billrquimby

Khmer6: I don't want to get into a spitting match with long-range fans, but I agree 1000%! Bill Quimby

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6.5mm_Remington_Magnum They've been ignoring this old-timer and trying to re-invent a good thing for half a century. Check the ballistic data at the bottom of this site. It was computed using the Model 600 carbine barrel. My Model 700's longer barrel does much better. Bill Quimby

Hey Lark: You and I are old enough to remember when 400 to 500 yards was long range, and anyone who couldn't get closer to an animal than that didn't deserve to be called a hunter. That was before rangefinders and today's dial-up scopes, of course. Bill Quimby

Lark: Nearly all of the two dozen or so international hunters for whom I've written books have been self-made nice guys who made their fortunes by taking risks that paid off early in their lives. Most were humble, too. The prince and another Iranian expatriate were not nice guys nor were they humble. (It must be an Iranian thing.) After working closely with the prince for nearly three weeks on two trips to Florida I still was expected to call him "your highness." Guides, outfitters, and booking agents who could not produce high-in-the-record-book trophies for him were "crooks" and he wanted me to say so in my book. He wasn't happy that I would not and did not. I was able to get along with him because he paid me to be his biographer. After hunting everything in North America, wealthy hunters turn to Africa, then Asia, and then everywhere else and become "collectors" along the way. Before they die, they have hunted nearly everything that can walk, crawl, fly, or swim on six continents and a hundred countries. Funny thing, none of my clients is/was a gun nut. Even though they can afford enough rifles to outfit an army, none of them owns more than two or three rifles. Rifles were are shovels for them, mere tools. Once they find calibers that work, they stay with them. For most, those calibers are 7mm Rem Mag or .300 Weatherby and .458 Winchester. An exception is a client from Alaska who shoots a 7mm RUM and a .416 Rem Mag. Bill Quimby

Hi Lark: Your mention of the Model 70 safety sparked my memory. My go-to rifle is a 7mm Rem Mag that I built from a Czech-made Mark V barreled action and a chunk of walnut from a tree a rancher friend and I cut down in Texas. First thing I did was replace the Czech Mauser's puny sliding safety with a three-position Model 70-type safety and its trigger with one from Timney. I now have the best of both worlds -- a Mauser extractor and a Model 70 safety. Doesn't get any better than that. I was fortunate to be hunting elk with that rifle when burglars hit our home in Tucson. I would be truly unhappy if they'd stolen it, too. Bill Quimby

"That had to be one heck of a time for the 4 month hunt!!!! That sounds like my kind of party!!!!" It was a hunt that will never be repeated. Jack O'Connor and a couple of his friends arranged everything for Prince Abdorreza, who went non-stop from camp-to-camp across the continent. His outfitters/guides had pre-scouted and had record-class rams, bulls and bucks "waiting." In some cases, the animals were inside national parks (such as in Nevada where his two desert rams were taken). His two Coues deer were shot in the Santa Ritas in January, guided by George Parker with assistance of the AZGFD. If you want to read more about it, get a copy of my "Royal Quest," which Safari Press carries. It also tells how the prince hunted all over the world as the guest of countries that wanted Iran's oil. He had no guide for his Siberian tiger but he plenty of experience hunting tigers in India (he shot 13 Bengal tigers on one trip) and used the North Korean Army as beaters. Writing that book made me realize that money is all one needs to be a "great hunter," a term he used a lot to describe himself, Jack O'Connor, C.J. McElroy, Jay Mellon and a very few others. Bill Quimby

As I said earlier, there are fewer than 30 North American "critters" to hunt, depending upon who does the counting. If you have enough money, it shouldn't take more than four to six years to collect all of them. I know one guy who shot all 30 in three years. The brother of the shah of Iran shot two each of 21 different North American species including two Grand Slams of wild sheep (a total of 40 animals) on one four-month trip as the guest of the U.S. State Department. He had diplomatic immunity and could hunt whenever and wherever he wanted. If Africa doesn't interest you, there is nothing like Asia. You could spend the rest of your life just trying to collect specimens of all of its huntable species. Incidentally, in New Zealand, those really big red deer are found only in Texas-style enclosures. Tahr are hunted behind high wire fences, too, but they also can be hunted free-range with the help of helicopters. They're spotted, you land and go after them. Both originated from transplants from Europe and Asia. Although I hunted both red deer and tahr plus chamois, sika deer, wild boar and feral goat in New Zealand, I would have arranged to have hunted all of them in their native lands if I were rich. Bill Quimby

