Outdoor Writer

I've been meaning to mention this for a while but kept forgetting. A while back, I interviewed a couple for an article in Rocky Mt. Game & Fish magazine. They both killed good mule deer on the Kaibab in 2007 while hunting with one of Duwane Adams' guides. Here's the oddity: In 2006, they drew tags with six bonus points for the early season on the east side. In 2007, they they drew tags with NO bonus points for the LATE season on the east side. They are AZ residents, however. Moral: Don't ever say never. -TONY

After going through a couple of stocking-foot stalks in the desert, I religiously began packing a pair of SOFT-SOLED moccasins in my fannypack many years ago. They squish down pretty well and take up little room. -TONY

Recreationists getting temporary vehicular access to Agua Fria Conservation Area at Lake Pleasant PHOENIX – The Lake Pleasant Regional Park is allowing recreationists temporary, Friday- through-Sunday-only motorized access to a designated portion of the Agua Fria Conservation Area for six weeks (April 11 through May 18) via the former access point along Table Mesa Road just west of Interstate 17. The Arizona Game and Fish Department is working in conjunction with the Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department on this temporary six-week effort to allow recreational access from Friday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and to collect user data that will be used in the long-range planning efforts for this important conservation area. Arizona Game and Fish Department officers will be on hand at the entry point on Table Mesa Road to help direct recreational users along a flagged route to the designated parking area adjacent to the lake. Wildlife officers will be collecting vital user data. “We applaud Maricopa County for allowing recreationists this valuable interim access that is so important during the spring fishing season. We encourage anglers and other recreational users to please keep their vehicles on the designated road and parking areas,” said Pat Crouch, a field supervisor with the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Once the six-week period expires, the area will revert to being closed to motorized vehicles; however, the area will remain open to walk-in traffic. The Agua Fria Conservation Area was closed to motorized travel in July of 2007 because of a range of illegal activities such as illegal dumping, indiscriminant shooting and irresponsible off-road use. Safety had become an issue, as well as resource damage. Tons of illegal, unsightly garbage has been removed during several clean-up efforts since the motorized vehicle closure. Another clean up effort is scheduled for April 19. A portion of the Agua Fria Arm of the lake is closed to boater access from Dec. 15 to June 15 every year to accommodate nesting bald eagles. Once the eagle closure is lifted on June 15, anglers and other water recreationists will regain boating access to the Agua Fria via the waterway. “We are confident we can arrive at equitable long-term solutions that will provide necessary and appropriate recreational access while also protecting and maintaining this valuable conservation area for present and future generations,” Crouch said. Anglers and other recreationists can also help clean up the area leading to the Agua Fria Conservation Area. The Bureau of Land Management, in collaboration with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition (AZOHV) and the Good Gun Foundation, is hosting the clean-up in Table Mesa Road area from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 19. The event is also supported by the Arizona Virtual Jeep Club, Arizona Rock Rats, and Absolute Offroad. For questions on the clean-up, contact Mary Skordinsky, BLM Lead Outdoor Recreation Planner, (623) 580-5586, or Nena Barlow, AZOHV Public Relations, (928) 274-0570. -30-

