billrquimby

I've resisted it a long time but I now find myself pondering whether a 4x4 quad is for me, especially if I ever draw another elk tag and have to pack out the meat. Would someone give me some tips? For example: -- What should I look for when shopping for a used 4-wheeler? -- How much should I expect to pay? -- How do I tell if one has tons of miles on it or has been abused? -- Are repairs prohibitly expensive? -- How reliable are they? I am too old to have one break down 8-10 miles from my truck. -- Will one of Harbor Freight's small trailers with 12-inch wheels be adequate to carry it? -- Is there anything I need to know about driving these things on two-track trails across steep terrain? -- Is there anything I've neglected to ask? Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Bill Quimby

A very wet summer indeed! We've had only one or two days in August when we didn't receive at least 1wo inches! Our cabin's driveway is a muddy mess. Bill Quimby

I've yet to hear the first bugle near our cabin in Greer this year. Bill Quimby

Four of us shot 17 deer last November in the Texas Hill Country where the limit is 5 whitetails per year. We kept them hanging in a barn for up to five days before we skinned, butchered and froze the meat the day before we left for Tucson. I can assure you that the meat from those deer did not suffer. It was delicious! Bill Quimby

I don't know how it is now, but in the 1960s through the mid-1970s, I used to camp near Strayhorse and hunt the Chitty Creek and Eagle Creek country from my mule. There were lots of mule deer and, in some years, a few whitetails hanging around old burns. There also were a few bears. Bill Quimby

Happy birthday, TJ. Jean and I enjoyed the time we spent with you and Peg up here in God's Country. Let's do it again next year. Bill Quimby

How do you keep meat that is exposed to air from drying out before you get it wrapped and frozen? I grew up believing a deer's hide protected it from dirt, flies and air. Whenever possible, we don't skin anything until we are in a clean environment and ready to cut and wrap. Bill Quimby

I've eaten meat from my mountain lion, bobcats and African lion, and all were good. No surprisingly, all had the same distinctive flavor. Bill Quimby

A hundred years ago when my friends and I were fit, young and dumb, we always would pack Arizona whitetails out whole (minus entrails). It was not as tough as it sounds. We'd cut partway through the joints of the front legs, break the joint and leave each leg connected by a long tendon. We'd then slit the gambrels of each rear leg and insert the corresponding front legs through them, creating tough straps that we could slip our arms into. We'd then carry the deer like a backpack, with the tail up. This put the buck's hams on our shoulder, helping cushion the weight. To keep the head from flopping around behind us, we'd grab an antler with our left hands. We could go a long way without stopping this way. We got covered with blood, of course, but it was part of hunting. With my last couple of Coues deer, I cut them in half and carried the halves out in 100- to 200-yard relays. That was a few years ago, though. Today, I am smart enough to realize the limitations of old age and apply only for mule deer tags in units where I can hunt on a friend's farms, or for cow elk near the cabin where I can ambush an animal near a road and call friends to help me load my kills. No one carried backpacks filled with all sorts of things back in the good ol' days, though. A pocket knife, a canteen of water, some light rope, a half box of cartridges and something for lunch was enough to do what we did. In later years, we added binoculars and walking sticks to that list. Bill Quimby

I have come full circle in the 65 years since I killed my first deer at age 12 in 1948. That buck was a 4x4 mule deer, a nice one, but nowhere near as large as some I killed later. If you ware to divide my 65 years of hunting into thirds, you'd find me shooting anything with antlers that jumped up in the first third. After some minor success in the trophy department, I entered the second stage by fooling myself into thinking I was a trophy hunter, and began passing up more than a few small or young animals. Late in this second stage, one of my jobs was to edit the SCI record books, and I quickly learned that skill or luck in hunting had little to do with most of the trophies in that book. Everyone who had enough money to hunt the right area at the right time with the right outfitter/guide nearly always went home with a trophy. If someone wanted something so big that it couldn't be produced by all the outfitters and guides he hired, there always was someone who would grow it for him, given enough time and money. The last third of my hunting career found me maturing as a hunter and moving back toward where I began, shooting any size critter I decided I wanted that day. If I passed up a buck, it was because I wasn't ready to stop hunting, and not because I wanted something bigger. Part of the reason is because I was older and far less fit, but the main reason is because the size of antlers and horns simply doesn't matter. I've good heads of bucks, bulls, stags and other game on the walls of my home and cabin and boxes of antlers, skulls and horns that have become like the albatross that plagued the ancient mariner. I don't want to give, sell or throw anything away. But I also realize that my heirs don't need another head to haul to the dump or to have to try to find someone who wants it. As I've said many times, I hunt because I must, and I will hunt until I can't. Now, though, trophy size means nothing to me. Bill Quimby

