3 Responses to “Hunting”

1. Mikeol
   February 2nd, 2010 @ 7:40 am

   This was a gift for my dad he likes outdoors and it’s a treat every month for him.
   Rating: 4 / 5

2. Jessyca Miracle
   February 2nd, 2010 @ 9:15 am

   Husband said he really likes this magazine. My only regret is I have to hear all about it.
   Rating: 5 / 5

3. Kay's Husband
   February 2nd, 2010 @ 11:40 am

   This magazine is somewhat unique that its contents are hunting, and only hunting, never any fishing. The magazine was started back in the mid-1970s, 1974 maybe, and has continued to this present day. The magazine has changed ownership several times through the years and though still called “Petersen’s Hunting” is not owned or published by the Petersen family. This is the same family which also started and once issued GUNS AND AMMO magazine as well.

   I have read the magazine on/off since 1979 and though the magazine is more colorful today, it is not as good as once was. What is? The number of pages have shrunk from a previous 100-120 per issue down to maybe 70, with the magazine now being issued only 10 times per year instead of the original 12, which again seems standard for most national hunting magazines. Every August the magazine also publishes what they call an ‘annual’ the price has doubled over the years from say $3.95 to $7.00 or so and the number of pages have also shrunk. Best thing about the annual is the catalog of pistols, rifles, and shotguns with ball park figures for price of guns. I say ball park because my Winchester 9422 can be ranged from $551 to $1113, not very helpful, but at least it offers some idea.

   Another complaint that has been voiced through the last 15 years is that though HUNTING will offer articles on larger, more exotic game hunting such as, cape buffalo or even elephant for example, the magazine continues to blissfully ignore the typical game most of us hunt: small, local game such as squirrel, rabbit, ground hog, or coyote. With results that those types of local varmints are fairly overlooked where HUNTING’s recent content is and has been concerned. Yes, we write letters, we complain, yet the editors ignore us for the most part. Most hunters I’ve known do not have the resources to lay out for exotic hunts, almost always hunting closer to home on private farm land. The large city editorial office air must blind these folks to smaller town and pocketbook reality.

   Still another complaint, since David Michael Duffy and HUNTING got into a wrangle several years back, there is no longer a dog column and hunting dogs are pretty much ignored by HUNTING magazine. I as well as others have written past editors about this flaw but as yet they have not seen fit to address our complaints. I have had at least 2 gun dogs under roof for nearly the last 20 years and cannot imagine a hunting magazine or hunter devoid of interest in the animal, however, most hunting magazines today totally ignore our canine friends. Much different from the 1950s & 1960s when each had a dog column and offered sage monthly advice from people such as Bill Tarrant, or David Michael Duffy, among numerous other experts. At various times it was not uncommon for a dog to be on the cover of an outdoor magazine.

   Though I seem to be knocking the magazine take note I still have a current subscription and just shelled out for their 2010 annual. I also take OUTDOOR LIFE, FIELD AND STREAM, and GUNS AND AMMO, most of these magazines do not approach in content what they once contained either. But they are still available at a reasonable price and if one is interested in the outdoor events they are pretty much what one is stuck with today.

   If you enjoy hunting articles and only hunting, this magazine may have some interest for you and at say $19.95 for 20 issues, not bad. They currently run too many cover pictures of deer (their surveys indicate pictures of deer on the cover sell the greater number magazines, yet I have never understood the significance of that survey statistic since their readership is mostly by subscription not newsstand sales) and it can be difficult at times to tell last month’s issue from the new month’s issue in that they often seem clones of one another. Each September cover, far back as I can remember, will generally contain a huge elk on the cover, and that issue is generally worth waiting for, kind of a hunting season kickoff. All told HUNTING is still an interesting magazine to thumb through and possibly an article or two each issue can be well worth the read.

   Sorry I cannot give the magazine a better, rousing review, I have seen too many changes down through the years, many to the detriment, and though I look forward each month to each new issue, the magazine is but a shell of what once was. But again, with desk top publishing what isn’t?

   Semper Fi.
   Rating: 3 / 5

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