Outdoor Writer

I was going through some folders and came across the image below. So I figured I'd give PRDATR a chance to make one of his snarky comments and for all the rest of you guys to have a hoot and holler. My friend of 40 years, Joe Reynolds, who lives in Ocean City, MD, was the photographer. At the time, I was a field editor for Outdoor Life and he was the northeast regional editor for Field & Stream. We were also business partners in the running of CompuServe (now owned by AOL) outdoor forums for about 15 years. Although Joe and I hunted doves once near Navajoa, Mex., he's more of a fisherman than a hunter, preferring to use his fly-fishing skills for about any species. Consequently, on an almost twice-a-year basis from 1980 until about 2008, he and I have fished all over the US and in a couple Canadian provinces. This was one of those trips. The set-up photo was taken on a horseback fishing trek into the Bob Marshall Wilderness sometime during the late 1980s. This is where we were fishing. We could view mountain goats on the slopes while catching huge cutthroats. SUNBURST LAKE

I was really surprised by the fish size because Mexican Hay doesn't always have water in it. Heck, when we were fishing it, we could wade anywhere in the water because it's only a couple feet deep. Yes on the snow. Here are a few more photos of Joe on our various fishing outings. Lee's Ferry Lake Pleasant white bass Green River - Utah brown trout Reservation Lake - AZ -- Brown trout San Juan River, NM -- Rainbow trout

It isn't "wild," but I'm getting ready to smoke a bunch of pork Thurs. I have two 8 lb. shoulder roasts and three racks of baby back ribs. I'll outline my normal way and see if anyone has any other suggestions. I use a Masterbuilt 30" electric smoker, and applewood chunks provide the smoke for pork. First the ribs: I cover both sides with yellow mustard and then put a combination of dry rub seasonings and brown sugar on them. Then they get wrapped in Saran for an overnight stay in the fridge. For smoking, I use a 3-2-1 method at a temp of 225, and water in the pan. I put them on the racks bare for the first 3 hrs., then take them out and spray them with apple juice before tightly wrapping in foil. After 2 hrs., I pull them, unwrap, put on a light layer of BBQ sauce and put them back in bare for 1 more hr. When done, I cut into meal-size slabs (usually 2 hunks per slab), vacuum seal and freeze. BBQ sauce is added when eating. The roasts for pulled pork: The first steps before putting them in the fridge are the same except I do inject apple juice throughout the roast. For cooking, I use temperature rather than time and do them at the same time as the ribs. They go in unwrapped and stay in until they get to about 170 deg. as per the digital thermometer built into the smoker. Once they reach that, I take them out, inject more juice, wrap in foil and put them back in the smoker until they get to 200 deg. When done, I pull the meat using two forks, wrap in meal and sandwich size amounts in Saran, insert into a 1 gal. zipper bag and freeze. BBQ sauce is added when eating. Now I'm hungry...….😎

Do pellets come in "wood" flavors such as apple, mesquite, hickory, etc.?

No need to tell me the argumentative part. I know you better than that. 👍 I'm not saying having 4 Bps is bad. What I'm saying is trying to calculate the odds can't be done accurately. And yeah, it would be cumbersome. So bear with me here and then you can tell me where I've gone astray. For the non-BP pass, in order to figure any odds using the BPs that will produce any kind of accurate statistical data to know where someone goes in the line seems near impossible unless you know all these things: 1. The number of digits used in each random number such as 0000, 00000, 000000, etc. Knowing that, you can calculate the total number of possible random numbers that are generated each time. Think state lottery here where the odds of winning are always the same based on the combinations and not the number of ticket sold. 2. The number of NR hunters, both 1st and 2nd choice, and the number of BPs (including the app) each one has. 3. Same as 2 for AZ hunters. 4. The TOTAL of all the BPs for every hunter combined. With all of the above some sophisticated software would be needed to calculate the true odds using BPs as the basis. And then...if it's all based on last year's draw, it won't be near accurate because many of the stats will be different. Those that were drawn are gone, others apply elsewhere and new aps get into this year. Lastly, as we both know, the odds in the 2nd pass are often meaningless. That's why someone with one BP gets a permit and someone with 10 BPs doesn't. IOW, it's always a crapshoot. 🤣

In a way, yes; in a way, no. If there are 100 hunters after 20 tags, there will still be 100 hunters after 20 tags once all the numbers are assigned. All the random numbers do is put all the hunters in line by the order of the lowest to highest. Probably why AGFD figures the final odds the way it does.

