billrquimby

Could it be mange? I've never heard of a javelina suffering from it, but I do know of at least one Arizona black bear that had had it. I was there when wildlife manager Tom Waddell snared it on Mount Graham and weighed, collared and released it. It had huge patches of skin without hair. When Tom snared the same bear again a couple of years later its hair had returned. Seeing that bear sent me to the library to learn more about mange. It apparently is caused by parasitic mites that cause severe itching that results in hair loss, scabs and sores. Most mammals, including humans, can be infected. Bill Quimby

After losing 35 rifles and shotguns to burglars in September, I know exactly how you feel. If you have homeowner's insurance, you might call your agent and ask if it covers your loss. Bill Quimby

Alpinebullwinkle: That's one way to view it. Another would be to urge you to count the blessings you now enjoy that bowhunters in many other states and rifle hunters here do not. I could argue either way but won't. I will say that the Game and Fish Department and its commissioners are not our enemies. Groups such as HSUS, PETA and others are. I have no dog in this fight. I've been unable to pull a bow since a truck fell on my arm in 1993, and there are more fingers on my hands than years remaining that I can hunt. All I want before I hang up my guns is to draw one or two more early cow elk tags near my cabin. Bill Quimby

"What's next G&F?" How about: -- No bowhunting of a species in any year for which you hold a rifle tag for that species? -- All bowhunting by permit only? -- Season lengths for bowhunters limited to the same number of days as those allotted to rifle hunters? -- A requirement to remove your blinds and tree stands after a certain period, say two or three days? -- A ban on hunting within one-quarter mile of the only source of water for wildlife? -- Closing of certain elk units to bowhunting to allow more rifle hunters to hunt elk during the rut? Note: I am in no way advocating any of these things, only pointing out that a ban on baiting is not as awful as other changes could be. Bill Quimby

I don't think the brand matters. I've used at least at least a half dozen different types of mouth-blown calls with good results. I've found that javelinas respond by either running away, coming to me, or totally ignoring me. I keep calling when they start running off. More often than not, several will stop and come straight to me with their teeth chattering. I've also called them to me by making non-stop grunt-like coughs that imitate the sounds they make when trotting. This works best when after you have a herd in view and there are two hunters grunting. Bill Quimby

"Bill, so if salt has been placed, and you can't hunt over it, how long after the salt is placed can you begin hunting that area again? I would guess that salt will stay in the soil for many years. And if this is the case that means almost every waterhole in the state would be off limits, as someone at some time has put a salt lick there. And then the question, of how far away from the salt do you have to be to legally hunt? Just picture this, you are sitting up on a ridge, and a G&F officer walks up to you and cites you for hunting over salt. You ask what the heck, I'm not hunting over salt. And then he begins to tell you that down in the canyon below you there is a old salt lick that still attracts deer, and therefore you are hunting over salt. And with some of our current G&F officers, I wouldn't put this past them. Then think about this. You work your tail off scouting a spring or saddle, only to show up on opening day to find a pile of salt under your stand. You didn't put it there, but now you are prohibited from hunting that area. Who put the salt there? Maybe another jealous hunter who wanted to hunt there, but found you had beat him to the spot, or maybe a outfitter who has located a big deer and doesn't want anyone else hunting the area, or maybe a Animal rights wacko who doesn't want anyone hunting. Lots of Grey areas, where hunters get screwed! Let's not go down this path." AZLance: As I said, I'm not a lawyer, but the key word in the bear ban rule seems (to me) to be "knowingly." We will have to see if the commissioners approve the ban and -- if they do -- exactly what they have banned. Bill Quimby

'Spent all day refreshing my salt licks in unit 33 today. Went thru 600 pounds of salt today. That should last me a while if they decided to ban the placing of salt and minerals." The ban probably won't be only against "placing" bait. I suspect the new rule would amend the language that now bans using bait for bears. It reads: "No person shall knowingly use any substance as bait at any time to attract or take bear." Expanding the rule would require only substituting the words "any game animal or bird" for "bear." I'm not a lawyer but it seems to me that you would be in violation if you hunted anywhere near where you have placed bait. Whether or not you put those 600 pounds of salt out before the new rule is enacted would make no difference if you knew bait was nearby. It would be almost impossible to prove, of course. It's obvious that you meant to type "45" instead of "33" when describing the game management unit where you left all that salt. :-) Bill Quimby

"No Pics? What kind of documentation is that for a professional?" I've mentioned this before, but the part of my job as a daily newspaper's outdoor editor for nearly 30 years was having to publish a minimum of three to four photographs every week. For me, photography wasn't fun. It was work. Over the three decades I held that job, 4,500 to 6,000 of my photographs were published in that newspaper. Another 100 or so appeared in magazines that published my freelanced articles. (We used film then, and wouldn't know until we developed it if we had a professional and reproduceable shot, so we exposed a lot of it -- a rule of thumb was one roll for each picture we needed.) After posing subjects or finding the best place and time to "shoot" scenery, metering the available light, choosing the proper lens opening, shutter speed and filter, and focusing and "snapping a pix" somewhere between 100,000 and nearly 150,000 times, I had no love for photography or anything that went with it. I gave away all my cameras and gear when I retired from the Tucson Citizen in 1994, and vowed to never take another photograph. I have strayed from that vow only once in 19 years. That was when our grandson graduated from UA a couple of years ago and our daughter handed me her camera and asked me to record the event. Since retiring from my post as Safari Club International's director of publications 14 years ago, I've written 19 published books and have contracted to write No. 20. I can happily state that professional authors/ghost writers of my chosen genre have no need to photograph anything. A simpler answer to your question, though, would be I no longer own a camera. Bill Qimby

