billrquimby

Hope you emphasized that the issue is a private organization selling the public's wildlife to the highest bidders and keeping all or most of the funds, with no government oversight on how it is spent. Bill Quimby

The thread about the snow melting quickly near Payson brought this on. Anyone in Round Valley know what's happening on the Greer side of the mountain? Bill Quimby

Thanks, Becker. Bill Quimby

Perhaps he meant incontinent? Bill Quimby

Looking forward for your report. Bill Quimby

Here's my two cents worth, for what it's worth. We will lose this battle if it is fought over the loss of a few hundred hunting permits from the drawing pool. The broader issue, which could bring non-hunters into the fray if it were widely known, is that this proposal allows a private organization to sell our state's wildlife to the highest bidders and keep all or a large portion of the proceeds with no government oversight as to how that money is spent. Bill Quimby

Hi Amanda: Don't know about the beavers. I suppose they were there historically, but whether they were extirpated and then reintroduced, I don't know. It's nifty country, and it's not far from Lark's domain. Perhaps he knows some of the ranching families who would know. My son-in-law and I went there totally "cold." Without talking with anyone we obviously hunted too high where the glassing was easier. Bill Quimby

Interesting. Thanks for posting. Bill Quimby

Interesting that you found whitetails. My son-in-law and I had whitetail permits and hunted some of that area 25-30 years ago and all we saw were mule deer, including a great buck anyone would want. We also did not see another hunter in the five days we were in there. Bill Quimby

The accuratereloading.com site has a good thread on this in its African Hunting forum. The CEO of Camping World dropped its sponsorship of Celebrity Apprentice because Donald Trump's sons legally shot an elephant and a leopard in Zimbabwe. He is quoted as saying these animals are endangered and will not change his position even though a letter campaign mounted by hunters has explained that elephants and leopards in Zimbabwe are classified as CITES II (an animal of concern but not endangered) animals in Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa and several other countries, and that legal hunting of these animals is not detrimental to their numbers. The PETA website apparently has been the source of his info. Bill Quimby

A Legislature that messes with hunting regulations worries me more than someone who bangs away at a herd of javelinas with a pistol. Bill Quimby.

7 p.m. Saturday, the site is still down. Bill Quimby

Congratulations. Calling in -- and killing -- a mountain lion is something I always wanted to do. Seeing them close up was so unexpected that I couldn't put things together the two times a lion showed up. Bill Quimby

Thanks, James. Drat! Wish 2B were open. It is loaded with coyotes, and its antelope herd is only a fraction of what it could be, IMO. With gasoline on track to reach $4.00 a gallon soon, 2A and 4A are too far from the cabin. Worse, the season closes just as we're getting settled in up there. Bill Quimby

It may be the way I searched, but I could not find on line (including the AZGFD site) the new rules for hunting predators at night. Specifically, I want to know if there are any units in the White Mountains that are open to coyote and/or lion hunting at night. Bill Quimby

The author of this article, Ben Long, needs to be applauded! His piece needs to be sent to every hunter and every legislator in Arizona --- and everywhere else the SFW cancer threatens. Bill Quimby

Judging only from what I see around Greer on my weekly summer elk-watching trips, cows and calves will stay in large herds until early August before they split off into smaller groups when the bulls start building harems in September. The bulls will be alone or in groups of seven to ten animals of various age groups most of the year. I've seen cow/calf groups with more than 300 elk in them. I said "more than," because I stop counting after that. Bulls and cow/calf herds may come together in feeding areas, but I don't believe they stay together long except during the rut. As for spikes, I seldom see any in the summer cow/calf herds. I do see them with cows after the rut, though. Don't know why this is. Bill Quimby

2:15 p.m. April 2 Bill Quimby

I sent an email also. Bill Quimby

Photoshopped, and not very well done IMO. Enlarge the photo and examine closely the patches of camo on the right and left of that lion's image. Bill Quimby

HOWARD HILL, The World’s Greatest Archer, The Man And The Legend By Craig Ekin $60 First edition Charger Publications (1982) Hardcover with black & white photos, 332 pages. Book is in near fine condition except for former owner’s signature on end paper. Dust jacket is clean and intact with no tears or chips, but has shelf wear on edges. ______________________________________________ 2-BOOK SAXTON POPE SET $225 includes USPS media mail postage in USA Wolfe Publishing’s 1991 limited edition facsimiles of Saxton T. Pope’s 1920s books that sparked modern bowhunting. Both of my copies are as new. Issued without dust jackets.Faux leather covers with gilt lettering on fronts and spines. HUNTING WITH THE BOW AND ARROW -- Contains chapters about Ishi, the last of the Yahi Indian Tribe and his methods for living and hunting; how to make your own archery hunting gear, how to hunt with bow and arrows, and Pope’s adventures with his friends. THE ADVENTUROUS BOWMAN, Field Notes On African Archery -- Tells of the East Africa bowhunting safari of Dr. Saxton Pope and Arthur Young for lions and other game with their self-made bows and arrows. ---------------------------------------------

I guess I'll call them if the state land dept. doesn't call me by noon tomorrow, Thanks! Telephone calls are not the way to go. For one thing, the odds of your talking with the person who has the authority to do something are against you. Send registered letters to the directors of the Game and Fish Department and State Land Department, politely requesting that access be restored to you and other licensed hunters and fishermen. Say exactly where the signs are, and why you want access. (Predator calling and rabbit hunting are year-around pursuits, javelina and mule deer hunting are not.) You may get a bureaucratic response and little action at first, but letters will get you a written response and your complaint and the statements made to you will be on record. You can decide what your next step should be if your request is denied after you have a letter in your hand stating why a state agency believes a lessee should be allowed to keep you off state land. Bill Quimby

