shooting magazine

badshot

just picked up this months irish shooters digest
i'm begining to wonder why.
it can't be that difficult to do a gun review every month
or test some new gear.
that cal ward he does my head in.

endasmail

everytime i buy the digest ,i regret it
its absolute muck

Cass

I'd be something the same. 90% of it goes by at a glance but i do occassionally see the odd familiar face from the past, or an article that catches my attention.

Still buy it though. Its the thought that the issue you don't buy could have some life altering info or article or deal.

ronn

hook line and sinker this month aswell, compared to the shooting times its not much of a read

thedragon

I gave up buying it when that carcass dumping issue became public knowledge regarding Paul Wood. I learned then that he no longer wrote in the Shooters digest so I decided to go back and start buying it again. The first issue that his column wasnt in was backed up with a big picture of the (whatever you want to call him) sitting at a Deer society slap up somewhere. Thats it, never again, as long as they support or even recognise this breed, Ill never buy that magazine again. Its pure S**te anyway.

LB6

I'm one of those that goes to the shop - flick through the mag - I either like or dislike what I see - more often than not dislike and leave it back on the shelf! Saves me €5.85!

deeksofdoom

I just buy it to look at the pictures! You couldn't read the articles.

gentleman jim

thedragon wrote: »

I gave up buying it when that carcass dumping issue became public knowledge regarding Paul Wood. I learned then that he no longer wrote in the Shooters digest so I decided to go back and start buying it again. The first issue that his column wasnt in was backed up with a big picture of the (whatever you want to call him) sitting at a Deer society slap up somewhere. Thats it, never again, as long as they support or even recognise this breed, Ill never buy that magazine again. Its pure S**te anyway.

+1

badshot

sporting rifle is'nt bad

lucy333springer

endasmail wrote: »

everytime i buy the digest ,i regret it
its absolute muck

Endasmail,

Yeah, Pure dung,
the other night I was brousing through some mags I have laying around the kitchen, and thought hold on i'v read this somewhere else, June and August mag's is 90% the same, even the adds. ==Ding Dong's==:(

It wasn't me!

badshot wrote: »

sporting rifle is'nt bad

Buy it every month, very good read.

Terrier

Stopped buying ISD 2 years ago, extremely poor magazine.
Sporting Gun is what i have be buying for the last 2 years and find it a brilliant read.

jwoods

Have to agree there sporting gun is a great read.

mallards

+1

tonysopprano

Try this. Much better read and does not cost anything.

www.targetshooter.co.uk

deerhunter1

badshot wrote: »

just picked up this months irish shooters digest
i'm begining to wonder why.
it can't be that difficult to do a gun review every month
or test some new gear.
that cal ward he does my head in.

Ha same here he would fry your brain. just subscribed for another year (regret it now) never again. Stick in future to english mags

gentleman jim

the only two shooting mags that i buy every month are the sporting rifle, sporting gun! great reading in them both!

emcor

Sporting Rifle is good. I get a mag from New Zeland too & its IMO the best going. No stuffy BS and filled with solid ideas, gear review, a 'pimp your rifle' section; together with lots of adventure stories, butchering, recipies, deer & stalking tips & tricks and lots more. Its bi-monthy link is www.nzhunter.co.nz

Cass

+1 on the sporting rifle and another IMO is Shooting Sports. A little too much pellet gun talk for me at times but overall a good read.

