Outdoor Writer

That's because it was MEANT to be ridiculous, just as saying "if it's legal, it's ethical" is ridiculous. Breaking laws is a legal issue, NOT an ethical issue. How one behaves OUTSIDE of the laws is what determines ethics. -TONY

This is gonna be the last batch of pix I post. Some of you other guys need to post some! The first bunch is from two successive pig hunts in the Pinto Creek area. The second bunch was taken on my very FIRST big-game hunt in AZ in 1962 -- deer near Waggoner. The Chevy "woodie" wagon was my first hunting vehicle, and the buck hanging in the tree was mine -- the only one killed on that hunt. I used a Marlin 336 .30/30 with a 4X Weaver scope. -TONY This was the next year after I had painted the Jeep.

My favorite legal thing to do is to shoot a deer in the gut first, and then I like to shoot it in a leg at a time until it can't walk any longer without a whole lot of effort. Once it stops for good, I'll shoot it in the head to put it out of its misery, which is the ethical thing to do. I wouldn't want to be inhumane. -TONY

Actually, I think there will be two photos of you and that monster. The first will be in the Dec. issue of Rocky Mt. Game & Fish with a short recap in my In The Field column. The other will be in a feature article I'm doing on Lake Pleasant for the Feb issue. Are you coming to the party at my place on Sept. 29? If so see the YES RSVP ONLY FOR TONY'S PARTY ON SEPT. 29, 2007 thread. TONY

The .264 is indeed still holding its own, though it has been refurbished a bit. If you look at the OW's 2003 Africa Hunt & OW's 2004 New Zealand Hunt threads, you'll see how it stills perform its tasks quite well. After it got too beat up from carrying it in a saddle scabbard, I had Robar Inc. put a satin silver NP3 coating and McMillan stock on it. The red/white GMC truck was mine. It replaced the 1953 Ford panel truck that's in the photo of me and Duffy. I had pulled the 6-cyl. motor in that and replaced it with a 292 CI V-8. Also changed the 6-volt system to 12. I have a few other photos to upload where the panel was still all white rather than white and orange. The name painted on the front fenders was 'Miss Carriage.' I also pulled the motor out of the '46 Jeep and completely rebuilt it with all new pistons, cam, crankshaft, etc. It was in the first stages of bodywork in the photos on the Kaibab. I towed it behind the bigger trucks. -TONY

A few miscellaneous pix from the past, all circa 1960s. . -TONY The first two are from Big Lake with my trusty springer spaniel Duffy. This one is a mess of white bass from Lake Pleasant. My fishing partner is Ric Clark. My two companions with some trout and walleyes from Canyon Lake.

Some oldies from a circa 1968-69 hunt on the Kaibab's east side. We were camped right alongside the Eastside Game Trail about six miles up from the Houserock Ranch. This was at a time when any deer was legal with a Kaibab permit. The smaller buck in my '46 Willy's Jeep was killed by my grandfather while just sitting on a ridge. He was about 75 then. The big one is the buck on my wall. -TONY

Hey Marshall, I like your camo, too. -TONY

Noel, Geez, what a very small world. That photo on the beach was taken sometime in the late 1960s over New Year's weekend, and that trip was mostly responsible for getting me into outdoor writing because I met Jim Tallon there that weekend. Both of us knew Valentine quite well. We had gone down there with a guy by the name of Ed Bellows who owned a sporting goods store at 27th Ave. and Camelback. And yes, we also used to camp and surf fish for corvina and triggerfish on the beach at Libertad, as well! That's where I hooked and landed my first seagull. -TONY