Joe and I on Mexican Hay Lake near Springerville. It was raining like he!!, but the fishing was so good, we just kept at it. These football-shaped rainbows were hitting Wooly Worms like crazy. The images suck because they're old scans of slides done on a flatbed scanner. I'll add a few more photos later.

Doing a mass reply here. The good ol' days is right on. I wish I could turn back the clock about 40 years, but even 25 would do. If someone had told me I would live this long, I would have taken better care of my body. 😉 That's a great and very relevant quote. I should use it as a signature here. That spot ranks right at the top of the most scenic places I've visited. The water was so crystal clear we could see the trout swimming 10-15 ft. deep. Nearby Glacier NP is also very scenic, and Lake Louise in Alberta has an incredible backdrop. If I recall, it was an old Playboy that had had the cover ripped off. I think I was looking at the centerfold. That's grizzly country, and it's hard to run with your pants around your ankles. It was late June but still lots of snow on top on the northern facing slopes. We had just finished up with an outdoor writers conference in Kalispell. Oh no, they were down quite far enough; trust me. 😉 Glad I was able to keep you entertained, Casey. BMW and Glacier are spectacular areas to visit.

https://www.fieldandstream.com...the-meaning-of-life/ What Is the Meaning of Life? David E. Petzal shares the most valuable lessons he’s learned during his lifetime in the outdoors By David E. Petzal December 25, 2019 I’ve been around awhile. When I was born, there were men alive who had fought in the Civil War. I can remember bits and pieces of World War II, and I clearly remember life before television. I bought my first rifle in 1956, began shooting in organized competition in 1958, and got my first hunting license in 1960. After 70-some years of fart­ing around on this planet, mostly out of doors, I can’t exactly tell you the meaning of it all. But as it says in the insurance ad, I know a thing or two because I’ve seen a thing or two. Here’s some of it. 1. Hunters, more than other people, are reverential of life because they know far better than others how difficult it is to stay alive, and how ­suddenly life can end. 2. There’s no worse experience than putting down a dog. She would die for you, and now she’s dying because of you. 3. Big-game hunting is the great leveler among men. Either you can climb the mountain or you can’t; either you can shoot or you can’t; ­either you hold up your end or you don’t. Money, education, and social standing have no ­bearing on any of this. 4. Nothing in the outdoors gets your attention like a grizzly paw print with water still oozing into it. 5. According to anthropologists, Neanderthals never built big fires to sit around and swap stories, which is one of the reasons why they vanished and our ancestors did not. 6. The best judges of ­character I have met are African trackers. Their assessments are ­brutal. One hunter with a drinking problem became “Bwana Ginni Bottle.” Of Robert ­Ruark they said, “He has bad legs and much fear.” To ­paraphrase Hamlet: Of all the people in the world, you do not want a bad review from them. 7. The great, unspoken allure of true wilderness, in an era when we are trying to remove all risk from life, is that if you screw up in it, you can die in it. 8. When The Moment comes, your armored, shockproof, waterproof, SEAL-approved $75 butane survival lighter will go click…click…click…click…click…click…. 9. Scent is the great memory jogger of the outdoors. If you smell an elk ­wallow, your hair will stand up ­every time you scent one thereafter. 10. You may have the hardest body in your gym, but you’re not going to be able to keep up with someone who runs up mountains as a regular thing, even if they’re 30 years older and smoke three packs a day. 11. Ecstasy can be defined as how you feel when you’ve gotten your critter and can stay in your sleeping bag while all the other poor ­bastards who haven’t ­gotten theirs are rolling out at 3:30 a.m. 12. Hunting and fishing are, at their core, sports of solitude, and they will end when enough sh!theads decide that nothing is worth Being Out of Touch. 13. Some of the ­greatest thinking takes place in bathrooms. If I’m told by people that they read my stuff in the john, I take it as a ­compliment. 14. Being afraid is a waste of time, in the outdoors or anywhere else. What bites you in the a$$ is going to be something you never worried about. 15. There comes a moment in the life of every hunter or angler when intuition blossoms and they Catch On. In my case, this held for hunting but not for flyfishing. I became an acceptable caster but remained baffled about everything else. If this happens to you, accept it. You don’t have a choice. 16. True marksmanship requires a tranquil mind. I’ve never met an angry man who was a good shot. 17. When Homo sapiens is ­finally gone, Earth will give a shudder of relief and clean ­itself up again, just as it ­always has, over and over, in its 4.6 billion years. 18. A long time ago, I read the words: “Like most brave men, he was also kind.” Experience has proved this out. The sons of b!tches you meet usually have a yellow streak, in addition to being sons of b!tches. 19. I’ve been writing for Field & Stream since 1972 and am proudest of the fact that every time I’ve made a mistake, the readers have caught it. 20. Hospitals ask you to describe your pain on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being unbearable. There is an 11, and you can experience it on any horseback ride longer than one-tenth of a mile. 21. If you want to be a legend in your own time, never say a word about your accomplishments; let others do it for you. 22. “Thank you” is the most ­useful phrase in any language. That’s why I learned to say it in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Swedish, Shona, Russian, ­Kikuyu, and Afrikaans. 23. For those who would be writers, here is a golden rule: Keep your big mouth shut and listen. 24. In New Zealand, a South ­African told me that the reason he hunted was to be able to stand alone in the wilderness and be reminded of his own insignificance. Ted Trueblood used to do the same thing by letting the campfire die out as he sat watching the stars. 25. If you’d like to know the true worth of a person, watch how they deal with major disappointment on a big-game hunt. 26. Whenever you leave ­wherever you’ve been, turn and look one last time to engrave in your mind what it looks like, because you’ll probably never see it again. 27. What I’d like as my epitaph: “He had just enough intelligence to appreciate it all.”

