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Wilderness trails and tales

2373 Views 11 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  TheCoachZed
How many of you guys remember this magasine? It was a NB based hunting mag from the early 80s. Any one know who produced it? Where any of you guys in it? Im pretty sure predator 1 was a writer for it. Love to see some old articles from back then. Used to have a huge stack of them when I was a kid .Cant remember exactly but there may have been 2 of these type magazines at the time. Any one remeber or even still have copies.
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I remember it well.
Wasn't Jim Gourlay the owner or editor at the time? He's worked for, or owned a few mags since those days and I'm sure if you Google him you could easily track him down. I think he's still in the magazine biz but not sure as I don't know him personally.
I think I actually saw him at the Dieppe Fly Fishing Show in the spring but didn't have time to stop and ask him if we was who I thought he was.
I actually had the pleasure of having a story and photo published in there, way back when. I was sooooooo proud!
I believe Greg Davidson? was the owner/editor of WT&T.Not 100% sure,so someone correct me if I'm wrong. I really liked that newspaper because it had a lot of local content. It had a good following and I'm not sure why it folded.Anybody got the scoop on this?
My son called to tell me about the inquiry for WT&T. It was myself (Greg Davidson) & another partner who started the publication in April of '83. My partner left the publishing business shortly after it started. In the early 1990's I sold the publication to the same folks who own the Maine Sportsman and stayed on as editor until 1994 - until they folded the publication. It was a labour of love but sadly not a money maker, hence the decision to fold it. I still have very few issues left (6 or 7) kicking around simply because my wife keeps these things (thankfully). If anyone has a story posted in the issue and it happens to be one I have I'll send it to them. I'm only interested in keeping the first issue.

Several people have contacted me about trying to start up a similar publication but the reality is to make a publication work you need advertising and that's tough to get - especially here in Atlantic Canada.

You folks made it work because you contributed stories, photo's and bought subscriptions
Thanks for asking about the publication - it was a lot of hard work and fun.
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Have you considered an online magazine or down loadable in PDF format. That would cust the costs of publishing and distribution to virtually zero.

Articles could/would be "donated" by Atlantic hunters, fishermen and outdoorsmen.

Minimal advertising would be required to cover the costs of the web site and domain name.

Subscriptions could also be sold if necessary.

Everyone loves a good hunting story, especially from local hunters.

And yes, I agree it would be a labour of love!
Hi 4everhuntin and guys...
Yes, Greg Davidson was the editor and a co-owner who eventually became owner, I believe. I wrote for the magazine regularly/monthly while it lasted and continued to write for the New Brunswick version, the Maritime Sportsman which it became after Greg sold it to the owner of the Maine Sportsman magazine. That is how I started writing for the Vermont Sportsman mag(VS owner picked one up while in the rpovince and liked my stuff so he called to see if I would write for them) and that led to writing for several others which I still do today. I believe I may have some copies of the old magazine tucked away in the basement. I enjoyed reading the articles about NB"ers and our own hunting and fishing...seeing the photos and writing for them! I've actually been toying with the idea of starting up a local "outdoors' magazine, myself. I know you guys would have a lot of materail and photos for it! I even have the magazine name chosen...
best to y'all!
Ray
Wilderness Tails and Trails and later The Maritime Sportsman was a great mag . I still have all my copies . Remember the late Dave Paul and his stories about his Uncle Fred up ,up at Big Buckshot Lake , Mr Paul went on to write for Eastern Woods and Waters . That man should have written a book about his adventures with his Uncle Fred .
There is a french language hunting and fishing NB magazine , I believe it comes out 3 or 4 times a year .
The loss of Easter Woods and Waters along with The Maritime Sportsman have left quite a void . I recieve the NW Sporting Journal which is out of the States , but hunting and fishing know no borders . It's a good Magazine , better IMO than the Maine Sportsman .
Would love to see picture and hear the story, lobsterman!
I barely remember it. I certainly can't remember the date. I have C.R.A.F.T. disease (Can't Remember A ***** Thing.) It was about hunting deer in overly crowded woods near Fundy Nat'l Park, and instead of getting pissed off at all the "hunters" in the woods, hooting and hollering to each other, shooting at pop cans, honking their car horn (for some reason that remains a mystery to me) I decided to sit tight and lo and behold they pushed a deer right to me.
A photo ran with it, but I can't even remember if I supplied the photo or if the mag did.
I bought every copy of that mag but since it was newsprint, they all deteriorated to the point where I trashed them all. I should have stored them properly I guess but I kept them handy so I could re-read them again and again. Some of the writing was pretty rough but I ain't no English teacher so it was fine by me.

