Thoughts on Craig Boddington?

[Altitude sickness]

I cringe at those pics myself. It was definitely a different era.

 

[Muskox]

I wore UDT's while working in HSL-40 fairly regularly. I had about 8 pairs by the time I left Mayport and went to Lemoore to AIMD.

They were super comfortable. But like I said, one nut was always trying to see the world.

 

[BonUm16]

Critique of Boddington turns into a discussion of tactical “Daisy Duke’s”….

Talk about thread drift.

 

[roverandbrew]

I cringe at those pics myself. It was definitely a different era.

I heard if you hemmed them even shorter you got offered free drinks on Duval Street in Key West during Dive Requals. I believe free rides on the "Beef on the Reef" party boat was also an option.

 

[Paul K]

This thread should have dead and buried long ago.

Paul

 

[Art Lambart II]

I haven't read all the replies and don't plan to. These kinds of topics are always polarizing. I know there are topics about Boddington that seem to light people up. I don't have any connections to those subjects one way or another.

Having said that, I have hunted with Craig in Africa and on his farm in KS and have met some of his family and close friends. I've written about both hunts here. Craig has stayed in my home and I consider him to be a friend. I enjoy a hunt or meal or campfire with him and look forward to the next one wherever that may be. I have found him to be a good story teller but also a good listener. In fact, he seems to really enjoy hearing other's stories instead of telling his own. That's just been my experience with him on multiple occasions.

My family and I had the pleasure of hunting with Craig last year in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and our experience was the same as @Green Chile . A very polite man, willing to share stories and advice if asked but more intrested in your stories and experiences. He had to leave camp a few days before we did and the camp was a lesser place because of it. Before he left we exchanged numbers and he invited my son and I to hunt on his property in Kansas. Several days after we returned from our Safari I got a call from Craig asking how my safari turned out and how my son did on his first safari. He didn't have to call but he did and we have shared several texts since then, Craig is a good man with a good heart and a passion for hunting and story telling. I've hunted with many people over the years and some of them I'd rather not hunt with again, Craig is not one of those people, I'd be glad to share a hunting camp with Craig anytime, and hopefully I will.

 

[mark-hunter]

I have been followimg all topics about CB on this forum, and all persoms having a direct contact with CB had the same gentlemanly and positive experience. Me too, via correspondence when ordering his book.

None of the negative comentarors had given any personal contact description, evidence and experience with him.

 

[Rare Breed]

Well, I know of at least one person here who actually made General, two stars to be exact.

I believe that would be our very well respected @Red Leg Former Major General (retired) Joe Taylor

 

[Rare Breed]

UDT Shorts. Had several pair issued when I was stationed on Oki.

I bought a pair of these shorts from one of my best friends who was an Annapolis graduate. My waist got bigger before I could wear them out

 

[franzfmdavis]

All I can say is I'm sure glad Im a nobody. Sure would suck having your life picked apart and critiqued by anybody and everybody with internet access.

Ditto

 

[M70375!]

Many years ago, I was considering buying outfit in British Columbia and I asked him over the phone if he would come on a free stone sheep hunt(they were $7500 then) and write a story about it. He said he would, but he said I have to tell you, I call a spade a spade and if it is not a good hunt, I am not going to say that it was.
I think he is a good man.

 

[Green Chile]

My family and I had the pleasure of hunting with Craig last year in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and our experience was the same as @Green Chile . A very polite man, willing to share stories and advice if asked but more intrested in your stories and experiences. He had to leave camp a few days before we did and the camp was a lesser place because of it. Before he left we exchanged numbers and he invited my son and I to hunt on his property in Kansas. Several days after we returned from our Safari I got a call from Craig asking how my safari turned out and how my son did on his first safari. He didn't have to call but he did and we have shared several texts since then, Craig is a good man with a good heart and a passion for hunting and story telling. I've hunted with many people over the years and some of them I'd rather not hunt with again, Craig is not one of those people, I'd be glad to share a hunting camp with Craig anytime, and hopefully I will.

Art, if you get a chance to hunt deer at Craig's KS farm, you should try to do so. I hunted there last year and wrote a hunt report on it. I ended up taking a 12 point and Craig was genuinely happy to see me do so. One bonus is being so close to his larger collection of taxidermy in town and doing a tour of it with him. I recognized a number of animals from his writings there and got some cool back stories on animals that interested me like his zebra duiker and markhor. Also, I enjoyed seeing a pile of Cape buffalo skulls in his barn.

