billrquimby

Siwash: Yes. Dragging Nut: Alibris.com had a copy for less than $10 when I checked earlier today. Bill Quimby

+1 Age, how fast it is cooled, how much dirt or piss from the hide touches meat, how much it was pushed after it was shot (clean kill versus lots of adrenaline over time), gut shot, bladder shot, boiler room shot, etc..... all play major factors in how a critter is going to taste. For rutting deer, there is a gland on the hind leg that oozes a nasty oily musk. Get that on your knife or let it touch meat and it will not taste too plesent. M I used to think young animals always would be tastier and tenderer than old ones, but that was before I shot two bulls a week apart. My first elk that year was a 6x6 bull on New Mexico's Jicarilla Reservation. Its antlers were long and wide, but the tines were wimpy and its teeth appeared to be worn, which made us believe it was an old animal on its way downhill. The second was a spike bull that ran past me a mile above my cabin. I personally cared for and butchered both animals exactly the same. We expected the spike to provide better meat than the old guy, but it didn't. There was little difference in their taste, but the spike's meat was tough; the old bull was tender. The only only thing different about the two animals is that the spike was running from other hunters who had shot at it lower on the knoll. The older bull also was pushed to me by someone else, but it wasn't in a panic mode when I shot it. Both dropped within forty yards after I shot. To answer the original question, we've never noticed a difference in the taste of elk meat from juniper and pine areas. However, the deer we used to shoot in the Texas Hill Country definitely were superior than those we've killed in Arizona and elsewhere. We always figured it was because they fed heavily on pellets that ranchers set out as supplemental feed for their cattle and goats, as well as corn from the deer feeders that were everywhere in that country. Whatever the reason, I'm salivating, just remember how those little Hill Country whitetails tasted. Bill Quimby

I'VE REDUCED THE PRICE FROM $300 PLUS SHIPPING TO $275 INCLUDING SHIPPING.

Congratulations. Incidentally, your photos made me wonder if the sotol stalk that is growing out of the top of your head gives you any problems when you go through doorways. Bill Quimby

I'll PM you with the details when the books arrive from Safari Press. It usually takes a couple of weeks. Hope you enjoy the book. Bill Quimby

I will be buying a few more copies of my book from the publisher in the next couple of weeks. If anyone wants a signed copy, please let me know and I'll order and inscribe one for you. The price is $50 and includes cost of a shipping box, packaging material and media mail postage. Bill Quimby

I also see both sides of this issue: I feel empathy for someone when the "improvements" he has erected on our land are senselessly threatened. However, I also view this as part of his cost of doing business on the public's land. Why must I work for free for anyone who me denies access to lands that belong to me and all other citizens, simply because of a comparatively few vandals? Bill Quimby

I don't like it at all, but we will never begin to attack the access problem by keeping it a sportsman's issue. It is not just us who are being denied the right to visit our public lands. We need to take advantage of the superior numbers of other outdoor recreationists. The Interior, Agriculture and Defense departments will not change lease requirements until forced to do so. To do this, we need a champion in Congress, backed by a large number of outdoor groups with varied interests. Incidentally, Larry, the ambivalence of hunters and their reluctance to do anything worthwhile to open up public lands to the public is nothing new, and it is matched only by the selfishness of those who are able to find ways to hunt where others cannot. I spent much of my 27 years at the Tucson Citizen campaigning for public access to public lands. I even did a series of eight Page 1 feature articles in the mid-1980s that spotlighted specific problems in southern Arizona, including two different areas where ranchers had closed many historic roads that had been maintained for years by taxpayers in Pima and Pinal counties. By closing all the other roads, the ranchers forced everyone to enter state land past their houses "so they could keep track of who is going on 'their' ranches." The result? I was able to get the locks off the power line road across the Mustang Mountains, which had been totally closed to the public for at least 15 years. Period. End of story. What happened after that was the Game and Fish Commission, wanting to placate grazers, unofficially adopted a policy of cooperation with leaseholders that has resulted in our having to log in and out of state lands on those two ranches. Later, it created a staff position responsible for working with leaseholders and landowners on access problems. I don't know about now, but early on it seemed to me that hunters were getting the short end of the landowner-relations stick. Since retiring from the Citizen in 1994, I haven't followed the commission's or department's issues as closely as I once did, but it seems to me there are more locked gates than ever. Bill Quimby

