Outdoor Writer

HOLIDAY ETIQUETTE FOR DOGS 1. Be especially patient with your humans during this time. They may appear to be more stressed-out than usual and they will appreciate long comforting dog leans. 2. They may come home with large bags of things they call gifts. Do not assume that all the gifts are yours. 3. Be tolerant if your humans put decorations on you. They seem to get some special kind of pleasure out of seeing how you look with fake antlers. 4. They may bring a large tree into the house and set it up in a prominent place and cover it with lights and decorations. Bizarre as this may seem to you, it is an important ritual for your humans, so there are some things you need to know: a. don't pee on the tree b. don't drink water in the container that holds the tree c. mind your tail when you are near the tree d. if there are packages under the tree, even ones that smell interesting or that have your name on them, don't rip them open. e. don't chew on the cord that runs from the funny-looking hole in the wall to the tree 5. Your humans may occasionally invite lots of strangers to come visit during this season. These parties can be lots of fun, but they also call for some discretion on your part: a. not all strangers appreciate kisses and leans b. don't eat off the buffet table c. beg for goodies subtly d. be pleasant, even if unknowing strangers sit on your sofa e. don't drink out of glasses that are left within your reach. 6. Likewise, your humans may take you visiting. Here your manners will also be important: a. observe all the rules in #4 for trees that may be in other people's houses. (4a is particularly important) b. respect the territory of other animals that may live in the house c. tolerate children d. turn on your charm big time 7. A big man with a white beard and a very loud laugh may emerge from your fireplace in the middle of the night. Don't bite him!

