Jeff Cooper


Here’s a remarkably good obituary from the LA Times.

I see some similarities between Cooper and another giant who recently passed-- Peter Drucker.

Both were giants and pioneers in their specialized fields. Each brought a broad, liberal education to a field dominated by technocrats and faddists. Both could be cranky and did not suffer fools for the sake of bonhomie.

To me the most striking think is that both were frequently ignored by their biggest fans.

Our current gun rags hype an endless stream of new calibers, new models, new add-ons. I’m sure most of them will do stories on Jeff Cooper in the coming months. Yet, Cooper was acidly skeptical of the hot new things. He wondered why any hunter needed more than two or three rifles. With a 30-06 plus something for the big stuff the North American was set. Add a really big bore if you hunted Africa and you and your grandson were set for life.

A lot of the gear that gets advertised is designed for long shotsmagnums, big scopes, range finders. Cooper, OTOH, always emphasized that the mark of a hunter was how close he got before pulling the trigger.

Any fool can send a bullet flying at a deer standing 400 yards away. It takes skill to get close to the deer and take a 75 yard shot.