Field & Stream

W

Worth Mathewson

Active member
I have always found that one of the most interesting parts of this page is the disucussion of various subjects, and the wide range of opinions voiced. I'd like to throw this one out for my own interest: Do readers of this page read Field & Stream on a regular basis?
As for my personal contact with the magazine, I first started reading it in 1952. It was like a bible for me. In those years Ruark, Trueblood, Zern, Ford, McClane, and Tapply made the publication truly remarkable. In the 1970's and '80's I wrote for the magazine. (In 1926 my grandmother Mathewson had an article published)
However, about ten years ago I found my interest in F&S dropping. Then it reached the point, at least for me, that there was nothing published that was of interest. It seemed to me to be very bland material, and frankly so basic in nature that anyone who had fished or hunted more than twice would already know. I let my subscription drop about eight years ago, and only look at a copy once or twice a year.
When I take trips I sometimes buy a copy at the airport. Each time I do I am amazed at, from my view point, the dribble they publish. As an example, last year they ran a two page article on pheasant hunting. It included information such as: pheasants can be wild, dogs are a big help with pheasants, pheasants like weeds, etc etc. And believe me, there wasn't anything in the article a six year old hunter wouldn't already know. Yet they state they have nearly two million subscribers. Maybe it is just me, but I really wonder just who those people are. Am I off base with my opinion of the magazine? Worth Mathewson
 
I've been getting it for about 3 years now and I have no complaints. Personally I find most of the articles interesting. However like you said, some of the info they write is basic. I do like all of the gear reviews and most of the editor's small articles on whatever they write. Back in the past was it just more informative or was it also more interesting?
 
Worth,

I tend to agree with you. I began reading F&S when I was 8 years old, my father bought me a subscription. I renewed for some 20 years. I haven't done more than flip through a copy at the newstand in several years. The same for Outdoor Life. I subscribe to more specific puplications now, Wildfowl, Retriver Journal, etc. Perhaps they are trying to "paint too broad of strokes" ??????
 
Worth,

This site single handedly killed my interest in the general outdoor sportsman's magazines. I got a combination of F&S, Outdoors Life, Sports Afield, Fins& Feather, etc. for decades. In the late 90's I joined the internet sportsman community and started to drop my subscriptions. Magazine's how too articles were totally repetitive and simplistic, and if I had a real question I could simply ask my friends here. As you no doubt have noticed the questions don't even have to be about hunting. The magazine stories rarely matched my style of hunting or fishing and were frequently simply about Billy-Bob and his buds killing things. While most of the "reports"/stories written on the web are not technically as well written as in the mags, I know or feel like I know many of the posters here and this more than makes up for the less than perfect writing style. (Please note: some of the stories here are very well written and all are enjoyable). I really like the community feeling, the friends I've made through the site and the knowledge and experiences gained here. For fishing, CTfisherman.com serves me almost as well. Immediate reports and news of what's going on locally, friends to be made or kept in touch with.

With ebay and used book stores on line I can fill my desire for heavy reading in just about any subject and style for not much more than the cover price of a couple of magazines. I still get DU and and Delta's publications but probably only because of the organizations behind them. I suspect that like music artists, many authors and others that make a living by publishing, or being published in magazines, are being adversely impacted by the internet. I do find this sad, I read "NATURE I LOVED" by Bill Geagan as a kid and the idea of living a life of fishing and hunting and supporting it by writing about it would be my ultimate fantasy. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I was much better equipped to be an engineer than a writer. I'm glad you guys (real writers) are out there!

Scott
 
I feel your pain Worth. My father subscribed to Sports Afield when I was...don't remember cause it was alway there. I couldn't wait for each issue to read the STORIES written by HUNTERS. When I moved out on my own in 1973, I subscribed to SA for one year, then I switched to Outdoor Life, then F&S...it was like...if you tore the covers off you couldn't tell which one it was. I started getting Shooting Times and Guns And Ammo and the same thing happened with them. I think the rush for the buck (dollar not white tail) ruined all of the once great outdoor magazines and don't take any anymore (still waiting for the one Dave gifted to me). I get my Delta and once in a while a DU..(both seem to forget me more than they remember) and have been telling them at the dinners to forget the memberships and put that money towards the ducks..they need it more than I need a magazine to leaf through and recycle. Good question you posed there. The magazine I loved the most was one dad got called Milepost..it was about Alaska..is that still in circulation?
 
