Sports Afield Magazine. . .

[Guyon]

. . . has been sold. In addition, it is changing subscription services.

I know some shooters here might subscribe, and they might be wondering where their July, August, or September issues are. Simply put, there are no July, August, or September issues.

I called today (818-763-9221) and was told that there will be an October issue but that the new owners are sending it only to those folks who call in. I know that sounds odd as hell, but I had the lady at Sports Afield repeat it twice.

Just FYI for any subscribers here.

 

[BenW]

Well that just blows. I was so happy when they left the short-lived "eco-yuppie" faze of bicycles=okay, guns=evil and went back to their old format of hunting and fishing.

I thought there was just a lapse right now because we were in the long faze of the 10 issues a year thing. Dammit.

 

[MeekAndMild]

I was so happy when they left the short-lived "eco-yuppie" faze of bicycles=okay, guns=evil

Sports Afield used to be one of my favorites 'back in the day'. I ran across one of their eco-yuppie rags a while back in the barber shop and thought I was going to have a stroke. I guess that must have been where "Joe" the barber got his anti UZI ideas.

 

[BenW]

Yeah, I almost wish someone would have had a camera handy to catch my expression the day the first issue by the Lycra Boys came out. It had a picture of a fully Lycra clad mountain biker on the front. I first thought to myself, "Okay, they're doing an article on biking to your hunting and fishing spots." I frantically searched the bike for a rod case or gun scabbard, realizing neither were present at about the same time I noticed the Lycra wasn't camo. The look on my face was pretty much identical to the look the kid in "A Christmas Story" had when he opened the pink bunny pajamas present.

The funniest part was that as I read through the magazine in disbelief, I came across letters to the editor (in the FIRST ISSUE mind you!) on how great the new look was and how the readers were sick of all the hunting articles.

And I had just a month prior renewed my subscription. Five issues later, after I got it through my thick head that this was not a bad dream, I had just made my mind up to cancel my subscription instead of letting run out. Lo and behold, issue #6 came with the old look and a note about how the old publishers had bought the magazine back and how sorry they were for the short run of yucky issues. Now this. I hope the sale doesn't kill the REAL Sports Afield again, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Guyon]

Well, I was fortunate to never encounter Sports Afield during its yuppie, tree hugging, spandex days. I just started getting it about a year ago, and I actually let my Field & Stream subscription lapse because I liked Sports Afield much better. During the past year or so, I can say that it was a quality magazine with good writing, a lot of interesting subject matter, and a fair amount of attention to gun and hunter rights.

I hope that the staffing and writing stays pretty much the same.

Do call if you want that October issue. I think that the old subscription service wants to transfer its database en toto to the subscription service that is taking over. As a result, right now the magazine itself has no idea who should be getting copies ("What we have here is a failure to communicate." comes to mind.)

Also, the lady at SA told me that the new issue would come with a card that offers a choice. A) keep the subscription B) request a refund

If I see any Lycra or mountain bikes in the October issue, I'm going with option B, and I'm calling Outdoor Life.