Yup, they would and they should -- as long as the permits are buck-only. As you no doubt know, increasing deer numbers result because does have fawns. When rainfall is good over a couple years in a row, that usually means the forage, i.e. the nutrition, is in excellent shape. When this happens does normally drop twins, and even the younger does get bred. Using an average, 50% of all the fawns born will be bucks over those years. And for the most part, this increased number of bucks in the population is expendable -- not necessary to continue HERD growth. It takes only a minimal number of bucks to breed every doe in a specific herd; the herd growth will continue as long as the habitat remains good. Rather than retyping it all, here's an article I wrote on this very topic in 2000 when Ray Lee was still the head of the big-game branch. -TONY Arizona Deer – Oh, How they thirst For more than a decade now, Arizona’s deer population has been on the proverbial roller-coaster ride. Sadly, in recent years the downs have been a lot lower than the ups have been high. As a result, the state’s overall mule deer population is currently approaching the lowest it has ever been. Although the Coues deer have done somewhat better, their numbers have also dropped. This fact became quite evident last spring when the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) made its recommendations for the fall 2000 hunts. The total allocation for both species approved by the five-member game commission was 45,850 – the lowest total since the (AGFD) began compiling data in 1946. It was 970 fewer than the 1999 total. And if the rest of this year plays out as it has so far, the permit allocation could fall even more when the commission considers next year’s hunt proposals in April, 2001. Who can we blame for all this and especially for the loss of deer hunting opportunities? No one that could make a difference; the game department, you or me can’t do a thing to change it. The culprit has been Mother Nature, or more specifically her unwillingness to bestow bountiful rains on the Grand Canyon State for more than one year in a row. AGFD big-game supervisor Ray Lee’s enthusiasm has followed the same trend as the state’s deer population. After many years of watching the herds steadily decline, Lee happily witnessed the effects of El Nino over the winter of 1997-1998. “We thought we might have turned the corner in 1999 when fawn recruitment statewide increased considerably. But it was a short-lived jump, and the reason why I had stated back then that hunters shouldn’t be too enthusiastic until we have a couple rainy years strung together.” Lee’s warning proved prophetic. As it turned out, 1999 was one of the driest years on record in Arizona. The Phoenix metro area went for more than 100 days between September and December without any measurable precipitation. When the rain finally arrived, it wasn’t enough to require the use of windshield wipers. Finally in March, 2000 a big storm hammered the state, dumping more than two inches on Phoenix and even more in other areas. But the two-day deluge overwhelmed the watersheds. The ground couldn’t absorb the water quickly enough, and most of it ran downstream into the lakes or Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. Pointing to the Palmer Drought Severity Index compiled by The National Atmospheric Association, Lee doesn’t hold much hope for the very immediate future. “The Palmer Index examines past and current rainfalls, winds, temperatures and other factors. The most recent chart shows the southwestern United States and more specifically, Arizona, as being in the middle of extreme drought conditions. In other words, even if the entire state received two inches of rain tomorrow, it probably wouldn’t take us out of that extreme category because of the moisture we haven’t received in previous months.” The major concern of biologists when it comes to the relationship of rain and deer is timing. Rains that come at the wrong time of the year provide little benefit to big game. In the case of deer, the two key periods to benefit them are late winter and late summer. Lee points to the 1998 deer population jump as a perfect example of what can happen. "We had normal winter rains, good spring rains and adequate summer rains. Statewide, fawn recruitment went to nearly 40 fawns per 100 does in areas of the state where it had dropped to as low of 20 fawns per 100 does. On the Kaibab Plateau, somewhat different climatic conditions caused the corresponding recruitment to rise to nearly 90 fawns per 100 does. It was an exceptional year. Unfortunately, it was only one, and that won’t do it.” According to Lee, the lack of moisture to sustain ideal deer populations started in 1988 and pretty much reflects the trend that occurred about 40 years ago. “Our deer numbers reached the highest ever in the 1960s, but the population dropped very rapidly from those numbers to all-time lows by the late 1970s. That’s why we put deer on the permit system in 1972. And if we look back at the weather conditions from the late 1960s and early 1970s. we would quickly see they mirror the same patterns that are occurring right now. The deer population is also following the pattern.” “Then the deer numbers shot up again in the early and mid-1980s because we had an anomaly of sorts with rains that produced three 100-year floods over a five-year period. Even the normally dry Salt River was running at 200,000 feet per second and washing out bridges in downtown Phoenix. “The result on our deer herds was quite predictable. For a few years running, all of the does had twins, their twins had twins, and those twins…and so on. So we wound up with more deer than we knew what to do with. Over the next several hunting seasons, we had more permits available than we had hunters to apply for them. In 1986, we set the all-time record with 95,821 permits. That is more than double the permit allocation for 2000. “The one thing hunters shouldn’t do, however, is think we’ll ever get to that point again. The floods were very uncommon occurrences that created the best deer habitat we’ve ever had. So unless those conditions repeat themselves, which isn’t too likely, our traditional optimum deer numbers will be considerably less than what we had in 1986.” Fortunately, even though the permit numbers are at an all-time low right now, there are still more deer today in Arizona than there were in the 1970s when the population hit bottom. The reason is a different management concept put into place by the AGFD. When the herds plummeted in the 70s, the hunter success did likewise, averaging 16 to 18 percent statewide -- a result of supply and demand with only so many deer to go around. This prompted many complaints from hunters. Rather than allow that trend to continue, the game department began adjusting the permit allocation whereby the hunter success remained fairly consistent at 21 to 24 percent in most units. So while fewer hunters go afield now, more of those that do get to a tag a buck. The relationships between moisture and deer populations can be somewhat difficult to understand, but what it mostly comes down to is habitat. The simple explanation: when plants gets rained on they grow and provide moisture, nutrition and cover for deer. And obviously, lots of rain also provides more standing water. The more complicated explanation involves all the interrelationships within the simple one, including what appears to be increased predation. For the most part, the number of deer and predators are intertwined with each other, with the latter’s population increasing or declining in proportion to that of deer. But the adjustment takes time, according to Lee. “When the deer herds are large and healthy, the predators are also healthy and numerous. When deer numbers begin dropping, though, the predator numbers