I think Scott is right about the internet. It makes it hard to read the same old "I used my Remchester .400 Super Blaster Mag to take this deer at 50 yards, no other gun could have done that" articles. A story told hours after a hunt without the standard cliches and product endorsements is hard to beat. I wish a few of the better writers, like you (hint hint :)), would share some thoughts right after a hunt. Sometimes the excitement is written out of a perfectly worded article. I've seen some series of photos on here and the MLB site that tell a better story then any deer hunting article in F&S will ever hope to

I think the only magazine I read very much of now is Petersen's Hunting. It use to be much better but there is still a good article from time to time. I liked it better in the past when it was more about unique and adventurous hunts.

Tim
 
I don't get any of them any more. Like others have commented, when i was a kid back in the 70's-early 80's, we always got F&S or Outdoor Life, or both. By the 90's, I lost interest, to general, to bland for me. The only magazines I had for a long time have been Delta & DU.
 
Worth,

Like the others, back in the 60's and 70's I couldn't wait for dad's subscriptions to Field and Stream and Sports Afield to show up in the mail box. Back in the day there were of course great hunting and fishing stories but they also leaned toward DIY stuff alot. Just to mention a couple, I remember I was 18 and my first truck needed a topper of some kind. Never could afford one back then but low and behold there was an issue with how to build your own. Then there was the plans for a removable bunk and cook area that you could slide in the pickup box with all kinds of storage for all the gizmos you could think of for a hunting trip or fishing trip. Wish I still had that issue. You just don't see that stuff anymore. It seems that advertising is to big to jepordize publishing plans for something that you may have gotten advertising dollars for.

The stories don't hold much for me any longer because they seem to show up in all the publications anymore and like you say they're played to death much like listening to music on the radio. I have to say though, I'd hate to see them dissappear because just as excited as I was at 10 or 12 years old I'm sure today there is a 10 or 12 year old that gets just as excited as I once did.

Just my .02 cents though.

Ed L.
 
For what its worth...
I think not only Field and Stream, but the Rifleman has turned into a useless Rag, touting articles that could have been written by a manufactures PR department.
The dumbing down of many publications seems to be the norm Other examples would be BMW MOA magazine that used to be filled with good technical information about working on you bike is now a mish mash of travel and new model bilge.
The problem seems to be that any fool can write, even though they know nothing about what they are writing.
 
You too Worth, here I thought I was alone. I let all my subscriptions go in teh late 1980's. Today I don't even pick one up at the store to glance at them. I'm sure there are still some good writers out there, but not like there were years ago.

Somewhere along the way things changed and the 3 main magazines tend to be more advertising then anything else. Back in the late 40's, 50's & 60's there was nothing better than get an Outdoor Life, F&S or a Sports Afield in the mail box.

Today I only find the same excitement when I see the latest issue of Shooting Sportsman or Double Gun Journal in the mail box.

I still miss Jack O'Conner, Warren Page and yes, even Elmet Keith. And I'm still waiting for another Nash Buckingham to come along. I grew up tagging along with my dad going into Roy Wearterby's shop & Kerr's Sportin Goods years ago in hopes of seeing one of the Movie Stars buying a gun.

Worth, you know as well as I do....the good old days are still here, we just have to make them happen and you certainly do your share, thanks.

Dave
 
Yep, I totally agree. I have read the magazine in the past and it was okay.

I subscribed this year because my niece was selling for her school and have found the issues to be Busch league at best.
 
Maybe I'm simple-minded or possibly I sometimes like to read something simple, but I have no major objections to F&S. I ,like probably much of the readership, am interested in a few short articles on hunting and fishing places that I'll probably never get to. If it's overly simplifed, I'm okay with that.....some days it might be all I really want to wrap my brain around. Simple is good.

Anyway, it can be a step up from some of my reading.
"brown bear brown bear what do see"

Plus, I like the pictures.
 
Yep, Worth. Your right. The only reason i haave a subscritption now is because of the gee whiz camo cooler that came with it. But like others have said, it sure was something back when Grandpa got it. Couldn't wait to see what was new in it.
 
