Outdoor Writer

I've had a Pioneer one for nine years now. It covers everything that the combo hunt & fish does. Unfortunately, I can no longer do anything. 🤣

Updated: Here ya go: Lifetime License Application form And these are your prices:

It's not a matter of how far; it's a matter of where, whether near or far, and how well you hunt, especially when it comes to glassing. I once killed a buck in 36B behind a ridge that ran along the main road. It was less than 200 yards from the road as the crow flies. That said, if you're seeing alot of hunters, you need to move to less crowded areas, which usually means hiking.

I just listed this on Ebay. So if anyone wants it, better speak up now while I can still cancel it. Or...you can bid on eBay: 193770036976

That's quite a nice trophy for that youngster. Well done.

Hopefully you have a GPS along. Take the Ruby Rd. west past Ruby and watch for a road on the left at 31.460178189681304, -111.24925561627283 that goes to California Gulch. Go south to about 31.444378519493796, -111.23893362190242 where a two-track goes off to the left. Take it a ways and hunt west of that road. A bit farther west past Ruby is a road on the left that goes to Warsaw Canyon at about 31.44561010967598, -111.27419183803671. Go south to Warsaw Spring at 31.42286176181671, -111.2639672573368. Either park or camp in the general area and hunt both west & east of the road. There's also a little two-track at 31°27'47.9"N 111°12'23.2"W along the Ruby Rd. Take it in about 1/2 mile and hunt. Kill a big one.

Wow. The M60 sure has come a long way since I bought mine 60 years ago. 🤯

I haven't watched one in a long time, but it had really gone done hill for many years. I marched in it in 1957 & '58 as a tenor sax player in my HS band from northern NJ. Back then dozens of bands from all over the country took part. This was also before the major influx of the huge balloons; 'floats' were more the rage.

I was googling for something else and came across this obit. There are likely many members here who never heard of Heathington. For a long time, he was a notable guide, especially for bighorn sheep. As mentioned in the obit, one of his regular clients was Robert Petersen. I recall one time sitting at the same guest table at an AZ Elk Society banquet. During the auction, Heathington was on his phone with Petersen so they could coordinate bids on the various permits being auctioned. I can't recall if they won any, though. Fast forward to 2009 when he and a booking agency scammed a hunter out of $70K that was supposed to pay for a bighorn hunt in Mexico. You can read all about it here. In an earlier incident that year, he disappeared for a time while supposedly travelling to guide several hunters, leaving them in a predicament. He later claimed that he had been beaten & robbed -- a tale that was later debunked. From the Kingman Miner newspaper: Larry Heathington crossed his final plateau on earth on Sept. 10, 2020. He was 70 years old. Larry was the first of four children to parents Lawrence Heathington and Faye Anne Wood. He grew up here, a typical childhood in rural America in the 1950s. He was a family oriented child and he spoke fondly of playing with his siblings and cousins. He attended grade school in Kingman, and graduated just in time for the Vietnam War. He served his country well and was proud of his service. Upon coming back home he continued his public service by becoming a police officer in Kingman as well as Gilbert, Arizona in the 1980s. Somewhere along the way he discovered a passion for the wilderness. He started hunting and learning from his mentor, Bernie Lawrence, and he turned this into a successful guide service. Along this path he met another adventurer and they became great friends. His name was Robert Peterson. Their adventures were legendary to say the least. They hunted from Mongolia to Africa, Alaska to Peru, and everywhere in between. Pick up an old copy of Petersons Hunting Magazine and you can read all about it. His journals speak of “wind in the tall grass, trees at first light, sunrises, sunsets, unblemished landscapes in fresh snow, and mornings at high altitude on a clear day.” He reveled in his life and would tell fantastic tales from the expeditions around the world. In his last days he spoke to me about the end. He said “I’ve lived an incredible life; I’ve seen things most men will only dream about. I started with next to nothing and couldn’t have dreamed any of this would happen. A little hard work and a couple of breaks along the way and you can go further than you ever expected. I have few regrets in life and the ones that I brought along are in my distant past. While I’m not looking forward to the end of this chapter, it will certainly take me on another adventure.” Larry was more than just an adventurer. He was loved and cherished by his family. He was preceded in death by his father Lawrence, mother Faye Anne, and sisters Leanne Thornton and Lori Kay Blair. He is survived by his brother, Tom Heathington; his four children, Autumn McNamara (Dominic), Dorothy Heathington, Claudia Desandro (Christopher) and Kevin Heathington; and his grandchildren, Avery McNamara, Cole McNamara and Aiden DeSandro. There will be a celebration of life on Oct. 3 2020 at Metcalfe Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Please bring a lawn chair to sit and visit.

