billrquimby

You guys are embarrassing me. Thank you again. Bill Quimby

The prank was on me, and I tell about it "Sixty Years A Hunter," which the publishers says will be released before Christmas. Here"s what I wrote about what happened on my first antelope hunt in Wyoming: "The day before the hunt, we drove out to scout the area Alex and I would be hunting, and a story that would plague me for many years was born. We were parked on a high ridge, and I was sitting in the truck, using my binocular to watch a herd of antelope about a half mile away, when Boris walked up. “'Have some M&Ms,' he said. "Not thinking, I kept my binocular on the animals and stuck my hand out the window, stuffed the rounded things he handed me into my mouth, and bit down. What I'd popped into my mouth definitely were not candy-coated peanuts. Nearly everyone has heard the grammar-school joke about rabbit droppings being smarter pills. Well, I was smarter after that incident, and I can truthfully say I now know what pronghorn pills taste like -- a blend of sage and alfalfa." Bill Quimby

Thanks, all, for the kind words. It makes turning 73 easier to swallow. Bill Quimby

Does anyone know where I can sell about four or five ounces of gold dust, flakes and small nuggets without getting ripped off? Bill Quimby

Good news, for sure. Any more info about the assault and robbery? Bill Quimby

Driving to Socorro from Williams, Larry would have gone through Holbrook and Springerville. Two hours from Soccoro would put him somewhere near the Arizona/New Mexico border between Round Valley and Quemado. I plan to cruise the back roads on the Arizona side on Saturday. If Larry met with foul play, I suspect the perp would ditch the Jeep and continue on with Larry's truck. An elk hunt is under way in that area now, so a Jeep parked off the highway for a week would be less likely to raise suspicions of a rancher or anyone else who might see it.. Bill Quimby

Larry was the outfitter/guide for my desert sheep hunt in 1994. Missing an appointment with a client does not sound like him at all. I hope he is alive and well. Please keep us posted. Bill Quimby

Rush lost me when he became a mouthpiece for the Humane Society of the United States, the leader of what he used to call "animal rights whackos" and began linking its website to his. I have not listened to that hypocrite since. Bill Quimby

You are correct. Harry died more than a dozen years ago. Bill Quimby

I like his message, but his presentation does those of us who share his beliefs a major disservice. He comes off as a buffoon. Bill Quimby

Neat photos, Scoutm. As for the pic showing your uncle as a boy with the two blacktails, if your uncle was born in about 1944, and was ten years old, that would make the year 1954 or so. I can assure you that game departments across the west sold tags for all big game hunts then. I know, for a couple of reasons: 1. ! shot my first buck after buying my first Arizona deer license and tag in 1948. I was 12 years old, Arizona's legal minimum for big game hunting then. 2. 1954 was the year I graduated from Yuma Union High School. I wanted to apply for an elk tag that year, but I badly needed the $25 application fee to help pay my tuition at the UA that fall. As for the bottom photo, that's a good guess. That sedan is from the late 1930s, and it looks like it has been around a while. I’d say those deer were killed just before or during World War II -- or 64 to 68 years ago. Bill Quimby

I did a lot of varmint calling in the 1960s and 1970s, and called in coatis with mouth-blown calls in virtually every unit in Southern Arizona. I also called coatis and coyotes from the same stand. Although I shot several really big male Arizona coatis, I can assure you that none was anywhere near the size of a big coyote. You may be interested in knowing that Arizona's coatimundis are the largest of four races of coatimundis found from Arizona to South America. My granddaughter and I saw a large troop pestering tourists for food in the parking lot at Iguasu Falls when we were in Brazil a few years ago, and I was surprised to see that the largest was only about half the size of those I've seen here. Bill Quimby