Just imagine all the hundreds of hunters who hunted in that buck's territory without seeing it or even knowing such a monster was around. Bill Quimby

Lark: My .375 H&H is a post-1964 Winchester Model 70 Super Express with push feed, which purists say is inferior to Mauser-type extractors. My friends and I disagree after taking seven Cape buffalo and a big Yukon moose with that rifle. SCI gave me another .375 H&H with my name laser-cut onto the stock when I retired. It was a Model 70 Super Express, too, but it also had much fancier walnut stock. I never shot it, though. I hope the @#!!#% who stole it rots in H ell. Bill Quimby

"Mr Quimby, What was the most interesting/memorable animal you saw in those trophy rooms? Fred" -----------Most impressive: A Marco Polo argali with six feet of horn on each side. -----------Most beautiful: A lifesize mount of a bongo. -----------Most interesting: Lifesize mounts of some of the little-known deer from around the world, such as the 500-pound white-lipped deer of the Tibetan Plateau (it reminds me of an elk); the various brocket deer and huemels of South America; the antlerless Chinese water deer; and the tiny mouse deer (which really isn't a deer) of Asia and Africa. -----------Most memorable: A full mount of a red deer from Scotland. I stopped counting its tines when I reached 24 on one side of its antlers. Darn. I wish this site wouldn't run my paragraphs together. Bill Quimby

There are fewer than thirty different North American big game animals and no more than a dozen introduced animals in New Zealand that are of interest to big game hunters who do have "that kind of money," 208muley. All whom I know in that class have hunted at least 100 different types of animals from fifty or more countries on six continents. Just don't overlook Asia when you win the lottery and become filthy rich. It has more different types of deer, antelope, sheep and goats than all other continents combined. Bill Quimby

Has anyone found a petroglyph in Arizona that looks like an elk? Seems to me that if we had Merriam elk in any numbers, early Native Americans would have left images everywhere we have elk now. As far as my limited research can tell, only one such image has been found. The archaeologist who found it near Grasshopper on the White Mountain Apache Reservation claims it shows an elk, but the antlers on on the animal on the "rock drawing" are bifurcated and look like a mule deer's to me. Bill Quimby

The red horns make it more than likely the ram was killed in Mexico. Any history on it, especially can it be documented that it was hunted and imported legally? If you have the paperwork or know where to get it, that mount should be worth a lot more than what you're asking. Bill Quimby

Bill, He must have as much money as You. That would be something to see.................BOB! ...................I can only wish my wife and I had 1/1,000,000,000th of his net worth. Before he sold his many businesses, he had a total monopoly on importing, manufacturing and sales of everything having to do with fire=fighting in Mexico, from the valves on the ceilings of office buildings to fire hoses to firefighter's apparel to chemicals to fire trucks to who knows what else. Bill Quimby

"And a ton of sawed off antlers from previous kills of WT and Mulie killed during my many years of hunting in a garage cabinet." -------------------- This is a first. I've never known anyone who hunts deer in a garage cabinet. ------------- As for big trophy rooms, I've seen a heck of a lot of them all over this country but a guy for whom I wrote a book about ten years ago has no fewer than three huge rooms in his 33,000 square foot ranch house about two hours from Mexico City. One room has a huge mountain with a waterfall for his 75-100 lifesize mounts of mountain game from six continents. His African room has every conceivable African antelope from duiker to roan, plus all of the Big Five, including a pride of six or seven lions, and zebras and warthogs. The other room and his hallways are filled with some 200 mounts of nearly every species and subspecies of deer in the world. He may be the only hunter with entries in virtually every category in the SCI record books. When I asked him how many lifesize mounts he had, he said more than 300. That was a long time ago, and I suppose he's added at least 30 or 40 more. Bill Quimby