Greg: I know a bit about the publishing biz and for sure you did it for love and not for money. Damn tough business to be in for anyone who likes to be able to feed himself and his family, unless y'all eat newsprint three times a day and wash it down with ink. For sure it's advertising that pays the bills and it's a tough row to hoe these days to find advertising, even much much worse than it was back in the WT&T days. You guys that talk about an Internet version of the mag, yup lots of advertising available on the net but it don't pay squat. There is a reason that dozens of the world's biggest-selling newspapers have gone bankrupt in the past three years. An Internet mag would be a lot of work for minimal or no return. Believe me. In fact, it would likely cost you money out of your own pocket to pull it off and it will certainly cost you a lot of time.

I see Jim Gourlay has put Eastern Woods and Waters online, so it's still there, just not in print form. Drop him a line and ask him how much he's making and how many hours he's putting in. I'm sure he'll enlighten you.

Predator One I remember your writing, as well as your column in the TJ way back when. I didn't always agree with ya but I always enjoyed reading ya, which is all ya can ask, eh!

All the best to the bunch of yas and thanks for the memories. Great thread.
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My son called to tell me about the inquiry for WT&T. It was myself (Greg Davidson) & another partner who started the publication in April of '83. My partner left the publishing business shortly after it started. In the early 1990's I sold the publication to the same folks who own the Maine Sportsman and stayed on as editor until 1994 - until they folded the publication. It was a labour of love but sadly not a money maker, hence the decision to fold it. I still have very few issues left (6 or 7) kicking around simply because my wife keeps these things (thankfully). If anyone has a story posted in the issue and it happens to be one I have I'll send it to them. I'm only interested in keeping the first issue.

Several people have contacted me about trying to start up a similar publication but the reality is to make a publication work you need advertising and that's tough to get - especially here in Atlantic Canada.

You folks made it work because you contributed stories, photo's and bought subscriptions
Thanks for asking about the publication - it was a lot of hard work and fun.
If I remember correctly,didn't you blow the whistle on the producers of bottled deer urine. They were saying something about every bottle was fresh from wild does in heat or something similar. You called them on it and they actually took you to court.If more people like you would stand up against some of this nonsense that's going on in all sports,fishing is another major money racket,then it would bring some honesty and credibility back to the sport.Like my dad use to say," Move slow and keep the wind in your face."THANK YOU for the quality read,I wish you were still publishing.I still have a few copies of your mag. and get them out now and then ,it's like taking a trip back in time when life seemed a lot more simpler.
I loved that magazine and would love to see something like it come back. One of my favourite features was submitted pictures. I couldn't wait to see pictures of massive bulls and monster bucks!
I work on a couple small-time motorcycle publications, and believe me, there's very little money to be made in the major markets, let alone niche markets . . .

Would love to work on a hunting mag sometime, though, if I had the time.

Most small-time publications are really just hobbies, and a lot of the "payment" is actually in the form of tested product. That raises a lot of ethical questions . . . The bigger pubs usually just sell off the tested gear or give it away, I think.

If someone does want to put together a NB hunting mag, even just an annual publication, let me know. I do have some ideas how it could be done for little cash outlay, although it would probably also be very little profit.
MagCloud (google it) is the easiest way to get into production. Trouble is, a lot of guys wouldn't be bothered to go to the hassle of ordering from them - they'd rather buy it over the counter.
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