Thanks, Forager, for noticing. After three issues without my byline in the magazine, I was beginning to wonder if all those years of effort were wasted. 😳 Thanks also Paleo and Mike for your kind words and support.
Truth is, TBM and I indeed have split the sheets; I no longer write for the magazine. It was a great and productive run, those several years, but all things end. I had gotten to the point that pretty much all I wanted to write was Campfire Philosopher columns, being a guy who, as my wife has always complained, “thinks too much.” When Doc Dave left that column I looked forward to having six rather than three opportunities a year to help fellow thoughtful hunters confront the toughest questions surrounding hunting. But the editors decided to bring in some new voices to the column and it’s their magazine and they likely know best. So yes, there is turf and ego involved in this little drama, on both sides, and I finally decided that it was best for all concerned, especially our exceptional readers, to just disappear.
But no one should confuse my no longer contributing to the magazine as a divorce from the good folks who run it. We all remain friends and comrades in the good fight to preserve the best of hunting and to weed out, or at least to publicly expose and humiliate, the enemies of hunting from within.
But you’re not plumb off the hook, so don’t start celebrating just yet. All the thoughts and rants that would have gone into Campfire Philosopher in the foreseeable future are in the book I’m grinding away on now, and more, since length restrictions are removed. Also, with Robin’s continued support I intend to hang in here at tradbow.com and continue to stir fear and loathing when possible. 😈
This is the best hunting website in the universe, because it has the best people and the best moderator with Web-mom, just as TBM is the best–meaning the most honest and ethical and dedicated to readers and the sport rather than profit–commercial hunting magazine I know of. And YOU are responsible for both. Without your support and input neither of these bold experiments would have worked. I am a privileged man, thank you. Dave Petersen