Lark: I always fed my .375 H&H with 300-grain bullets. Funny thing about this caliber, but it typically shoots 270- and 300-grain softs and solids loaded to factory specs to the same point of impact. Bill Qumby

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, friends and I used to hunt the Texas Hill Country every year for maybe 15-16 years. The limit was four deer then, so I probably shot 20-24 deer with a .22-250 and 60-grain Sierra handloads before I switched to using flintlocks and percussion muzzleloaders. These little whitetails are about the same size as our Coues deer, and I never had to shoot one twice nor track one more than 30-40 yards with a .22-250. Hit a Coues deer in the heart/lungs with one at distances under 200 yards and get your knife out. Bill Quimby

Years ago, when my wife's Lhasa apso began having convulsions after picking up a Colorado River toad, I grabbed the dog and quickly washed its mouth out with a garden hose. It recovered and was acting normally before we got to the veterinarian's office. The vet said I had saved its life but also could have drowned the dog with the hose. Bill Quimby

"Sorry for the loss of these very personalized guns. Maybe you can put pics up? I've only had the one pistol stolen and it was heart breaking." ......... No photos, except in my book or an old magazine that was lost in a fire. Bill Quimby

Burglars stole 35 rifles and shotguns from me a few years ago, but there were only six that I really miss: Savage Model 99 .303 Savage. I bought this early 1900s lever gun at age 11 in 1947 with money I made selling copies of the Daily Sun on the streets in Yuma. It was my only rifle for ten years, and I shot a few deer, javelinas, turkeys, and coyotes with it. .45 caliber Hawken-style half-stock muzzleloader with walnut stock. I built this rifle and the two muzzleloaders below using parts I either made or ordered from Dixie Gun Works in the late 1960s, early 1970s. The "noseplate" on this rifle originally was a pewter mug my wife has never missed. I carved a floral design behind and below the cheekpiece. There's a photo of me with this rifle and a small mule deer in my book, "60 Years A Hunter." .50 Caliber Pennsylvania style flintlock muzzleloader. The full walnut stock on this rifle and the one above came from a tree a rancher friend and I cut on his ranch. This one has brass fittings and ornate carving. I wrote a magazine article about this rifle, and it appeared with a photo of me shooting it at night. The sparks from the frizzen and flame from the barrel were spectacular. .50 Caliber Pennsylvania style flintlock/percussion muzzleloading rifle. Very long barrel, 30 inches I seem to remember. Full length curly maple stock, ornately carved behind cheekpiece and along the barrel, with brass fittings, including patchbox, that I made myself. Its interchangeable locks, percussion drum and removable flash hole allowed me to switch from flintlock to percussion quickly. I never finished this rifle, so its stock remains raw wood. .270 Win. Ruger No. 1. This was from an edition of 50 rifles commemorating the Lander One Shot Antelope Club's 50th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of Wyoming statehood in 1990. I was the president of the club's Past Shooters Club that year. It still was in its original box (unfired) the last I saw it. 28 Gauge Browning Citori over/under in a Spanish-built wood and leather box. My wife is the only person to have fired this little gun, and she killed a pheasant on the rise with her first shot at the old Magma Shooting Preserve that used to be near Florence. I apologize for going on and on, but perhaps someone may have seen one of these rifles. Bill Qumby

The answer to your question is the weather is warmer in October than November, most years. There also a few more young bucks out there. I've hunted mule deer and whitetails in every unit in southern Arizona over the past 67 years of hunting deer in this state. but all of my deer hunts were in October and November. There were no December hunts when I still was healthy enough to hunt whitetails. I do remember seeing many huge whitetail bucks during the January archery javelina seasons, though. Those big deer had to have been ghosts, or maybe even mirages. The large numbers of bow and rifle hunters who were issued licenses and tags by our game department every year were killing every buck on the mountain. They did it year after year, and they're still doing it. :D Bill Quimby