Matt, The Fergusons are nice folks, and she is very funny. I really enjoyed interviewing them both at the same time by phone. Oh, and yes, Mrs. Ferguson mentioned the bit about the sheep permits. Naturally, I made my displeasure known. I did make that a part of the article lead, however. See below. Frank's "John Wayne'" buck, as scored by Ryan Hatch, grossed 227. -TONY *** Frank and Margaret Ferguson married 36 years ago. That’s also when Margaret began hunting. Since that time, the two have spent many days afield together chasing big game animals. They have had many successful outings, but the 2007 Arizona deer season turned into a special one in more ways than one. In 2006, the Yuma, Ariz. couple drew two of the hard-to-get deer permits for the early hunt on the North Kaibab’s east side. Because they had only six bonus points, they considered themselves lucky. They each killed respectable bucks in the 160-170 point range. With no bonus points in hand for 2007, Frank chose to test fate. As his first choice, he applied for the even more difficult to draw late east-side season, which offered only 50 permits. “I applied for the Kaibab again, thinking we could start building up our bonus points anew and maybe draw another permit not too many years down the road. But when the drawing took place, we found out the computer gods had blessed us again. I was so shocked that when I called Margaret to tell her, I could hardly breathe,” Frank said. “I couldn’t believe we drew back to back like that." Good luck isn’t new to the Ferguson’s, however. While there are hundreds of hunters who have applied for a desert bighorn sheep permit in Arizona for three or four decades without ever drawing, both Frank and Margaret have received sheep permits. And they each killed outstanding rams. ............

It appears all you guys who wanted to get a leftover elk permit for those terrible NOV. archery hunts are SOL. Here's the list of leftover first-come permits available: Arizona Game and Fish Department 2008 Antelope and Elk First Come Left-over Permits Updated April 14,2008 Applications accepted by U.S. Mail only beginning at 8 a.m. (MST) on April 14, 2008. For additional information visit www.azgfd.gov/draw Limited Opportunity (General) Antlerless Elk Hunt No. Number of Permits Unit 3072 20 2A AND 2B 3073 11 2A AND 2B 3084 24 Martinez Hunt Area in Unit 27 3085 3 27 SOUTH 3087 5 28, 31, AND 32 3088 6 28, 31, AND 32 Archery Only Antlerless Elk 3176 8 SEE HUNT REGULATIONS

Little Suzy had a box of very small kittens that she was trying to give away, so she had them out on the street corner with a sign "FREE KITTENS" next to them. Suddenly a big line of big black cars came up with a policeman on a motorcycle in front. The cars all stopped and a tall man stepped out from the biggest car. "Hi, little girl, what do you have there in the box?" he asked. "Kittens" Little Suzy says. "They're so small, their eyes are not even open yet." "What kind of kittens are they?" he asked. "DEMOCRATS" says Little Suzy. The tall man smiled, returned to his car and they drove away. Sensing a good photo opportunity, Barack Hussein Obama called his campaign manager and told him about the little girl and the kittens. It was planned that they would return the next day, have all the media there and tell everyone about these great kittens. The next day, Little Suzy is standing out on the corner with her box of kittens with the "FREE KITTENS" sign and the big motorcade of black cars pulled up with all the vans and trucks from ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN. Everyone had their cameras ready and then, Barack Hussein Obama got out of his limo and walked up to Little Suzy. "Now, don't be frightened," he said, "I just want you to tell all these nice news people just what kind of kittens you're giving away today." "Yes sir," Suzy said, "They are all "REPUBLICAN" kittens." Taken by surprise, Obama said, "But yesterday, you told me that they were DEMOCRATS." Little Suzy says, "Yes, I know. But today, they have their eyes open."

Maybe someone will invent a sure-fire salt block elk can't resist any time of year, eh? -TONY

Someone on MM said he drew one with his 3rd or 4th choice. I don't recall what unit it was, though. Actually for someone with no or few bonus points who wants to hunt elk every year, those permits will be a shoo-in, at least for a while. Then when folks start seeing some decent success, they'll probably become harder to draw. -TONY

