billrquimby

Water displacement is one of the steps by which the CIC of Europe measures antlered game, and if that's what turns you on, more power to you. Most of the Americans I know who have had their trophies measured in Europe have not been happy with the system. Safari Club International's founder, C.J. McElroy, disliked the way Boone & Crockett measured "air" (spread) and deducted points for non-conformity, so he dropped spread and deductions when he created SCI's original system for measuring deer. To give credit for mass, he added the circumference of each antler at its thickest point above the burr. His system was discarded after the club fired him, and SCI's present system was adopted at the request of an officer who thought hunters should "speak the same language." Basically, it is Boone & Crockett's without deductions. Width is added to the lengths of the main beams and every tine over one inch long, as well as the circumferences of the widest points between each tine. As for measuring systems ruining hunting, I prefer to believe it is hunters who measure the value of their trophies in inches who need to rethink why they go hunting. They remind me of the Iranian prince whose biography I wrote. He was so obsessed with the size of an animal, he blamed his booking agents, outfitters and guides for his failure to take No. 1 animals. He walked away from an elephant he'd shot because his guide said it had 100-pound tusks, and they weighed five or six pounds less than that. Some of my best trophies were collected on hunts that were memorable for reasons other than the size of the antlers or skulls I took home. A case in point is the female mountain lion I killed after 57 days on horseback following hounds all over the Chiricahuas, Baboquivaris, Sierra Anchas, Santa Ritas and Catalinas. Its skull doesnt' qualify for SCI or B&C, but it's No. 1 in my book. Bill Quimby

Listen to Lark. Bulls with big-antler genes will grow big antlers in both dry and wet years. Bill Quimby

Coach: I'm not a lawyer, and you definitely need to sit down with one. However, from my business law classes 100 years ago at the UA, I seem to remember that those who plead no contest are not considered to have admitted guilt for whatever they are charged with. ===Bill Quimby

"Ahhhhhh, she e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e - it!"--- Paul Newman and Robert Redford as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, jumping off a cliff.

I don't think it was me, but if you want to sell the brass and can't locate the original poster, please PM me with what you have and how much you want for it. Bill Quimby

This really happened Monday when I was returning from San Antonio and the woman sitting next to me asked if I was on a business trip. When I told her I heading home to Tucson after interviewing a Texas bowhunter who had hired me to ghostwrite his memoirs, she went into a tirade about hunters killing God's creatures and ended by proudly announcing she was a vegetarian. "Really?" I asked. "I hope you are taking the required supplements." When she asked what I meant, I explained that humans are omnivores, and that a strict vegetation diet can cause APD. When she asked about APD, I said: "It's Animal Protein Deficiency. It can get ugly. Being overbearing, opinionated and downright rude are the early symptoms. You might want to check with your doctor." She never said a word the rest of the trip. Bill Quimby

Congratulations, Lark. I'll keep my eye out for a good bull for you. When is your season? Bill Quimby

That $7 fee is new since I was there. Were there still lots of people walking the paths? Bill Quimby

Yes, I've been up there. Twice. During my last five or six years at the Tucson Citizen, the powers to be informed me they wanted less hook and bullet coverage on my outdoor page and more articles on "participant sports." So I rode in gliders, photographed hang-gliding nuts, did stories about cowboy polo, and walked some of some of southern Arizona's popular paths. My first time on the peak was in about 1990, and it was the short walk from the highway side. I did it again about three years later with my wife. We walked the northern path, which is longer. The view from the top is spectacular, but I was most impressed with all the small caves and overhangs that undoubtedly had been used in earlier times by desert sheep moving from the Picachos to the Silverbells. Even in the mid-1990s, there was a steady string of people using both paths. Bill Quimby

Congratulations on drawing one of the most difficult to draw tags in our state. You are correct that the Wallow Fire brought major changes in Unit One's elk distribution. Elk can be found all over the unit, but south and west of Big Lake is a good place to start your search. As a non-resident with limited time to learn the unit, you may want to consider hiring a guide. Bill Quimby

murfys69law: A friend and I fried the backstraps from a warthog he killed in Botswana. Warthogs are swine (unlike javelina), and the taste was pork-like but not as good as the meat from just about any African antelope. Its texture reminded me more of bear meat, which I don't like, and I never tried it again. Our problem may have been the way we prepared it. ---- Bill Quimby