stay high for considerably longer. They continue to kill the same number of deer as before. So over time, the percentage of a deer herd killed by predators in any particular area goes up, and that trend continues until the predator numbers drop in relationship to the deer decline.” “To illustrate, consider a healthy deer population of 100,000 and a predator base of 1,000 that kills 10,000 deer annually. The resulting loss to predation is 10 percent of the deer population, thus cutting the deer herd size to 90,000. If that herd contains 60,000 does that kick out 40 to 50,000 fawns, the loss to predators is considered minimal. Now consider the same predation on the deer if their number falls to 20,000 animals; the loss of 10,000 animals now amounts to 50 percent of the herd and leaves maybe 6,000 does left to drop 3,000 or so fawns. All of a sudden the predation rate is three times the fawn production. This would rapidly cause the demise of that deer herd if the predator population didn’t eventually adjust to the deer numbers. Fortunately, it always happens. It just takes time and consequently causes the deer population to recover more slowly.” “In years of good moisture, deer can normally get all the moisture they need by eating. As the rains decrease, they have to find other sources, which are mostly tanks or other standing water. That walking and use of standing water sources increases the chance for predation and burns up additional energy.” “Without water, a doe doesn’t put on weight, and the chances for her to drop twins go down considerably. She also has a lower milk production when she does drop a fawn, and the lack of good cover makes the survival of that fawn more iffy because of predation. And we’re not talking a lot of weight to make a difference. If a doe can increase her weight by 5 percent, it’s likely her fawn will weigh a pound more when born. That is significant for the survival of a fawn that weighs five or six pounds at birth.” Another consequence of the recent droughts years have been forest fires. Earlier this year, at least three major ones devastated large portions of Arizona’s landscape. The highly extreme conditions for more fires prompted the U.S. Forest Service to shut down any access to large portions of several national forests in the state. Lee feels the forest fires come under that ol’ good news/bad news syndrome, though. “Even though a lot of Arizona burned up this year, by and large forest fires are good for the habitat. It’s a case of looking at fires over both the short term and the long term. At first, the effect is not too good because those areas basically are sterile. All the growth that deer might utilize this fall is gone. But Mother Nature does wonderful things to compensate.” “Once we start getting some moisture in those areas, the nutrients begin going back into the soil, and all sorts of fresh browse sprouts. Deer don’t eat pine trees, but they relish these tender forbs. So in the long run, the fires can be a blessing for our deer herds. Again, though, the key factor in the equation is rainfall. If we don’t get rainfall on those burned out areas this winter, the likelihood of them greening up next spring is fairly remote.” “The burned out areas are certainly a concern, but right now even the habitat where fires haven’t taken a toll are being stressed. Perennial plants such as cliffrose, which is a key food source for deer, can exist a long time with low moisture from year to year, but eventually that lack of moisture will kill off individual plants. You can only stress plants so many times until they become decadent. Although this hasn’t happened to any great level across the state yet, some of our range people do view it as a potential problem. For the most part, habitat is fairly resilient and will eventually recover as it always seems to do. Moisture and time are the only requirements.” The condition of the habitat isn’t the only thing that bothers Lee, however. “What concerns me more is a lack of habitat for the future. We’re losing it fast as more and more people move into Arizona and especially into the places that have been traditionally good deer areas. Just look all around Phoenix, where even the desert areas within a 50-mile radius once harbored decent deer numbers. Now many of them are covered with houses and shopping malls. The same thing is occurring around Prescott, Payson, Tucson, Flagstaff or even in the White Mountains, where more and developments of ranchettes and such are springing up. Mule deer simply won’t strive in subdivisions even if the residents plant acres and acres of succulent landscaping. So even if we get several years in a row of good rainfall at the right times, we might never reach the high deer populations of the past because there will be fewer places for deer to live.” While the future appears filled with doom and gloom for Arizona’s deer, in reality it could turn around quickly. In fact, even now there are places in the state where the herds are thriving and even growing somewhat, despite the so-so habitat conditions. One such place is the North Kaibab Plateau. Several years ago, a huge fire wiped out a large portion of the winter habitat on the west side. What remained has been in good shape for the most part, so the deer have done well. Still, the game department has continually managed the deer there to keep them in check. Lee feels the deer on the Kaibab are healthy. “The forage is in good shape but limited right now in that it will support only so many deer. We’ve attempted to keep the numbers down in such a way where the herd will rebound as the burned-out area comes back. That’s why we’re still issuing doe permits there. If we can hold the population down to the point where it won’t destroy the good habitat that now exists, we’ll never have to have a drastic cut on the deer numbers there.” Another area where the deer have done fairly well is the far western edge of the state from Kingman on down to Yuma where rainfall has been significantly better over the last two years. The result was a slight increase in deer permits for the 2000 hunts. Coues deer have also fared a bit better, according to Lee. “We had been cutting back on mule deer permits for the past 10 years or so but didn’t start making noticeable cuts in whitetail permits until the last couple of years. This is mainly due to the way Coues deer live in comparison to mule deer.”\ “The mule deer tend to be in larger groups. So they need more water and forage. Whitetails move in smaller groups and stay at the higher elevations where the moisture has been more prevalent. Plus, whitetails are what I like to term as a “bushier” animal; they wander over smaller areas and use dense cover a lot more than mule deer do. The result is a lesser need for water. They get much of it from the vegetation they eat as long as the moisture content is sufficient.” At one time, Arizona’s mule deer numbered somewhere between 250,000 to 300,000. Today, there are about 100,000, while the optimum goal for the available habitat is now about 200,000. Lee feels that goal is easily attainable. “It won’t take much. We’ll need some back to back years of good rainfall. Two would do it, but three would be even better. It can’t be an ‘every other one’ deal. If we have successive years with good moisture, most of the does will drop twins, and during the next year, the yearlings will go into estrous and get serviced by a buck because they will have gained a lot more weight than they would have during a low-moisture year. In all likelihood that yearling will have a single fawn, but one is better than none.” “I certainly can’t predict this will happen in the immediate future. Yet if and when it does, we could again be enjoying the glory years of plenty of deer to go around. All we need is for Mother nature to quench the thirst of our deer herds.”