You might be right. There was no actual funeral mentioned, just a 'celebration of life' dealie. I seem to recall that there was also an obit the last time he supposedly died. Maybe he's like the energizer bunny and just keeps going & going & going..... .

I remember that thread. That was different than when he supposedly died of liver cancer way back in 2010 or 2011. But...he's gone now and can't scam anyone again.

Nicely done. 👍 Too pretty a lady to look at sideways.

Yup, as I referred to. I'm not sure of the amount other than the $70K for sure, but there was no doubt more such as those hunters he left stranded. If I recall he even faked his death one time to escape his responsibilities.

Before packing it to ship to the buyer, I was leafing thru the VARMINT HUNTERS DIGEST, written by Jim Dougherty. I ran across these two passages, in regards to Sam's calling technique, as you mentioned. "The real tipoff to this was all wrapped up in Sam Dudley, a good friend of mine, who many, myself included, consider to be the finest caller ever. Dudley would enter a contest on occasion and he could play the game by the rules, one of which was to blow the call as loud and as hard as you can. A lot of money points ride on the volume. But things were different when you made a stand with Sam in the field. Volume wasn't as important as subtle technique; a good bit of perfected coaxing style and a natural talent to know just what bush to set himself before the party got started." ___________________________________________________________________________________ "Dudley made the next stand after spotting Wright and me about 30 yards on each side of his location, a bit farther due to a natural ridge that formed an inverted broken Y. It was typical of Dudley, putting us where we had the edge and would no doubt get the shooting. When Dudley started calling -- the first time I heard him -- I almost smirked. His pattern was subdued, artful in its pleading dialogue but a far cry from what I expected, especially after being dealt with severly for the past two years by his son, the strongest caller the sport has ever known. Dudley's call was almost lazy by comparison. To me, it didn't convey excitement but it was long on realism. Wright and I dropped three dogs on that stand. I said something to Dudley about it as we carried our game back to the truck. 'Son,' he said, 'we're going to do a lot of calling in the next three days, no sense in getting licked and wore out in the first few hours. There's lots of country and lots of coyotes. They all hear real good and I'll last a lot longer this way.' It was a lesson in style garnished with a good deal of class."

Old but still good lookin'!

Jeff was of the same era as Fred. He was a good taxidermist, too. A couple of my friends had him do their work. I met him once at some gathering but don't recall where. 🙄 Marc Plunkett, who mounted all of my critters from Africa and New Zealand, worked for Jeff until his untimely death in a car wreck. Though I never used them, two other local taxidermists that were well liked during that era were Bob James and Bob Hancock.

First published by DBI Books Inc, in 1977, the Varmint Hunters Digest: the how-to book for varminters was written by renowned varmint hunter & caller Jim Dougherty. The 256-pg. paperback contains a chapter on the history of varmint calling from 1956 to 1976 and covers Techniques: how and where to hunt. Calls: all about mouth and electronic game calls. Concealment: how to use camouflage, scents, blinds. Armament: the best rifles, shotguns, handguns, bows. Ammunition: the best calibers, loads, reloads. Bowhunting: ppecial techniques for the archer. Liberally illustrated with black & white photos, including some of the legends of the early calling years such as Sam & Bill Dudley, Doug Kittredge, Larry Eliason, Dougherty and more. My copy is in near pristine, never read condition. I will consider reasonable offers but no trades. Payment via PayPal (buyer doesn't need an acct; just a CC, debit card or checking acct.) or cash only if picked up near 67th Ave. and Camelback in Glendale, AZ. Shipped at buyer's expense ($4). SOLD

You got it!