I guess I am of the old Arizona school because I view people who lock me out of land I have hunted for decades to be selfish and lower than the lowest, and those who block free access to public land to be beyond contempt. We own more-than-a-few acres of unfenced whitetail and javelina habitat near the border in Santa Cruz County. Our land is not posted and will never be posted as long as we own it. If we were to learn that someone shot a buck or a javelina on our land, I would congratulate him/her. The animals are not ours, and are free to come and go, which they do regularly. Hunting on our property does it no harm. If we had a house on it, it would be something else. I would expect hunters to not shoot recklessly and to obey the 1/4-mile rule. --- Bill Quimby

"Figure out who is the warden in your unit and call them forest service won't do crap"...............Nor should a AZGFD wildlife manager. Why waste our money attempting to prosecute someone who merely drove past a keep out sign and left without committing any other crime? Arizona is not Texas. Trespassing here is not a serious crime. If I felt as you do, I'd have a sheriff's deputy stake out our driveway and issue tickets to the dozen or more families with little kids who use it every day when then get off the forest service walking path when returning from their "hike" to a pond above us. --- Bill Quimby

"Figure out who is the warden in your unit and call them forest service won't do crap"...............Nor should the AZGFD. I can think of dozens of more important things for wildlife managers to do. Why waste our money attempting to prosecute someone who merely drove past a "keep out" sign and left without committing any other crime? Arizona is not Texas. Trespassing here is not a serious crime. If I felt as you do, I'd have a sheriff's deputy stake out the driveway to our cabin and issue tickets to the dozen or more families with little kids who use it every day when they get off the forest service's walking path when returning from their "hike" to a pond above us. --- Bill Quimby

Have you had problems with littering, vandalism, or theft, or is it because someone drove to the end of your road, turned around, and drove away that makes you feel he should be prosecuted? -- Bill Quimby

I'm curious as to why you want such meat. Is it to bait bear in another state where it is legal? Bill Quimby

TJ, Coach, the Rifleman and I are members of the same congregation; we just worship at different locations. Bill Quimby

Arizona's laws on trespassing are different from many states, and I am most grateful for that. I'm not a lawyer, but as I understand it, a couple of signs on your road do not represent legal posting. Also, and I'm fuzzy about this, I think that you can only prosecute if you previously asked someone to leave, and you found him on your property again. I've hunted in states where trespassers were viewed to be lower than poachers, and wardens spent much of their time chasing and citing trespassers. I've also hunted in states where landowners were not required to post their land against entry, and hunters could lose their firearms and even vehicles for not knowing exactly where they were. I prefer Arizona's system and cringe whenever someone wants to tighten our trespass laws. I own land in Santa Cruz, Pima and Apache counties, and only thing I've posted is the driveway to my cabin. The sign does not say "keep out," it only lets people know my driveway is private property and not the popular forest service walking path that runs along the edge of our property. --- Bill Quimby

Years ago, when I started writing books for hunters who had taken trophy aoudad in Africa, I had to decide what to call the males they hunted. I finally settled on "billies" because the aoudad can hybridize with a goat, but not a sheep. Once made, that decision meant I had no choice but to call females "nannies" and youngsters "kids." --- Bill Quimby

I've only used four knives to field dress and skin more animals than I care to remember. All were folders. The two made by Buck and Browning had similar shapes and blades, except the Browning had a second blade that was a saw I used for splitting a pelvis until it got dull and there was no way to sharpen it. The others were made by Schrade and Case. Neither had locking blades. The Case was a two-blade "Stockman's" style. All did great on animals up to the size of moose, although the Buck and Browning were difficult to sharpen. All of my knives, including a bunch of pocket and sheath knives I acquired over the years and never used on game, were stolen when our home was burglarized. --- Bill Quimby