This thread reminded me of an incident that happened to me in 36B during the 1980s. I was walking through a thick stand of manzanita atop a small hill on my way back to camp for lunch. To this day, I believe it's the only deer that I felt I had wounded but never recovered. But the lack of any sign still baffles me now. I've since come to the conclusion that the buck got up and left the country while I meandered my way over to him. For much of that time, the area he went down at was out of my view. Here's the lead to "Did you or Didn't you?" -- an article I wrote many years ago. It recounts that episode. -TONY *** With two great leaps, the gray shape exploded from its bed, then quickly disappeared into the brush a mere 10 feet in front of me. In the brief instant, the basket-like appearance and mass of the deer's antlers convinced me that it was the trophy I had been seeking. I watched anxiously for the buck to reappear, at the same time noticing the two steep, rocky cliffs, bordering both sides of the buck's obvious downhill escape route. The natural barriers would force him to cross a south-facing, sparsely vegetated slope on the canyon's opposite side. Dropping to a sitting position, I clicked off the Model 70's safety, racked a round into the chamber and watched for the buck to show. The momentary wait seemed like hours, but the deer finally reappeared, trotting uphill through the clearing in typical whitetail fashion with his fan-shaped tail raised and his nose poked skyward, sensing the air for danger from the sudden intruder. Thinking it all seemed too easy, I centered the crosshairs on the back of the buck's neck where it joined his body and shot. Amid the echo of the .264's report, I thought I heard the bullet strike. The buck's reaction seemed to confirm it; tail-over-tea-kettle, he catapulted through a bush and disappeared a second time. I jacked another shell into the chamber and waited for him to show again, but he never did. Exhilarated with the thrill of success, I went to claim my trophy, almost running down one hill and up the other. I knew the buck was a good one and couldn't wait to see its antlers up close. When I reached the spot, the deer was nowhere in sight. In ever-widening circles around the bush, I searched carefully for bits of hair or spots of blood, anything that might tell me that I had hit the buck. Nothing but a few tracks appeared in the loose shale. I placed my orange hat atop the bush and walked back to where I had shot, hoping the bush was the wrong one and the deer would be farther to the left or right. Instead, when I peered back at the hat, my disappointment increased. It was, indeed, the right bush. I spent the next two hours searching every bit of landscape within a quarter mile of the bush to no avail. I returned again that evening and the following morning with hopes of accidentally crossing the buck's path or finding some sign --- dried blood, hair, anything that would help find the animal; I never did. Though it happened over five years ago, I often still wonder, "Did I, or didn't I?" Did I hear the bullet actually hit the deer or did it simply strike the ground near him? Did the buck catapult over the bush because my bullet hit him or because of his zealous effort to reach a new zip code?