I was awakened about 2:30 Tuesday morning by a bugle and a bunch of cow calls a few yards outside my cabin window in Greer. I went to the back door and stepped outside in time to hear another bull bugle in the meadow across our little road. It was too cold (43 degrees by my thermometer) to stay outside any longer. I sat in the bathroom with the heater going and the window open for another 30 minutes or so but heard no more elk calls, and went back to bed. On Wednesday evening, I drove back roads from Greer to White Mountain Reservoir and then to almost Crescent Lake before taking a forest road across to Mexican Hay Lake and then home. I saw more than 100 elk before dark. Most were in two large cow/calf herds, but there also were two groups of a dozen or so cows being herded by 6x6 bulls. I'd say the rut is starting on this side of the White Mountains. Bill Quimby

"Bill, maybe somewhere that old guy has mended some fences........" I suspect it's a lot hotter than Yuma where is now. Bill Quimby

The SCI Record Book originally had a separate category for Carmen Mountain whitetails, but now lumps this subspecies in its "Mexican white-tailed deer" category with the eight other whitetail races found in Mexico. Below is from the current book: NOTES The SCI Mexican white-tailed deer category consists of the following subspecies: Carmen Mountains whitetail (carminis), Miquihuan whitetail (miquihuanensis), Veracruz whitetail (veraecrucis), highland Mexican whitetail (mexicanus), rain forest whitetail (toltecus), Oaxaca whitetail (oaxacensis), Sinaloa whitetail (sinaloae), Acapulco whitetail (acapulcensis), and the Veracruz and Oaxaca populations of the lowland Mexican whitetail (thomasi). The name mexicanus Gmelin, 1788 has priority. DESCRIPTION The Carmen Mountains whitetail (carminis) is a smaller race, measuring up to 31 inches (79 cm) at the shoulder. Winter coat is grayish with a darker dorsal line. Smaller than the Coues whitetail, with a longer and narrower skull and paler legs. Much smaller than the Texas whitetail (as much as 12 inches (30 cm) shorter and 10 inches (25 cm) lower at the shoulder), with a smaller and narrower skull, but with a longer hind foot. Tail is slightly shorter than in the Texas whitetail, but appears long in relation to the small body and is pure white underneath. Antlers are small, moderately open, and have short tines. Originally recognized only from the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park in Texas, and from the adjacent Sierra del Carmen and Serranias del Burro in northern Coahuila. Subsequently found north of the park in the Rosillos, Christmas and Del Norte mountains in Brewster County: in the Chinati and Sierra Vieja mountains in Presidio county; and even extending as far as the Davis Mountains northwest of Fort Davis in Jeff Davis County. Carmen Mountains whitetails are seldom found lower than 4,000 feet (1,200 m), and are more commonly at 6,000-7,000 feet (1,800-2,100 m). Texas whitetails and mule deer may share the same general areas, but texanus are at lower elevations and mule deer are in the valley bottoms. There is evidence of some hybridization between carminis and texanus north and northwest of Big Bend N.P., but carminis genes are said to be predominate in most cases. Bill Quimby

Sorry to hear that Bill, but you seem to have turned out to be a pretty good man anyway! Thank you. At a very early age I decided to conduct myself exactly the opposite of how that man would have acted. Bill Quimby

I envy everyone who remembers his father fondly. Mine was an abusive alcoholic, a miser, a game hog and a poacher, and not someone I wanted to emulate. For those whose fathers are their friends, I encourage you to tell them how much you appreciate them while they're still with you. Bill Quimby

My favorite bullet is the Nosler Partition, and I've shot game with it in almost everything from the .243 Winchester to the .375 H&H. They have never failed me. However, even with light-recoiling .243, .257, and 6.5 mm calibers, it takes only a couple of shots before the soft lead tips of these bullets are deformed in the magazine. Deformed tips have never made an ounce of difference on whether I could hit and kill game, though, because half-inch groups aren't needed to kill anything I've ever hunted. All I ask of my rifles and loads is minute-of-deer. Bill Quimby

Congratulations on some great animals. If you are like I was after my first trip to Africa, you will return ... and return! Bill Quimby