I'm only familiar with the eastern portion of 2A, where there are "checkerboarded" blocks of private land. You can get around, but without some on-the-ground scouting, you may encounter access problems. Bill Quimby

You may be interested in what the SCI record book says about the aoudad in its native North Africa: Aoudad or Barbary Sheep - Africa Ammotragus lervia Arrui (Sp), Mähnenschaf (G), Mouflon à manchettes (F). Also called arui (Arabic). "Aoudad" seems to be an anglicization of its Tunisian name udad, and is a better name than Barbary sheep, because this animal is not really a sheep, and is found in many parts of northern Africa besides the former Barbary States or Barbary coastal region. The name "Barbary" originates from the Berber people, the chief inhabitants of the region. DESCRIPTION Shoulder height 36-40 inches (91-102 cm). Weight 200-250 pounds (90-115 kg). The aoudad is a medium-sized mountain animal that is biologically intermediate between a goat and a sheep. It is strongly built, with a short mane on neck and shoulders and long flowing hair on throat, chest, forelegs and tail. The general color is sandy brown, with underparts paler. As in goats, the aoudad has a scent gland beneath the tail, but does not have glands between the hoofs, in the groin area or in front of the eyes. Its chromosome number is 58, which is the same as in the urials, but is different from the 60 that is universal in true goats. Aoudads will hybridize with domestic goats, but not with sheep. The horns (both sexes) are sheep-like, being smooth, thick, triangular in section, and curved to form a semi-circle over the neck (supracervical horns). Females are much smaller than males and lighter in color, with less hair and much smaller horns. BEHAVIOR Usually lives in small family groups with an adult male. Old males and pregnant females may be solitary. Breeds mainly from September to November, but there is some activity throughout the year. A single young (often two) is born 5-1/2 months later. Newborns are able to get about in moderately rugged terrain almost at once, and are sexually mature at about 18 months. Females have been known to give birth twice in one year. Captives have lived as long as 20 years. Feeds early morning and late afternoon, resting in shade at midday. Eats grasses and foliage, sometimes standing on its hind legs to browse. Drinks water where available, otherwise obtains moisture from its food. Will descend from rocky terrain in evening to feed on plains. Eyesight and hearing are very good, sense of smell is good. Alert and wary. An agile climber and jumper. HABITAT Rocky mountains and desert hills. DISTRIBUTION Desert hills and mountains of northern Africa from Morocco and Mauritania eastward to Libya and Chad. Also in northeastern Sudan. Believed extinct in Egypt. Has been introduced on private ranches in South Africa, which is far outside its natural range, and also in Spain, Mexico and the United States. REMARKS The aoudad is a superb game animal that is difficult to hunt under almost any circumstances. TAXONOMIC NOTES Five extant subspecies are listed: angusi (Niger), blainei (Libya, Sudan), fasini (Libya, southern Tunisia), lervia (Morocco, northern Algeria, northern Tunisia), and sahariensis (western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, southern Algeria, southern Libya, Chad). Their limits are unclear and we do not separate them. A sixth subspecies, ornatus, formerly occurred in Egypt, but is believed extinct. STATUS The aoudad may never have been common in northern Africa because of its limited habitat in the desert environment. In recent years, its numbers have been reduced in many places from overhunting by local people, to whom it represents an important source of meat, skins and other parts; however, it is believed to still occur in much of its original range. To the best of our knowledge, Chad and Sudan are the places it can be hunted today in its natural range.

I had to attend a meeting at a large game ranch near San Antonio many years ago, so I arranged to borrow a ranch rifle and hunt an aoudad and a blackbuck while I was there. After picking us up at the airport, the owner took our group out in his zebra-striped Jeep for a tour of his place. Every gate opened with a remote control device, and every time we entered a new pasture, critters from all over the world -- including aoudad and blackbuck -- came running up to us. When I asked, I learned the animals were fed supplemental goodies from that vehicle. I decided not to hunt there. It was my only experience with either animal. I would have liked to have hunted them free-range, where the aoudad is a great trophy, but I waited until I was too old to hunt them. -- Bill Quimby

119 even. Bill Quimby

That's a fantastic photo of you and your great lion! Bill Quimby