CHD

.25-06, excellent topic and one that I have been wondering about for a while. I have butchered several bull elk and one bull shiras moose after dark the last few years, all by my lonesome. I have no experience with cap-held lights, and am anxious to hear more. I do believe that the LED lights seem to be the best due to long lifetime expectancy and minimal power requirements while broadcasting decent light. Also, the handheld? lights build up your jaw muscles, lol. I have been using a Streamlight flashlight that uses 4 AAA cells and has 6 bulbs and is reasonably lightweight. The best thing, however..................is to take the time to get back to camp and return with your Coleman lantern (and extra fuel and mantles) and flashlights and proper butchering tools with you and do it right, even if it takes longer. I have spent several nights out bent over a carcass @ 1:00AM taking my time. Nothing can compare to the heartache and turmoil of slicing your hand wide open due to laziness and lack of patience. It is definitely worth the extra time and trouble to be safe and preserve your hunting and family opportunities forever. CHD

az4life, please explain how I am, "dogging the site" and the other site had "a CHD of their own"??? I haven't attacked you here. Your joke was funny,and I laughed hard, but your crap ain't. Please explain. I could post a long string of pics of trophy animals of various species taken by me alone on public land all over the west for the last 30 years AND I AM VERY WILLING TO SHARE MY KNOWLEDGE AND TIPS WITH YOUNGER HUNTERS ON THIS FORUM! The intelligent old-timers on this forum know this. Can you do the same??? You're "trying to keep a smile on everyone's face" in spite of me? The 'Record Book Withdrawals' thread has almost 2000 hits, many more than anything you've ever posted. Last time I checked, Amanda was in this for business, and she is selling hits to advertisers. This means $$$$ to support this forum. KGAINES, just how does my attitude suck??? Please explain. I haven't attacked you here. I don't recall you ever adding any 'real stuff' to this forum, in spite of you being here a long time. Where's your real, useful info? Diamondbackaz, "debate is fine, but it needs to be civil and respectful"??? Lark was first at posting incorrect facts and name-calling and insults trying to discredit me, but you said nothing. Now you are chastising me for responding to him in the same manner. Please explain! As I recall, many months ago, I tried numerous times to get in-depth discussions going about the habits and behaviors of mature Coues deer bucks that would lead us all to trophy bucks. Few responded, and you three never did, since you had nothing worthwhile to contribute. I also gave up everything that I had that applied here as far as gear, good units, and general deer knowledge along with some very specific trophy muley tips and tidbits. I even tried to recruit some super duper Coues deer hunters here, but they wouldn't participate because of shallow people and shallower topics......................and people who wouldn't clue in and appreciate the real stuff................ but wouldn't hesitate to judge somebody else. I once donated some $$$ to Amanda for having the guts and intelligence to create a super duper website for the magnificent Coues deer and to share her useful knowledge about these wonderful deer. Have any of you done the same??? I will drop dead if you have! Amanda's website is FANTASTIC, but this forum isn't. Long story short, az4life+KGAINES+Diamondbackaz, put up or shut up. Your shallow, useless, holier-than-thou posts are of no benefit to serious or beginner deer hunters. If you all want to get serious, I will gladly contribute further here. If this is just a chit-chat forum with shallow crap, then just say so, and quit flaming me for describing it as such. CHD

Ok, this is also related to Coues deer. I don't know how, but I just said so, so it must be the truth, since I'm never wrong and always right when it comes to issues on this forum. I'm a bigtime redneck 'round these western Colorado parts, just ask the GJ City Council after they watch me make a presentation in my extra tall-shaft, Tony Lama buckaroo boots and my Wranglers. Sometimes I wear a western tweed coat to hide my Wyoming size buckle, but not always. All that's missin' is my Stetson, which I do wear on my sunny-weather hunts to protect my fair skin. Just ask the clients when I sit with 'em and they ask "do you have an abcessed tooth" but it's really a great big, juicy, wonderful bite of Days-O-Work plug doin it's thing. Spittin' is just a normal human function, if'n ya ask me. Just look at the 8x12 pics of the bucks and bulls that crowd my small desk. There just ain't much room for my project files, rolodex, stapler, and paper clip holder anymore. I have my priorities right. How 'bout the contractors that ask me "just how big was your buck and I wanna picture" instead of "what is the design grade of this sewer line" when I show up on a construction jobsite? The bosses would definitely get rid 'o me if I wasn't such a great civil engineer (read.......... surveyor) and super duper Human Relations Specialist. But, sticking to the point of this subject, Colorado killer bees are much badder than Arizona bees, sorry Lark and the rest of ya'll. Don't mean to rain on your parade here, but Colorado cowpokes and civil engineers are also tuffer than Arizona ones, by faaaaaaar. We don't need no gasoline and face mask and Halloween costume to whack them killer bees, we just cowboy 'up and start swingin' and chompin when we hit a swarm. Nothing like the power of a big, tough Colorado fist clampin' down plus big, powerful Colorado mountain-man arms to grab and feed them killer bees into our powerful, unyielding Colorado jaws. They mix well when washed down with 100-proof stright-up. Not many killer bees left 'round here. I could drive down and give you a lesson in proper bee management if'n you ever need one, Lark. CHD