Worth,
Glad to see you here again. I feel the same. After finding books like "Black Brant, these past fifty years" and, "Big December Canvasbacks" it is hard to read a 3 pager on a waterfowl hunt. Every once in a while I find a good article in many different magazines, and that is what keeps me coming back, even read a great one in American Hunter a few issues back. 24hourcampfire.com has a forum of "Gun writers" and editors. It is interesting to read their take on the publishing end of it and they field questions from average joes that can be very interesting.
Bob Butler
 
I tend to agreee that the 3 mainstream magazines tend to be a little wide and shallow. They tend to cover a little of everything for everybody wiht the end result being that anybody a above a rookie finds the articles repetitious. I may occasionally buy one at the newsstand based on eye candy in a photo essay, but thats about it.

For those of you who like entertaining stories about the outdoors you might want to look at Gray's Sporting Journal. Not much for mainstream how to articles ut some good entertainment. A subscription is a bit pricey but my local library has a subscription adn occasionally ther are special offers.

Might be worth checking out. Here is a sample from their website

http://www.grayssportingjournal.com/stories/091006/angling.shtml
 
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Worth,

Glad to see you joining in these days. I too feel the same as everyone else. Too broad of strokes from the big 3 and too basic. Your writing style is much more enjoyable now. Maybe I'm just old enough now to know where and how I want to do things and reading about guys doing things I gave up on years ago is what the problem is. Dunno.
I would like to say to all the guys here that the little I've been able to lurk in and read a little the past few weeks has been enjoyable. Helps with stress levels. Working overtime at the hospital and doing what I can to help my wife start a new business is all consuming.
So my reading time now is more specific and I gave up on F&S and the others years ago.
Of course it didn't help when a friend of mine shared an elk camp in New Mexico with a highly visible bass fisherman who had his whole crew out hunting until one got a bull. Then the intrepid nimrod from TV land posed with his employees bull claiming it was his best kill ever. Another hunter in camp related a similar story from the year before of a writer from one of the big mags. But I think most of us have felt that stuff goes on more than we want to know about.

Best to everyone and hope to check in again and more often.

Kevin
 
To be totally honest, I don't even enjoy DU any more. To general and drab, and this has absolutely nothing to do with my views on how they handle the hard earned dollar we as hunters give them. I have sub. to Wildfowl the last couple years and find their articles very interesting. Even the one where the author goes on a long journey, expects great things, and ends up shooting one lone mallard.
 
For what its worth...
I think not only Field and Stream, but the Rifleman has turned into a useless Rag, touting articles that could have been written by a manufactures PR department.
Click to expand...


This could go for most magazines of today.

Chuck
 
After having grown up on Field and Stream and Outdoor Life, I haven’t gotten them in 15 years. The past year I’ve been getting Field and Stream to use up some frequent flyer miles and am pleasantly surprised.
Sure, the depth of the articles leaves something to be desired, but it is a general magazine and written for the 95% of dipwhits out there that spend 6 days a year in the field (or less) . There are some positives… 1) they try pretty hard to put some decent thinking into their conservation articles/editorials, 2) some of their regular columns are written by folks that don’t appear stupid (other than the shot gunning column), 3) the writing is also at least edited and 4) the photos match the story. I find at least one or two things that interest me in each issue, for a general magazine that seems pretty good.
Could it be better, sure? Would I actually pay for it, probably not, but I am not its target audience.
T

 
Well, on a slightly different perspective, my interests have changed as well. As a kid, in the 70’s, I enjoyed all types of hunting and fishing and I too, had a subscription to Outdoor Life. I’ve slept some since then and don’t recall the specific articles nor authors, but I do recall that I read them cover to cover…

I left hunting and fishing on a shelf for more than a decade, then returning to duck hunting in earnest, in 1999. I don’t hunt for fur anymore, only feathers. And I have not picked up a fishing rod in 20+ years. So publications like OL, F&S, SA, etc. really don’t hold my interest all that long. I’ll pick one up if it’s on the table in the Dentist’s office lounge…. My current magazine subscriptions are Gun Dog, Retriever Journal, and I’m waiting to get my first subscription issue of Wildfowl… I also enjoy thumbing through the DU and Delta publications when they arrive in the mailbox...
 
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