[Trevor Shpeley]

Welcome to the newly re-focused BC Outdoors discussion forums.

You've probably noticed already that rather than competing directly with the other fine Hunting and Fishing forums our members enjoy, the BC Outdoors forums have been re-purposed to serve as a more tangible link between the BC Outdoors Magazines and the most important people to any magazine, you the readers. It's true you could always drop the editor a letter or talk to a writer you ran into out in the woods but here on the BC Outdoor forums you have a direct link to the writers and staff of BC Outdoors and an open invitation to actively participate in the shaping and direction of the magazines.

These forums are a place to talk about any of the articles you have read in BC Outdoors, if you enjoyed an article by all means let the writer know with a post in the appropriate forum, nobody enjoys a compliment more than a writer. If you enjoyed the material but would like clarification or more information, ask for it here but remember writer participation is voluntary and not everybody spends a lot of time on their computers, even in the off season!

You can also discuss anything you like as long as it falls more or less within the confines of the subject of the forum. For example, if you have a question about rifles or how to dress a grouse, the BC Outdoors Hunting and Shooting forum is the place for you. Got a fly to show off? Know an interesting new way to chuck a spoon? Want to show off some pictures of your latest catch? BC Outdoors Sport Fishing is where you wanna be. On the other hand if you want to show everybody the latest "Maxine" cartoon or a video of a kid trying to slide down a stair rail with no regards towards his future children, there are probably better places to post than the BC Outdoors Forums as we presently don't have an NFR section. Please try to stay relatively within subject boundaries so we aren't kept too busy removing unsuitable threads.

One thing these forums are not is a place to publicly beat up our writers. Writing is hard, in fact it's much harder than most people think to write a meaningful article in a couple of thousand words that will be entertaining enough for people to want to sit down and read. Writers appreciate criticism in the areas of content such as unintentional errors or perhaps something might have been omitted intentionally or otherwise. Writers always appreciate your comments on how you believe their article could be improved. They may not agree or they may but feedback from the audience can only improve a writers work.

What they don't need is criticism about their writing skills or perceived lack thereof. By definition a writer who has been published has achieved a certain level of proficiency. Spouting off about a writers style or your displeasure about the choice of subject matter has no place on these forums and will be deleted immediately. Likewise personal attacks, tirades on commercial enterprises and racist remarks will not be tolerated.

If a wide open "say whatever you like" type of forum is your cup of tea then this forum isn't. There are plenty of other places on the net where the freedom to say whatever you like about whoever you like is encouraged, this is not one of them. This forum is family oriented and we would like it to be a place where a new visitor can feel at home without having to worry that they might say something wrong and have an old salt chew them out. If somebody posts about something you feel is incorrect or perhaps detrimental to the resource, take the time to educate them and you will both be better for it. They probably just don't know any better, nobody is born with a full set of knowledge and ethics, teach them and we all benifit.

Contests:
We will from time to time be running contests for our members. They may be essay contests, maybe picture contests, maybe even just a random draw. We will always pin the contest notifications to the top of the forums and if you have an idea for a contest, please shoot me a PM.

So I think that's enough for now. I'll add on to this or delete as necessary. Please be patient with us admin and mod types while we learn as we go what exactly these forums want to be.

Cheers and see you out there, Trevor

[Huntwriter]

I welcome the change. I think it is a great idea to have changed the forum to a means of communicating more directly with editor and writers of BC Outdoors.

[Trevor Shpeley]

Message from Mike: (Editor in chief, BCO)

Hey Guys

Just wanted to let you all know that we are out of the BC Outdoors fly rods and the contest ended last July.
But I have a 5weight Cortland endurance rod I will donate to this thread along with a 444 line all you need to do is answer a skill testing question :
how long has BC outdoors Magazine been in publication

look forward to reading the responses
lets close this one March 1st then the rod can be picked up at the tradex show in abby
Mike