Dan H, good funny stuff, partner! This forum is in dire need of more funny stuff. Glad you realized that. Waaaay to many serious people on this forum. Also has too many thin-skinned, easily-offendable people. Heck, even grumpy 'ol .270 has a sense of humor. Did you look at the 'view count' on "Record Book Withdrawals"? 1700 views, looks to me like you all enjoyed that one a whole lot. I always get a kick out of people like Ernesto who think they know you and your whole life history from a few posted messages. Lighten up Ernesto, this is only a simple discussion forum! You act as if it's your whole life! You can't judge somebody from this stuff! I only came back here to sell my binos and post a few jokes to contribute. Then .270 got me into some good debates. But as I said earlier, I'm a short timer here. Relax, lighten up, and enjoy life everyone. Good luck on future hunts. CHD

.270, good way to attempt to save face, pal. Act like you were just funnin' and don't care, huh? I'm not surprised. You DO CARE, since you started this stuff on Coziah and Darner before I came on here and corrected you, remember??? Thought you would get away with it, didn't ya? If you're in doubt, review the posts here, same as everyone else can. You went first with your strong, uninformed opinions and statements about phonies. I win. Rembrandt, please do indeed pray for me! Just randomly cruising this forum and reading the incredibly shallow crap causes me great aggravation and certainly brings out my sarcastic/satirical side at times just for my own mental stimulation. CHD PS- Lark, I was just reading the book "Wyoming's Finest Mule Deer" on my elk hunt. The Coziah poaching story is right there in print, just for you.

Believe it or not, the best deterrent to poaching trophy class animals is not me and the threat of being exposed on this forum, lol. Utah has a program where you can receive a tag in the affected unit for turning in a poacher. Colorado has just adopted the same program, after several years of evaluating other programs. Both states also have an 'Operation Game Thief' tip hotline where a monetary award is given for a telephone tip leading to a conviction. How it works in UT and CO is that if you turn in a poacher, testify if necessary, and the poacher is convicted, you receive a tag for the species and unit where this all occurred! A maximum of 20% of the permits issued for a unit may go to this cause. Think about this for a minute. Is there a better way to stop poaching? Is there a better way to encourage friends to report poaching friends (a very common way of catching a poacher)? Is there a better way for wildlife management to pay for itself? How would you like to be a poacher on the Strip, Kaibab, elk or antelope in 9 or 10, or Coues in 36C trying to get away with it? Would you run back to town and brag to your buddy about it? Man, I think I'm gonna spend plenty of time this winter in UT and CO on the classic muley winter range shooting coyotes, looking at big 'ol bucks, and trying for one of those hard-to-draw tags!!! Some of the landowner tags in the top units go for thousands! I may find my way down to Arizona to do some coyote hunting as well! Is a program such as this being considered in Arizona? If not, are you guys pushing for one? Why not????? For you ADA reps, listen closely. This is a good deterrent to poaching! With the incredible trophy animals that Arizona has along with the present-day promotion of trophy animals and $$$$, there has to be some serious poaching going on. Let's preserve those trophy animals for law-abiding, wildlife supporting, legitimate hunters! Chris Darnell

Man Drives Home with Headless Friend Aug 30, 11:45 am ET ATLANTA (Reuters) - A Georgia man who drove home with a friend's headless body after a truck accident then went to bed while the remains dangled out the window faces charges including vehicular homicide and drunk driving, police said on Monday. John Hutcherson, covered in blood and visibly inebriated, was arrested in bed on Sunday morning after a local resident out on a stroll observed a headless, bloody body hanging out of the 21-year-old man's truck, Cobb County police said. Hutcherson was due to make an initial court appearance on Monday. Police said that Hutcherson and his friend, identified as Francis Brohm, 23, were returning from a bar outside Atlanta early Sunday morning when their black 1992 Chevrolet Z-71 pickup hit a curb near a telephone pole. Brohm, partially outside the window at the time, was decapitated by a guide wire on the telephone pole, according to police, who recovered his head at the crash site. "Alcohol is believed to be a contributing factor," police said.

