Craig Boddington African Sporting Creations Shooting Stick Review

[sierraone]

Did anyone notice the shooting sticks in the video???

Sticks, video? What are you talking about?

 

[Code4]

Or you can use three broom handles tied together. ffs marketing gone mad.

 

[sierraone]

Or you can use three broom handles tied together. ffs marketing gone mad.

I agree with you although only have experience with them at the range. I bought Bog Pod sticks at Gander Mountain since I had never used them before and needed to learn how to use them before going to S.A. next July. Still not confident with them at this time.

 

[rinehart0050]

The salient feature is that when "being patriotic" was cool his title was Col... USMCR, as if going to reserve meetings made him a war hero...

I think others have already covered Boddington's military service enough. I do think its a bit out of line to diminish the contributions of the Reserves and National Guard. Its easy to call them weekend warriors and whatever else you can think of. However, their members and their Units have made significant contributions to the two wars we've been fighting for the last 15 years. Countless Guard units have helped lighten the load for our active duty forces and the reserves are constantly providing low-density skill sets and critical enablers to our force.

I'm an active duty guy and I greatly appreciate the Guard and Reserves sharing the load and watching my back. I appreciate the fact that my 22 months deployed are 22 months and not 14 years of deployment in part due to their contributions.

Also, I don't think I've ever read anything about Boddington claiming to be a war hero. Merely identifying yourself as retired military does not mean you're claiming hero status.


regarding his articles, I don't really read his product reviews. I do enjoy his articles in Sports Afield about the various hunts he has gone on, just like I enjoy reading hunt reports here on AH.



Oh. Shooting sticks. Thats right. I like shooting sticks... the lighter the better, and durable.

 

[sierraone]

I think others have already covered Boddington's military service enough. I do think its a bit out of line to diminish the contributions of the Reserves and National Guard. Its easy to call them weekend warriors and whatever else you can think of. However, their members and their Units have made significant contributions to the two wars we've been fighting for the last 15 years. Countless Guard units have helped lighten the load for our active duty forces and the reserves are constantly providing low-density skill sets and critical enablers to our force.

I'm an active duty guy and I greatly appreciate the Guard and Reserves sharing the load and watching my back. I appreciate the fact that my 22 months deployed are 22 months and not 14 years of deployment in part due to their contributions.

Also, I don't think I've ever read anything about Boddington claiming to be a war hero. Merely identifying yourself as retired military does not mean you're claiming hero status.


regarding his articles, I don't really read his product reviews. I do enjoy his articles in Sports Afield about the various hunts he has gone on, just like I enjoy reading hunt reports here on AH.



Oh. Shooting sticks. Thats right. I like shooting sticks... the lighter the better, and durable.

Anyone that has been in the military in recent years, or has close family in, knows that the Guard/Reserve stopped being weekend warriors on 11 September, 2001! As an international police officer in Iraq for 4 1/2 years, at least, at minimum 1/2 of the units that I worked with (yes in a war zone) were Guard units.

 

[African Sporting Creations]

I am reluctant to post replies to most threads as it typically ends up being a highway with no exits...once you enter it goes on forever, but I feel compelled to weigh in on this one.

First, we make and brand our Shooting Sticks ourselves. No one else's name is on them and yes we are a sponsor of the Boddington experience. Having said that, for the first five or six years I knew Craig he supported us with product reviews on new items when there was no sponsorship money going across the table.

Thirteen years ago when we started this venture, I sent notes out to about two dozen gun writers and Craig was one of six that said send a set and I will put them through their paces. We never heard from four of the six and Craig was one of two writers kind enough to give a fledgling company some much needed ink. As such, I consider him a plank holder and have had nothing but positive experiences with him ever since. Furthermore, on at least one occasion I have personally witnessed him make a decision that while the right thing to do, cost him a material sum of money. Say what you want, but to me he has always shot straight and done what he said he would do.....something that in todays environment is all too rare.

We all have things we would do differently if given another chance but if the only ones who posted messages of this type were those that were lily white we would see far less high-jacking of threads.

Best Regards,

Jim

 

[Big5]

. . . . Say what you want, but to me he has always shot straight and done what he said he would do.....something that in todays environment is all too rare

I agree. I've been acquainted with Craig and had dealings with him since the early 90's. I've always found him to be a straight shooter and a man of his word.

 

[James Cook]

They may be good, but I'd rather shoot offhand at a target 500 yards away than use something with Craig Boddington's name on it.

suggest you meet him - your opinion might change. i met craig at a dsc convention (he didn't know me from adam) and i asked his advice about a ph for my first safari. craig stopped what he was doing (running his dsc booth, which had a long line) and spent several minutes making suggestions, giving friendly advice and recommending a ph for a pg hunt - talking about his personal experiences with the ph. he went so far as asking his assistant about open dates for the ph and then had his assistant (who was busy in the booth also) walk us to the ph's booth and introduce us. he could have said "look around, the convention is full of booths with ph's" or "i'm too busy", but took quite a bit of time to provide some friendly advice and counsel.

 

[AB2506]

Yes, I did have an open mind about Boddington, and I actually still do. I've neve met him, only know him by reading what he writes. The salient feature is that when "being patriotic" was cool his title was Col... USMCR, as if going to reserve meetings made him a war hero; then when public opinion turned against the military he suddenly became Mr... Just seems to me, that this taken with some of his glowing reviews of several POS's, results in a fairly low opinion of him and his writing, but if I were to see other evidence to the contrary, I'm willing to review my conclusions.

I have read Boddington's articles since I was in high school. He has always seemed "real", if for nothing else than he admits he is human. He makes mistakes, he misses, he doesn't always/only shoot big animals.

He is experienced and shares his experience without being preachy. He is one of the few hunting writers who hunts with his own firearms. Yes he does do reviews and hunts with those rifles, but I bet a bunch of us can relate details of his 8mm Remington Magnum, or his 7x57.

Regarding his military service, I don't recall it ever being a secret, or a big deal. IIRC, his rank was never on his byline until he reached Lt. Colonel. Which was around the gulf war or thereabouts. I suspect that the rank in the byline was as much or more a publisher or editor decision than Craig's.

I went to SCI this year. I ran into Brittany Boddington. What a polite, well spoken and humble young lady (and drop dead gorgeous). Young ladies like her and Eva Shockey are some of the driving forces behind the growth in lady hunters, the fastest growing segment of our sport.

You can often tell a lot about a man by how his children turn out. If Brittany is any example, Craig done good.

With Brittany's help, I located Craig's booth. I witnessed him talking with someone who he had met before, just a hunter, but Craig remembered the guy's kid who was there, commented on his growth and included him in the conversation by asking what he wanted to hunt on his first Safari. Pretty cool.

When it was my turn, I thanked him for his writing and entertaining me for more than 35years. He was so gracious. He took time to advise me of his books when I asked which one he would suggest I buy. The inscription is personal to me.

My wife suggested I go back and buy 1-2 more books for my birthday, which I did the next day (I bought 3). Even though it must be tiring, meeting all the people and signing books all day, day after day, Craig was the same as the day before, kind, gracious, humble and down to earth, the kind of guy you wouldn't mind yacking with.

 

[edward]

his writing is entertaining,easy to read and understand,i dont know him personally but so far i like the guy.

 

[johnnyblues]

They may be good, but I'd rather shoot offhand at a target 500 yards away than use something with Craig Boddington's name on it.

Woooo. Geez.

 

[johnnyblues]

Did anyone notice the shooting sticks in the video???

Sticks.....?