Kinda coincidental you posted this. Just last week, I finished an assignment for the National Shooting Sports Foundation's Range Report magazine. It was about an indoor rifle range in Delta Juntion, AK. Rather than recap it, the actual text is below. Especially note the bold-faced type, then maybe you can also wonder why folks feed their kids shoes. -TONY GET THE LEAD OUT When the adage "get the lead out" became popular during the 1930s, it was a way to tell someone to hurry or get moving. More recently, the saying took on a literal translation when potentially dangerous lead levels showed up at an indoor shooting range in Delta Junction, Alaska. The smallbore range, operated by the 125-member Delta Sportsman's Association (DSA), serves as the venue for the high school's rifle team and the Delta Deadeyes -- a shooting club for youngsters below high-school age. DSA president and rifle team coach Mike Bender said they accidentally discovered the lead problem when a routine test in the spring of 2007 showed elevated levels of lead in a 1-year-old child's blood. Although well below the danger standard set by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for the work place, the infant's higher-than-normal lead level became a concern. Finding the cause took some detective work, however. "It just so happens that the child's dad was a volunteer worker at our range and often cleaned the floor after a shooting session. After eliminating many possibilities, they concluded the lead problem was related to the child's habit of chewing his dad's shoes," Bender said. Subsequent blood tests for the father and a teenage son who shoots on the high school team also revealed above-average lead contamination in their systems. That prompted further testing of all those involved in activities at the DSA range. Nearly everyone, including Bender's teenage son Ryan, showed elevated lead levels. "Right then we knew we had a problem that needed immediate attention if we wanted to continue operating the range," Bender said. With all the recent recalls of consumer products, especially toys with lead paint on them, the dangers of lead poisoning has garnered plenty of media attention, thus making the public more aware of the possible health problems that include anemia, nervous system dysfunction, kidney problems, hypertension and infertility. For youngsters, even low lead levels can cause neurological damage leading to learning disabilities and short attention spans. The lead bullets and primer compounds used at an improperly managed indoor range provides the potential for someone to either inhale lead from the air or to ingest it accidentally after handling firearms and other lead-covered items and then eating, smoking or drinking before washing one’s hands. And that lead will eventually work its way into a person's blood stream. The National Association of Shooting Ranges (NASR) has been at the forefront of tackling the lead contamination issue for a long time. In 1991, NASR, OSHA and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI) established an alliance to promote safe and healthful working conditions for workers in target shooting facilities. NASR executive director Rick Patterson feels the lead danger presented by an indoor range is real but is easily prevented using proper management techniques as outlined in the NASR booklet, Airborne Lead Management & OSHA Compliance for Indoor Shooting Ranges. "We have worked with OSHA not only to develop proper management practices but to also educate range operators," Patterson said. "We encourage all ranges to examine their practices and address the key issues of proper ventilation and maintenance methods to avoid elevated lead levels. Our publication outlines all this and is available to any range for the asking." The DSA took quick action, finding several items that likely contributed to the high lead levels. "The first thing we did was install a retractable target system so shooters no longer had to walk downrange to change their targets. We also stopped the kids from sweeping the floor, which was a major cause of the lead dust getting into the air. They probably inhaled plenty of it, too. But even though adults took over the sweeping duty, our main goal was to eliminate it altogether. So my wife wrote up a grant request to the Friends of the NRA. They gave us $4,600, and we immediately looked at solving the floor-sweeping situation," Bender said. To that end, the club purchased a sophisticated Micromatic 14E Scrubber from a firm in Minneapolis, Minn. The $2,200, walk-behind machine puts down a metal-cutting cleaning solution, scrubs the floor with a rotary brush and immediately sucks up the dirt-laden liquid. "I first used one of the scrubbing machines at the University of Alaska's range in Fairbanks. So I already knew it would be a good solution for us. It picks up everything as it goes along, and by the time the operator puts his feet down behind the scrubber, the floor is almost dry," Bender said. An environmental assessment at the range in Oct. 2007 confirmed the scrubber was doing its job. "When they checked the air quality, the parts per million of lead to air was well below the federal guidelines for a residential house. That's significant, considering the circumstances and amount of lead used at an indoor shooting range compared to a home," Bender said. Another improvement took the form of personal hygiene habits and the products used. Everyone who uses the range must wash their hands before leaving with UniqueTek's D-Lead® Hand Soap. As the name implies, the special cleaning agent actually provides for the safe and complete removal of lead and other heavy metals. Bender's club also has several improvements either in progress or planned for the future. The Delta Junction city council awarded a $40,000 grant to DSA for upgrades to the rifle range's ventilation system. So far, part of that grant has gone to installing two industrial exhaust fans downrange near the targets to help remove dust-laden air during shooting sessions. "In addition to better insulation, we installed a heater that brings fresh air to the uprange side, and this summer we're putting in an industrial size heat-recovery ventilator so we don't have to throw so much money out into Alaska's cold," Bender said. The DSA members think their effort is well worth it. Although the high-school rifle team consists of only nine teens, three of them -- Ryan Dunham Bender, Amanda Fisher and Hun Tak -- competed at the USA Shooting's National Junior Olympic Rifle Championships in Colorado Springs in April. As Bender put it, "That's a pretty good representation from a town with a population of only 800."