Wolfhillbilly

I buy ISD as it's the only mag that gives a round-up of the local pointer and setter field trial results which is a useful service to Irish trialers if nothing else, and gives recognition to the sport. There is a two-page spread on the Irish championship this month. I would read bits and pieces of the rest of it but in terms of content and quality of writing it isn't the best. However I don't like being too critical as I would say that the vast majority of the reports are written by voluntary contributors or for a very few quid. It could definitely do with some sort of professional proof-reader and designer though. It looks very amateurish in layout and there are loads of gramatical errors and spelling mistakes (just like this post probably) and of course 90 per cent of the photos have been sent in by blokes like ourselves who are trying to promote their sport and don't know one end of a camera from another. The English mags look so much more professional, but then they have the resources - professional photographers to accompany professional writers on a day's shooting/stalking/fishing or whatever, so basically what I'm saying is, in comparison to English magazines, it's a long way second, but cut them some slack as they provide info that the Shooting Times or Sporting Gun are never going to have (plus my photo was in it once!)
I also buy the Irish Country Sports and Country Life which is a better quality magazine but has a wider scope of atricles as virtually anything can come under the remit of 'country life'. It is a quarterly and is more northern-focussed, or at least was, it has started a separate 'southern editor' in the last few issues so I expect there will be more stuff from throughout the country now. Again, it doesnlt look as professional as the English ones of the same ilk, e.g The Shooting Gazette, but still worth a read, has some interesting features each edition.

irish setter

Wolfhillbilly wrote: »

I buy ISD as it's the only mag that gives a round-up of the local pointer and setter field trial results which is a useful service to Irish trialers if nothing else, and gives recognition to the sport. There is a two-page spread on the Irish championship this month.

+1

bunny shooter

Must leave my IRS read it he might have more interest in it :pac:

Grizzly 45

badshot wrote: »

just picked up this months irish shooters digest
i'm begining to wonder why.
it can't be that difficult to do a gun review every month
or test some new gear.
that cal ward he does my head in.

I'm sure they would do the gun reviews if our Irish firearms laws would allow it and [2] a gun dealer would hand out a brand spanking NEW firearm for somone to test fire,on the risk they write a glowing report on it,or say it is about as useful as a bag of wet spuds for shooting.:eek:
I wrote a few articles for them years ago,and I can tell you running a gun mag it is a tough row to hoe here in Ireland.I can think of a half dozen in the last 15 years that opened with grandiose ideas,and folded after a single issue.Kudos to ISD,it might be a grotty little mag,but it is there every month[ more or less] on the newsagent shelf.So it must be doing somthing right.

J.R.

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

I'm sure they would do the gun reviews if our Irish firearms laws would allow it and [2] a gun dealer would hand out a brand spanking NEW firearm for somone to test fire,on the risk they write a glowing report on it,or say it is about as useful as a bag of wet spuds for shooting.:eek:

I think you could be right there Grizzly.......our gun laws really restrict anyone doing reviews of any firearm........need a licence to use it, test it etc.

The U.K. magazines have a vast population to aim their articles at compared to Ireland. The population of the U.K. is 67 million, plus Northern Ireland is 1.75 million......plus the number of people in Ireland who buy the U.K. magazines. Have no idea what percentage of population are shooters / hunters who purchase magazines, but in U.K. it must be hugh compared to those in Ireland who buy an Irish magazine.

Circulation, I'm sure, is what it's all about when selling any printed paper or magazine. Once the magazine is set up and printing it's much more cost effective to be able to print off thousands & thousands - rather than hundreds if catering for a much smaller population.

I think the U.K. photos in magazines are brilliant, really professional and the layout at times is fantastic. Saying that, I couldn't see how a magazine with a smaller populaton of readers could afford to send a professional photographer out to photograph each contributors article, as many of the U.K. magazines do......it must be the number of copies they sell in U.K. that helps pay for such professionalism.

The ISD did an article a few months ago ( April edition 2009) on 'Diary of a Falconer' where the photo of the falcon was used as the backdrop to the article. I thought it looked very well .....similar to the layout of the U.K. magazines.

I think that the ISD has been steadily improving in its layout compared to years ago. I understand what some say when they say the magazine seems familiar when picked up each month but I think this is largely due to the adverts.....same adverts from same shop each month......but as we all know it's the adverts that bring in the income for any publication. But as the target population is smaller then the number of advertisers will be proportionatelly likewise.