Me, too! Bill Quimby

Amanda: Thank you! Coues Sniper: Yep, old school to the max. We crusty old codgers hate having to learn or adapt to new things. Bill Quimby

Buck and Gerber knives are hard to beat. However, they work best when they are new because most of us can't sharpen them. I'm not trying to outdo Oneshot, honest, but I used an old Buck folder to skin a dozen Texas Hill Country deer that I and my friends shot last November. Before sharpening it with a funny-looking tool I bought just before the hunt, I couldn't have skinned just one deer without trying to re-sharpen it. The thing looks a lot like a Pocket Fisherman flattened by a Mack truck. You rest a knife with its blade pointing up on a table and firmly run the sharpener over the blade four or five times to reshape and sharpen it. There is another set of stones in the tool that create the final edge. Only a couple of passes are needed. Wish I knew the sharpener's brand name, but my son-in-law hasn't returned it yet. Bill Quimby

Please say we'll still have access to the IPB basic "skin," Amanda. Bill Quimby

THIS PART OF THE PARAGRAPH IS THE LAW: Take/Hunt From A Vehicle (A.R.S. 17-301 B, R12-4-319) Pages 110 and 128 No person may take wildlife from a motor vehicle (including watercraft and aircraft), except as permitted by Commission Order, and under the provisions of the Challenged Hunter Access Mobility Permit Commission Rule (R12-4-217). THIS PART IS THE AZGFD'S INTERPRETATION: “Take,” as defined by law, includes pursuing, shooting, hunting and killing wildlife. You are unlawfully using a vehicle to take wildlife if you intentionally drive around until you see the animal you wish to harvest and then make an attempt to take. “Road hunting” is illegal; so is pursuing wildlife with a vehicle, chasing or heading off moving wildlife with a vehicle, and driving off-road to get closer to wildlife. You do not have to shoot from the vehicle to be in violation. IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW THE COURTS WOULD INTERPRET "TAKE" IF SOMEONE WERE TO CONTEST A CONVICTION FOR DRIVING AND GLASSING. Bill Quimby

It could be a rattlesnake bite on the buck, but it looks more like a goiter to me. I've never seen anything like it or that doe's back, though. If you're in the Hill Country, such extraordinary things could be symptomatic of the overpopulation of deer there. Bill Quimby

Thank you for ten great years, Amanda. May there be lots more. Bill Quimby

Baiting would work, but it's not needed. A javelina herd actually has a small home range, and once you find its feeding and bedding areas you should be able to figure where to look for it at any given time of day. Find a high place in their home range and scour the terrain around you with your binoculars and/or spotting scope. Javelinas have an excellent sense of smell, and there is nothing wrong with their ears, but their eyesight is notoriously poor. If you get downwind and move slowly and quietly, it is not difficult to stalk into bow range of a feeding or bedded herd. Before it became illegal (and before we realized we also were attracting and feeding pack rats), we used potatoes to lure javelinas to our home in Tucson so we could watch them. Others in our neighborhood used dry dog food. Our little herd never came around in daylight, though. Javelinas love pumpkins, as everyone in our area who puts out jack-o'-lanterns for Halloween soon learns. Javelinas will eat corn, too. Bill Quimby

"It is not AGFD that misspelled the name, thats just the title provided by the poster." Thank you. I'd promised myself a while back that I'd bite my tongue and not comment on such things, but after 30-plus years of working as editor it is nearly impossible to do. Bill Quimby

Am I the only reader to notice that the AZGFD website misspelled the name of our little deer? Bill Quimby

I'll buy the case if it still is available. Bill Quimby

I'm impressed with the way you set up the trophy photograph, Singleshot. No blood, tongue not sticking out, the antlers are easily seen against blue sky, and the deer is treated with respect and shown on the same plane as the hunter. Others can learn a lot from studying your photo. Nice buck, too. Bill Quimby

I'm impressed with the way you set up the trophy photograph, Singleshot. No blood, tongue not sticking out, the antlers are easily seen against blue sky, and the deer is treated with respect and shown on the same plane as the hunter. Others can learn a lot from studying your photo. Nice buck, too. Bill Quimby

Thanks to the burglary in September, when thieves took 35 of my rifles and shotguns, I am without a 20 gauge shotgun and a .22 rifle for the first time in my adult life. I'm looking for an over/under shotgun by Browning or Charles Daly, but will consider other makers. I'd like a semi=auto or pump .22 that feeds through a tube and not a clip. If you have either for sale or know someone who does, I'd appreciate it you sent me a PM. Thanks for your help. Bill Quimby

Thanks to the burglary in September, when thieves took 35 of my rifles and shotguns, I am without a 20 gauge shotgun and a .22 rifle for the first time in my adult life. I'm looking for an over/under shotgun by Browning or Charles Daly, but will consider other makers. I'd like a semi=auto or pump .22 that feeds through a tube and not a clip. If you have either for sale or know someone who does, I'd appreciate it you sent me a PM. Thanks for your help. Bill Quimby

"If you draw a good tag and can't your lazy #@% out of the truck and hunt, do the rest of us all a favor and find a new hobby!" Hunting is not a hobby for me. I hunt because I must, and I will hunt until I can't. Bill Quimby

I do a lot of driving around on roads to reach places where I can glass. Sometimes I get our of my truck to glass and sometimes I do not. My spotting scope is equipped with a window mount and I use it a lot. When I find something I want to shoot, I leave the truck and try to get closer on foot for a shot. If what I do is illegal or unethical, so be it. I do not qualify for a CHAMP permit as the rules are written, despite a heart condition that keeps me from walking very far without stopping to rest a lot. Bill Quimby