If you had purchased $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00. With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1,000.00. With WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left. But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of Beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have had $214.00. Based on the above, current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle. It's called the 401-Keg Plan.

1) I can't reach my license unless you hold my beer. (OK in Texas) 2) Sorry, Officer, I didn't realize my radar detector wasn't plugged in. 3) Aren't you the guy from the Village People? 4) Hey, you must've been doin' about 125 mph to keep up with me. Good job! 5) Are You Andy or Barney? 6) I thought you had to be in relatively good physical condition to be a police officer. 7) You're not gonna check the trunk, are you? 8) I pay your salary! 9) Gee, Officer! That's terrific. The last officer only gave me a warning, too! 10) Do you know why you pulled me over? Okay, just so one of us does. 11) I was trying to keep up with traffic. Yes, I know there are no other cars around. That's how far ahead of me they are. ...and finally 12) When the Officer says "Gee Son....Your eyes look red, have you been drinking?" You probably shouldn't respond with "Gee Officer your eyes look glazed, have you been eating doughnuts?"

Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. Thought you'd might like to see what happened to me last week I went to the store the other day. I was only in there for about 5 minutes. When I came out there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. I went up to him and said, "Come on, buddy, how about giving a senior a break?" He ignored me and continued writing the ticket. I called him a Nazi. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires. So I called him a piece of horse manure. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more I abused him, the more tickets he wrote. I didn't give a shoot. My car was parked around the corner. I try to have a little fun each day. It's important at my age.

On a tour of Texas, the Pope took a couple of days off to visit the coastal area for some sightseeing. He was cruising along the sea wall on Galveston Isle in his Pope mobile when suddenly he notices a frantic commotion just off shore. There was John Kerry struggling frantically to free himself from the jaws of a 25-foot shark. As the Pope watched, horrified, a speedboat came racing up with two men aboard. One of the men, President George W. Bush quickly fired a harpoon into the shark's side while Dick Cheney reached out and pulled the bleeding, semi-conscious John Kerry from the water. Then using (autographed Round Rock Express) baseball bats, the two heroes beat the shark to death and hauled it into the boat. Immediately the Pope shouted and summoned them to the beach. "I give you my blessings for your brave actions," he told them. "I heard that there was some bitter hatred between President Bush and John Kerry, but now I have seen with my own eyes that this is not true." As the Pope drove off, President Bush asked Dick "Who was that?" "It was the Pope," Dick replied. "He is in direct contact with God and has all of God's wisdom." "Well," President Bush said, "he may have access to God's wisdom, but he doesn't know squat about shark fishing................how's the bait holding up?"

