billrquimby

"How is hunting over a waterhole in Africa different than in Arizona? I have not been to Africa, so cannot say, other than what is shown on the hunting shows. Bill, your comment caught my eye, and caused me to question what we consider as acceptable in AZ. Some question the ethics of baiting with corn, beets or alfalfa, but perhaps a salt block next to water hole is no worse. I've placed salt and bowhunted deer and elk next to water. Found the stand to be more effective, but boring. I would rather stillhunt, call, or spot-n-stalk. My first hunting was in south Texas 25 years ago next to a Sweeny corn flicker in an oat patch, but started to prefer to still hunt the edges after a few years. Doug~" The difference is that the South African outfitters have built permanent blinds around water for bowhunting. Some of these things are pretty elaborate. In reality, though, there is no difference. A bowhunter waits for a thirsty critter to come to drink and sticks an arrow into it. In South Africa that's considered unethical by many local hunters. Outfitters there encourage it, though, because it's a sure way to rack up a bunch of trophy fees on a 10-day "safari." I used to wonder about ethics until it finally dawned on me: Ethics are the standards accepted by the majority of people in a certain area. They vary greatly from region to region. Here, it is illegal and unethical to hunt deer with hounds, but in some places in the south it is the accepted way of hunting. Here it is illegal to bait bears, other places it is the only way it can be done. Etc. Etc. Even if RSA makes it against the law to hunt near water, bowhunting will continue. It just won't be as productive as it is now. Bill

Congratulations on your marriage, and have a great honeymoon in RSA. If you finish your hunt early by all means fly up to Victoria Falls. Three days will do it. Two days for traveling (about 2.5 hours from Jo'burg by air) and a day to enjoy it. I recommend staying on the Zambia side. The hotels are just as nice as those in Zimbabwe and are considerably less pricey -- and none of your money goes to fatten that tyrant Robert Mugabwe's pockets. I like the Thorntree Lodge. It's right on the Zambezi and the owners take you out on a pontoon boat each evening and serve wine while you watch the elephants and hippos. Any travel agent in Jo'burg can book you. Be sure to pick up malaria preventatives over the counter at any drug store in RSA. Bill Q

A yearling black bear gave my wife a bit of a thrill this afternoon when she looked our cabin's kitchen window and saw it trying to raid our bird feeders about 15 feet away. It's the first bear she has seen in our yard in Greer in the 38 years we've owned the property. I've seen just over the years, including one that stuck its nose on our French doors while I was up here alone, but I was in Springerville when today's bear showed up and I missed it. Funny thing, this was about 4:30 pm and 30-40 people were barbecuing and throwing horseshoes a couple of cabins down the road and she said that bear paid no attention to them. Bill Quimby

South Africa first came under fire about 10 years ago when a BBC expose showed how lions were being raised and released on a put and shoot basis. After that, SCI removed all South African and Namibian lions from its record book. Then it was learned there also were some canned leopard hunts. White rhino shooting is so unsporting I won't even describe it. There is a huge business in capturing larger antelope such as kudus, nyalas and gemsbok, running them through auctions and releasing them on farms a few days before the clients arrive. Virtually all hunting in South Africa is done behind game proof fences. Some farms are so large that the animals don't know they're inside. There are others, though, where you are never out of sight of the fence. The Professional Hunters association of South Africa, along with many local hunters, are trying to clean up the industry, but they're also having to fight animal groups that want hunting shut down entirely. One of the changes proposed would make it illegal to shoot an animal anywhere near a waterhole. This already is considered grossly unethical by most local hunters and many of them would like to see it stopped. If it becomes law, it would virtually eliminate bowhunting as it is practiced there now. BillQ