Love those tall racks. Well done. 👍

Although I haven't seen either of them since the 2005 SHOT show in LV, I've known them both for more than 40+ years. They are both classy gentlemen. I've hunted with Craig a few times - twice in Alabama for whitetail and once here in AZ on the Havasupai Res. for pronghorns. This is Sasha, a silver Lab that we adopted at 5 from the AZ Labrador and Giant Breed rescue group. She died suddenly in the middle of the night after going into a room that she rarely entered. It was the last place I checked after 15 mins. of trying find her outside or in the other rooms. She was 10. And this is Hershey. We had him as a foster "child" for two weeks, and even though my wife said no more dogs after Sasha died, she couldn't resist Hershey's great temperament. He was without a doubt, the mildest mannered and smartest dog we've ever owned. He was also 5 when we officially adopted him from the same group. His hearing and eyesight started to deteriorate badly, and then his left hip went bonkers one day. He couldn't even get up. We took him to the Humane Society that day and had him put down. He was 11.

Me, too after losing two great rescue Labs over the past 15 years.

I'd bet your proctologist hates it when you visit him.

I saw some of that series when it was on PBS. It was well done. And you're right. I'd bet some of the same photos from these books were used in the TV series.

FISHING REPORT Dec. 26, 2019 Arizona Game and Fish Department TIP OF THE WEEK Wait until some stable weather to do some crappie fishing. Bass fishing should take a temporary lull too. Typically, it is winter crappie time. Unsteady weather has made crappie fishing hit and miss. Roosevelt Lake, Alamo Lake and even Patagonia Lake near Tucson can have good winter crappie action. Not a whole lot of time until the bass bite slows noticeably. The water temperature at Roosevelt lake is likely in the mid-50s, and as water temperature near closer to 50 degrees (and below), the metabolism of bass will slow and anglers will have to fish particularly deep and use extra slow presentations (with dropshots, Texas rigs, etc). Happy holidays, anglers, Trout fishing remains the best bet in the state due to more unstable weather. Good news: Last week, we stocked more than 4 tons of trout statewide. If you’re near one of our Community Fishing Program waters (and we have 45 waters in 21 communities), catching trout shortly after a stocking can be one of the best bets for winter fishing success. Some anglers will put their tackle into hibernation with this colder weather -- but the trout should be biting for a while. Nothing like "Trout Fishing in the City" during the holidays. Winter Fishing Forecasts: Stake out your Spot Our winter fishing forecasts are out! This is the most comprehensive source of fishing information in the state. See the reports by region. Catch of the Week Send your fishing reports and photos to BFishing@azgfd.gov -- one will be selected for Catch of the Week Roosevelt Lake Ruth R.: Caught on Roosevelt Lake Dec. 20 on a nightcrawler. Measured 21 3/4 inches (14-inch girth). Catch and release. What's been stocked this week ("Catchable" sizes only; water temp in parenthesis if available) Rainbow trout: No stockings this week. See last week's report for waters stocked. Thank you, anglers! Arizona fishing opportunities wouldn’t be possible without the Sport Fish Restoration Program. It was created through the Dingell-Johnson Act of 1950 (Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act) and the Wallop-Breaux amendments of 1984. Through a federal excise tax paid by manufacturers on fishing gear and motorboat fuels, it provides grant funds for fishery conservation, boating access, and aquatic education. Save time, buy online Grab a license online (that helps conserve all species of wildlife, not to mention provides funding that goes back into fishing opportunities) and go "Fish AZ". SEE MORE REPORTS