A big pine tree fell and flattened the pumphouse at our cabin in Greer over the winter, and I want to rebuild it (myself) larger to create more storage space. I laid blocks, mixed cement in a wheelbarrow, poured the existing slab, and built and roofed the little building nearly forty years ago, but block and cement work is more than I can tackle now at age 77. The existing slab is six feet by ten feet, and because the ground slopes a bit, what's needed is a low stem wall, some fill and a cubic yard of ready-mixed cement poured to make the new slab twelve feet by twelve feet. The trench is dug and all the materials (except the ready-mix) are on site. An experienced person with his own small mixer should be able to easily mix and pour the footing and lay 22 8x8x16 blocks in a half day, and supervise/work the ready-mix pour and finish the concrete in a couple of hours the next day. The finish can be rough, to match my years-ago amateurish effort. If anyone is interested in bidding this job on a per-hour or per-job basis please PM me. Bill Quimby

If you are interested in a Coleman Scanoe, I have one you could have for $200. Bill Quimby

I stayed there several times, but the most memorable of those visits was with two friends from South Africa. We were traveling from Tucson to hunt antelope near Lander, Wyoming, and spent a day fishing Lee's Ferry and another day on Lake Powell to break up the trip. My friends still talk about that trip. Bill Quimby

I'm not a lawyer, but it's my understanding that: 1. Photos are NOT in the public domain simply because they have been posted on the internet. 2. An advertiser who uses photos without the permission of their owners can be successfully sued. Do you need any of that company's traps? Bill Quimby

A rattlesnake was the last thing my wife and I expected to find when we drove to Green Valley Sunday to make certain a townhouse we own there was ready for tenants arriving on New Year's Day. But that's exactly what we found. It was coiled under a Mexican clay pot we use to hold a garden hose. My wife didn't immediately recognize what it was when she picked up one side of the pot and reached down to pick up the strange-looking round shape under it. Two things were in her favor, thank God: 1. She saw the snake's head and scales in time and jumped back before it could strike. 2. It was a very cold day and the snake was dormant. When the firefighter who responded to her 911 call picked up the coiled snake with tongs the snake didn't wriggle. It was very much alive, though. If the day had been warmer, it would have bitten my wife. Our townhouse is in a highly developed area. To reach it from the nearest unoccupied desert land, it had to crawl at least 200 yards over concrete and pavement. There are no pack rats or field mice near the place that I know of. We do have a pyracantha hedge whose berries are attracting a lot of small birds now, so that may have been what brought the snake to our place. The incident makes me wonder how many rattlers were dangerously close to me when I've sat down on rock piles to glass during winter hunts. Bill Quimby

Here are my definitions: -- A "premium" hunt is any hunt for which I've drawn a tag. -- A "quality" animal is any animal I decide to take on my "premium" hunt. -- A "trophy" is not judged with a tape measure. Bill Quimby

A year or so, someone on CW.com mentioned his cabin in Green's Peak Hideaway. If you are that person, would you please PM me? Bill Quimby

Ben is correct. The Nature Conservancy is about preserving habitat and its mission does not exclude hunting. If I were wealthy, it is an organization I would support with donations. Bill Quimby

"My goal is to somehow have a cabin to spend our summers in Greer. It's just a dream right now but maybe someday. " I've been living that dream since I retired in 1999. If Greer is your dream, don't wait to do something about it. Property here will never be any cheaper. Bill Quimby

