Craig Boddington

Craig Boddington is a professional hunter, TV show host, author and Marine.

Biography

Craig Boddington was born in Kansas in 1952. His early big-game experience included pronghorn and mule deer in Wyoming, whitetail and mule deer in Kansas, and mule deer in Colorado. A notable portion of his early years was dedicated to Boy Scout activities. At the age of 14, he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, followed by earning a Silver Palm on his Eagle at 16. At the age of 17, he became the youngest person to serve as activities director at his regional Boy Scout camp. Boddington attended the University of Kansas on a NROTC scholarship and graduated with a degree in English and a regular commission in the United States Marine Corps. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

He retired from the USMC Reserves in 2005 with the rank of colonel after service in the Gulf War in 1991 and Kuwait in 2001.

Career

Whilst at college, Boddington began writing and continued while on active duty. In 1978, he left active service and worked as a hunting consultant/booking agent for International Hunting Consultants based in Santa Monica. In 1979, he joined Petersen Publishing Company, where he served as associate editor for ''Guns & Ammo'', editor for Guns & Ammo Speciality Publications, field editor for '' American Blade'', executive editor at ''Petersen's Hunting'' magazine and editor of ''Petersen's Hunting'' magazine from 1983 to 1994. His current position with Intermedia Outdoors (formerly Petersen's) is Executive Field Editor, Intermedia Outdoor Group, including ''Guns & Ammo'', ''Petersen's Hunting'', and ''RifleShooter''. He is a member of Gander Mountain's Elite Pro-Staff and also serves as a consultant to SureFire LLC.

Boddington has written over 4000 published magazine articles on hunting and firearms. He is the author of 28 books and has been published in England, Australia, Scotland, Canada, Germany, Spain, and the United States. He is a regular contributor to ''Sports Afield'' magazine and ''Fair Chase'', the Boone & Crockett Club's magazine. He is an editor at ''Safari'' magazine. His writing frequently includes technical firearms subjects and evaluation of firearms, optics, and ammunition.

Boddington has made appearances in more than 500 television episodes on Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel. He served as host of Dallas Safari Club's ''Tracks Across Africa'' on Outdoor Channel and co-hosts Hornady's ''The Boddington Experience'' alongside his daughter Brittany on the Sportsman Channel, and is also co-host of ''Guns & Ammo TV'' and ''Petersen’s Hunting Adventures''. He has been a featured speaker for numerous shows and organizations, including for the NRA's Great American Hunters Tour, International Sportsmen's Expositions, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, and Dallas Safari Club, and in numerous hunting videotapes, such as ''Boddington on Buffalo'' and ''Boddington on Elephant''.

Boddington has hunted on all continents except Antarctica. His first international hunt was in British Columbia in 1973 and his first safari to Africa occurred in 1977. He completed Africa's Big Five game of elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, and buffalo in 1986 and has hunted all nine principal spiral-horned antelopes. Boddington is one of two hunters reported to have taken all of these species twice. He holds the Capra Super 30; Ovis Super 20, two North American grand slams, and the North American Super Slam from Grand Slam/Ovis.{{Cite web , last=Olmsted , first=J. Scott , title=An Official Journal Of The NRA {{! American Hunter Contributor Craig Boddington Named as Weatherby Award Recipient , url=https://www.americanhunter.org/content/american-hunter-contributor-craig-boddington-named-as-weatherby-award-recipient/ , access-date=2023-09-19 , website=American Hunter , language=en