A .243 or .257 Roberts are good choices, but I vote for the Roberts because of reduced noise and recoil. No matter what caliber you choose, you need to get your young hunter a heck of a lot closer than 500 yards. Bill Quimby

murfys69law: I love it! The awful part of this controversy is that if a certain powerful group has its way (and it is highly likely that it will), it will be illegal to import trophies taken legally in Africa and elsewhere into the United States, Canada, Australia, and any European Union country. When this happens, you can kiss goodbye all wildlife now found outside of the national parks in Africa. As one knowledgeable African author has said, "In Africa, animals must sing for their supper." Without the revenue from hunting by foreigners, local citizens will exterminate man-eaters while snaring and eating everything else that moves. Bill Quimby

Hi Lark: There is a U.S.-based well-financed and well-organized campaign to end lion and elephant hunting in Africa, especially by Americans, and its leaders were handed a freebie when the landholder and professional hunter conducted what appears to be an illegal hunt. Whether the dentist knew there was no lion on quota in that area still is unknown. The accuratereloading.com site has multiple threads about this controversy, and several knowledgeable Zimbabweans have been speaking up. They are saying it is not illegal to shoot a collared lion in Zimbabwe, nor is it illegal to drag baits outside a national park to lure an animal out so that it can be hunted. At least one has said few people in Zimbabwe had heard of the so-called "beloved" lion named "Cecil" until the controversy erupted. Despite what you've read or have seen on nature-faker "documentaries," there still are wild lions in Africa, and they can be legally hunted in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Uganda, Burkino Faso and other countries. Where I shot my lion in Zambia in 1992 still has plenty of wild lions and it still is legal to hunt them. "Them days" are not gone. They have just gotten prohibitively expensive. The trophy fee for my first buffalo was less than $500 thirty years ago. The trophy fee for my lion was about the same. Today, the trophy fee for a buffalo is $10,000 to $15,000; a lion will cost $30,000 to $50,000, depending upon where you hunt them The odds are very good that your friends hunted South Africa, where some game farmers are raising lions for canned "hunts." South Africa is a lot like Texas. Virtually all wild animals found on private land are inside high-fenced enclosures of varying acreages. Such fences allow a landowner to acquire ownership of all of the animals behind his wire. Some farmers offer hunts on their own land, others raise game for sale to others. I've been told there are places where free-ranging game may be hunted in South Africa, but in nearly two dozen trips down there between 1983 and 2002, I never saw one. Namibia has some high-wire hunting, but most of its game still is free-ranging. There also are a couple of game farms in Zambia and Zimbabwe, but they are not the norm. The majority of southern and central Africa still has wild game inside and outside of national parks. Like you, I am disturbed that our national media are ranting about what appears to be the poaching of one lion while ignoring widespread poaching syndicates operated by corrupt African officials and all but ignoring more important stories, such as trafficking in fetal parts, Hillary's wrongdoings, etc. Bill Quimby

Safari Club International has suspended the memberships of the hunter and professional hunter "pending the results of an investigation." It is a fact that a hunter in a foreign country is at the mercy of his guide. The boundaries of Zimbabwe's national parks are not marked (or even fenced, in many instances) as is done here in the United States, and few hunters will ask the PH to show proof of a permit to hunt a lion in a unit next to a park. The lion reportedly was lured from the park to the dentist's crossbow by dragging guts (probably a zebra's) behind a vehicle around the perimeter of the park and to a bait tree and the hunter's blind. This is legal if the guts are not dragged inside the park, and it is a common way to bait lion and leopard. Most national parks in Zimbabwe and Zambia are surrounded by hunting concessions that provide the money needed to keep the parks open. As for the collar, it depends on who is doing the research, and where. In one instance I know of, a researcher in Zambia claims the taking of collared animals provides useful information about the "offtake" by hunters. Also, Cecil's mane was so thick and long, it is possible the PH and hunter didn't see it before it was shot. On the other hand, Cecil was well known and a spectacular animal -- much like a 450-point bull elk -- and the PH would certainly know it on sight. The important thing to remember is that the PH and the outfitter both knew there was no quota for lion where they were hunting. The question is, did the hunter know that, too? Bill Quimby