billrquimby

"Scanoe" is what the Coleman company called its fiberglass flat-back canoes. Old Town is another company that manufactured flat-back canoes. From the photos, this Old Town seems better built than my old Coleman Scanoe. Bill Quimby

Folks here are confusing "education" with a public relations campaign to influence citizens to vote a certain way on controversial political issues, something that cannot be funded by a government agency. If the cost of that campaign is $5 million, we simply cannot raise enough money through tag raffles (just imagine trying to sell 50,000 raffle tickets at $100 each). With tag auctions, like it or not, we only need 25 hunters who can afford to pay $200,000 for a tag, and those people are out there. There's something that's been overlooked so far, however. Under Arizona laws enabling tag raffles and auctions, the majority of the funds must go straight to Game and Fish. Unless new laws are passed to allow it, money raised by selling and raffling tags cannot be used for a PR effort directed by a group outside of government. Bill Quimby

That's the message I get when I try to view new content. It's been like this for at least a week. Any easy solutions? Bill Quimby

Guys: Someone want to explain what is meant by "education?" Not sure what it's called with today's political correctness, but Game and Fish used to have a division it called "Information and Education," with a staff of people who distributed press releases to news media, provided speakers for meetings of clubs and businesses, "worked" booths at outdoor shows, provided interviews and public service announcements for radio and TV programs, produced its own TV show, hosted things like that annual outdoor show in central Arizona, published books and informational material, worked with groups that taught kids how to hunt and fish, conducted hunter-safety and boating-safety programs, and on and on. I'm confident that division still exists. If anything, its programs and the funds it spends annually probably have expanded since my work required I "cover" the agency. I have no idea what it has spent on "education" since the late 1960s when I first became aware of the good work it was doing, but it easily should be in multiple millions of dollars. A problem arises when it comes to political issues, such as the recent HSUS mountain lion initiative. As a public agency, managing wildlife for all Arizonans, Game and Fish must avoid the appearance of endorsing one side or the other, especially if it launched a public relations campaign to educate the public and try to thwart a movement to manage wildlife by emotion instead of science. Building a war chest to fight the next attack from PETA and HSUS, which surely will come, makes sense. Whether those funds come from raffling and/or auctioning tags, donations, bake sales, or whatever, we need it be ready. Game and Fish can't do it. It must come from outside government. Bill Quimby

Thanks, muledeerarea 33. Appreciate the offer. Won't need a strong back if I can drop the elk in her tracks, which I'm hoping to do, and back my truck up to her. A friend and I should be able to load her in 4-5 pieces. Bill Quimby

Shot my first mule deer at age12 in 1948 on the hillside above where they eventually built Lynx Canyon Lake, but did not hunt a whitetail until November 1954 when I moved to Tucson from Yuma to attend the UA. I like to eat venison and trophy hunting was never my thing, so I tagged a lot of bucks over the years-- including several "good" ones that came my way. Pretty sure I've killed whitetails in every decade in our state until about 2010 or so when age and health problems took over. I shot mule deer for a couple of years after that, and brought home a limit of five Texas Hill Country whitetails five years ago, but my deer hunting days ended when COPD made walking more than 30-40 yards without sitting and resting very difficult. I drew a cow elk tag for an area around our cabin this year and plan to fill it on my 81st birthday using a CHAMP permit by sitting over a little spring I know about. That's the plan, anyway. I've always said I hunted because I must, and that I would hunt until I couldn't. Well, "couldn't" has come sooner than I would have liked. Bill Quimby

Yes. You obviously don't know really serious birdwatchers who drive and hike hundreds/thousands of miles just to put a checkmark next to a species name. They're just as obsessed with what they do as a Weatherby Award candidate is about collecting species they've not yet hunted. If a certain bird on someone's "life list" has been reported in the area, birdwatchers will walk as far as needed to hang a camera and get the photo. Same with serious amateur wildlife photographers. They're not interested much in big elk or deer, but let someone tell them wolves and bears are using a certain waterhole and they're going there. Of my neighbors in Greer, only two hunt, but just guessing I would say more than half are using trail cameras. Don't underestimate retirees when they find a new hobby. You are correct about the 90%, though ... for now. (It may even be higher than that, but that is going to change.) The point is, percentages should have nothing to do with this rule. Why would others be allowed to hang as many cameras as they want year around, anywhere they want, when we hunters cannot? That's called discrimination. Bill Quimby

Guys, hunters are not the only people using trail cams. This rule discriminates against us, and in the long term won't reduce the number of cameras photographers and wildlife watchers are hanging at waterholes. Bill Quimby

I was around when bowhunting groups had to convince the game commission that "modern technology" (laminated recurve bows) would "not adversely affect the resource" (meaning wipe out our deer herds.). When compound bows came along soon after that, the world came unglued. Same fears. Advocates said these still were primitive weapons and that success rates would remain 10% to 20%, as with any other bow. These advocates were wrong, of course. I say, let's dump everything and start all over again with long wooden bows, cedar arrows, and stamped broadheads. Bill Quimby

Huntermichael: I've also seen them go UNDER 3-meter fences. The problems with many kudu hunts in South Africa, especially bowhunts, is 1. they may take place on 200,000-acre farms, but bowhunting is virtually all from treestands or pit blinds within a few feet of the few water sources on the property. (In southern Africa, shooting over water is considered unethical by virtually all local hunters. Exceptions are made for American bowhunters to guarantee their success so they can book their friends.) 2. Because of the lure of water, many bowhunted animals are actually hunted on 5,000 acre or much smaller properties. Every first-timer in South Africa wants a kudu with 50-inch or longer horns, and a number of game farmers will have 50 or more clients. Selling 50 mature kudu bulls grown on the property per year to 50 newbies is not sustainable or possible. 3. As a result, South Africa has developed an industry of raising "gold star" antelope -- kudu bulls, nyala, sable, waterbuck, etc., -- auctioning the critters like livestock, drugging and hauling them to farms in horse trailers and releasing them a week or less before the clients arrive. ' Not every game farmer does this, of course, but unless I personally knew him or his reputation, I'd hunt Zimbabwe, Zambia or elsewhere if I wanted another "trophy" kudu. Bill Quimby

Hi Casey: You have just described a healthy deer herd. As with trees in forests, an abundance of young is a sign of good things to come in the future. Bill Quimby

I'm as avid a hunter as anyone (and more so than many), but I also like to see deer and elk hanging around my cabin. (Last year we had nine mule deer bedding on our place every day including three fawns born within 50 feet of our back door.) A few years ago two bowhunters drove up, jumped out and shot two little forked-horns in our front yard from that little herd. I was was not happy. There are thousands of acres of forest service land with deer so there is no need to hunt close to houses. 440 yards may be a safe arrow distance, but this entails more than safety. We are under attack from anti-hunters and it presents serious public image problems for our side. Bill Quimby

I ate many zebra filets in Africa over the years I hunted there. The fat turns yellow when cooked, but it and the meat is absolutely delicious when prepared by an experienced camp cook. Bill Quimby

I'm a happy hunter again. My portal's problems were fixed. Bill Quimby

Don't get me wrong. We are not destitute, and a $4,800 annual tax increase is troubling but it will not bankrupt us. It's just that we and many other seniors got the short end of the stick when the new tax law was written and the effect of "entitlement reduction" on us was ignored. As for the money to replace the lower taxes others will pay. I was taught in Economics 101 at the UA College of Business and Public Administration a hundred years ago that reducing tax rates stimulates job growth, which ultimately increases government tax revenues. It worked in the Reagan years, and it will work now. Bill Quimby