At first glance, that canyon looked like some property my wife and I own near the Kino Springs golf course but there would have been a road along the left slope if it were. Most days, there will be two separate groups of "hogs" and a couple of whitetails in our little canyon. Bill Quimby

>>>>>>>"Bill, I know you look at this guy as a Rambo type, but he volunteered to be the person to carry the gun. The entire day was coordinated in advance with law enforcement just so it was not viewed as a bunch of nuts running around with guns. If we do not unite together to protect our rights, they will be taken away before we can blink an eye. You have so many more years of wisdom and experience than I do; and I respect that fact, but I am not going to let our goverment determine when and where I am able to carry my firearms to protect myself and my family. David">>>>>>>> David: The stunt may have been coordinated, but it WAS viewed from one end of the country (and the world) to the other "as a bunch of nuts running around with guns." You are correct in that our rights can be taken away, and they will be if the in-your-face Rambo-types (and that is exactly what they are) continue their foolish, childish antics. Like it or not, our current liberal, guns-in-private-hands-fearing government has the power to say when and where you are able to carry your firearms. And please don't say that the jerk we've been seeing on TV news programs all this week carried his AR15 to a healthcare rally to "protect his family" from an immediate threat. The recent Supreme Court's 6-5 decision said Americans have the right to possess firearms in their homes, but it did not specifically extend that right to the streets or elsewhere. The Justices are hearing cases right now that will decide just how broad our Second Amendment rights might be. If more short-sighted idiots show up armed to the teeth at rallies where the president of the United States is in attendance-- just because there is no law against it -- don't be surprised if the decision goes 6-5 against us. If that ignoramus really wanted to make a statement, he would have shown up dressed in 18th century attire and packing a genuine Kentucky-style flintlock longrifle and not what the media and most uninformed people call an "assault" rifle. It would have been better for all of us and our cause as responsible firearms owners, however, if that cretin would have stayed home. Bill Quimby

"The situation might have had some people disagreeing with him, but it sure got everybody to take a close look at our gun rights. David" Unfortunately, the White House and the U.S. Congress are controlled by members of a political party with a plank that calls for reducing our freedom to possess and use firearms. We would be wise to keep our heads down until we can change that fact. Calling attention to the law that allows us to carry firearms at public gatherings attended by the president of the United States can only lead to legislation to "reform" that situation. I am a firm believer in the Second Amendment, but I also feel that the certain people should lose the right to keep and bear arms because of their actions. These include convicted felons, persons with a proven history of violence or mental illness, and wannabe Rambos such as the jerk photographed with that AR15. Bill Quimby

It's been all over the cable news networks. Responsible gun owners do not need jerks like those guys. If I were a strategist for a group that advocated confiscating our firearms, I'd pay such dimwits to pack their AR15s at every public gathering. Bill Quimby

I've posted here about finding dead men on two occasions while hunting, as well as glassing up two shirtless/braless female hikers, but I don't think I've mentioned watching what had to be a drug transfer take place. A friend and I were sitting on a hill, glassing the country around a pond while bowhunting for elk in Unit 6A's juniper country in about 1975 or so, when a helicopter flew in and landed. The pilot and another man spent the next five minutes unloading boxes of something and stacking them up neatly against a fence. Within just a few minutes after they flew off, a panel truck drove up -- across country and not on the two-track road to the pond -- and two men loaded the boxes and drove away, again avoiding the road. When we got back to Tucson, we reported the incident and described the helicopter and provided the license plate number of the truck. We never heard what came of it. Bill Quimby

Scott, I thought you were looking for a ranch. My wife and I have some acreage near the border at Kino Springs we might sell if you are. There's a resident herd of javelinas and a good whitetail buck on it from time to time. Bill Quimby Bill would you send me some info on the property. My dad mentioned something about a place down south. Might be easier if I gave you my Email. Thanks PM sent