It's been said you need only to look at the past to see the future. Since 1970, when Arizona's deer huntng permits were initiated, we have lost forever an average of 1,888 deer hunting permits every year. If this trend continues at this rate, you can expect 18,888 fewer people allowed to hunt a deer with a rifle or muzzleloader in Arizona in 10 years; and 37,760 fewer rifle/muzzleloader deer hunters in just 20 years. Since 37,760 is approximately the same number of tags authorized for 2006, the past shows us that deer hunting with rifles/muzzleloaders in this state will cease after 2026. Increased population affecting our hunting and deer herds is a myth. We still will have 82% of Arizona in some form of public ownership. The 18% of this state's private land will have more people per square mile, and some of the private land we now hunt will have homes on it, of course. We also will lose some lands when parks are expanded. However, we still will have more acres of public hunting land than many states have total acreage. More and more gates are being locked by private owners and lessees, and more primitive roads are being closed by land management agencies, and this results in decreased access. Because wildlife managers and hunters judge hunting pressure by the number of people hunting near the roads that still are open, we will continute to see fewer tags in each unit. Drought also has been mentioned as a factor contributing to fewer permits, and some on this forum have questioned my belief that drought is normal in Arizona. Even so, I believe we will have plenty of deer to hunt in the future. I do not foresee a change in the attitude of hunters and wildlife managers, however. Both will demand more restrictions on hunting as the years pass. It's a funny thing about hunters and anglers. Each generation becomes more conservative, and more fearful that their activities will decimate fish and game. After watching Arizona's hunting and fishing politics closely over nearly fifty years, I can say with authority that organized sportsmen's clubs usually are especially guilty of this. The only good thing about my gloomy forecast is I won't be here in 20 years. BillQ

"Wonder what kind of optics they had in 36' to verify if it's a deer having prongs and one grown bear? especially if they're shootin a long distance..." I was born in 1936 so I was too young to know what kind of optics they were using that year, but when I started deer hunting 12 years later in 1948 no one I knew carried binoculars or had scopes on their rifles. Lever action Winchesters in .30-30 and .32 Win. and Savage 99s in .303 Savage, .25/35/ and .300 Savage were what 99% of deer hunters used. I guess there were a few enlightened hunters with Model 70 Winchesters chambered for .257Roberts, .30-06, and .270, but I didn't know any personally. A long shot was 200 yards for most of us with our iron sights. The old timers with years of deer hunting experience all told us that bolt action rifles were too slow and that nobody could hold a rifle with a scope steady enough to keep it on target. 2.5X was about as powerful as a scope should be, if you had to have one, but 1X was better. We hunted by climbing and walking, rolling rocks into the little canyons, or riding horses on the ridgelines, hoping to get the deer up and moving. The more hunters around the better because they often ran deer to us. BillQ

HERE'S WHAT I FOUND ON BACK OF THE 1936 ARIZONA HUNTING LICENSE I BOUGHT ON E-BAY. I USED SAME SPELLING, PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALIZATION WHEN TYPING IT. ENJOY. NOTE NO MULE DEER HUNTING SOUTH OF GILA RIVER, NO JAVELINA HUNTING AT ALL, ETC. ETC.... BILLQ The Commission has the power to regulate and change seasons and bag limits. Keep yourself posted. OPEN SEASONS Deer, Wild Turkey, Bear -- October 16 to November 15; Muskrats, Raccoons, Opposums and Otters -- November 1 to March 1; Gambel, Scaled Quail (except in Apache and Navajo counties -- November 1 to November 30; Whitewings -- July 15 to August 31; Cotton Tail Rabbits -- (Yavapai, Navajo, Coconino and Apache counties) November, December, January; Migratory Water Fowl and Migratory Birds -- seasons and bag limits subject to federal regulations each year. Trout, all kinds -- June 1 to September 30. Other fish may be taken year around. Open seasons both dates inclusive. BAG LIMITS One buck Deer having prongs on both horns; 1 grown Bear; Cotton Tail Rabbits 6 per day or in possession; 2 Wild Turkeys in season; 15 Whitewings; 12 Quail per day or in possession; Trout 20 per day or in possession providing total weight is not over 15 pounds; Not over 60 trout may be taken in a seven-day period. Bass, 10 fish providing total weight is not over 15 pounds and one fish per day or in possession. No bag limit on carp and suckers. Other fish 20 per day not to exceed 20 pounds and one fish per day or in possession. Legal length of trout seven inches. Bass ten inches. No length limit on other fish. Trout fishing prohibited between the hours of 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. No fishing allowed in waters containing protected Trout, except during trout season. No fishing allowed within 100 yards below the following dams: Horse Mesa, Mormon Flat, Stewart Mountain, Coolidge. No fishing allowed within one half mile of Roosevelt Dam. No fishing allowed within 100 yards above Coolidge Dam. The use of live bait in all Coconino County lakes is prohibited. The bag limit on Trout in Oak Creek and Grand Canyon National Park is 10 fish per day. No open season on Elk, Antelope, Mountain Sheep, female Deer, Fawns, Spike Bucks, Bear Cubs, Javelinas, Tree Squirrels of all kinds, Grouse, Pheasants, Mearns or Fool Quail, bullfrogs, song and insectivorous birds. Closed season on blacktail or Mule Deer, Bear and Wild Turkey south of the Gila River. Closed season on Wild Turkey in Yavapai County west of Big Chino Valley and Verde River, in Coconino County north of Highway 66 between the Old Grand Canyon Road running north from Bellemont and Highway 89. Be sure to mail your deer and turkey stubs to State Game Department as required by law. No shooting allowed from or across any public highway or from any automobile or power boat. No hunting allowed on game refuges. If in doubt in regard to seasons, bag limits or other laws, consult with any Deputy Game Warden or State Game Department, Phoenix, Arizona.

