billrquimby

Craig, I did not mean to hijack your thread. I could not play the videos, but I'm sure those were great bulls. You are correct about our elk. We are quite fortunate that they indeed are a cut far above those of every other U.S. state. Bill Quimby

Yes, they were released in New Zealand, along with red deer, sika deer, white-tailed deer, fallow deer, moose and sambar. There still are reports of moose sightings on the South Island from time to time, but most hunters believe the moose did not survive. All the other transplants were a success, though. Because red deer and elk are the same species, there are lots of hybrids down there. The bull in the photo does not appear to be a hybrid, judging only by appearance. Hybrids usually have smaller bodies, and "crowns" instead of "whale tails." Australia introduced a number of deer species at about the same time, including sambar, red deer, hog deer, axis deer, fallow deer, rusa deer, etc., but as far as I know no whitetails or elk transplants were done. Bill Quimby

This bull was taken by an Australian in New Zealand recently. He said the antlers on his "wap" (his name for wapiti) had an SCI score of 422. Bill Quimby

I'll try to post them when I get them. He lives in Cairns, Australia. Will start a separate thread. Bill Quimby

"Let's just come out and say it! The TRUTH about Arizona Elk is they are some of the biggest, if not THE biggest elk in the world! " We have some huge elk to be sure and I don't mean to take anything away from the hunters of those great bulls. However, the elk in China's Tian Shan range are said to grow the world's largest antlers. The elk from Wyoming that were released in New Zealand more than a century ago are nothing to walk away from, either. A friend is sending me photos of two bulls he shot on the South Island recently. Their SCI scores were 402 and 411, he said. Bill Quimby

"Until the law changes I will continue doing it. Even as hard as it is to give up those antlers. " I certainly would like to read the actual law to make certain I do not break it the next time I find a head. If nothing else, I'd like to know if there is a clause grandfathering all the old heads I picked up when I was younger. Bill Quimby

18. Possess or transport the carcass of big game without a valid tag being attached. I am not a lawyer, but I think a good one could get the charges dropped if that is the law/rule they are using to prosecute someone for possessing a skull and antlers, especially if it is obvious that the critter had not died recently. There must be something else written somewhere. I couldn't find it in two readings of Title 17 of the Arizona Revised Statutes or in the Game and Fish Commission Rules. Is it merely an opinion of an assistant attorney general that wildlife managers are using as a guide? The question is relevant, because it is highly doubtful that anyone on this forum (including me) would walk away from a bleached elk skull with 400-plus antlers, or call a wildlife manager and wait for someone to arrive to inspect the site and give us permission to take the head home. Bill Quimby

Didn't I say 2:15 pm April 2 in Australia? Bill Quimby

I was going to respond with "I want a full mount of my next elk showing it scratching its nose with a rear hoof." Then I realized that 1) it was April 1, and 2) "a free mount of your choice" probably meant only shoulder mounts. Billk Quimby

2:15 p.m. today. mark my words. Bill Quimby

I never want to see my name and "not drawn" on the same page again. In 64 years of hunting in Arizona, it has happened w-a-y too many times. Bill Quimby

I hunted both islands in the early 1990s, so any info I might have about hotels, etc., would not be relevant today. If you'll be hunting chamois, the chances are good there also will be Himalayan tahr around. They are interesting animals and you probably should think about hunting one. Bill Quimby

Thanks, James and TLH. I'd sure like to read the actual law. Guess I need to search the Arizona Revised Statutes one more time. Bill Quimby

Lee: Lights? If you want to talk about unsolved problems in the White Mountains, just stop by any of the three Greer Lakes after the downstream users pull out their water this summer and try launching your boat off ramps that don't reach the water. It shouldn't be that expensive to extend those ramps when lake levels are so low, and it's not something that can't be predicted, but what do I know? Bill Quimby