Randy, Yeah, after I read your email, I understood where you're going with this and was mostly being facetious. But of course, the result one gets can only be accurate if the numbers are fairly accurate and paint a complete picture by including all the variables. -TONY

So what did these OLDER bucks do with their "genes" during all those prior years before they became venison sausage? -TONY

I thought that might be the case but had to ask anyway because I had a similar cloud of smoke occur with a blacktail buck I killed in CA during the 1980s. I had glassed up the buck in the middle a large, steep meadow that was about 1/2-mile across. He was feeding with another smaller buck and two does about in the middle of the opening. Once I spotted him, I worked my way around the meadow to a forested finger that jutted from the high end of the meadow toward the bottom. My plan was to use the trees for cover to get to the very end of the finger so I was in range for a decent shot. The stalk went perfect. When I got to the last large tree, I found a low limb to use a as rest for the shot of about 250 yards. The buck I wanted was feeding in the "vee" about 10' wide between and below two small hills. He was facing me, so when he raised his head, I put the crosshairs just under his chin and shot. Right then, he decided to take another nip of lunch. I saw that puff of smoke, but the deer immediately disappeared. Until I got to him, I didn't have a clue about what happened or if he fell because the hills blocked the view from my position. The smoke was caused by the bullet going through the base of an antler and then into the top of the buck's head, which split the skull plate from front to back. Of course, he was DOA. I have the skull plate wired together, and the rack sits atop a lampshade in my old trophy room. At the time, he OFFICIALLY made the SCI book at the lower end. I don't do record books, but the two brothers who owned the ranch wanted it and a couple others we killed listed. So I let them do so AND pay to do it. It's probably been pushed out of the listings by now. -TONY

Here ya go, Amanda. -TONY Meat and Animal Products and Byproducts Fresh, dried, or canned meats and meat byproducts are prohibited entry into the United States from most foreign countries because of the continuing threat of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow disease), and other animal diseases. If meat from restricted countries is used in preparing a product (e.g., beef broth), the product is usually prohibited. Because regulations concerning meat and meat byproducts change frequently, travelers should contact the consulate or local agricultural office in the country of origin for up-to-date information on the disease status of that country. Animal hunting trophies, game animal carcasses, and hides are severely restricted. To find out specifics and how to arrange to bring them into the United States, contact USDA/APHIS Veterinary Services, National Center for Import and Export (NCIE) at 301-734-7830, or on the Web at Veterinary Services - Safeguarding Animal Health (Import/Export) ( Veterinary Services ) The import and export of wild (and endangered) animals is regulated by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). More here: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ncie/

Jim, I watched that video several times and noted that white puff of smoke when the bullet hit each time. Any idea what caused it? -TONY

Why would killing the biggest bucks be "damaging to the mule deer herds?" -TONY

Randy, I can't do the math unless I know the figures you used in your formula. As you're no doubt aware, any estimated population provided by the AZ G&FD is post-hunt and pre-calving. What is the bull/cow ratio for any given year in any given unit? What is the overall recruitment rate for any given year? What is the ratio of bull to cow calves in that recruitment? As I mentioned in the Coues deer book, the unit success rates can be quite skewed, especially in units with fewer permits. For example, in a premium early rifle hunt where 25 permits are available, a return rate of 10 survey cards where nine claim kills will be listed as a 90% success rate for that hunt, even though the other 15 hunters didn't return the survey cards. So it's only an assumption that those 15 would have the same average success. As the permits and return rates increase in number, the error rate decreases. This is no different than how polls work; there needs to be a representative sample to be fairly accurate. Lastly, the system in place has been around for decades, yet the elk population has mostly increased around the state. That seems to be a contradiction, no??? -TONY