Lark, It appears you attempted to counter "my facts to ponder," by making a huge assumption that I believe my "facts" somehow relate to a cause for global warming. If that's what you did, you misassumed. Those facts were meant to merely disprove the implication that what occurred during the Industrial Revolution was somehow worse than what has taken place since then. It didn't even come close. Thus, anything "healing" since then is pretty much farfetched; the only thing that has happened is that everything has gotten consistently worse by a factor of a 100 times or more. Does any of it have an effect on either global warming or coooling? Depends on the scientists you read. But I sure know one thing: those big black clouds over every major city in the world cannot be good for people or the environment. In fact, for a lot of people who already have breathing problems, breathing that s....t is worse than drinking the Koolaid. -TONY

Some facts to ponder: The Industrial revolution in the U.S. is normally considered to have occurred from 1820-1870. Stretching it, we could say it was ongoing into the early 1900s. In the U.S, the record for the amount of hard coal mined during those years was 678+ million tons in 1918. In 2006, the U.S. alone extracted over 900 million tons, nearly a 1/3 more than the record of the 1900s. Most of that went to fuel approximately 600 power plants (1,600 plant units) and 1,100 manufacturing facilities that still use coal. In 2006, China extracted 2,482 MILLION tons. The world-wide production and consumption of hard coal in 2006 was 5,339 MILLION tons. None of these figures take in the soft or brown coal mined and consumed. In the U.S., the population in 1860 was 31,443,321, 76,212,168 in 1900 and 92,228,496 in 1910. In 2006, the total population for the states of NY (19,306,183), TX (23,507,783), CA (36,457,549) and FL (18,090,000) alone exceed the number of people that lived in this country in 1910. Of the current U.S. population of nearly 300 million -- more than 300 times the number of people here in 1910 -- 9 million households still heat with fuel oil. In 1920, there were 9 million cars in the U.S. Of the current population nearly 8 of every 10 people own a car on a per capita basis. That totals about 240-250 million vehicles that consume more than 400 MILLION gals. of gas EACH DAY. In China, there are 30 million cars, and the world-wide total is over 600 million. These figures do not include heavy trucks, buses or other fossil-fueled engines used daily that include millions of lawn mowers, compressors, concrete mixers, leaf blowers, lawn edgers, small generators, etc. -TONY

Speaking of CFLs, Walmart, in cooperation with APS, has 60-watt CFLs for $.79 each! I bought two dozen of them Sat. -TONY

Not one of the words I posted came from any message of yours. So your paranoia is unwarranted. Just watch who is following you, though, and be especially suspect if they often appear to be talking into their shirt cuff. They might be spell patrol members. -TONY

