billrquimby

I went out this morning with Bullwidgeon's grandfather. While changing sites, we spotted a gobbler with three hens just off the road to Big Lake, but couldn't get the gobbler to come in. Everything is dry, even meadows that were always wet in years past, and we found no tracks or droppings at any of our favorite turkey places. Bill Quimby

"Do we have a double standard in our society? If we do, is this right?" The answers to these two questions are yes, and no. Bill Quimby

Hi Amanda. Seems like everyone except the hummingbird had fun. You should be seeing lots of bear sign, too. The Chiricahuas and Penalenos used to be loaded with bear, and I would bet that not much has changed over the years I've been away. Bill Quimby

I've been busy fixing broken water pipes in the cabin, but went out yesterday morning to a couple of places above Greer that usually produce birds but got no response. The wind up here has been awful. Bill Quimby

BRYCE CANYON; My only experience with a Mannlicher-style stock was with one of my.257 Roberts. It was built on a Japanese Arisaka action and fitted with a Lyman receiver sight. I used it as my saddle rifle when I had a horse and a mule, and it was perfect for that use. I don't know how accurate it was, especially without a scope, but it was good enough to produce four or five Coues deer and a couple of javelinas for me. I'm not a stickler for supreme accuracy in my hunting rifles. What I call "minute-of-deer" (2-inch or smaller, 3-shot groups at 100 yards) has been good enough to kill everything I've wanted to take. Bill Quimby

Thanks, Siwash. Anyone here want it for $75? Bill Quimby

Thanks, Siwash. Anyone here want it for $75? Bill Quimby

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Snows of Kilimanjaro. Bill Quimby

Bill, About 10 or 15 years ago my pal, Bill and I road off the rim on our mules and right into what I think may have been Saunders Cabin. There was a smelly green bear hide there and as I remember no evidence that the cabin was being taken care of. I was thinking about hunting 10 miles east of Strayhorse, south of Bear Mountain, but you think west of Strayhorse may be a better bet? Hope you're doing well. Rollin Adams Gilbert, AZ Don't know what it would be like now. It was more than 25 years ago that I was in there, and although there was a big fire right after that, I would guess that everything has grown back thicker than ever. Whitetails and mule deer were running together in those days. If I were to go back again with horses and mules, I'd start at Strayhorse and work west to about Baldy Bill, glassing the ridges and canyons between Chitty Creek and McBride Canyons as I went. Like I said, though, it's been a quarter century since I was there and it could be too thick to hunt now. I never went east of Strayhorse, but it should be good, too. Bill Quimby

There is a Los Dos Molinos in Springerville, too. I don't think its food is almost too hot. I KNOW it, and there is no "almost." Bill Quimby

"And sense we are on the topic what other hot sauces do you guys douse your food in." Adding stuff to food to make it taste like something it isn't is not necessarily a "Southwestern thing." I was born in Tucson 75 years ago and have lived in Arizona all my life and have never understood why anyone would put anything on what they eat that causes pain coming and going, or ruin a good piece of meat with sauces or rubs. My wife of 55 years, God bless her, drowns her food in Cholula and eats jalapeños as if they were candy. I won't eat chilies except the mild green ones without seeds. No catsup or meat sauces, either. If I can taste garlic in something, it's too strong for me. To each his own. I prefer that my food be naked except for, rarely, a small dash of black pepper. Bill Quimby

Hadn't heard the story about a Deadman's Canyon. It must have happened after I sold my mule and horse. The last time I was there was a year before a major wildfire broke out just below the rim. In my book, "Sixty Years A Hunter," I tell about losing a bear there. In addition to lots of bear sign, there were some really good mule deer and whitetails in that country in those days, as well as a few elk. I suppose the elk outnumber everything now. Bill Quimby

In the late 1970s, when I still had horses and mules, I used to hunt west of Strayhorse across toward Saunders Cabin a lot. It was the only place where I've found evidence of a winterkill on deer in Arizona. (One year we found literally dozens of heads of big whitetails and mule deer in virtually every canyon from the previous winter.) It was a good place for bear, too. I haven't been back in more than 25 years, but it shouldn't have changed a lot. Bill Quimby

"Any suggestions on species, best time of year or experience with that outfitter? Thanks in advance! " Every first-timer wants greater kudu and gemsbok, and you should be able to take good specimens of both in the Limpopo province . You'll also have opportunities to take warthog, zebra, impala, red hartebeest, eland, blue wildebeest, and maybe reedbuck. Depending upon where you will be, there also may be springbok. I wouldn't shoot a nyala on that side of the country -- they occur naturally in KwaZulu Natal and along the Indian Ocean coast, but some outfitters will release them on farms elsewhere, including Limpopo province, just before a hunter arrives. Others may have introduced a small, breeding herd. There is no way to tell which animal was born there and which arrived in a horse trailer three days previously, though. I have not heard of the outfitter, but that's not surprising. There are more than 5,000 in South Africa, and only a few are someone you won't want to hunt with. Don't know if you are aware of it, but the chances are 99.9999% that you will be hunting a high-fenced game farm of 5,000 to 10,000 acres. South Africa's wildlife laws encourage landowners to manage game inside enclosures, so virtually every farm that offers hunting will be high fenced. Seasons are reversed south of the Equator, so May through September will be fall, winter and spring. Hunt too early and you could get rained out. Hunt too late and it will be hot. The antelope you will be hunting will have better capes in the winter (june to August). Don't forget to take jackets, gloves and hats. I've seen snow in Johannesburg in July. It won't snow in Limpopo, but it can get downright chilly, especially early and late in the day when you're driving around in an open Toyota Land Cruiser. If you have the extra money and time, you may want to set aside three days to fly up to Victoria Falls and another three or four days to drive around Kruger Park. Both are worth seeing. No problem if you can't do it this trip, because you will return. As the saying goes, everyone who tastes the waters of AFrica must return to taste them again. Bill Quimby