You live in Arizona when..... 1. You are willing to park 3 blocks away because you found shade. 2. You can open and drive your car without touching the car door or the steering wheel. 3. You think it's normal to have black widow spiders under your patio furniture. 4. You only run errands at night. 5. You can attend any function wearing shorts and a tank top. Picture lingerie ads for those formal events. 6. It is 115* outside but you need a parka for inside the restaurants. 7. You see water in the riverbed once every 100 years. 8. You have over 200 recipes for Mexican food. 9. The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!! 10. You know that "dry heat" is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open your oven door. 11. A cactus actually falls over and crushes its unwary victim. You Live in California when.. 1. You make over $250,000 and you still can't afford to buy a house. 2. The high school quarterback calls a time-out to answer his cell phone. 3. The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway. 4. You know how to eat an artichoke. 5. You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood block party. 6. When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how long it will take to get there rather than how many miles away it is. 7. You can drive 4 hours in one direction and never leave town. You Live in New York City when... 1. You say "the city" and expect everyone to know you mean Manhattan. 2. You have never been to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. 3. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park, but can't find Wisconsin on a map. 4. You think Central Park is "nature". 5. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual. 6. You've worn out a car horn. 7. You think eye contact is an act of aggression. You Live in Maine when... 1. You only have four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup, and Tabasco. 2. Halloween costumes fit over parkas. 3. You have more than one recipe for moose. 4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons. 5. The four seasons are: almost winter, winter, still winter, and construction. You Live in the Deep South when... 1. You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store. 2. "ya'll" is singular and "all ya'll" is plural. 3. After five years you still hear, "You ain't from 'round here, are Ya?" 4. "He needed killin' " is a valid defense. 5. You can't find a parking spot at Wal Mart on a Saturday night. 6. Everyone has 2 first names: Billy Bob, Jimmy Bob, Mary Sue, Betty Jean, etc. You live in Colorado when... 1. You carry your $3,000 mountain bike atop your $500 car. 2. You tell your husband to pick up Granola on his way home and he stops at the day care center. 3. A pass does not involve a football or dating. 4. The top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail. 5. Everyone excitedly plans to meet at a "Traihead" for a challenging hike after work. You live in the Midwest when... 1. You've never met any celebrities, but the mayor knows your name. 2. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor 3. You have had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" on the same day. 4. You end sentences with a preposition: "Where's my coat at?" 5. When asked how your trip was to any exotic place, you say, "It was different!" 6. You can't imagine "catching a cab". 7. Saturday nights are the same as Monday nights. You live in Florida when.... 1. You eat dinner at 3:15 in the afternoon. 2. All purchases include a coupon of some kind -- even houses and cars. 3. Everyone can recommend an excellent dermatologist. 4. Road construction never ends anywhere in the state. 5. Cars in front of you are often driven by headless people. 6. Your state's nickname is "Heaven's waiting room".

YOU THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING? A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. A crocodile cannot stick out its tongue. A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds. A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes. A snail can sleep for three years. Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer. All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill. Almonds are a member of the peach family. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain. Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age. Butterflies taste with their feet. Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds. Dogs only have about 10. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt". February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon. In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated. If the population of China walked past you, in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction. If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors. Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple. On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing. Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated. "Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand and "lollipop" with your right. The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing. The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns. The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. The sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet. Winter 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid. The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes). There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar. There are more chickens than people in the world. --Which explains a lot! There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious." There's no Betty Rubble in the Flintstones Chewables Vitamins. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance. Women blink nearly twice as much as men. Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks; otherwise it will digest itself. ....................Now you know

How many make sense? 1. A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired. 2. What's the definition of a will? It's a dead giveaway. 3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. 4. A backward poet writes inverse. 5. In democracy it's your vote that counts; In feudalism it's your count that votes. 7. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion. 8. If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed. 9. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress. 10. Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I'll show you A-flat minor. 11. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds. 12. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered. 13. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart. 14. You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it. 15. Local Area Network in Australia: the LAN down under. 16. He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key. 17. Every calendar's days are numbered. 18. A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint yours and 'taint mine. 19. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat. 20. He had a photographic memory which was never developed. 21. A plateau is a high form of flattery. 22. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large. 23. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end. 24. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall. 25. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine. 26. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye. 27. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis. 28. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses. 29. Acupuncture is a jab well done. 30. Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.

An old farmer in Kansas had owned a large farm with a nice pond in the back. It was fixed up nice: picnic tables, horseshoe courts, and some apple and peach trees. One evening the old farmer decided to go down to the pond, as he hadn't been there for a while, and look it over. He grabbed a five gallon bucket to bring back some fruit. As he neared the pond, he heard voices shouting and laughing with glee. As he came closer he saw it was a bunch of young women skinny dipping in his pond. He made some noise so the women would be aware of his presence and they all went to the deep end of the pond. One of the women shouted to him, "We're not coming out until you leave!" The old man frowned, "I didn't come down here to watch you ladies swim naked or make you get out of the pond naked." Holding the bucket up he said, "I'm here to feed the alligator."