Published books

{{Div col, colwidth=25em
* {{Cite book , title=America—The Men And Their Guns That Made Her Great , publisher=Petersen Publishing Company , year=1981 , isbn=978-0822730224
* {{Cite book , title=Campfires And Game Trails , publisher=Winchester Press , year=1985 , isbn=978-0832903878
* {{Cite book , title=From Mt. Kenya To The Cape—Ten Years Of African Hunting , publisher=Safari Press , year=1987 , isbn=978-1571573537
* {{Cite book , title=Deer Hunting Coast To Coast , publisher=Safari Press , year=1989 , isbn=978-0940143463
* {{Cite book , title=Shots At Big Game , publisher=Stackpole Books , year=1989 , isbn=978-0940143890
* {{Cite book , title=Safari Rifles , publisher=Safari Press , year=1991 , isbn=978-0940143487
* {{Cite book , title=Hunter's Handbook , publisher=Mallard Press , year=1992 , isbn=978-0792454618
* {{Cite book , title=American Hunting Rifles , publisher=Safari Press , year=1995 , isbn=978-1571572233
* {{Cite book , title=Whitetail Medicine , publisher=The Derrydale Press , year=1995 , isbn=978-1564161567
* {{Cite book , title=Where Lions Roar: Ten More Years of African Hunting , publisher=Safari Press , year=1997 , isbn=978-1571570697
* {{Cite book , title=Make It Accurate , publisher=Safari Press , year=1999 , isbn=978-1571571502
* {{Cite book , title=The African Experience , publisher=Safari Press , year=2001 , isbn=978-1571572523
* {{Cite book , title=Search For The Spiral Horn , publisher=Safari Press , year=2002 , isbn=978-1571571359
* {{Cite book , title=African Hunter II , publisher=Safari Press , year=2004 , isbn=978-1571573094
* {{Cite book , title=Fair Chase In North America , publisher=Boone and Crockett Club , year=2004 , isbn=978-0940864474
* {{Cite book , title=The Perfect Shot , publisher=Safari Press , year=2005 , isbn=978-1571572677
* {{Cite book , title=Life On Safari , publisher=Mission Trails , year=2005 , isbn=978-0976414209
* {{Cite book , title=Buffalo! , publisher=Safari Press , year=2005 , isbn=978-1571571977
* {{Cite book , title=Leopard , publisher=Mission Trails , year=2007 , isbn=978-0976414292
* {{Cite book , title=Safari Rifles II , publisher=Safari Press , year=2008 , isbn=978-1571573292
* {{Cite book , title=Big Game Argentina , publisher=Patagonia Press , year=2009 , isbn=978-9872151195
* {{Cite book , title=Tracks Across Africa , publisher=Safari Press , year=2010 , isbn=978-1571572875
* {{Cite book , title=Elephant!: The Renaissance of Hunting the African Elephant , publisher=Safari Press , year=2011 , isbn=978-1571573919
* {{Cite book , title=American Hunting Rifles II , publisher=Safari Press , year=2013 , isbn=978-1571574374
* {{Cite book , title=Hunting: What Youth Need to Know , publisher=Conklin Foundation , year=2014 , isbn=978-0986072406
* {{Cite book , title=Deadly Encounters , publisher=Safari Press , year=2015 , isbn=978-1571574459
* {{Cite book , title=Accurate Rifle and Rifleman , publisher=Safari Press , year=2016 , isbn=978-1571574695
* {{Cite book , title=From Cape to Kasserine , publisher=Safari Press , year=2017 , isbn=978-1571575265
* {{Cite book , title=Buffalo II!: More Lessons Learned , publisher=Safari Press , year=2019 , isbn=978-1571575319
* {{Cite book , title=Favorite Rifles and Cartridges , publisher=Safari Press , year=2021 , isbn=978-1571575098
{{Div col end

Awards

* Inaugural Recipient of Peter Hathaway Capstick Literary Award from Safari Club International, 1997.
* Shooting Sports Writer of the Year Award, Outdoor Writers Association of America, 1999.
* Recipient of Leupold “Jack Slack Writer of the Year” Award, 2005.
* Safari Club International's CJ McElroy Award, 2008.
* Chancellor Foundation "Conservationist of the Year", 2008.
* Conklin Award, 2009.
* Zeiss Writer of the Year, 2010.
* JJ Malek Golden Award, 2010.
* Weatherby Award, 2017.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website

{{Authority control

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boddington, Craig
1953 births
Living people
American hunters
United States Marine Corps officers
United States Marine Corps reservists
United States Marine Corps personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
University of Kansas alumni