The photo below is my oldest son, Keith, (right) with the first big-game animal he killed when he was 11. He's now 45. The tale: We had drawn permits for Unit 19, so I went up a couple times to scout beforehand and found a lot of bucks on one of the ranches. One day, I drove into Paulden and asked who owned the ranch. The person told me the owner's name was Bob Keikeffer (sp?). So when I got home I called him and asked permission for us to hunt it, which he gave me. It was myself, my son, a friend (in the pix with Keith) and my grandfather, who was already in his 70s. On the very first day, my son and I were just about to cross one of the fences when I saw a guy on a horse approaching. He rode over to us and asked, "Are you Tony?" When I said I was, he reached down, stuck out his hand and said, "Glad to have you here." Then he proceeded to tell us where he had seen several decent bucks. So that afternoon, we headed to one area where there was a windmill. I stopped to glass and spotted the buck in the photo. He was a good 1/2- mile away. I told Keith I didn't want to shoot it but he could if he wanted. Naturally he was quite anxious to do his part. To that end, I had bought him a used Savage 99 in .300 Sav. that had the stock already shortened. So off we went. We used a deep ravine to cut the distance, but when that petered out, we were still a good 275 yards from the buck with not a bit of cover available other than a couple sage and creosote bushes. The terrain was completely flat. I knew Keith would have a difficult time hitting the 'lope with the Savage at that distance, so I told him the only way he would be able to shoot was if he used my Mod. 70, .264 mag. He had never shot it before and was quite apprehensive about the recoil. He finally said he would use it, however. So I put my pack down in front of him for a rest, and he got into a prone position. At that point, the buck was facing away from us, so I told Keith to wait until the buck turned broadside before shooting. I continued to watch the buck through my binoculars for a couple minutes and saw him start to turn. Just as I said, "Get ready to..." the .264 boomed in my ear. I heard the bullet whack him and watched as he dropped like someone had cut off all four of his legs. I turned to Keith to say something, but he beat me to the punch with, "That didn't kick as hard as I thought it would." The bullet had destroyed the 'lope's heart. Later that fall, he killed his first deer -- a doe on the N. Kaibab. It's the one I have hanging next to my Kaibab buck. Be sure to take note of the effective camo!! -TONY

Two of us, each leading five pack animals, were heading into the Weminuche to set up a camp a week before the actual hunting season opened. My buddy was in front. About two miles from the trailhead on the Vallecito, the trail narrows and climbs above Vallecito Creek on what is basically a 6'-7' wide ledge in the side of the solid rock cliff. The drop down to the creek is about 150'-200'. We had packed a 16'x24' tent on the last horse in my string, and about halfway along the ledge, the tent slipped to one side -- the side nearest the drop-off. The lead rope in my hand nearly jerked my arm out of the socket as the horse went over the side. The lead rope tied to the next horse didn't come lose, so that horse had its butt right at the edge and was about to follow. Fortunately, there was a VERY narrow ledge about 6-8' down with a dead tree sticking out over the drop from there. The horse, with tent still attached, landed on its belly on that ledge and tree and merely stayed put that way. I quickly dismounted and used my knife to cut the other rope. There was but one lone 6"- diameter tree along the ledge, so tying up all the horses there was out of the question. We had to go about 1/4 mile to get to some trees. When we walked back, the horse on the ledge hadn't moved an inch. He just laid there with his legs tucked under him. All we had to do was figure out how the heck we would get him back on the trail since he would have to get up about 6' of sheer rock wall. We knew the first thing we would have to do is get the tent off, though. Soooo....we tied a rope around my partner's waist and he slid his way down to the ledge. The other end was looped around the tree with all 150 lbs. of me hanging on. Once he cut the tent loose, I used the lash rope to drag it up to the trail. The horse still hadn't moved a muscle; he was probably too scared at that point. I tossed the end of the lash rope back down, and he tied it around the horse's neck. I then pulled it as taut as possible and wrapped my end around the base of the lone tree. I tried to pull and maybe get the horse to stand; he wouldn't budge since he felt comfortable and safe the way he was. After some head scratching we decided to have my buddy try to dislodge the dead tree, thus removing some of the comfort. It worked like a charm. As he kicked the tree loose, my buddy slapped the horse in the butt. He bolted up that rocky drop like he was shot out of a cannon and knocked me arse over teakettle. Then he just stood there. We checked him out to make sure he hadn't been injured, then repacked the tent. He stood motionless the whole time. -TONY

