Thoughts on Craig Boddington?

[NWT]

I do not know Red Leg and from his posts I have no desire to.
I do know Craig Boddington.
Pretty easy to chastise someone on a open forum when the person being chastised is not privy to the conversation or can defend himself. There are many who fail in business ventures. Did Craig hurt you personally in any of his business dealings? I find Craig a interesting and knowledgeable adventurer who is trying to make a living in the hunting industry. So what he has filed a bankruptcy.LOL Some of you act like he is Bernie Madoff . Get a life.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Exact

I agree with you about Hornady. Though I don't personally use them, they are still one of the few companies out there that cater to Safari hunters. They've also resurrected many old DG calibers, and made them affordable to shoot. So whether you like the DGX or not, it seems counterproductive to always bash them. They are on our side!

Exactly Toby! What they did for the 450/400 is as much a service to us as it is a business venture.

 

[Red Leg]

Oh boy. Now you are also a expert and student regarding Craig Boddington on both his personal and business life. Geeeez is there anything that you are not a expert on??
Pretty large man who can discuss another man’s life without walking in his shoes. Very easy to have a one sided conversation when the other man can not respond. Now I suppose you are going to tell us you are best friends with his past business partners??
Craig Boddington was a military man who has a passion like many of us for hunting. Like many of us he started a second career after retirement. He was not trained in his hunting profession like he was in the military. He learned as he went along. Things can change in business arrangements that many times you can not control. Investors take chances ,that is how they make their money.
Craig Boddington has had a full life with many more experiences and adventures than you will dream about. Craig Boddington is not the ruined man you try to make him out to be.
Get off your high horse.

No, he certainly isn't a ruined man. Obviously, he also doesn't seem to care very much with respect to potentially ruining others does he? His financial behavior is public record. You are correct, that I don't know Boddington. I have spoken to him maybe four or five times. I do happen to know someone who had the opportunity to experience the financial effects of those "experiences and adventures." You draw your set of conclusions and I'll draw mine. Mine are at least based upon informed opinion. I truly regret that sort of opinion seems to bother you regardless of the subject.

I have no meaningful opinion with respect to his personal conduct with the people he otherwise meets in his business. And everyone is correct to the extent that his ethical and business choices in no way affect his broad experience base. As I noted, those choices have actually served to enable them.

 

[Firebird]

Spent a long and mentally taxing two hours last night with my attorney friend learning about bankruptcy-centered around the NRA. CB did not come up but I learned more than I ever cared to about multiple types of bankruptcy and what you might gain or lose in various types/situations.
I would not judge anyone too harshly because they have a bankruptcy in their past although the word alone sure has a negative connotation-

 

[WAB]

Agreed, bankruptcy can be caused by a number of factors, some within your control and some not. In my M&A life, the biggest failing I saw was poor cash flow planning. Finances are not a snapshot, you have to understand the timing and flow of money to successfully execute a business plan. Getting you’re ass in a crack, so to speak, on cash flow is quite simple with a poor understanding of cash flow. VC firms understand this and the risks they are taking hence the covenants they insist on with their investments. A start up venture is always angel or VC class investment. Many folks with some cash make a huge mistake investing without a proper understanding of the risks.

To this particular situation, it is the way you address your cash flow problem under bankruptcy protection that determines your character, not the fact that you made a mistake to get into it. If you use bankruptcy to restructure and salvage something for you and your partners great. If you use it to stiff your partners and protect assets for yourself, well that’s a horse of a different color. I don’t know the particulars of Craig’s situation. As stated earlier, I have always enjoyed my interactions with him.

 

[buck wild]

The people here may not be very fond of his character but it's exactly the type of person hunting needs to promote the beloved sport.

Uh you lost me here.

I think CB came on here, or maybe his rep, about two years ago pushing one for his for sale video series I think. He didn't stay very long. As with most hunting personality, my biggest complainant is that they seem to be willing to endorse products for the financial benefit of doing so versus that good of the hunting community. In other words, I don't trust that product X or outfitter Y just bc a public hunting person endorses them AND really can't stand when I believe the endorsement is merely based on income. Some will condone that "as business" but MY WORD is more valuable to me than money.

 

[375Fox]

Some will condone that "as business" but MY WORD is more valuable to me than money.

Very well said.

 

[WilhelmM]

Uh you lost me here.

I think CB came on here, or maybe his rep, about two years ago pushing one for his for sale video series I think. He didn't stay very long. As with most hunting personality, my biggest complainant is that they seem to be willing to endorse products for the financial benefit of doing so versus that good of the hunting community. In other words, I don't trust that product X or outfitter Y just bc a public hunting person endorses them AND really can't stand when I believe the endorsement is merely based on income. Some will condone that "as business" but MY WORD is more valuable to me than money.

Honestly, I don't care at this point. I'm not a "fan" of Craig Boddington and nor will I ever be. If you don't like him, then that's fine. But a lot of you guys here on AH have a serious problem with not showing respect and basic decency. I don't mean this as an offence to you, @buck wild, but the people on AH have become oddly unfriendly towards newcomers and anyone with an unconventional or unpopular opinion.

