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Tony Mandile was a long-time contributor to this forum. He passed away yesterday morning from complications from COPD, Covid and an infection he got while at the hospital. His wife, Ellen, also got sick about the same time and spent time in the hospital, but is recovering at home. His family says he did not wish to hold a service, but I wanted to share with you all some more about his background. Tony went by the handle Outdoor Writer in this forum as well as other hunting forums. He made a living as a professional write for almost 40 years and he was a wealth of knowledge about the outdoors. I enjoyed my conversations with him and he will be missed. Tony and his wife attended some of our CWT campouts so many years ago. In addition to being a hunter, he was an outstanding photographer and he enjoyed cooking some excellent meals, which he often shared on Facebook. Many of you have enjoyed the book he co-wrote with Duwane Adams, "How to Hunt Coues Deer". He hunted and fished in 39 states and 10 Canadian provinces. He also hunted and fished in Africa, New Zealand and Mexico. Mandile began a part-time writing career in 1969 and has been a full-time freelance outdoor writer/photographer for 38 years. His 30-year active membership in the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) included three years on the board of directors. He also served on the board of the Western Outdoor Writers (WOW) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), which he helped create in 2005. He was a contributing editor for ARIZONA HUNTER & ANGLER magazine for 10 years, and wrote seven years as the Arizona Editor for OUTDOOR LIFE magazine. Mandile wrote his book -- HOW TO HUNT COUES DEER -- with noted guide Duwane Adams in 2003, and the Arizona Game & Fish Commission selected him as "Outdoor Writer of the Year" for 2011. More than 2,100 of his articles and 1,300 of his photos (50 covers) have appeared in OUTDOOR LIFE, FIELD & STREAM, SPORTS AFIELD, CABELA'S OUTFITTER JOURNAL, PETERSEN'S HUNTING, PETERSEN'S FISHING, AMERICAN HUNTER (NRA), DEER HUNTING, ROCKY MOUNTAIN GAME & FISH, CALIFORNIA G&F, WASHINGTON-OREGON G & F, ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, NORTH AMERICAN HUNTER, WHITETAILS UNLIMITED, NORTH AMERICAN WHITETAIL, OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHERS BIBLE, PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER, ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPORTSMAN, WESTERN OUTDOORS, BOWHUNTING WORLD, SOUTHWEST SPORTSMAN, SAFARI, ARIZONA WILDLIFE VIEWS, ARIZONA HUNTER & ANGLER, OUTDOORS UNLIMITED, several books and a few dozen other outdoor, conservation and travel publications. Rest in Peace Tony.

I was able to connect on this bear this morning with my 6 year old son in tow. Gun was a Smith and Wesson 29 classic hunter.

Rest in Peace Tony. for those interested, I posted more about his life with photos in the Memorial section of the forum.

Tony and I had been communicating back and forth the past few months. He drew a late rifle Unit 23 bull tag this year and knew his worsened physical condition was going to prevent him from getting out for that one last hunting trip. After our talking back and forth, Tony felt he had finally found the right organization for his tag in Heroes Rising Outdoors. He wanted to be sure that his tag would be going to an Arizona veteran who had been disabled due to an actual combat related injury. I assured him that we'd make that happen. It hit me to the core when Tony told me he doubted he'd be here when the time for the hunt arrived. I hated to hear those words, but prepared myself for what might be. For those of you in the younger generations, you really missed out on a special man who contributed greatly to the hunting fraternity through the years! Tony had accumulated a wealth of knowledge he shared through many decades of writing. He was direct in what he had to say, whose thoughts carried much merit. You definitely will be missed, Tony! We were fortunate you were an Arizonan ... Godspeed!

Took this pic yesterday.

Elect a clown, expect a circus!

Don’t be ridiculous, just feed the kids less like I did

My 12 year old just bought himself some new binos so he is looking for another kid that may not have a pair of binos and could use his old ones. They are Bushnell Pacifica 10x42’s FREE Located in Gilbert

The Democrats don't fear more mass shootings, they fear you. An armed populace is all that stands between their socialist agenda and your freedom. The libs have done nothing to protect school from violence because these shootings work in their favor. Now wake up, understand and stop conceding your most important rights.

You guys are brutal. Cut the man some slack. Innocent until proven guilty. Not all guides are cheats just because they are guides or because they are successful. Unless someone has some first hand knowledge, let the man deal with his own personal business and the results will be made public if there are serious items. I have only heard and seen good things from him, but nobody is perfect.