Get to know someone in the Texas Hill Country where there are multiple deer limits. Muzzleloaders are perfect for those little deer and their habitat there. After three years of so. you'll have taken nine or more Hill Country whitetails and -- more importantly -- you will be ready for an Arizona Coues deer hunt. BillQ

Funny story about today's Mearn's quail hunting. These birds remained off limits to hunting until the late 1960s and sportsmen's clubs opposed opening the season when Game and Fish proposed it. Avid quail hunters testified that these were dumb birds that could be whacked with rocks and sticks and hunting would exterminate the poor little things. After brothers Jim and Seymore Levy of Tucson, along with Steve Galizioli of the game department, gathered info that proved "fool quail" were more abundant than anyone believed the game commission approved the department's recommendation with only game commissioner Jack Mantle of Tucson, one of the avid quail hunters who opposed opening a season, voting against it. Wouldn't you know it? When the first season opened Mantle hunted Mearns quail at least every weekend that year and every year thereafter until he died. This is the same Jack Mantle who, along with an Amado rancher and a state senator from Globe, forced permit-only deer hunting upon us. BillQ

I truly envy those of you who grew up with loving fathers. Mine was a miser, an abusive and sometimes violent alcoholic and a poacher. Because of him I do not drink, money means nothing to me, and I follow game laws to the letter. I have no good memories of that man. Bill Quimby

The Wildlife for Tomorrow Foundation has notified me that I will be inducted into its Outdoor Hall of Fame at its annual banquet in August. The honor, and I am deeply honored, apparently is based on my 28 years of writing outdoor columns and articles in the Tucson Citizen. Bill Q

I thank you all. BillQ

I was trying to be funny. I guess I failed. The more I think about it, though, I don't think I'd be happy if I arrived before daylight at a stock pond where I'd shot doves for years and found an archer had beaten me to it. I'd go somewhere else, of course, but I would be grumbling all the way. BillQ

Has anyone asked the dove hunters what they think about having bowhunters stake out "their" waterholes?

No one can imagine what I would give to be young, healthy and fit again ... as CHD would gleefully say my time for climbing into and out of that canyon are long past. BillQ

In the 1960s, catching a 2-lb smallmouth on the Black was like catching a 12-pound largemouth at Apache. I think my largest was about 1.5 pounds. Were the bears on the the river yet, Bret? BillQ

Until about 30 years ago hunters had to wait three years before applying for another elk or antelope tag after they'd drawn out. I forget the exact explanation, but I remember watching an AGFD statistics expert explain at a game commission meeting why it made no difference to an individual applicant. It made sense at the time. I agree about once-in-a-lifetime for antelope tags. I've drawn five or six in Arizona but that was when they were easier to get. I now do my antelope hunting in Wyoming. It took 39 years for me to draw a sheep tag.