Dandy buck. Good job. -TONY

Most definitely! Anything sort of vintage would be great. Mike, That's nor'easter speak. -TONY

Nope, left that business way back in 1979 when some CA guy offered me twice what I had paid for lodge. Today, it's worth $1 million. Actually, the scouts were better than most of the adults I took on pack trips. There was very little complaining, and they behaved fairly well. Rodeos with pack animals are a blast. I lost count of them after a while. On one hunting trip, we headed into our camp. When we got to the campsite, I handed the lead rope for a skittish mule to one guy and asked him to tie it to a sturdy tree. He led the mule to a 6' tall skinny fir and tied a knot about 2' down from the top, then walked away. The mule pulled once, jerked the tree right out of the ground and took off on a dead run, headed back down the trail for home with the tree in tow. We had packed it with two ice chests filled with food. One had a few dozen burritos in it. The packs eventually got lopsided and came undone. The lid of the one ice chest opened, and burritos were flying everywhere. We had to chase that dang mule a good two miles before we got around in front of it enough to grab the lead rope and slow it to a walk. Of course, the worst rodeos are the costly ones. We had two horses on two different occasions go over the side of steep cliffs because of backpackers scaring the dickens out of them. -TONY

Aaaa, yuppers. That's me. I owned a resort at Vallecito Lake about 20 miles from Durango and spent my summers and falls guiding fishermen and hunters. The photo was taken on a fishing trip into the Weminuche Wilderness. I had about 10 Boy Scouts and two leaders in tow on that one. I had just saddled Chiquita and was fastening her hobbles around her neck for safekeeping. Ronaldo, Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. -TONY

This is a shot circa 1975 of a long-haired, hippie cowboy in the Colorado high country with his trusty Appaloosa mare, Chiquita.

Bill, Yup. Crosby Acres it is. I couldn't remember the name. Mike is an electrician and he spends many hours in the bar at Molly's! He's also an avid fisherman, spending most of his time fishing the Little Colorado for brown trout. He's been up there a long time, too, so I'd bet you have crossed paths a few times. -TONY

I'll start it in the Non-hunting trip reports since there's no other appropriate section. Look for the thread title, "The Good 'Ol Days." -TONY

Wanna camp together??? -TONY

Jeff, Okay, I got the photo to open. I had to DL it first rather than just view it by clicking the file name. Great nostalgic shot. I have tons of old pix like that around that were taken with instamatic type cameras. Quality stinks, but they're always fun to look at again. -TONY

Save it as a JPG first, then use the Browse/Upload function below the message box. Once you have it uploaded, click on the file name in the Manage Current Attachments dealie and it will insert the image into your message wherever the cursor was in your reply. -TONY

Thanks, Darren. Glad you enjoyed it. I wish everyone shot photos as well as Josh, Scott Adams and a couple others here. -TONY

Jeff For some reason, I couldn't open the BMP you attached. Dave, Yup, elk were a lot scarcer in the 60s. I killed a small raghorn, but a friend of mine who was a Maricopa County deputy killed a dandy 6x6. Unit 1 is also where one of the more humorous things that has ever happened to me took place on a deer hunt. If we ever get together, remind me to tell you about it. Bill, I have a friend who owns a cabin in Greer. His name is Mike McCormick. His cabin is in that development to the right on the main road coming into town. If I recall the turnoff is just before the campground. Do you know him? -TONY

I think the reel on my son's pole was a 202. And yes, we all slept in that 8x10 Camel tent back then. He'll turn 43 next month. The one in the boat with me will be 46 next May. This is the younger of the two about two years ago. -TONY This one was on the beach at Point Lobos, Mex. His mother told him not to get too close to the water.

I spent a lot of time up in that area in the 1960s and early 1970s. My first AZ elk permit in the late 1960s was in unit 1. I haven't been around Alpine or Hannagan's Meadow in many, many years. Closest I've been is Big Lake a few years ago, but we got there from the other road off the reservation. These are three pix from Big Lake, circa 1968-69. -TONY