.270, I sent some great Darner info to Wetmule today. He is gonna work on getting it posted while I work on my Utah elk hunt. If he can figure out how, it's gonna happen .270, and when it does you're gonna be discredited on this forum just as quickly as Darner was in 1990. You're gonna crawl off and lick your wounds while Wetmule and I are gonna be the winners. Maybe you can just move into Kirt's place and you and him just cower in shame in the corner of his walk-in freezer (lol, Wetmule). Just remember to remove the top piece of your skull plate before you go in there .270, since they ain't allowed in there. The only way you can redeem yourself after this happens is to apologize to us and all CW members and admit that you were wrong and we were right. That's your only chance. Then the score will be: Wetmule + CHD = 2 Lark + Coziah + Darner + Lewis + AZ hillbilly mentality = 0 On another note tonite .270, I have nicknamed my bull after you! He walks and looks like a mule, has a great big head, refuses to leave his home turf, refuses to change his habits, is completely predictable, won't keep his gd mouth closed, and IS DEAF! I nicknamed him Lark so that I can associate his chest with your opinions and uninformed facts and I will be able to quickly and easily BLOW A HOLE THROUGH IT without hesitation! CHD

Coues Addict, I did a web search after posting and found his name, so I edited mine accordingly. Thanks for the help. CHD

There is another one of these high-profile hunters that got exposed in the early '90's. This is really quite a good story. His name is Don Lewis. He is a red-headed bowhunter from Alabama. He was in his 30's at the time. He was really famous at the time, appearing in many vids, magazines, TV shows, and equipment ads regularly. Like some of these other phonies, poachers and liars, he got exposed right at his peak in popularity and income from his fame and respect. He was known to have many P & Y animals of many species from all over. Anyway, he was caught camping and hunting on the Paunsaugunt in Utah with an AZ archery tag. Claimed he was hunting the Strip. The warden got to checking out his camp, and he had several dead muleys stashed in the brush around his camp, with no UT tag. He was shopping for the biggest buck he could get. Then they searched his belongings, and found his diary and some vids he had made that he kept right there in his camp!!! They got to reviewing this stuff, and the stupid sob had vids of himself poaching elk in Yellowstone with a bow! Also, the ignorant $%&*# had logged all this in his diary and had a plan written where he was gonna shoot an eastern whitey and drive it to AZ in January and claim it was a new world record Coues deer!!! He even had the exact route that he would drive logged in writing! It gets better. He was the Browning poster boy as well as a Cabela's stud. Browning was in the process of printing their new catalogs when he was busted and exposed. They had to trash a bunch of catalogs and reprint them with a new cover. This guy crashed and burned pretty quickly. Lark, if you come on here now and start saying that this bozo is innocent because the warden that nailed him is a quiet loner who liked to coach boys little league and boy scouts, I'm gonna drive straight to Arizona and you and I are gonna rumble. Chris

Whack!.............Whack!...............Whack! What's that sound? Hear it everybody? What the heck is it? Whack!.............Whack! There it is again! Know what it is??? It's the sound of CHD and Wetmule beating a dead horse! I don't think this horse is gonna get up and work, Wetmule. We better just give it up and go find a live one. Since I am a smart, educated scientist and a wannabe rich guy, I spend a lot of time thinking deeply about a possible invention that will make me rich so that I can go huntin' all the time. This thread has me thinking again, and today I discovered the answer! I am going to invent, design and patent the CHD Portable Skull Thickness Measuring Device! This device will be hand-held and will use magnetic resonance imaging technology to send ultrasound waves into a live, human skull and will give a printout with the persons skull thickness! In order to do it right, I need a super-thick skull (maybe even the world's thickest!) to test my prototype on, because if it will measure the world's thickest skull accurately, it will certainly measure normal people's skulls correctly. Can any of you point me in the direction of the optimum testing subject? I understand he resides in Arizona, and frequents this forum quite regularly. I say we start a thread titled "Are civil engineers the same as surveyors?" We could even make it a "poll" thread. Maybe Amanda could even offer a prize or something. What do you all think? Seriously tho, if any of you are ever in Montrose, Colorado stop in at The Buck Stop Pawn Shop, no admission. Most of the Darner collection is on display there, plus many other monsters. It is the best monster muley display I've seen outside of Schaufler's, which is now Cabela's, and is definitely worth the trip. Man, there are at least 20 bucks over 200", with several that have 210-215 typical frames. Also the 43"/285 velvet buck shown in Kirt's book and his 216 frame 1996 Sonora buck. Basically, the 'barn photo' bucks are displayed there, with the exception of the 270" 10x10, 38" buck that Dean Naylor killed on the Kaibab in 1948 (you all know the one). I understand that the Naylor buck isn't displayed because it triggered too many fistfights among the customers. Chris