Larry: I would prefer to attack the access problem by putting a lessee's public land leases in serious jeopardy if he denies access to that land to the public. This would make it more than a sportsman's issue and improve a bill's chances for being passed in Congress and state legislatures. Bill Quimby

I don't need another rifle, but that's a good price for a "sporterized" Enfield. The caliber is still popular in Africa for everything from warthog up to 1,500-pound eland. Bill Quimby

Thanks. It seems like every other year for the past few years there has been a grass fire near Springerville/Eagar. Glad they got it under control before it got to any forested areas. Bill Quimby

Keep us posted. Bill Quimby

"I was FORTUNATELY" and "had a great ROLL model," Jack? And what happened to the apostrophes in "dads" and "thats?" You need them to make dad possessive and indicate the contraction of that is. Tsk, tsk. Just teasing. Bill Quimby

Thanks. Yes, I did look at his teeth (I skinned off the hide from the skull to freeze it for mounting). Is there something to learn from his teeth? Thx, Bob Here's a site that will help explain: http://mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/deer/how-tell-age-deer Bill Quimby

Spring gobbler around my cabin, April 22-28, May 6-19. Don't know why I applied for this hunt again. All the turkey, elk, deer and bear in unit 1 moved to units 27, 2 and 3, never to return. The place is absolutely devoid of game. Bill Quimby

I would call it a forked horn or two-pointer. Eyeguards on both mule deer and whitetails are not counted in what has come to be known as "western count." Also, usually, only the best side is considered. For example, a rack with three tines and an eyeguard on one side and two tines and an eyeguard on the other would be a three by two or a "three-pointer." "Eastern count," that same buck would be a seven-pointer. The eastern method also counts every bump "long enough to hang a ring on" as a tine, so if that eastern-count seven-pointer had a one-half-inch bump and a 3/4-inch gnarly thing growing on it, it would be called a nine-pointer. Here, most hunters ignore a bump unless it's a clearly defined tine at least an inch long. In "western counting" elk, the eyeguards are counted. Nice deer, Bob. Congratulations. I cannot remember how many times I've shot an animal (or at an animal) and spooked others I'd not known were there. That's why I smile when I hear people say someplace has little game because they spent all day glassing it and saw very few deer, pigs or whatever. Bill Quimby

What type of music do you want? My grandson has two bands. Google Logan Greene and the Bricks to hear some of his original music. Bill Quimby

It's a good thing you're not "U.S. personnel," Tony. Bill Quimby

Anyone taking odds on how long it will take for an anti-hunting or vegetarian group to say the proposition’s defeat is proof that the majority of Arizonans believe we have no right to kill and eat wild animals, birds and fish? Bill Quimby

My wife and I own eighty acres overlooking the Kino Springs golf course and the Santa Cruz River, a couple of miles east of Nogales and about 1 1/2 miles as the crow flies from the border. To reach the edge of our property, we open a developer's locked gate and drive a half mile over a road that was bladed across the slope above land. It is open enough that anyone already in the canyon will know the instant we open the gate and drive in. We have never visited the place without finding signs of recent human activity (including small piles of empty duct-taped plastic packages) on our land, but in maybe a hundred trips there over the past 15-20 years we have never seen a soul. There were several times we felt we were being watched but we were never approached or threatened by anyone. However, whenever we had a tailgate picnic under one of our walnut trees, it was only a few minutes before a low-flying single-engine aircraft would fly in a circle above us. I always presumed it was a Border Patrol airplane checking us out. Bill Quimby

My wife and I own eighty acres overlooking the Kino Springs golf course and the Santa Cruz River, a couple of miles east of Nogales and about 1 1/2 miles as the crow flies from the border. To reach the edge of our property, we open a developer's locked gate and drive a half mile over a road that was bladed across the slope above land. It is open enough that anyone already in the canyon will know the instant we open the gate and drive in. We have never visited the place without finding signs of recent human activity (including small piles of empty duct-taped plastic packages) on our land, but in maybe a hundred trips there over the past 15-20 years we have never seen a soul. There were several times we felt we were being watched but we were never approached or threatened by anyone. However, whenever we had a tailgate picnic under one of our walnut trees, it was only a few minutes before a low-flying single-engine aircraft would fly in a circle above us. I always presumed it was a Border Patrol airplane checking us out. Bill Quimby

A big buck and a big bird ... what a year you're having Amanda. Congratulations. Bill Quimby