Amen. Some folks (like me ) of course do make an occasional typo, but in most cases the misspellings I posted are consistent, i.e. not a one-time deal. Here's a bunch more, but I don't have time to provide the definitions. Maybe someone else will. I aded the carwreck spillin in kontex where appropiated. -TONY hunny holes - honey deadlock haired - dread lock deferences -differences Supper Bowl - Super underwatter/watter/wattering - water, etc. restrections -restrictions inforce -enforce envolve - involve envestagate - investigate exested - existed antelers - antlers tones - tons servey - survey beems - beams complane/complaning - complain/ing fue - few allready - already kidden - kidding Cows - Coues sundurn't - sunburned beutifull - beautiful neaded - needed brodside - broadside coroperative - cooperative tomaro - tomorrow Ballsitic - ballistic allot - a lot virsions - versions fynny - funny busey - busy realy - really mallings - maulings glair - glare pitchers/pitchure - picture(s) tipical - typical bords -boards doesens - dozens

A few older ones I found, including some finny favorites. -TONY 23-lb. Northern Pike -AK Christmas Tree Lake 3.5-lb. Apache trout 70-lb. BC king salmon Christmas Tree Lake Brown trout Missouri whitetail Lake Huites 9-lb.+ bass These are pix of my wife, Ellen. 15-lb. BC silver salmon 2.5-lb. Roosevelt lake crappie A few of her bass from Mexico. The last is 11.5 lb. from Lake Huites

And then there are "watter wholes," which are different than watter halves or watter thirds. And what about "photoes" -- from the Dan Quayle School of Spelling. And then there are "waist" & "waisted," used interchangeably to describe a beer gut or the non-use of something. And what about "Teusday" -- a day named after the Greek god, Teus. And then there's "additude," the opposite of subtractitude. And what about "cross breads" -- loaves that are a mix of white, rye and whole wheat. And then there's "sculls," used interchangeably to describe those little shallow watercraft or what's left of a critter once you cut the head off. And then there's "posison," a cross between a deadly substance and a person's location. And what about "thoes," often used to describe the digits on one's feet or to indicate more than one "this" or the opposite of "these." And then there's "steal," used interchangeably to describe what some people do to trail cams or that hard metal made from iron ore. And what about "pritty," often used to describe someone who is a "prit." And then there's "amo," used interchangeably to describe the Latin verb "to love" or as a short version of ammunition. And...lastly...what about "Wenchester," the county in England where every other house is a brothel.

Of course I do. I have them back to the early 1980s in digital form. They are all separated in folders by publication under one main ARTICLES folder in the MY DOCUMENTS one. Then I have that ARTICLES folder backed up daily on two other HDs -- one internal and one external. Same goes for all my digital pix (that's the plural of pic! ). So if I want to find an article on a particular name, I can readily do a search of the ARTICLES folder. -TONY

And let's not forget "dear" as either a term of endearment or a four-legged ungulate as in white-tailed, mule or black-tailed deer. And then several weeks ago, an illegal "Canadian goose" showed up here without a green card. -TONY

And about 98% of the photos I posted are hosted on my own COX sites. That said, I wonder how many folks here know that they can actually store up to 10MB per email address with Cox without having to actually create a web site or have the email address active. I have 7 of them, thus can store 70MB of images. -TONY

DB, This is what the original looked like before stick & stone removal and other adjustments with PS. -TONY

I feed them doggie treats. Photoshop does really well at removing support sticks and stones. -TONY

The federal government is sending each and every one of us a $600 rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China. If we spend it on gasoline, it will go to the Arabs, if we purchase a computer it will go to India, if we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala, if we purchase a good car it will go to Japan, if we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan. None of it will help the American economy. The only way to keep that money here at home is to buy hookers and beer, since these are the only useful products still produced in the US.

Allen, I recognized Nygaard's name when I read your message. A search did produce an article I wrote on him, BUT...it was on his Unit 1 bull that he killed with Duwane in 2005. -TONY

A couple more. -TONY Duwane Adams and I with my Mex. Coues. Jim Varney (Ernest) and I with my Alabama whitetail. I have lots of 35MM slides of me with various game critters but just haven't scanned many. Here are a couple VERY OLD scans of slides from the 1990s. The quality sucks. Osceola turkey -- Florida AZ elk NM 'lope