You know, this really is a sensitive topic to me when it comes to big muleys. Why? Because Kirt Darner is the one who motivated me back in the '80's to get off my sorry, depressed, unmotivated, unhealthy butt and to develop, enjoy and succeed at a SUPER DUPER hobby. I think about him all the time as I spend my evenings looking at my great bucks (public land, unguided) from all over the west and planning out my next taxidermy bill. I wasn't fortunate enough to have a father with these hunting, muley or people skills. Kirt has been a VERY kind man to me, and Paula has just been a sweetheart. Kirt has offered me his sincerest advice (and he has been right!) every time that I have asked. Kirt is very modest, and is definitely not a braggert as many have claimed. He isn't an ego-maniac as most others in this trophy hunting thing. Kirt's advice is valid, just as he states in his book. Lark (and others), listen hard to what Wetmule and I are saying about this issue. We are not after you, nor trying to break your spirit. Isn't it obvious that we both greatly respect Kirt's big buck hunting abilities, but cannot live with his dishonesty and deceptions for the purpose of $$$$$$$$$$$??? Why is this an issue with us??? Because Kirt mixed the incredible, deeeeeep, legitimate, hard-earned personal satisfaction of trophy muley hunting (which we believed he was in it for) with $$$$$$$$$$$. And Kirt needs to be accountable for that, forever. I live in Grand Junction, Colorado and maybe know things that even Wetmule doesn't know about Kirt's bucks and his history, and I am WELL networked in trophy muley hunting. Kirt most certainly "hedged his bet", and wanted to make sure that he had enough credibility and fame to sell his articles, books, and lectures @ $5,000 a pop (15 years ago). He had 4 kids + a loser ex-wife and worked as a USFS worker for many years. He grew up and lived in northern NM and southern CO, same as my dad did. This is a poor, sorry-butt area for pay and success, trust me!!! But a great one for big 'ol fat-necked, pot-bellied, thick-nosed muleys with 200"+ racks. Lark (and everyone else), why not promote Kirt's positive side which is his incredible knowledge of the habits and behaviors of 7-year old muley bucks??? His knowledge is the most in-depth of anybody, as far as I'm concerned. I have used my brain to harvest a number of big 'ol bucks, and will have to make space on my wall for the next one. I cow-called in 3 bulls last night (using the Carlton Estrus Whine, IT WORKED GREAT!!!) in the Utah Bookcliffs, and I rifle hunt there on the 18th. I have a 350-360 bull picked out, with a 320-330 bull as a second choice. Following that, I have a rifle hunt the first week in November for muleys in the same unit (I used 8 bonus points!), and have already located several 180-195 typicals. Believe me when I say that Kirt's motivation, advice, and positive attitude will be with me on both these hunts. Chris Darnell

Rembrandt, Rich guy????? Definitely no rich guy here. Only a run-of-the-mill, middle-class civil engineer. Chris

Goooooooo Wetmule. Good, accurate info about carbon dating and scientists and life. I happen to be an educated scientist, and can definitely attest that science rarely is perfect and absolute. Just like you described, lots of old hat here tonite, partner. Brings back many old memories from 14+ years ago. Lark, you definitely do have your mind made up and are just 'slightly inflexible', lol. But the old adage that 'a picture is worth a thousand words' rings true in this situation. I could write a book here in response to your arguments, but it's just not worth the time. I'm also not gonna post the photo, as some have requested. One thing that should concern you Lark is if there are indeed two racks, why hasn't the other one ever surfaced in the 30 years since it was stolen??? Also, the rack was stolen in the mid '70's, and Kirt's Remington ad came out after 1980. So they weren't on display at the same time in both places. But, enough. Just like Wetmule, I have much better things to do. Like pursuing the next chapter in my 'personal satisfaction' notebook where a big 'ol buck or bull dies. Chris Darnell