Lee, Man, what a terrible way to spend Christmas. Good luck with the healing. Did you see the spider that bit you??

Turn up your sound and enjoy the season...

Depends on what, where and how I'm hunting. 🤷‍♂️

BTT

You mean one of those dang spiders made that hole???

Good looking 3x3. Well done. 👍 I killed a similar one in Colorado a few years back, but it has the opposite configuration of yours. Mine has the forks in front with 18" long tins to the rear. It also has two little points coming out of the head at the base of each antler. I call them devil points. There's a photo of it about 1/2-way down this page: https://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/89066-the-trophy-room/?page=3

That sure looks like a major owie, Lee. What the heck did you do?

Neat stuff. Thanks for sharing.

GAME AND FISH NEWS Dec. 23, 2019 Arizona Game and Fish Department Tonto Draft Land Management Plan released for public comment Tonto National Forest to hold public meetings beginning Jan. 8; comment period ends March 12, 2020 PHOENIX -- Outdoor recreationists are advised that the Tonto National Forest on Dec. 13 released a draft land management plan (draft forest plan) and draft environmental impact statement for public review and comment. According to a news release from the Forest, the draft plan reflects changes in social, economic and ecological conditions since the current plan was approved in 1985. It outlines the strategic management for 2.9 million acres of national forest for the next 10 to 15 years. The Tonto National Forest will hold a series of public meetings to discuss the draft forest plan and draft environmental impact statement and provide opportunities for comment. Maps and other planning materials will be available for review and planning team members will be present to answer questions. Evening open house public meetings: Jan. 8, 2020, 5-8 p.m. - Mesa, Franklin Junior High School Jan. 9, 5-8 p.m., Payson, Julia Randall Elementary School Jan. 22, 5-8 p.m., Payson, Julia Randall Elementary School Jan. 23, 5-8 p.m., Superior, Superior Junior/Senior High School Feb. 5, 5-8 p.m., Cave Creek, Desert Foothills Library Feb. 6, 5-8 p.m., Globe, High Desert Middle School Public working days at Tonto National Forest offices: Jan. 8, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Globe, Globe Ranger District Office Jan. 10, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Cave Creek, Cave Creek District Office Jan. 16, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.,Phoenix, Tonto National Forest Supervisors Office Jan 22, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Tonto Basin, Tonto Basin Ranger District Office Jan. 23, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Mesa, Mesa Ranger District Office Jan. 30, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Payson, Payson Ranger District Office All-day technical partner meetings: Jan. 29, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Phoenix, 24th Street Conference Center Feb. 25, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Phoenix, location to be determined. Written and electronic comments will be accepted during the comment period, which ends March 12, 2020. The draft forest plan, draft environmental impact statement, frequently asked questions, how to comment guide, and additional details about the public meetings are available at http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/tontoplan.

My two were one of those fancy Schwinn Hornet bikes in 1953 and a Marlin Glenfield M60 when I was 16.