If you haven't sold them yet, I'll take them. Bill Quimby

Immediately after the 9/11 tragedy, there were reports of people dancing and rejoicing in the streets in several Middle-Eastern countries. If something similar happened today, Congress needs to remove those countries from the long list of countries receiving our foreign aid payments. Bill Quimby

"Jack killed his first deer in the Altar valley west of Tucson over 70 years ago with a surplus SMLE .303 british." It must have been a lot more than just "over" 70 years ago. I shot my first deer in 1948 -- 65 years ago -- and O'Connor was my mother's English professor at the UA. As for whether or not he would like a Tupperware stock, it's hard to say but I suspect he would suffer his proverbial "vapors" if forced to use one. As for me, I have owned just one rifle stock made of that ugly stuff. It is on the .257 Weatherby I won at the Friends of NRA fund-raiser in Springerville last summer. I haven't opened the box, and may never open it until I can get around to restocking it with walnut. Bill Quimby

How about erasing this thread and taking the discussion to private messaging? Just try to imagine what a newspaper columnist or a TV anchorperson could do with it. Bill Quimby

If you didn't read the sponsor line at the end of the commercials running on Tucson TV you wouldn't know that they were produced and paid for by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his anti-gun group, Mayors Against Illegal Firearms. The commercials begin by telling us that Senator Jeff Flake is doing Arizona hunters a disfavor and making everyone unsafe by opposing background checks for all transfers of firearms. There have been reports that Bloomberg paid $12 million out of his own pocket for this series of TV ads, targeting four key senators that could block the background check bill he wants. I have never met Sen. Flake, but I did vote for him and I'm glad that he has taken a stand against so-called 'universal background checks." A better name for what Bloomberg wants is "National Gun and Gun Owners Registration." Universal background checks will give them exactly that. Bill Quimby

(NOTE: I am posting this here because -- for some reason -- I've been having problems responding to posts and when I do get it done it is impossible for me to edit it. It took more than 30 minutes to post this. This has been getting worse since this site's last "update." I have no problems with other websites. BQ) Ludit: As a non-hunter, you asked a reasonable question and you deserve an answer. Hunting has a rich and long history in your country and ours. I don't know if bears, and wolves still are hunted in Poland, but I would suspect that your country and its wildlife managers and gamekeepers have programs that use hunting to manage your wild carnivores. I do know that Poland's red stag, roebuck, fallow deer, wild boar, mouflon and a limited number of wisent (European bison) are hunted regularly by hunters from across Europe and around the world. In your country, as in ours, there would be a lot fewer truly wild animals without hunting for food and sport. There is no irony in this. The wisent would be extinct or limited to just a very few zoos today if sportsmen were not willing to pay to cultivate and translocate them so that they could be hunted. Strictly regulated hunting since the 1950s resulted in the offspring of just 50 wisents from zoos being returned to Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, the Western Caucasus, Moldova, Spain and Denmark, and soon Germany. As for the differences between hunting and photography, photography sometimes can be easier and less challenging than hunting. There are no closed seasons for photographing animals, and parks and reserves where wild animals have grown accustomed to being photographed provide willing models for common species. Because some professional photographers have been known to rent semi-tame live mountain lions, wolves and bears and sell photos of them as wild animals, I am suspicious whenever I see photos of these animals. We have no shortage of mountain lions in Arizona, but these large cats are nocturnal, wary of humans, and rarely allow themselves to be seen. If you carefully read the post that prompted your question you will see that the young hunter who reported killing his first mountain lion worked very hard to do so. He earned the right to be proud of his accomplishment. However, as you also did, I shuddered when reading some of the comments that followed his report. Yes, mountain lions kill our deer. But so do we. In my view the mountain lion is America's greatest game animal and deserves better. I cannot tell you why some of us hunt while others find it repugnant. I can only speak for myself. I hunt because I must, and I will hunt until I can't. Bill Quimby