Interesting topic. I quit subscribing to Shooting Sportsman about 4 years ago. Most of the articles were about hunting in places that I knew I would never go to. I'd call them expensive canned hunts. Not hard to kill a bunch of birds in a place that has a bunch of birds that only the (mostly) well to do can go to. Myself and my friends have weekend bird dogs that are fairly trained that can find birds if there are birds to be found. I certainly did enjoy articles about fine guns or buying used guns (what to look for), but decided like others there was too much fluff and too much of an "Upper Crust" feel to the magazine. I do describe to DGJ, and some of their articles can provide historical information about a particular gun or its owner or provide how things were done regarding gun making in the classic days of gun making, when skilled handiwork was King.
It would be interesting to know what the circulation is for Shooting Sportsman is these days as compared to what it was about 20 years ago. Also would be interesting to see what their books look like and how many dollars come from those fancy adds and how much comes from subscribers.
Like Romac, I have the winter copy here at the house of DGJ and haven't even opened it yet. I did however take my pup out bird hunting twice last week and would be doing it today if the wind chills weren't in the single digits. Much more fun to be walking in the fields following a young setter then reading a glossy mag for sure.