Larry: Was the opinion from the attorney general, or the attorneys his office assigned to AZGFD or AZSLD? If it was an official opinion issued by the attorney general, then we lost a big one. The Game and Fish Commission's actions are more transparent and more subject to sportsmen's influence than the land commissioner's. Bill Quimby

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_20041625 Majority of California Assembly members call for resignation of wildlife official who killed mountain lion By Paul Rogers progers@mercurynews.commercurynews.com Posted: 02/24/2012 09:09:12 PM PST February 25, 2012 3:25 PM GMT Updated: 02/25/2012 07:25:12 AM PST California wildlife official in hot water over mountain lion hunt The days may be numbered for a top California wildlife official who sparked a controversy by shooting and killing a mountain lion in Idaho. Escalating a battle between hunters and animal welfare groups -- a conflict that could result in major changes to California's endangered species and hunting policies -- 40 Democratic state Assembly members Friday sent a letter to Dan Richards, president of the California Fish and Game Commission, demanding that he resign. The firestorm began after a hunting newspaper recently published a photo of Richards, a Republican from San Bernardino and outspoken trophy hunter, holding a dead mountain lion he shot at the Flying B Ranch in northern Idaho earlier this year. Mountain lion hunting in California was first banned by Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1972 in five-year increments. It was outlawed permanently when California voters passed Proposition 117 in 1990. In Idaho, however, hunting mountain lions is legal. Hunting groups have rallied to Richards' defense. But critics, led by the Humane Society of the United States, argue that Richards showed bad judgment and mocked the will of California voters. "Your actions raise serious questions about whether you respect the laws of the people of California and whether you are fit to adequately enforce those laws," the letter from the Assembly Democrats said. It closed with an ominous tone: "We hope that you decide to put the people of California and their collective values first and that this unfortunate incident does not continue to distract the work of the Legislature." Under state law, any fish and game commissioner can be removed by a simple majority vote in both houses of the state Legislature. With 40 of the 80 members of the Assembly calling for Richards to resign, his future on the commission appears to be in serious jeopardy. A similar letter is now circulating in the state Senate, where Democrats hold 25 of the 40 seats. Richards did not return calls seeking comment. Assemblyman Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, wrote the Assembly letter and organized the signature gathering. His staff said that more than 40 members would have signed, but Hueso decided to stop at 40. There are 52 Democrats in the 80-member Assembly. "I have received an outpouring of support from my constituents to remove the commissioner from his position," Hueso said. "This incident has ignited such an uproar in communities across the state, I am concerned that if Commissioner Richards were to remain on the commission, it would compromise the reputation and ability of the California Fish and Game Commission to continue its good work in the future." Hueso's staff said if Richards does not resign, the assemblyman will likely introduce a resolution to force his removal. The controversy has prompted an outpouring of support for Richards from hunting and fishing groups, many of which see Richards as the most reliable vote for their issues. "If he would have shot that mountain lion in California, he would have been thumbing his nose at the voters of California," said Bill Gaines, president of the California Outdoor Heritage Alliance, a hunting advocacy group. "We would have called for his resignation. "But for him to do it legally in another state, a state that bases their mountain lion management on science -- and not emotions like we have here in California -- and to be condemned for it, we just flat-out disagree with that." Some hunting and fishing groups are urging their members to turn out en masse at the next Fish and Game Commission meeting, which will be held March 7 in Riverside. The stakes are high. The five-member commission not only decides which species to list as endangered, it also sets policies on everything from hunting to California's new system of "marine protected areas," which ban fishing in areas off the coast. If Richards, who was appointed to the five-member commission by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, resigns or is removed from the panel, his replacement would be named by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. And that's a move that for the first time could give the commission a majority of members who tend to support the priorities of environmental groups. Currently, the commission is split 2-2, with Commissioner Richard Rogers often casting the swing vote. Hanging in the balance in the next year or two: issues such as whether to expand the number of black bears that can be killed every year by California hunters, whether to ban lead shot or whether to offer state endangered-species protections to wolves. If Richards leaves, the vice president of the commission, Mike Sutton, would become president. Sutton is a former national park ranger and biologist who works at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. "There's a lot at stake," said Jennifer Fearing, state director of the Humane Society of the United States. Gaines, the hunting advocate, agreed. "We're very well aware that this is a key seat, as are the animal rights groups," he said. "There's only five votes, so if you get three, you win."

"I honestly don't care who you are, if you can't abide by the laws of this great state you belong in jail. I don't want to resort to cutting locks off of posted gates that WE law abiding hunters have paid to gain access to, but if that is what it takes to get into the area I want to hunt in than that's what I will do! " I'm not a lawyer, and I hope I'm wrong, but I believe an Arizona law prevents ordinary citizens from destroying chains and locks that belong to someone else, even if those locks and chains illegally deny your access to State Land Department Land. As for which agency is responsible for access to state land, it used to be the Game and Fish Department after then-Attorney General Bruce Babbitt ruled AZGFD was the "lead" agency on such issues. It may have changed all these years since, but I don't think so. I do know that only the Game and Fish Commission has the authority to close state lands to licensed hunters and anglers. I suggest you go on record by sending registered letters to the directors of the State Land and Game and Fish departments, politely requesting that those locks be removed. Bill Quimby