Hey Gregg. Guess ya haven't been on in a while. But James beat ya to it:
http://www.handgunhunt.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/171165/page/1#Post171165

We've been getting the heat over here also. Been starting work at 5:30 and 6:00 in the mornings so we can get out of there by 3:00 at the latest. I hate this time of year, but I guess we have to have it in order to get to fall and winter!

Gregg, you did point out something that struck a cord with me, but I want to also try to expand on it, and encourage everyone.

Falconry is in the same boat as handgun hunting. There aren't a lot of falconers out there. Most of you probably don't know anyone other than me that does it. Nation wide, I think there are less than 5000 licensed individuals, and I'd be willing to bet that there are only about half of those that are actually practicing. But my point is this: Falconry has been around between three and four thousand years, depending on who you talk to. (The earliest records show falcons being given as gifts in Ancient China.) But there are still people doing it today. There may not be a lot of us, but the drive for falconry will always be there for some of us. Same with handgun hunting. I don't believe it will ever go away. There will always be those that think like us. There will always be someone hunting with a handgun, somewhere. Falconry has never had huge numbers of participants, and perhaps handgun hunting never will either. But in my opinion, the reason for both sports not having high numbers, is because it isn't easy. If it were easy, our numbers, both falconers and handgun hunters, would be equal to those hunting with a rifle. This stuff isn't for everyone. But because of those of us that crave it, and can't live without it, it will never die.

We may have lost a publication, but we have not lost who we are.

I just read the other post, Rap, and no I haven't been on in awhile; sorry to bring on old news.

You are right, we haven't lost who we are, but IMO we have lost an identity, a brotherhood, that helped define who we are.

I know this grieves you Gregg because of your personal connection.
Now is an opportunity to make new connections.
I'm sorry to see it go, but as far as my feelings and beliefs go, I haven't lost anything that defines me or other folks that hunt and shoot with handguns of all kinds.
My sense of brotherhood hasn't changed. I am still connected to the handgunners I know and continue to meet more all the time.

Gregg, Felt the same as you my friend...........

Its time for me to add my 2 cents on the demise of Handgun Hunters International. As a 36 year Charter member I am quite saddened as I am a great fan of The Sixgunner and of JD Jones and everything he has done to pioneer the sport of big game handgun hunting over the past 40 plus years. The efforts of JD and his band of handgunning cronies brought hunting with a handgun out of the stunt category and into the main stream. As a ballistics developer he was instrumental in the development of many high performance cartridges and in advancing high performance ammunition for hunting and self defense. The JDJ line of cartridges were clearly top of the heap in the Contender for any animal on the planet long before the Encore platform was invented. The Sixgunner has been a mainstay of my reading library and will be greatly missed. Many of the posters on this site were also published in The Sixgunner long before this site (or the internet) existed.
I tip my hat to JD and I certainly wish him well. Thanks for pioneering our great sport!

I will miss more than anything reading all of Doc's stories...he was one of the only REAL bullet testers out there...it's very sad...HHI was an awesome group of handgun hunters

I too am saddened and like Gregg have been away from this portal for a while, I just happened to take a moment and it was somewhat like a reunion to read the opinions, each of the posters holds an important place in the my heart in the ranks of influential handgun hunters, of people who share their opinions and whose opinions count. Quite a bunch of old coots we are.