Outdoor writers .. Anyone like 'em?

Lake Callabogie (sp?).
Went with my realtives, who have been going up there for 15 years and love it.

 

Good for YOU!

That sucks about Zumbo, who, BTW, is right in his stance about assualt-style rifles and hunting.

 

Maybe this veers off into a tangential area, but some of the stuff I've read in Outside magazine has been extremely well done. Not necessarily the hunting/fishing millieu that the term "outdoor writers" seems to conjure, but excellent reads, nonetheless. And among the best books I've read are "Into the Wild" and "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer (a longtime Outside contributor).

 

Lake Calabogie. Beautiful part of the province.

 

Orville, the thing is I didn't cancel because I agreed with Zumbo (I do, but it was the beside the point). I cancelled because OL refused to let him explain his stance. I cancelled because OL kowtowed to the NRA instead of turning the incident into a serious discussion about firearms and hunting.

Novelist, Outside is a great magazine. I think it's one of the tops in any category. If I could only get one mag, it'd be Outside.

 

while it's not up to the level of 'outside,' 'backpacker' mag has improved over the past few years. it is trying to get more 'outside'-type stories on its pages. and as 'outside' has moved away from traditional camping/hiking/ stories, 'backpacker' fills that need for me.

 

Gray's is pretty pretentious sometimes. You can only read so much about German short-hairs, ring-neck pheasant and trout streams untouched by Orvis waders before you realize most of these hunts start with the writing of a $10,000 check. But the storytelling is what writers once aspired to. I can endure a lot of long nights on press row at Cameron Indoor just knowing that six or eight times a year I get to write about bass fishing. I wish there were a Southern equivalent to Gray's. There's only the Outdoors page, and it seems to be fading from the Sunday sections.

 

Backpacker has gotten much better over the years. I'd like to see longer, in-depth stories and/or more investigative pieces.

There's a climbing/mountaineering magazine that reminds me of Gray's. I can't think of the name right now. If you see it on the newstand, you'll know which one I'm talking about.

Ed, I know what you're saying about Gray's. I feel the same way when I see Esquire or Men's Journal touting $150 pairs of jeans as "affordable" clothing options.

As for a Southern version of Gray's, I think Garden & Gun is aiming for that niche ... http://gardenandgun.com/

 

Out West, almost every paper, regardless of circ, has a full-time outdoors writer. Now granted, it's not all fishing and hunting, they have to cover the governmental aspect of the outdoors (hunting laws, fires, etc.) among other things, but the jobs do exist.

 

I sometimes forget there's a world beyond the Smoky Mountains.

 

In addition to what the Chick said, the outdoors writer sometimes takes in sports like hiking, camping, running, triathlon and other things that contribute to an active lifestyle while also staying true to the hunting and fishing stuff. At least that's been the experience at my papers. One of them had two very strong outdoors editors with completely different philosophies (one Grizzly Adams, the other Granola Barbie) but they both had their niches and both were damned good.

 

Code:

Maybe this veers off into a tangential area, but some of the stuff I've read in Outside magazine has been extremely well done. Not necessarily the hunting/fishing millieu that the term "outdoor writers" seems to conjure, but excellent reads, nonetheless. And among the best books I've read are "Into the Wild" and "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer (a longtime Outside contributor). 

Love Krakauer's stuff. Love Outside, too (and I am the furthest thing from an outdoorsman). One of the best and funniest stories I've ever read was The King of the Ferret Leggers, by Donald Katz in Outside. Ferret Legging involves dropping a live ferret down your pants and seeing how long you can stand it.

Former AJC columnist (and he should still be one, but that's another story) Steve Hummer was an excellent outdoors writer for the old Fort Lauderdale News before he got a column gig. And Tom Archdeacon, while not technically an outdoors writer, wrote a lot of great outdoorsy stuff for the old Miami News.

Hmm, maybe having good outdoors writing causes papers to go belly-up, though.

But then, I'm FOS

;D