Chapter 11
Hunting Zumbo
By David J. Krajicek

For 30 years, Jim Zumbo has been among the most revered hunters and outdoor writers in America.

Trained as a wildlife biologist, he wrote his first article for Outdoor Life magazine in 1962 and in 1978 joined the magazine staff as a writer, columnist and hunting editor.

He spent many years hosting hunting shows on cable television networks, including the top-rated hunting program on Outdoor Channel, sponsored by Remington Arms Co.

Zumbo who lives in Cody, Wyo., made premium-fee appearances at hunting shows and had lucrative endorsement contracts with Remington, Gerber Knives and Mossy Oak, which specializes in camouflage clothing for outdoorsmen. He was a 40-year member of the National Rifle Association who had made appearances on behalf of the organization.

Zumbo, 66, has written 20 books and some 2,000 magazine articles—millions of words about hunting and the outdoors.

But a 250-word blog entry posted on his website on Feb. 16, 2007, changed Zumbo’s life.

Here is what he wrote:

I must be living in a vacuum. The guides on our hunt tell me that the use of AR and AK rifles have a rapidly growing following among hunters, especially prairie dog hunts. I had no clue. Only once in my life have I ever seen anyone using one of those firearms.

I call them “assault” rifles, which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I’m a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity. I’ll go so far as to call them “terrorist” rifles. They tell me that some companies are producing assault rifles that are “tackdrivers.”

Sorry, folks, in my humble opinion, these things have no place in hunting. We don’t need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them, which is an obvious concern. I’ve always been comfortable with the statement that hunters don’t use assault rifles. We’ve always been proud of our “sporting firearms.”

This really has me concerned. As hunters, we don't need the image of walking around the woods carrying one of these weapons. To most of the public, an assault rifle is a terrifying thing. Let's divorce ourselves from them. I say game departments should ban them from the praries [sic] and woods.

Zumbo obviously had no idea of the nerve he had touched. Reaction was “swift, severe and unforgiving,” as the Washington Post put it.

Within days, his TV show was cancelled and his endorsement contracts voided. He was denounced by the NRA as a turncoat, and he was fired from Outdoor Life.

A few days later, he attempted a mea culpa. He wrote:

The last few days have been an educational experience, to say the least. My ill-conceived inflammatory blog, as all of you now know, set off a firestorm that, I’m told, has never before been equaled…Outdoor Life, a magazine that I worked for full-time as Hunting Editor for almost 30 years, fired me yesterday. My TV show was cancelled yesterday. Many of my sponsors have issued statements on their website to sever all relationships…Looking back, I can’t believe I said the words “ban” and “terrorist” in the context that I did...What I’ve learned over the last few days has enlightened and amazed me….I’m learning that many of my pals own AR-15’s and similar firearms and indeed use them for hunting. I was totally unaware that they were being used for legitimate hunting purposes.

Zumbo went to Texas for an assault rifle hunt with gun enthusiast Ted Nugent, the one-time rock star, and he promised to “seize this opportunity to educate hunters and shooters who shared my ignorance” about assault rifles as hunting tools.

But it may have been too late to save Zumbo’s career.

Todd Smith, editor of Outdoor Life, wrote:

We respect Mr. Zumbo’s First Amendment right to free speech, and we acknowledge his subsequent apology and admission of error. However, Outdoor Life has always been, and will always be, a steadfast supporter of all aspects of the shooting sports and our Second Amendment rights, which do not make distinctions based on the appearance of the firearms we choose to own, shoot or hunt with. We regret this turn of events, as Mr. Zumbo has been a good friend to this magazine and lifelong advocate for hunters and hunting rights.             

Months after the controversy, there was no indication that Zumbo had been allowed back inside the gun fraternity.