Couldn't find the book I recommend you read. There is one by Randy D. Smith who made one trip (as best as I can tell) to South Africa and came home to write "Hunting Modern South Africa With Powder and Ball." You can find it at Amazon.com One trip and five or six antelope does not an Africa expert make, but he may have some answers to questions you haven't yet thought about asking. Happy hunting. C.J. McElroy, who founded Safari Club International, used to say he envied no one except someone on his first African safari. Make enough trips down there and you will know what he meant. Bill Quimby

Your outfitter should be able to obtain everything you need in South Africa. Give him a list and plenty of time to fill it, though, because he may have to order it from the larger gun shops in Johannesburg or Cape Town. Don't even think about trying to travel with powder and percussion caps. Years ago, guys used to reload shotshells with black powder or Pyrodex, and hide their caps in checked luggage. Don't try that now. The Homeland Security folks know all about it, and the penalties are steep -- as they should be. Happy hunting. Every type of animal in Africa from duikers to elephants have been taken with muzzleloaders. I know two guys who took all of the Big Five as well as hippo, crocodile and most of the antelopes with them in the 1980s and 1990s, and wrote a very good book about it. If I can remember the title and find a copy on the net, I'll post its location here for you. Bill Quimby

So far, no one has mentioned experience as being a factor. The more deer and other game you see, the more you will see. Incidentally, I use 20-year-old 10x50 Swarovski binoculars and an ancient multi-lens Leitz spotting scope with the 20X lens attached. Any member of the Mattausch family, of which bullwideon on this forum is one, can out-spot me any day of the week with 15X Zeiss binoculars. Bill Quimby

The best optics made do not necessarily a game-finder make, especially at ranges under 600-700 yards. It's at extremely long distances that quality pays off. Bill Quimby

If you mean fiberglass bedding of the action and the chamber area of the barrel, and using a stockmaker's barrel rasp to open up the barrel channel, I've been doing it to all my rifles for at least 30 years. Haven't bought any rifles for at least ten years, so techniques may have been improved since then. However, there was nothing difficult about it, except an action sometimes got stuck. I eventually found that using a hair dryer to warm the metal, or a freezer to chill it, would get 'glass to release. Later, when I started using Pam spray cooking oil as a release agent and sprayed every square inch of the action and barrel twice, that problem ended. A tip you might not see in books and videos is to use children's modeling clay to keep the fiberglass out of areas where you don't want it. As for opening up the barrel channel, work slowly and you should be OK. A barrel rasp removes a lot of wood quickly. Bill Quimby

It's not just the Witch Well area in unit 2. The Zunis Hopis also own John Wayne's old 26-Bar Ranch outside Eagar in unit 1. As for tribes buying land to expand their reservations, I may be wrong, but I think there are precedents for this set by the Navajos near Flagstaff, at least one tribe on the Colorado River, and the Yacquis near Tucson. (I erred. It is the Hopis who own the 26 Bar and not the Zunis. Thanks, Biglakejake.) Bill Quimby

I have no idea about what kind of penetration you might get with today's muzzleloaders and loads. Back when I hunted a lot of small whitetails in the Texas Hill Country with .45-caliber round and mini balls from replica flintlock and percussion longrifles, we found that round balls would shoot clear through those little deer without knocking them down with side-on shots unless we broke a shoulder and ruined a lot of meat. The miniballs would drop them on the spot with behind-the-shoulder shots. Both types killed cleanly with front-on and quartering shots. In those days, whatever a .45 could do to a deer, a .50 could do better -- and a .54 was the caliber of choice for elk. We shot patched round balls or mini balls, and limited our shots to 75 yards and under. With three and four deer limits, depending upon the year, we killed a lot of deer with black powder over the dozen years we hunted there. Bill Quimby

Wonder why no one has suggested treating the drug smugglers and illegal aliens whom we find in our country the same way their countries would treat us if we were caught violating their laws? Bill Quimby

I have all the brands listed except Zeiss and Vortex. I also have a couple of rifles mounted with Tasco and Simmons scopes. The only problem I've ever had with any scope was a Bushnell, and it was replaced by the factory with no problems. I can't see much difference between in the quality of my Swarovski, Leupold and Nikon scopes. A 7 mm Remngton Magnum is my go-to rifle, and it wears a Leupold 3-9X with a duplex reticle. I do not like fine crosshairs or dots, and all of my scopes (except for the 6x24X Nikon on my .22-250) have duplex reticles. Bill Quimby

Congratulations, Amanda! Your story and photos got me to itching. My hunt doesn't open for another 16 days! Bill Quimby