Randy, Okay, I'll bite; show me in real mathematical figures? -TONY

Arizona's Hunters and Anglers Have a Significant Impact on the Economy Spending $1.3 Billion a Year WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Arizona's 418,000 hunters and anglers are among the most prominent and influential of all demographic groups, spending more than $1.3 billion a year on hunting and fishing, according to a new report. The new report, "Hunting and Fishing: Bright Stars of the American Economy ~ A force as big as all outdoors," spotlights the immense impact hunters and anglers have on the economy at the national and state level. In Arizona, spending by hunters and anglers directly supports 21,000 jobs, which puts $708 million worth of paychecks into pockets of working residents around the state. Of course, government coffers also benefit -- spending by sportsmen in pursuit of these outdoor activities generates $124 million in state and local taxes. These latest figures demonstrate that season after season hunters and anglers are driving the economy from big businesses to rural towns, through booms and recessions. "Because sportsmen enjoy hunting or fishing alone or in small groups, they are overlooked as a constituency and as a substantial economic force," stated Jeff Crane, president of the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation. "When you compare spending by hunters and anglers to other sectors, their impact on the state's economy becomes more tangible." Sportsmen support nearly twice as many jobs in Arizona as Raytheon, one of the state's largest employers (21,000 jobs vs. 11,000). Annual spending by Arizona sportsmen is nearly three times more than the combined revenues of The Go Daddy Group, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Cold Stone Creamery - the state's fastest growing companies ($1.3 billion vs. $481 million). Annual spending by Arizona sportsmen is nearly twice as much as the cash receipts from cattle, the state's top agricultural commodity ($1.3 billion vs. $737 million). Arizona sportsmen could fill the stadiums of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Arizona Cardinals, 3½ times (418,000 vs. 112,000). The economic stimulus of hunting and fishing equates to an astounding $3.8 million a day being pumped into the state's economy. "Spending by sportsmen benefits not only the manufacturers of hunting and fishing related products, but everything from local mom and pop businesses to wildlife conservation," noted Doug Painter, president of National Shooting Sports Foundation. "And because most hunting and fishing takes place in rural areas, much of the spending benefits less affluent parts of the state." On the national level, 34 million sportsmen age 16 and older spent more than $76 billion in 2006, supporting 1.6 million jobs. If a single corporation grossed as much as hunters and anglers spend, it would be among America's 20 largest, ahead of Target, Costco and AT&T. And if all hunters and anglers had voted during the last presidential election, they would have equaled 31 percent of all votes cast. If all hunters and anglers living in Arizona voted, they would have equaled 32 percent of all votes cast in the state. These statistics are impressive and, if anything, they underestimate the impact of sportsmen since they do not take into account the millions of hunters and anglers under 16 years of age or people who were not able to get out and hunt or fish in 2006. When sportsmen's spending is thought of in business terms and compared to other sectors of the economy, it is quite remarkable. From small rural towns scattered across our country's landscape to the bottom-line of Fortune 500 companies located in major cities, if you take away hunting and fishing you take away the equivalent of a multi-billion dollar corporation. "It is a fairly simple equation – hunters and anglers mean jobs in states and local communities that have made the effort to maintain their hunting and fishing opportunities," said Crane. "The economic impacts that sportsmen have on state economies should be a wake-up call to state governments to welcome and encourage hunting and fishing in their state." The report, "Hunting and Fishing: Bright Stars of the American Economy ~ A force as big as all outdoors," was produced by the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation with support from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, National Marine Manufacturers Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation and SCI - First For Hunters. The report uses the results from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation and statistics provided by the American Sportfishing Association and Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

For the most part, I feel safer in Mexico than in Maryvale or south Phx. Of course, I imagine you've heard some of the 'horror stories' from these, as well. If not, just read the newspaper or watch film at 10 on any local TV station. And most definitely watch out for those black helicopters circling your house. -TONY