The other side didn't wait to gloat. Below is from the Humane Society of the United States' website the day after the election. Note the last paragraph and its implied threat of more to come. -- Bill Quimby Arizona Voters Shoot Down Prop 109 Defeated by preliminary margin, Prop 109 results demonstrate Arizona voter support for animal protection policies and the right to citizen initiatives PHOENIX Nov. 3, 2010 — Voters sent a strong message to the Arizona Legislature on Tuesday by rejecting Proposition 109, a referendum that would have amended the Arizona Constitution to give the legislature “exclusive” authority over wildlife issues while seeking to also forbid citizens from initiating statutory petitions. “We are grateful to the citizens of Arizona for once again rejecting an attempt by the trophy hunting lobby to block citizen initiatives to protect wildlife,” said Kari Nienstedt, Arizona state director for The Humane Society of the United States. “It’s always better to keep power in the hands of the people, and that’s just what voters did tonight by saying ‘no’ to Prop 109. This is a victory for voters and for wildlife, and a defeat for the NRA and other special interests that don’t trust the judgment of voters.” Prop 109 was one of 10 measures on the 2010 ballot. If passed, Prop 109 would have given the Arizona Legislature “exclusive” authority over wildlife issues, disturbing the system that is partially insulated from politics and has been in effect in Arizona for more than 80 years. Prop 109 also would have threatened voter rights regarding the initiative process when it came to inhumane and unethical wildlife treatment. “Arizona voters spoke loud and clear. They don’t want the Legislature to politicize wildlife policy,” said Stephanie Nichols-Young, chair of Arizonans Against the Power Grab – No on 109. “Prop 109 was a power grab, pure and simple—and the voters of Arizona not only knew it, but clearly opposed it.” Several former Arizona Game and Fish Commissioners lauded the results, encouraged that the vote will help keep science-based wildlife management in place. “My wife and I hunt and fish each year, and I’m glad voters saw through the shady language and deceptive wording of this referendum so that we could enjoy these wonderful traditions for years to come,” said former Commissioner Tom Woods. A coalition of organizations across the state provided the foundation for a strong grassroots effort. Funding for the campaign was provided by the Humane Society of the United States, with 230,000 supporters in Arizona. The primary funder among Prop 109 proponents was the National Rifle Association, which persuaded the Legislature to place the referendum on the ballot, and then contributed more than $223,000 in support of the campaign. Tempe resident Thomas Hulen, a hunter and self-described conservationist, voted no on Prop 109. “As a longtime hunter, I’m ecstatic that this ridiculous ballot referendum has gone down to defeat,” he said. “There is no threat to hunting and fishing in Arizona, and I’m glad my hunting buddies and other Arizonans who voted ‘no’ realized that.” Opposition to Prop 109 was widespread including prominent elected officials, community leaders, and organizations such as the Animal Defense League of Arizona, the Sierra Club, and the Humane Society of the United States. By the end of the campaign, nearly all major news outlets that weighed in on the issue editorialized against Prop 109 including The Arizona Republic, East Valley Tribune, Tucson Citizen, Tucson Weekly, Arizona Daily Star and The Yuma Sun. The failure of Prop 109 marks the latest defeat of efforts by special interests to weaken Arizona’s now well-established reputation for supporting animal protection efforts and the right to citizen initiatives. In 2006, Arizona voters approved the Humane Farming initiative. In 2000, Arizona voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure that would have required all wildlife initiatives pass by a two-thirds vote. In 1998, Arizona voters approved an initiative that banned cockfighting after the Legislature failed to ban the practice and also approved the Voter Protection Act to protect the initiative process. And in 1994, Arizona voters approved a citizen initiative banning the use of leghold traps, again after the Legislature failed to act on similar legislation.

Tony: We never see the Republic, nor the Arizona Daily Star for that matter. I was in Greer until just a couple of weeks ago, and saw nothing about Prop. 109 on TV or in the White Mountain Independent. My only exposure to it came through the internet. I am never surprised at the lack of understanding by the average sportsmen about wildlife management or how and why regulations come about. I could elaborate, but I won't. Bill Quimby

A good piece, Tony. Too bad it didn't get published because it might have given us a few more votes. My reason for starting this thread was to point out that the defeat of Proposition 109 could bring us some big problems from the groups you mentioned and others. I am surprised that they haven't yet said that Arizona's voters have spoken: we have no right to hunt or fish. Just wait, though, it is coming. If another effort to guarantee our hunting and fishing rights is ever mounted again, the backers darned sure better make certain it is well organized, well planned, and well funded. A second loss at the polls would be disastrous. Bill Quimby