Outdoor Writer

One comment, and then you all can carry on with yours. As outlined in the other Auction Hunt thread, the proposed surcharge on applications per species will NOT change how the money is spent or doled out. The Habitat Partnership Committee Process will still exist, and the organization that would normally be in the thick of determining projects, etc. will still have the say. The only difference will be WHERE the revenue comes from. The SEPARATE habitat/conservation stamp fee or something similar could be either divided up on a percentage basis to go into the same fund (the old TAG fund for each species) or be kept intact in a separate "tag fund" account for ANY habitat project/improvement for small or big game. Any surcharge for each species would likely be less than the cost of a bottle of beer in Hooters because that's all it would take to make up for the loss of the tag revenue. For the less glamorous species, it would be like maybe $.50 or $1. The habitat/conservation stamp fee would also be nominal at a few bucks. Lastly, the result of any of this will be no NET LOSS of money from what it is now; in fact, it should result in MORE. -TONY

Jason, You might be able to find the manual online. Maybe when I get some time later this week, I'll take a looksee for ya. -TONY

Two seconds seems like a very long time. The specs on that camera says it normally takes anywhere from .3 to .6 sec to completely process an image. That's about right for most of the lower end P&S cameras. In contrast, the higher-end models, such as the Canon D30 I use, do it almost instantaneously. But you will pay more for that convenience. One way you can speed that lag time a bit is to do as someone else suggested -- pre-focus by holding the shutter button down partway. Then when the kids do something you want recorded for posterity, push hard to trip the shutter. A good way to learn about your camera and its many nuances is to read the instruction manual. It contains a lots of good info that you can refer to from time to time. That said, many newer models have stepped up the processor speeds. Should you decide to replace it with a newer model, go to Steve's Digicams. It is an excellent source for getting all the specs and for unbiased reviews on just about any model of digtal camera. -TONY

And the fastest shutter speed it offers is 1/1000 sec. -- even slower than what Jason has now. -TONY

Jason, I got to thinking a bit, which is always dangerous. Are you perhaps talking about the lag time between tripping the shutter to the actual image capture? If so, that has nothing to do with the shutter speed per se but the actual speed of the processor, including the auto-focus mechanism. -TONY

Tony, she has a Kodak Easy Share that's at least 3 maybe 4 years old. It's got 3.1 mp. The model # is DX6340. Hmmm. That camera has shutter speeds up to 1/2200 of a sec. That's about fast enough to stop a bullet in flight. You didn't mention what the problem is, i.e. if the photos are blurry, or...? But if that is the case, perhaps the setting being used is the real culprit? For action, you need to use something like the Sport setting, and in low light, the flash as to also be activated to stop the action. If you use the camera all automatic without selecting a specific shooting mode, it will tend to average the film and shutter speed and aperture. For the best reults for stop-action, shooting at the highest film ISO, such as 400, in SHUTTER-PRIORITY is the way to go. If you look at the bird photos above, you'll see they are also blurred because of too slow a shutter speed or possible camera movement. -TONY

Sounds good. Are you having someone draw up official plans or are you working like I do -- rough sketch, mostly in my head? Anyway, I would be glad to come help out with the rough framing if I'm around when you do it. I was involved with building $300K homes during the winter months in Colorado when I lived there, and I have a good assortment of tools, including pneumatic nailers/staplers, worm-drive Skill saw, etc. -TONY

Scott, Are you building on a concrete slab, piers, concrete or block stem walls? What is your basic construction gonna be -- block, wood framing with siding, wood framing with stucco, etc.? -TONY

Jason, What is the make and model of the camera your wife has now??

I certainly don't have a problem with a double-barrelled approach. Many other states already have some type of conservation stamp in place. Our trout stamp is quite similar and provides the necessary funds to run the state hatcheries to supply put-&-take fish. The application surcharge should be high enough to replace the funds generated by the special tags for each species. The license stamp could be nominal, i.e a few bucks, and then get divided on a percentage basic determined by the number of hunters who apply for each big-game species. Or maybe just leave it as a lump sum to be used for habitat, etc. for both small and big-game. -TONY

That won't rid the onus of the special tags that have seemingly become perverted by egos and greed. What we wind up with is possibly another incident like the one that just happened. Plus, I'm not keen on any sort of voluntary contribution because that gets away from the "everybody pays" concept and will make the total revenue for each species an unknown commodity from year to year. In contrast, the number of applicants usually stays within a predictable range. -TONY

For discussion purposes: Although I've fully supported both auction and raffle tags for that past 20 years, mostly because of what the money does, that doesn't mean I wouldn't be against getting rid of both and looking at alternative ways to raise the same amount of revenue. For example, let's look at elk for 2007. The various special auction and raffle tags brought in $335,000. Also in 2007, 102,325 hunters applied for a tag. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math and find out that an additional surcharge for applying of $3-plus would generate the same total. The caveat would be that money would be earmarked toward the same projects as the auction/raffle funds are used for. This same surcharge concept could be used for every species, with the amount determined by the average number of applicants and total revenue required to make up the shortfall lost from the special tags. Another alternative would be a flat surcharge on licenses -- not apps or tags -- across the board with the total funds split on a percentage basis between species. Obviously this single surcharge would have to be quite a bit higher because a hunter buys only one license yet applies for one or many species. In either case, it's known as the "everybody pays" concept. -TONY

Okay, as requested by Amanda, here are some pix of LIVE animals from Africa. I'll start it off with me and my friend, Savanah. A few lions .... A couple leopards.... A couple king cheetahs.... And some miscellaneous....