 

[wesheltonj]

And I see we also have a one star too. @Ralph E. Parker

 

[Doc Kelly]

I was on the board of SCI Orange County for years and meet Craig and his wife Donna many many times. He has always gone the extra mile, spoke at meetings if asked and given his time freely, He is a wealth of information. I have bounced many hunts off him and every time he nailed it to a tee. He is a gentleman and one of the best hunting Ambassadors alive. I would personally vouch for him any day and anyone who says differently is not telling the truth. Enough said

 

[HankBuck]

I was on the board of SCI Orange County for years and meet Craig and his wife Donna many many times. He has always gone the extra mile, spoke at meetings if asked and given his time freely, He is a wealth of information. I have bounced many hunts off him and every time he nailed it to a tee. He is a gentleman and one of the best hunting Ambassadors alive. I would personally vouch for him any day and anyone who says differently is not telling the truth. Enough said

@Doc Kelly - seems everyone who has met or knows CB has a very high opinion of him. I don’t understand how anyone who has Not met him or know him at all can disparage him and form any negative opinion…. I assume it is jealousy and with that a desire to bring down someone that is very successful as a hunter, writer, and celebrity within his field. Maybe there is a “Cancel Culture” within our own Hunting Community, those that envy the success of others and jealous they will never attain that themselves? Either way - I Don’t know the man at all and have no personal informed opinion….but I like his writing style, have enjoyed his books, and will likely continue to do so.

 

[grand veneur]

Envy in hunting, especially when it comes to trophy hunting, is very pronounced, even at the highest social levels. I can point to an example regarding the behavior of a former French president who was a great hunter and also an African hunter. It was not advisable to shoot a bigger trophy than the president during a driven hunt for example. Despite everything, I have always held this man in high esteem and I own the identical big bore rifle that was built for him from the same gunmaker in Strasbourg/France.

 

[Muskox]

@Doc Kelly - seems everyone who has met or knows CB has a very high opinion of him. I don’t understand how anyone who has Not met him or know him at all can disparage him and form any negative opinion…. I assume it is jealousy and with that a desire to bring down someone that is very successful as a hunter, writer, and celebrity within his field. Maybe there is a “Cancel Culture” within our own Hunting Community, those that envy the success of others and jealous they will never attain that themselves? Either way - I Don’t know the man at all and have no personal informed opinion….but I like his writing style, have enjoyed his books, and will likely continue to do so.

I think you are right.

1. Jealousy, because Craig go to do it as part of his job. While the rest of us went to work to do 1/50th as much on normal salaries. There are guys that have hunted more that still trash talk him.

2. Controversy, Craig has some issues in the military with his promotion. Most people have never served are the ones that bitch and complain about this the most. A lot of people have bad experiences in the military, I know I did. I did 20 years, it wasn't all beer, per diem, and women. The last 3 probably caused the most for a lot of guys that had bad experiences. Craig was more of a straight arrow, so his has to do with some kind of allowing himself to be illegally promoted.

3. He has been at it a long time, and is one of the most well known. Long term notoriety will do it every time. Makes him a target.

4. He is fairly charming as a writer, and in person. Kind of a sales person. So there are people that won't like that. He actively denies celebrity status, and even though he gets type cast that way I do not personally believe that is his intent.

5. He has been lucky enough to do a lot of hunts you can't do anymore. If he'd been around when tigers were hunted and managed that, he would probably be truly hated more.

So those guys that constantly measure their penis against what they perceive someone else to have, will end up coming up short against Craig.

 

[Nyati]

Envy in hunting, especially when it comes to trophy hunting, is very pronounced, even at the highest social levels. I can point to an example regarding the behavior of a former French president who was a great hunter and also an African hunter. It was not advisable to shoot a bigger trophy than the president during a driven hunt for example. Despite everything, I have always held this man in high esteem and I own the identical big bore rifle that was built for him from the same gunmaker in Strasbourg/France.

Valery Giscard D´Estaing ?

 

[miket1]

I have never understood the envy/jealousy thing. I have always been happy for other hunters when they get an animal they want, big or small. If they are happy with it, Im happy with it. I do not compare my animals to others. I have known unskilled hunters that have killed animals way bigger than anything I will ever kill, and skilled hunters that kill the first legal animal that crosses their path. I hunt for myself, nobody else. IMO if you are killing for your ego, you are doing it wrong, and shortchanging yourself ( of course it is your right to do so ).