I see on the first page of this month's edition that the ISD is looking for new contributors. If people have an idea of what is lacking in the magazine why not write an article and forward it to the ISD.

At present it is the only shooting magazine aimed at rough shooting / dogs etc. so if Irish shooters could contribute what's required by Irish shooters then there is an opportunity there to produce a magazine which meets the needs of Irish shooters.....we could all enjoy reading and viewing photos of adventures of Irish shooters, which I would prefer to read if given a choice.

There have been some very good, interesting accounts posted here of night's fox-hunting, deer hunting, outing with dogs, good info. on shotguns, dogs, rifles etc............. why not put them to print and send them in.

jwoods

Great points J.R

4gun

I only buy it on occasion, Its light reading and I wouldn't really say anything bad about it, I kinda regard it as being like the local parish magazine tells you what is going on locally,the usual who, what,when, where and why. if I want a gun review i go on line
It's better that not having nothing at all

clivej

+1 on the sporting rifle I have the 12 month subscription @£;35, its a good read and good value.

Best thing about Sporting Rifle is 'no shotguns' and that fine with me.

fiestaman

Rubbish mag and no info about anything unless your into trials or clay shooting, nothing about the real stuff. Sporting gun and Shooting sports are the two i buy, just got Dec issue of them today and gona relax ina min with them.

J.R.

fiestaman wrote: »

Rubbish mag and no info about anything unless your into trials or clay shooting, nothing about the real stuff.

Just wondering what would be considered by Irish shooters as the 'real stuff'?

What content do we all want to see in an Irish Shooting Magazine?......I enjoy reading gun reviews in other magazines but I can't see how this could be accomplished here in Ireland with our stringent gun laws. Perhaps a registered gun dealer would have such access but then would you be in danger of receiving a bias view.....highly recommend what yields the highest profit.....recommend what's not selling well etc.....I don't know.

What other topics would be interesting reading to the Irish shooter? If we state our interests it may trigger some contributors here to 'have a go' and write an article or two for the ISD that would be of interest to the majority of Irish shooters.

I for one have no interest in clays or clay shooting results but when published in the magazine it doesn't really bother me as I realise that the magazine is trying to cater for all tastes and reach the majority of Irish shooters....plus many Irish clay shooters are also game & rough shooters.

As gun dog trials and clay shooting have been mentioned are these articles being read by many Irish shooters.........how many lads here would read such articles in the magazine?

Similiarly, I don't have ferrets, nor have I hunted with them for years, but I would be very interested in reading articles written by an Irish ferreter. I'm not a falconer but really enjoyed the articles the ISD ran on 'Diary of a Falconer'.........gives an insight into the sports of others.

Very rarely will I pick up any magazine and be engrossed with every single article in it......usually I'm lucky if 3-4 articles are in my interest range but saying that I often read articles on different aspects of shooting and rural life even though I know I'll never partake in such a past time......just find it all very interesting & broadens your horizons.

So, what articles would people find really interesting?

Grizzly 45

Personally,I would like somthing along the lines of the old UK Guns Review mag.It had abit of everything,editorial comment on firearms issues of the day,be it political or otherwise.A political colum,a good gamekeeper colum,a review of a current firearm,good book reviews not necessarily on the traditional shooting sports but firearms related,intresting articles on old historical guns of all types,hunting trip reports,historical articles on battles and events and chacters involving firearms,Auction prices for antique firearms,and a good roundup of scores in clay and rifle shooting events.All in all it was an ideal shooting/firearms mag.

Sparks

J.R. wrote: »

I think you could be right there Grizzly.......our gun laws really restrict anyone doing reviews of any firearm........need a licence to use it, test it etc.

No they don't. You just have to be a firearms dealer or work for one.
Section 2 is a nice bit of law sometimes.

If people have an idea of what is lacking in the magazine why not write an article and forward it to the ISD.

Speaking personally, I wouldn't anymore (and I used to at one point) because of who my name would wind up in print longside. Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.