This is the NEW 14'x32' trophy room -- an addition to the old family room and kitchen. I did all the work except pour the concrete slab. An overall look. The bear really enjoys watching fishing shows, so I have a hard time wresting the remote away from him. Looking back toward the kitchen. The archway in the lower left leads to a 7'x10' alcove where the door to the backyard is. There's another archway at the opposite end that goes into the other trophy room, and the archway at the right side of the alcove goes into the kitchen area. The big archway is where the old house wall was. This is the old family room that was remodeled when I did the addition. I had already remodeled the kitchen 4 years ago. I built the table using using wood from a couple old waterbeds. The thingie on the wall is made from the backskins of 10 sprinbok hides. There are also sprinbok hides on all the tables and the pillows have sprinbok hides as covers. These are newer photos after I hung more mounts. L. to R.: springbok, bushbuck, chamois and tahr. Next bunch are close-ups of all the mounts.

Me thinks in order to get this passed, Congress would also have to amend the recently passed law that said the states have the right to regulate their wildlife as they see fit regardless of the interstate commerce laws. -TONY

Amanda, Yes, I have lots and lots of pix from Africa of live animals, etc. I'll post another thread either later today or tomorrow. -TONY

The article ain't too hot either. -TONY

Glad to contribute, Amanda. -TONY

This thread will include an array of photos in several messages from my hunt on the south island of NZ with Tim Buma's New Zealand Backcounrty Outfitters in 2004. If any of you ever get the opportunity to hunt in NZ, do not turn it down. I enjoyed it more than Africa. The country is spectacular and the people are super. Soooo...to get you all in the mood, here are several scenics that should start your hearts pumping. These were all taken in the same valley where one of the Lord of the Rings movies was filmed, and we hunted tahr in one of the nearby mountain ranges. The last one with the outhouse was taken at the hut we stayed in and looks back to the spot where the fortress for the movie had been built and later removed. -TONY

Casey, I didn't weigh the remains of the bullet, but it was pretty much all there from what I can tell. It was the only bullet I recovered in Africa. All the others were pass throughs. El fuego, I hate my normal smile and try to avoid it. -TONY

Josh, See the More of OW's Dead Critters thread. -TONY

The tahr in NZ -- Hemitragus jemlahicus -- are native to the Himalayas. They are basically goats and were first introduced in NZ for sport hunting during the early part of the last century -- i.e. early 1900s. Both the chamois and the red deer are natives of Europe and were also introduced there for the same reason about the same time. Now they are considered pests, and the government has done all it can to rid them from public lands. They shoot oodles of them from helicopters and even use poison on them. On PUBLIC land, no hunting license is necessary to hunt any of these, and there's no limit on many one can kill. BUT...the biggest stags are all on private ranches, and they normally charge by the inch using the SCI system of gold medal, silver medal, etc. The one I killed is a silver medal under the SCI system. The only hunting license required in NZ is for waterfowl, and that is available FREE at any game department office. Both rabbits and possums are like a plague. You can kill dozens of them in a few hours after dark using a spotlight and .22, which is also legal there. Same for the wallaby. -TONY

Cheapness depends on what you hunt, where you hunt it and how much you ship home. Some comparisons: I paid the FULL rate for my 10-day African plains game "safari" with a basic cost of $4995. That included five critters -- gemsbok, kudu, springbok, blesbok and impala -- plus the day rates, food, lodging, PH, etc., etc. The airfare from Phx to Johannesburg via SLC and Atlanta was about $2,200. Then I tacked on another $5,000 in trophy fees, which ranged from $400 to $1,700 for the nyala, bushbuck, blue and black wildebeests, warthog and zebra. The PH threw in the $50 cost for the extra "drive-by" springbok. Soooo...at this point, you've already hit about $12,000. If you bring home nothing but photos, you can stop reading here. BUT..if you want to have mounts done over here, you then have the trophy prep fees, crating plus the shipping cost to this country and fees to clear it on this side of the pond. Going from memory here, I think that all came to about $2,800. Now, add in your taxidermy costs -- gulp -- and you're looking at a total of $25,000, and that doesn't include any dangerous game, such as buff, lion, leopard, hippo, elephant. A Cape buffalo hunt by itself will run $8,000 or more. I believe the massive increase in trophy fees is just for Tanzania, not all the countries in Africa. Now for NZ: A week-long hunt for a decent stag, chamois and tahr will run about $5,000 - $7,000, depending on the outfitter and quality of the stag you want to kill. Airfare from here to Christchurch via LA and Auckland was about $1,300. The other hunting we did there was kinda thrown in since we had time to spare. We even hunted black swans, ducks and Canada geese one day. All the after-hunt costs of trophy prep in NZ, shipping to the U.S. and custom's clearance came to about $2,500 for two of us since we combined everything in one crate. So for one person, you're looking at about $6,500 on average for the hunt costs and taxidermy fees on top of that. If you want to spend more, you can also hunt wapiti, various exotic deer species, etc. And you are indeed correct about the ease and the stress factor. I did everything via email with the police office at the airport in Auckland in regards to getting my guns into NZ. It took us about 10 minutes to clear them when we landed there. The greatest asset of NZ is the people -- everyone, including airport personnel, were super. And as the pix show, the scenery is nothing less than spectacular. I wish I had spent another week there, but my hunting partner had limited time to stay there. -TONY

>>NOTE: I use Sport Wash laundry detergent << Excellent choice. -TONY

Now with that, you're on to something that CAN make a difference. When the UV issue first began nearly two decades ago, I was deeply involved with it and actually was there when they tested LIVE deer on a special machine at the U of Georgia deer research facility. I also attended the Southeast Deer Symposium in Mississippi where the biologists presented the research. As a result, I wrote the definitive and FIRST article on the topic -- about 6 full pages in OUTDOOR LIFE magazine. -TONY