Gabe, We have owned two time shares in Mazatlan for years and do nothing but drive when we go down. I also drive down to fish the bass lakes. If you obey the laws and do not act like an "ugly American," you won't have any problem. If you have a passport, you won't need a birth certificate. With no passport, bring your BC and also be sure you have a photo ID to go with it. Since you will not be leaving Sonora, you won't need a Mexican vehicle permit, but you will still need to get a Mexican visa, which is available at Milepost 21 heading south on Hyw. 15 from Nogales. AND... there is absolutely no need to drive in downtown Nogales. When you go south on I-19 to the border, do not continue on to central Nogales. Instead, get off at the Mariposa Rd. exit #4, then turn right and go a couple miles to the commercial border crossing/station. Just drive thru the US side without stopping, and when you get to the Mexican side, you'll come to a narrow single lane pass thru that has a sign above showing Hermosillo on it. You'll also see a Mexican customs station off to the right. THERE IS NO NEED TO STOP THERE! Just go straight ahead under the Hermosillo sign and over the speed bump and you'll be on a FENCED 4-lane highway with limited access and no pedestrian traffic that completely bypasses downtown Nogales. A bit farther along you will come to the Mexican customs station. There's usually one or two Mex. customs officers standing outside. Just stop, and they will let you know whether they want you to pull into an inspection space. In most cases, they merely wave you thru. If they do tell you to pull over, just be courteous and allow them to do their thing. It's usually no more than a cursory looksee and maybe a question of "what is this?" Then watch for the place to obtain your visa on the right side of the highway at MP21. It's easy to spot and well-signed. Pull in, park and bring your proof of US citizenship -- and a pen so you don't have to wait -- to the main "Migracion" building nearest the lot. One of the officers will give you a visa form to fill out and will look at your passport or other papers. He will sign and stamp your visa, which is good for 6 months. The visa costs about $20, which you can pay (CC ONLY!)either there in the bank area (Banjercito), or at any Banamex bank (cash; not sure about CCs) in Hermosillo when you get there. There's a bank directly across the street from the Fiesta Americana hotel, which is at the first major intersection as you head into the city where you would turn to take the truck bypass to Guaymas. When you leave the visa-area parking lot, you will funnel thru a single lane that has a STOP (ALTO) sign and a traffic light thingie on the left. If the light turns green when you stop, just proceed on to the highway and be on your merry way. If it turns red, you MUST turn to the right into the inspection area. In all the times we have driven thru this, we have had to do the latter only once about 10 years ago. From there, other than a few toll plazas (they take US dollars) it is smooth sailing to Hermosillo. Have fun. -TONY

hawkeye, The link goes no where other than to a video on photobucket, and no ad appears to pop up. Perhaps you inadvertantly clicked on something else on that page that triggered the ad. If something actually got added to your browser, you should definitely check your security setting as suggested. -TONY

Keith, Just visited Box's web site and see where he also has a new Pickett book -- BLOOD TRAIL -- coming out in May 2008! Blue Heaven is set to debut officially on Jan. 8. -TONY

Aha. I'll check it out. Thanks. -TONY

Hey Ron, that buck looks familiar. Good looking mount! -TONY

I'm not a big fan of western novels, so I've read maybe only two L'amour books over the years and even that was a very long time ago. So what's the genre of Blue Heaven? Author? -TONY

If you have extra time while you're in Gustavus, book a trip on the tour boat that leaves from the Glacier Bay NP lodge. It's a well spent few hours. Of course, you'll probably see many of the same areas on your fishing trip. -TONY

Nope. Nothing to fill out. Only thing I have to do is contact the right person and ASK for the info. As you said, it's all a matter of public records available to anyone for the asking. -TONY

Noel, Gustavus is a neat place! Several years ago, I flew in there and spent a couple days at the Gustavus Inn. I was there mostly to take photos in the NP, so I didn't do any fishing. -TONY

That's exactly what I plan to do in my IN THE FIELD column in RM G&F magazine. I do a lot of it for cases in the other states every month. -TONY P.S. -- It's "precedent."

Yup, and the beat reporters can do that because of the Freedom of Info Act, of course. In reality, if I wanted to take the time, I could do the same with the AGFD. Or if the agency knows the news will likely be released through another source and is looking for an "atta boy" from its adoring public. -TONY

Nice pix, Amanda. Glad it doesn't snow in Glendale. -TONY