Speaking of which....I meant to address this earlier. Though he wasn't a mentor of mine per se, the taxidermist Sam Dudley got me to using when I killed my bear while he and I were on the WM res hunting spring turkey was Fred Campbell. He and his wife Louise did their thing out of their house in Avondale across from the high school. Louise made most of the forms he used. In the ensuing years, they did a couple mule deer and one Coues buck, a turkey (now discarded due to bugs), two antelope, a javelina, bobcat rug, the bear rug and my son's Kaibab doe. When I returned to AZ after our 3-year Colo. experiment, Fred had passed away. What I remember most was their extemsive collection of indian artifacts. They had several large glass cases in the reception area that were filled with arrowheads and other such items. Outside on the driveway, long one wall of the house was a lineup of dozens of metates and grinding tools. I never counted but would guess there were at least 25 of them. Fred told me they had found most everything around that the greater Phx area and the White Tanks over many years. If I recall, they named a park in Avondale in his honor.

Here's a good article written in 2009 (a year before his death) about Jim. It paints a nice image of who he was. Local wildlife photographer has seen – and shot – pretty much everything

This place on the westside has a really extensive inventory of propane hardware: Pinnacle Gas Products

Gotcha. The type I had during the '90s were pretty plain-Jane with nothing attached to hold them in place. That task was done with self-adherent surgery tape. It worked well, and the boots never moved to create sore spots. I saw where most of them today have some sort of fasteners, either Velcro or other type straps.

My German shorthair had a similar problem, so I solved it with a set of rubber boots.

GAME AND FISH NEWS Nov. 24, 2020 Out-of-state hunters; Follow rules for bringing harvested deer, elk back to Arizona Arizona's deer and elk populations remain free of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) due to diligent surveillance efforts. PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) reminds hunters who harvest a deer or elk in another state to do their part to help keep Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) at bay when bringing portions of that animal back to Arizona. CWD is a fatal wildlife disease that affects the nervous system of cervids like deer and elk. The department has been testing for the presence of the disease in Arizona since 1998. While CWD has been found in the neighboring states of Utah, New Mexico and Colorado, the disease has not been detected in Arizona. CWD has not been documented to cause disease in people. According to Arizona Commission Rule R12-4-305I, a person may possess, transport or import only the following portions of a cervid lawfully taken in another state or country: Boneless portions of meat, or meat that has been cut and packaged. Clean hides and capes with no skull or soft tissue attached. Antlers, clean skull plates or skulls with antlers attached with no meat or soft tissue remaining, including velvet antlers. Finished taxidermy mounts or products (hunters may ship their harvested animal to a taxidermist) Upper canine teeth with no meat or tissue attached. CWD is transmitted and spread by animal movement and direct contact, which means the illegal importation of a cervid carcass or parts with brain or spinal column tissue of an infected animal could introduce the disease into Arizona. Arizona’s successful in-state hunters also are being encouraged to do their part by bringing the head of their harvested animal, especially bucks and bulls, to any department office statewide — but only after calling first and scheduling a delivery time between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Walk-ins will not be accepted. The preferred method for delivery is to place the head in a heavy-duty plastic trash bag, and keep it cool and out of the sun. AZGFD also requests hunters to provide accurate hunter information (name, telephone number), as well as hunt information (hunt number, game management unit in which the animal was harvested, state and hunting license number). This information is crucial should CWD be detected in a sample. AZGFD officials have not found any cases of CWD in the 800-plus deer (mule and white-tailed) and elk that have been harvested by hunters and voluntarily submitted for testing so far in 2020. In addition to hunter submissions, the department collects samples from across the state through partnerships with meat processors and taxidermists. All hunters are advised not to shoot, handle or consume any animal that is acting abnormally or appears to be sick. Wear latex or rubber gloves when field dressing deer or elk. All hunters are asked to contact the department at 1-(800)-352-0700 if they see or harvest an animal that appears to be sick. For more information about CWD, visit the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website at http://cwd-info.org/. Also, check out a video that addresses 14 of the most commonly asked questions about CWD. The questions were submitted by hunters from across the nation, and the answers were provided by top CWD experts and researchers. The video was produced by the National Deer Alliance.