We can all just go save a bunch of money on gas from siphoning gas out of cars with biden stickers

So.... My phone took a shite last day to apply for elk. If you texted me since then, no you didn't piss me off. Still haven't gotten around to trying to retrieve all my contacts from my old phone yet. Just burning the candle at both ends right now. Way busy. This post was bugging me so had my wife get ahold of a friend on FB to get Nick's number again. Had a brief conversation with him this morning. Obviously he couldn't tell me all the details but last couple years game and fish had Duwane and his outfit in their cross hairs. They threw some charges at him and in the end the only one they could conceivably make stick was a baiting charge. They all felt they had everything on their side to fight it and Duwane basically said screw it he's done with the BS. Decided to just "officially" retire. He already wasn't guiding himself anyway and anyone who knows him and Nick know full well Nick is capable of taking the reins. Also since Duwane wasn't actually taking clients out himself anymore he thought this was the easiest solution. Duwane the last few years already wasn't taking people out personally, he was basically their to be in camp and jump in where ever a guide needed an extra pair of eyes. Since then the guides have been instructed to air on the side of caution and not give anyone any reasons to sling accusations. Now I'm gonna offer some food for thought. All the crap we hear about the big name outfitters here in AZ, and what they are in common knowledge amongst the majority of us to see doing as unethical, shady and downright illegal I can't help but wonder why Duwane and his gang are in the cross hairs. I honestly found it all confusing. I know so many first hand stories and even more second hand stories of all the BS that's going on these days with guides. I honestly find it very surprising that the guides that seem to be targeted lately aren't the ones that everyone knows are effin twats. And no Nick didn't say this, it's just me wondering why the outfit that teaches the guys to hunt by scouting and glassing and not rely on cams is the one under the spotlight. I have a lot more I'd love to say but maybe this is not the post for it. Anyhoo, if any of you guys were thinking of hiring Duwanes outfit rest assured everyone I met in camp have been seriously solid dudes. I would not hesitate at all to give them a whirl. And I certainly can vouch for them as far as everything I have personally seen when I was in camp. Out of all the guides out there the Adams camp is one I don't have anything negative to say about.

We have finally settled back in at home so it time for a write up about our hunt. I have had a burning itch for a bear the last few years. I was talking to a good friend who is a guide and he pointed me in the right direction of a generally good area and a particular tank. I ran a cam there for a few years and made a few day trips to hunt it. I had many close calls, but no luck. Twice I had sows with cubs come in and more than a few times I had missed a legal bear by a day after I checked my trail cams. I knew from past years trail cam photos that this time of year a bear hits the tank at least every other day. My son finished kindergarten last Thursday, and didn't start his summer camps till after memorial day. I figured if I took Friday off and hunted with him for 4 days in a row we should have a very decent chance at a bear. I loaded the truck up Thursday morning, and when he got out of his last day of school we hit the road. We finally got to our camping spot around 10:00 and set up camp. Where the tank is, is about 5 rough miles from where we camped. Our camping location is where we javi hunt and has cell service. Gives mom peace of mind to check in at night. Friday morning we loaded the truck and headed up the mountain. We put up our pop-up blind and spent time brushing it in. Within about 2 minutes of finishing and settling in we had a young Jake turkey come in and give us a good show. When he left the tank he walked within about 3 yards of our blind. At the 15 minute mark we had a big coatamundi come in. Already I'm getting excited. I've sat this tank probably 100 hours over the past few years and in the spring/summer hardly anything comes in. It just seemed like a good day for animal movement. At the 30 minute mark I set my kid up on his i-pad and I pull out my book, getting ready for the long haul of sitting 15 hours a day for 4 days. While I am reading, I I pull my head up and scan every paragraph. This area is tight with some topography and the vegitation really shot up the past few weeks, so there are a lot of approaches a bear could take that you would see till they are right up at the tank. At the 45 min mark I pull my head up at see this bear already at the tank! I get my son's attention and he stands right over my shoulder. I told he we are going to watch and make sure there are no cubs with it. After a few minutes of watching and paying attention to see if the bear is looking around like it's looking for cubs to fallow I decide this is a solo bear. I tell him to plug his ear and get ready for a shot. The bear is a pretty, fluffy, stereotypical black bear. It is standing up on the rim of the tank drinking, slightly quartering towards up. I aim for the shoulder at 50 yards and squeeze. The bear goes stiff, and drops right in the tank. After I collect myself, we make our way to the tank. The bear sank right to the bottom and the water has no visibility in it. It took a while to finally noodle around a find it and pull in up. Not a monster, but a decent pretty sow. We tag it, head back to camp and take some pics and start cutting it up. I was expecting a long, gruelling weekend trying to keep a 6 year old happy and we were all done and finished in an hour and a half. I told my son that it can go in his room and let him pic out the taxidermy because he is always a good sport and always willing to go on any hunt with me. He decided on a bear rug which will go great in his room. Logistically, shooting a bear on memorial day weekend is not the best as I couldn't check in my bear, contact a taxidermist or a meat processor. We decided to process the bear ourselves and did breakfast sausage, brats, jerky, roasts and cured hams. So far the breakfast sausage and jerky has been awesome!