 

[Red Leg]

Honestly, I don't care at this point. I'm not a "fan" of Craig Boddington and nor will I ever be. If you don't like him, then that's fine. But a lot of you guys here on AH have a serious problem with not showing respect and basic decency. I don't mean this as an offence to you, @buck wild, but the people on AH have become oddly unfriendly towards newcomers and anyone with an unconventional or unpopular opinion.

I genuinely hope that isn't true. We were all new here once. Could you cite and example?

I would note that an "unconventional" opinion or assertion is bound to generate discussion and responses (I would think that is a good thing), and an "unpopular" one is bound to generate disagreement (I would think that would be an inevitable thing).

 

[WilhelmM]

I genuinely hope that isn't true. We were all new here once. Could you cite and example?

It's not anything in particular but I noticed that often newcomers and users with unpopular opinions tend to get responded to rather passive-aggressively. Maybe it's all in my head but it's hard not to notice. I was lucky enough to be treated very well when I first joined the site but then after a few weeks, certain users (not going to give names out of respect) got quite snarky with me for no particular reason other than what I said may have been unconventional. It made me sad considering that when I used to lurk here people were extremely friendly towards one another, albeit that was before 2020 happened lol

 

[mark-hunter]

I never had any negative experiences on this forum, since joining till now.

 

[rafaellinne]

I like his books and videos and I wish I had done 5% of his hunts

 

[arizonajake]

First, Boddington is a public person, and, as such, he gets bombarded on a daily basis with people wanting to shake, hands, wanting opinions, chats, etc. If each of us were in his shoes, I seriously doubt we would not have the same public demeanor. I myself would probably end up hanging myself LOL.

Second, we all have had successes, failures, as well as business and personal relationships which have gone sour, and voicing opinions without having all the facts is unfair, in my humble opinion.

Third and lastly, NONE OF US are perfect. We all have our own little quirks which enable us to occasionally get on people's nerves or endear us to others.

In other words, CB is a normal human being, who, for better or worse, enjoys public fame and all the niceties and drawbacks that come with it. As far as I am concerned, I have never met the man and whenever I've read his articles or seen his videos, I find them either informative or reassuring. I find myself agreeing with his points more often than not. No different than with any other gun writer or video personality.

Good day.

 

[Martin77]

The time I met him he was very nice.

 

[Scott CWO]

Uh you lost me here.

I think CB came on here, or maybe his rep, about two years ago pushing one for his for sale video series I think. He didn't stay very long. As with most hunting personality, my biggest complainant is that they seem to be willing to endorse products for the financial benefit of doing so versus that good of the hunting community. In other words, I don't trust that product X or outfitter Y just bc a public hunting person endorses them AND really can't stand when I believe the endorsement is merely based on income. Some will condone that "as business" but MY WORD is more valuable to me than money.

Amen. I’ve never done product endorsements with my business but have been asked. It’s a turn off when I see a tv personality or another outfitter pushing an obviously cheaper, average product when you know he could afford something better.

 

[IvW]

Many are very nice people the ones that have shafted me where the nicest.....

 

[IdaRam]

Many are very nice people the ones that have shafted me where the nicest.....

Alot of truth and wisdom in that statement

 

[mikecatt13]

Amen. I’ve never done product endorsements with my business but have been asked. It’s a turn off when I see a tv personality or another outfitter pushing an obviously cheaper, average product when you know he could afford something better.

Some of this comes down to motivation and some to character. My competition shooting sponsors are companies I've been a customer longer than a shooter, and I've dropped companies that had product issues. But I dont do it for a living. There are actually very few that do it for a living, the legendary Jerry Miculek being one. While there is absolutely no doubt his mossberg and his S&W M&P are sub par for our game (3 gun), at least at a high level of competition, compared to the pistols and shotguns most use he is not only highly proficient but I've shot with him several times and his gear does work and he doesnt lie about it. Heck of a good guy. On the other side, I've personally seen top 10% ish shooters get sponsored by a company, witness the gear (gun) fail repeatedly, and get on social media that very day and say how flawless it worked. Middle of the road example is the Duck Commander guys using mossbergs on camera and other brands off camera. I've heard them endorse mossberg, but never say they're better than benelli, browning, beretta...

Point is, to be sponsored doesnt define character. If someone is shooting or hunting for a living it's basically essential to make it work. You can truthful and still do your sponsors right.

 

[Firebird]

just a random thought but why did you throw out a thread about a single individual? There are lots of gun writers and adventure writers-so why did you single out CB? You knew you were going to get a split on likes and dislikes before you asked-i don’t really want to know the answer to this question but really no need to single out one guy-just seems unfair or unnecessarily pointed to me. One last thought-we are all new here at some level-

 

[wesheltonj]

It's not anything in particular but I noticed that often newcomers and users with unpopular opinions tend to get responded to rather passive-aggressively. Maybe it's all in my head but it's hard not to notice. I was lucky enough to be treated very well when I first joined the site but then after a few weeks, certain users (not going to give names out of respect) got quite snarky with me for no particular reason other than what I said may have been unconventional. It made me sad considering that when I used to lurk here people were extremely friendly towards one another, albeit that was before 2020 happened lol

Things are fairly tame here. Go look at some other hunting boards, they are just nasty.