is still a darling of the industry, was not a person I cared for (Steve is being really nice here ). That, and the non-CE issue was reason enough to walk.

Please bear in mind that I owned a jewelry store at the time and my writing took back seat to making a living and accumulation of wealth (I retired at 49).

That being said, I can honestly say that I put my entire heart and soul into every single article I ever wrote. That is a fact.

Steve

My good friend Britt,

In a very real way, being able to hang out with the guys at the Campfire has taken the place of writing commercially. You folks have really enriched my life immeasureably.

As far as the articles go, who cares about the insignificant money that a writer gets??? Heck, I lose or gain fifty times that amount each day in the stock market. BUT, being able to talk to others, to touch each others lives in a very positive way; that is what it is all about.

Steve

Steve, unless you don't want it to be public knowledge, what name did you use in your writing?

At one time or another, I have read most of the hunting and shooting magazines, some more than others, and also a most of the articles in Gun Digest (except for the last few years) and also the articles is loading manuals.

I would actually like to know the author names of all the other contributers on this forum, if it would not run into privacy issues.

Now, that is funny!!!! I told you that I was a no-name.

My by-line was always "Steve Timm."

Steve

Steve,

You and DS couldn't find common ground?

I will say I have met DS........

Dave

Friend Dave,

Actually, I'd have to say that Dave S and I are very good friends and I've had to bite my tongue when folks were trashing him on the Campfire ... there is no defense for that. Dave is a really, really, really good guy and, in every possible way, one of us.

Dave, he is demented in that he (wrongly) believes that every rifle must have a lever, rather than a bolt, but friends accept each others lameness

I don't believe that I am betraying any confidences when I say that Dave was actively trying to recruit me for Wolfe during the last five years that I wrote. Being totally loyal to a fault, one of my many weaknesses, I stayed at the VHA. That was not the brightest decision; but then, I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

In looking back on our lives, we've all make mistakes and any life contains regrets and missed opportunities. We all do the best that we can and live life as it seems right. Life and speech is first-draft and many times we surely wish that we could walk back in time and change things. That's what makes us human, I guess.

Hey guys, enough about me .... the freakin' no-name writer.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Let me throw a name out there. WILL HAFLER Now there was a man, an elk guide and killer, a bushrat, a writer who should have been carefully cultured and coddled into what he chould have become. He was on the very edge of greatness.

I've read all of Will Hafler and stuff like [i]The Bestest Bush Gun - .458X2" is sheer genius. Excellent in every way.

Will had enormous bushkilling experience, great technical knowledge and the right word-twisting ability. And he prolly got chewed up and spit out by the editorial hassles that Wolfe Publishing experienced during that time.

What a shame. We are all diminished.

Steve

Steve,
I too thought he was good folks, very down to earth and let you sink or swim on your own.
Spent about 4 days in Mexico with him on a mule deer hunt. Very straightforward and no BS.

Guess I missed where some folks were bashing him..

I could see where he might be hard to get along with if you were on the opposite side of an argument.

Enuff...

Dave

Dave,

Can you think of a better fella to have with you when you have a bad elk down??? Johnny and Dave pass the test with ease.

I always grade folks by the following thought: Ya got a bad elk down in the bottom of a steep canyon (schit, I've been there a hundred times). It's dusk, it's about zero, your horses are two freezing miles away and it just started to snow. Is the guy a wimpy leg-holder or will he jump right into the guts with you??? Will he help skin, without slicing you??? Would you trust him to cut right up to the spot and not cut deep into your hand???

A "bad elk trustworthy" friend is a precious thing. Interestingly, every Campfire member I've personally met is bad elk trustworthy friend.

Steve

I'll be 100% honest and say hunting in Mexico is not a place to judge your hunting partners but going by our brief conversations I would say I would like to hunt with him again.

Mostly we laughed at a father-son in law pair in camp. They owned a LARGE sheetrocking company in AZ and hunted A LOT. They had the funniest stories you could EVER dream of and judging by the level of detail they were all true........

Dave

Steve, amen on Francis Sell. I read every article he wrote years ago, and looked forward to his next essay. He was a MAN, through and through. I vividly remember many articles he wrote on the 20 gage shotgun. The neat part about him was that I was always with him on his hunts. He wrote from the heart kind of like Ray Bergman in his fishing articles in OL back in the 50's and 60's.

Don

Thanks! The pics of the lightening done to the action was a surprise to me! Great looking stuff! I just wish the whole rifle picture was a bit better...

We have a lot of excellent writers with lots of experience today. I think it depends on your tastes and interests whether you approve or not. John B. and John H., Phil Shoemaker, Mike Venturino, Stevie Dogzapper when he was in business (I still want to see a book, Steve ), Craig Boddington, Greg Rodriguez (one of the newer ones)... The list goes on. That being said, Page, O'Connor, Skelton, Keith, and others of that era really shine. What's more impressive is that we learn so much from the good ones that we can tell who's full of prunes.

Sell lived in coastal west-Oregon (Reedsport?) and had a wealth of experience. He published regularly in the 1950's Gun Digests and wrote a number of good deer-hunting books. I wish I had his experience.

This is a real shame. Steve (dogzappper) and others have a deep wealth of information that will be lost unless published. I constantly refer to the early editions of Rifle and Handloader, Gun Digest and many other books and publications. I certainly encourage you guys to keep writing.

Steve,

I want to see a book too. That's not strong enough. I really, really need to see a book!

Your experience, combined with your exceptional ability to express it,is a gift I think we would all like to share .

But in fairness to you, I'm sure that writing a book could be a gigantic pain in the butt, and you should spend your retirement years exactly as you see fit. That's what I'm doing.

In any event, what you do is up to you, but I just wanted you to know how we all feel about you.

All the best,
(another)Steve

I also grew up in awe of Warren page's accomplishments in the field but especially on the range.
My father was a World traveld hunter , target shooter, and also did some photgraphy work aside from his everyday job in the ammunition filed.
He figured page was top shelf, but when it came to Francis sell , he felt that he was likely the finest writer around who could put words to instruction.
That says a lot in my mind.
I've read all of Sell's books through the years, and I think if dad was not spot on, he was close!
Cat