How bout armed guards and staff (trained of course)at the schools? Fight fire with fire.

The dept has no interest in making anything clear, easy or even logical. They are in the business to make money and make more money year over year. Hence these wild schemes to create "new hunts", "new points" systems etc.... It will only get worse over the years and be a money making machine. Always follow the money trail when the dept does something that looks like it has benefit to us, it doesnt.

A recent phototrip with a couple of friends from Colorado had us in remote areas in northern Arizona. The first evening had us overlooking a beautiful section of the Painted Desert with its colored Chinle formation. The next evening was spent in a pinnacle-filled filled valley surrounded by walls of Moenave sandstone. The colors and striations of the sandstone are beautiful. A gallery of the images from the trip may be viewed on my website. https://www.plateaulightphotography.com/New-Work/Navajo-High-Desert/ There were a pair of feral llamas that the Navajos had used to protect their sheep from coyotes. Wonderful colors and markings in the sandstone.

Then there’s this Vet, I had to stop and tell him thanks!

The same morons that can't tell you what a Women is, now are gonna tell us what an Assault Weapon is. GTFO

SOLD Sorry for the earlier posting I managed to post the wrong pictures as well as messing up the formatting. I am selling one of my LC Smith 20 gauge SXS shotguns. This gun was made in 1949 and mechanically is excellent. Original finish and a fair amount of case color left. It has a small chip in the butt plate and a small rust spot on a barrel. This gun was never shot very much based on the condition. If you have been looking for a 20 gauge double barrel this one will make a perfect bird gun. The barrels are 26” barrels chokes IC and Modified. Factory choked for 2 3/4” shells, allowing you to use most modern shells. It also has a Single sight plane raised solid rib. It locks up as tight as the day it was made. This is a sidelock and should not be confused with the LC Smith Fulton Arms box locks. If you have ever wanted a quality, vintage, American made SXS this could very well be a gun that bird gun. Please PM me if you have any interest. I am willing to Pack, insure, and ship to your FFL for $40. Located in Tucson $1275.00

Cat….lots of things you mention are considerations! As an educator I see it every year! Anti-bullying week! All the sudden, teacher teacher Johnny is bullying me! Okay let’s go up to the counselor and see what’s going on!!! No let’s not I was just kidding!!!! Many many times the “bullied” are the bullies! Of course not always the case! There is a LOT that goes on at school….all levels! First you arrive at school and guess who has already been on campus for 30 minutes? The kid who’s parent(maybe) had to be to work At 7:00 and didn’t wanna leave them at the bus stop at6:30am! Chances are that kid has few friends and is behind in school! Free breakfast….yep and guess which kids are in there? The ones that are living in foster homes, with grand parents or parents on welfare! And guess what, they eat the little box of cold cereal and throw the rest in the trash! Bell rings and anywhere from 15-30 kids show up late anywhere from 10-30 minutes late! There’s a good chance they aren’t that successful in school and really don’t like 1st hour! Usually blame it on mom! Lunch…..kids hang out with the kids they like but on the computer attendance program Johnny’s parents have a restraining order on Jimmy because Jimmy introduced Johnny to pot last week at the skate park and there’s 300 kids at lunch and the teachers on lunch duty need to keep an eye on them! While keeping them from running on the outside tables, off their cell phones, not vaping and the 20 girls who went into the bathroom at the same time from smoking pot! Plus the jackass boys from trying the latest TikTok challenge of busting all the soap dispensers off the wall! Finally, school is out, parents lined up around the block in the parent pickup zone! Most of those kids come from the “successful “ homes and their parents don’t want them riding the bus because it’s too harsh for them to handle! So guess who’s waiting for the last bus to pick them up? Yep, low income kids that live way out, go home to sometimes no running water, no computer or internet to do homework and they usually come to school the next day wearing the same clothes! Lots wrong out there! Lots of kids coming from broken homes and honestly $hitty living conditions! And education system needs a serious internal gut check! Education was never intended to replace parenting! Sorry…….long year!

I don’t know about you , but that Keystone pipeline is sure sounding pretty good right about now!

My wife and I went to Yellowstone last week and on our drive back to the Valley, we stopped in Jackson Hole, WY. Just so happened that the day we stopped by was the annual Elk Fest Antler Auction. Couldn’t tell you how exciting it was seeing the hundreds of antlers all over the main square. People were loading huge pallets in their trucks after buying them in the auction. Of course, we couldn’t leave empty handed so my wife picked out a big ole moose paddle. The non typical elk head was over 450! Really cool experience and just wanted to share it with all you shed hunters. We already want to go again next year

Until Republicans get back in the big seat.