Lark, Here we go again, doggonnit. You know I just can't resist the urge to contradict you when you give your VERY uninformed opinions about famous (infamous) hunters. Funny thing is..........everything else you say i completely agree with. I know Kirt, and I am a big fan of his POSITIVE side. In fact, I am his greatest fan when it comes to his knowledge, motivational ability, and successes in whacking big ol bucks. But he didn't kill the buck on the cover of his book. I don't believe for a minute that he poached it. But he lied about where he acquired it. Wetmule knows this too, and if you read his messages carefully, you will see that he indirectly told you that. B & C didn't reject his buck because of photos of the rack "that were on the other side of the deer". They tracked down the original photographer, who was still living. He provided a full-frontal closeup photo of the buck with the original Kaibab hunter taken right after it was killed. You can even see the metal Kaibab tag on the rack. This is a clear photo, and every single bump, ridge, and discoloration matches the rack on the cover of his book. You would be hard pressed to find two bucks with eyeguards that matched this closely, much less two 270" nontypical racks. Kirt didn't kill that buck. I was like you and didn't want to belive the scuttlebutt and slander and vicious lies. So I did my own research, like you. I have a copy of this photo. PM me with your address and I will send you a copy. I too have B & C entries. It took me 6 years to enter the first one. I eventually did it for the animals, because I respect them so much. Also, I use the "books" for research and motivation, and I just didn't want to be a hypocrite for not contributing. I don't have anything against B & C, but I certainly can believe that they are a bunch of snob, elitist pricks that think the world of trophy hunting revolves around a number. Kirt Darner is the greatest trophy mule deer hunter that has ever lived or ever will live, by far. He has whacked MANY huge bucks since his fame died, and is a big ol muley's worst nightmare. That buck he took in Sonora in 1996 scores 216 SCI typical (Kirt sent me an official score sheet), and will not be #2 in the world but is still a helluva big and massive typical (I have seen it in person many times). He also whacked another net book typical two years later in Sonora. The fairest way that I have ever heard his deception described is that "he hedged his bet". He never had a pot to piss in, knew he had some valuable skills, and wanted to make some $$$ from them just like everyone else in this miserable, phony, capitalist society that we live in. Chris Darnell

Against my better judgement, I tooled around this forum tonite after updating my bino ad and thinking for a while about adding some more jokes in order to contribute here. Not surprisingly, I found something that just completely pisses me off. And I simply cannot resist the urge to post this message after reading the statement that .270 made under the 'Hunter Orange' thread. Cal Coziah is not 'the best bowhunter that nobody ever knew'!!! He is a convicted poacher. He was busted in Wyoming for poaching a winter buck. This was after his book was published. This is all a matter of public record. He was also nailed for breaking the cheaters off a Montana buck in order to make it net typical in P & Y. As the story goes, it was discovered that some of the late season archery bucks in his book from Idaho were whacked while he was just out hunting whenever he wanted too! He was just simply "going hunting" whenever he wanted too, regardless of season dates! All this from an Idaho G & F Dept. employee! Another example of this crap is the recent edition of 'Hunting Illustrated' that has Mike Brownlee on the cover with a big muley buck. He was convicted a few years ago for poaching a muley in Wyoming! Again, this is all a matter of public record. Now, here he is receiving phony fame and real fortune as everybody's hero on the cover of a mag! I fought intensely with the publisher and quit spending $$$ with this company after this was published. For all you guys raising heck on this forum about the USO lawsuit, why don't you spend your energy on this cause? Me and my buddies harvest great trophy animals all over the west legally, ethically, and personally. We do it this way because it is the only way to achieve true, deep, neverending, personal satisfaction. I simply will not tolerate convicted poachers being looked at as heroes in the hunting world. Never, never, never. Whoever you are .270, I am an old-timer who has been around the west for a while. I know what the facts is. The younger Arizona crowd on this forum may not have any clue about this man, but I do. Your praise of a convicted poacher irritates me very much. Chris Darnell

SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -- A black bear was found passed out at a campground in Washington state recently after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer, a campground worker said on Wednesday. "We noticed a bear sleeping on the common lawn and wondered what was going on until we discovered that there were a lot of beer cans lying around," said Lisa Broxson, a worker at the Baker Lake Resort, 80 miles (129 km) northeast of Seattle. The hard-drinking bear, estimated to be about two years old, broke into campers' coolers and, using his claws and teeth to open the cans, swilled down the suds. It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate. He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his drinking binge. Wildlife agents chased the bear away, but it returned the next day, said Broxson. They set a trap using as bait some doughnuts, honey and two cans of Rainier Beer. It worked, and the bear was captured for relocation.