Thank you all. It will be great to meet Stanley and other CW.com members at the induction banquet. BillQ

Flying liver is the best description I've ever heard for doves and band-tailed pigeons. I could eat my substantial weight in quail, but can't stand anything that has a taste resembling liver in the slightest way -- no matter how it is prepared. The smell and taste of liver are repugnant to me. I can't even go into a house where it's being cooked without gagging. I get a kick out of people who like that gosh-awful taste. They're always trying to get me to eat what they've cooked. Every time one of them says "you haven't eaten MY liver," I always say "you better hope I don't." BillQ

Hey Bullwidgeon. If those are smallmouths on the Black River, then they're twice as large as those we used to catch there 100 years ago. Looks like you had fun, too. BillQ

Rich: Sorry, but other than directing production of TV commercials during my advertising/PR era 100 years ago I have no experience in modern film/video editing and production. That's the problem with most of the stuff now on the market: the people producing them are amateurs with delusions of grandeur. Don't get me wrong. I have seen some good hunting videos, but they are vastly outnumbered by the bad ones. Bill

My problem with hunting videos and programs is that they are so amateurish and their producers have zero sensitivity for viewers who know nothing about hunting. They dwell on kill shots, and don't bother to edit out gruesome game deaths such as I saw the other night. You are absolutely correct about the after-kill play-by-play. These videos spend ten to twenty minutes getting to where the hunter pulls a trigger or releases an arrow, then we are subjected to the hunter sitting behind his trophy, telling us what we've just seen. Even worse are the videos that give instant replays of an arrow or bullet striking an animal. If I were King I'd set professional standards for hunting videos that are shown on television, and require everyone who buys a VCR or DVD about hunting to show a hunting license. BillQ

"Video addiction Anyone else sick?" I'm sick that the guys who produce the videos and outdoor-channel programs are mostly amateur filmmakers working on non-existant budgets. In an industry where pros spend $500,000 or more just for a 30-second commercial. the terrible editing, narration and music on hunting videos stand out as gawd-awful sore thumbs, showing me and every other hunter in a poor light. Worse, most of the "stars" could double for the rednecks that Jeff Foxworthy has made a fortune ridiculing. For example: I watched an elk-bowhunt video on the Men's Channel a couple of nights ago that made me want to hide my head in shame. Two guys called in a fair bull, then one stuck an arrow into it. The camera stayed focused on that elk for two or three minutes as it hunched up, limped around, stumbled and flopped around before dying. The idiot with the camera then switched to the idiot with the bow, who actually giggled at that animal's horrible death. Ugh! Personally, I think hunting is a lot like sex. I don't want anyone watching while I'm doing it. Bill Q

sifyef dic= 30m fc Padron me, but I puekd on my kyeborad atfer seineg taht gwad=afwful tihng!.

I'm another native. Born in Tucson, attended grades K-12 in Yuma, returned to Tucson, graduated from UA and have been here ever since. I've been fortunate to have traveled all over the world and have found nowhere else where I would rather live and die than Arizona. The reasons have already been mentioned: We have every type of terrain anyone might want and we have incredible scenery and great weather. Where else in North America can you hunt ten different species of big game (provided you can draw the tags)? Now that I'm retired I divide my time between Tucson in the winter and Greer in the summer, so I have the best of our desert and mountains. Problem is, Tucson is getting too big for me. I was born on my grandfather's ranch on east Speedway, just past Alvernon, in 1936. I used to take a .22 and chase jackrabbits all over that part of town as a boy. To give you an idea how rural it was then, my birth certificate reads "born three miles east of Tucson in Pima County." My wife's family ranch was at Fort Lowell and Park Avenue. Both were in the boondocks and on dirt roads within my memory. heck, I can remember when the pavement on Speedway ended at Campbell and at what now is El Con Mall on Broadway. Wilmot was in another country. After a couple of months of living in Greer I get hit with culture shock whenever we drive back to Tucson -- first when we drive through that mess at Hondah/Pinetop/Lakeside/Show Low, and again when we reach Oro Valley. Needless to say I avoid Maricopa County whenever possible. BillQ