"I'm with Brian on this one. That's an eastern w/t. Narrow eaterners grow close bases. For those of you who are members of the huntin fool look at the resemblance of rack configuration on this buck to the buck from Kansas - it's pretty cool to compare the two. Cool buck." There may be as many as 39 other subspecies of white-tailed deer, but antler configuration usually is not what distinguishes those races. If I were forced to say whether the rack that began this thread is a Coues whitetail or some other subspecies, I would guess that it's a Coues deer. I'd have to see and hold it to feel good about that guess, though. Here's an "eaterner" I shot in Michigan (which is not that far from Kansas) close to 20 years ago. Note that its bases are not close. Also note how the eyeguards on my buck do not seem to come straight up from the bases as do those on that head. As I said, though, antler configuration isn't a good method of determining race. A Coues deer I shot in the Baboquivaris 40 or more years ago had wide, heavy antlers that looked a lot like a scaled-down version of this Michigan buck's antlers Bill Quimby

it's illegal to pick up dead heads with out game and fish determining cause of death unless they are just sheds which those are not. with that said.... that pick up is awesome! that thing is McNasty! I would have picked it up too! James Anyone know where that rule been published? I recently read all the Arizona Revised Statutes concerning wildlife and found only one section that spoke to wildlife "parts," and it only prohibited the sale of sheep heads taken after a certain date. If it is a regulation passed by the game commission, it should be in the regulations booklet and I could find nothing there. I must have overlooked it, because I've heard the same thing. Bill Quimby

As I said in the CWT.com Guess the Date and Time Contest, it will be at 2:15 p.m Monday. I'm guessing they'll spend tomorrow and Thursday checking credit card info. Friday will be spent deleting applications with bad credit card info and doing the drawing. Drawing data will be given a final check Monday morning and the results posted to the website in mid-afternoon. But what do I know? Bill Quimby

Did they say how they found it? Bill Quimby

Nice, Casey. You and Scotty make quite a team. Where did you hunt in South Africa? Bill Quimby

Don't overlook the tribal waters. Sunrise Lake often can be reached when the roads to Big Lake still are blocked. A-1 and Horseshoe Cienega lakes are next to the highway. Bill Quimby

Yes. But I would prefer that you simply lift out the talking points instead of sending the entire thing. Bill Quimby

Guys: I retired from the Tucson Citizen in 1994, eighteen years ago. The people I knew who could help have either moved away, retired, or died. I also haven't bought a newspaper for at least ten years. As do most people now, I'm sorry to say, I get my news from TV or online. What I suggest is that you find and cultivate journalists on the staffs of your local newspapers and TV stations who are receptive to our cause. Feed them news items regularly, and you'll find they will seek you out for quotes and opinions as new issues arise. Larry Audsley does a good job of this in this in Tucson, but more people like him are needed all over the state. I hate to mention doing a news-release blitz because I am writing two books and editing another and simply don't have time to help do it. However, you could consider forming a small group to write a series of news releases and send them "blind" to the editors of newspapers and news desks of TV stations, as well as every member of the Legislature. If they are professionally written and contain genuine news, they will be used, especially by smaller newspapers. The larger outlets will assign reporters if you can convince them there is a story worth "working." I've mentioned this on other threads, but I'll repeat it here: Don't expect to get sympathy from the public (or legislators) if your motive is to keep a few hundred hunting permits from being removed from a drawing pool of literally thousands of tags. The issue you want the entire world to know is that a private group wants to sell Arizona's wildlife and spend the money as it sees fit. You also need to emphasize that Arizona's game and fish commission/department system was specifically designed to remove politics from decisions involving wildlife. AZSFW not only wants to sell our wildlife, but it also has hired lobbyists to influence legislators to bypass this tried and true system. If it gets its way, the result will be a Legislature that micro-manages our wildlife with little input from the public and (more importantly) professional wildlife managers. Wish I could help more but I'm an old man with heart problems, and don't need more on my plate. Bill Quimby

"The obvious is that we have less tags to drawn from and drawn success will be done!" What we will have lost is much greater than just a few tags out of a pool of thousands. Its passage will herald the beginning of micro-management of our wildlife by the Legislature. It will not go unnoticed by our much better financed and organized enemies. We can expect them to hire their own lobbyists, create expensive advertising and PR campaigns, and make substantial donations to election campaigns to get what they want. Bill Quimby

Funny thing, I can't remember any hunting camp where someone was a liberal/progressive. As for this current bill, any political discussion of it would quickly become mere preaching to the choir. Maybe it's because we tend to seek out like-thinking folks. Bill Quimby