Outdoor Writer

VERY nice! A "well done" to everyone, especially Hunter. 👍

Man, that's a name I haven't heard in a while. He was a really good caller and won quite a few calling and predator hunting events as a member of the Phoenix Varmint Callers Association. I seem to recall him passing away about 15-20 years ago. I think his school is still in business.

That was a wack'em and stack'em contest. We're talking about two different things from two different eras. My reference was to the following, which I had posted earlier in the thread: "He and a few others started the calling craze in AZ in the 1950s and organized The Arizona Varmint Callers. They held regular contests and set up the world championship." The above were merely CALLING contests where an individual would call for panel of judges who were screened off so they couldn't ID the caller. There were no critters or shooting involved, and the winners received money and a trophy. That said, those early clubs also conducted wack'em and stack'em events but no where near the magnitude of the recent types. They were not open to the general public but conducted as small club-level contests, much like the early bass tournaments were here in AZ in the 1960s. Then as the years went by and calling spread, the predator hunting contests grew larger.

These were calling contests, not whack 'em and stack 'em ones.

I still have the wooden one that I used on the bear. It was given to me in the 1960s by Jack Cain -- the brain behind Circe right here in Buckeye. He and a few others started the calling craze in AZ in the 1950s and organized The Arizona Varmint Callers. They held regular contests and set up the world championship. It's sort of humorous that we're discussing this now, because a couple weeks ago after mention of the Lee Bros, I was going to start a thread with the title of "Tales & Legends From the Past." It was going to be sort of a trip down memory lane for me from the 1960s on. One of the first mentions would have been my main hunting mentor from that era who was a legend in the calling world. He taught me how to call and was chasing his turkey on the res while I tried to entice the lion after already tagging my bird.. Given the general tone on this site lately, however, I decided not to start the discussion. Like most others, it would have been side tracked with a lot of inane blabbing. This is the bear from the res:

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Yup. I recall him writing about his bear calling exploits before that method became very popular with the crowd. Ironically, I killed my first bear by calling it in with a Circe jackrabbit call near Cibeque Ridge on the WMA res in the 1960s before the tribe managed hunting. It was by accident, though, because I was trying to lure in a lion after I had seen its fresh tracks the day before while I was concentrating on killing a gobbler.

I remember them. That was many years ago (1980s?) when Ben Avery was still doing a column. I met Ned once but didn't know Petersen at all.

My Italian grandfather who has been deceased for many years now, plucked the birds, gutted them and cut off the feet. Then he would lightly sautee them in olive oil before adding them into his tomato marinara sauce while it was still cooking. He cooked his quail the same way, basically like cooking meatballs.

Next month, the AZ State Fair starts. I remember when they used to have a huge tent set up with a carny barker trying to sell the guy who swallowed swords, the 30" midget and the fat lady with tattoos all over her. I think it costs like $1 to get in. I was in Walmart the other day and saw the tattooed fat lady and it didn't cost me a cent.

Welcome to AZ hunting. Good tale, but don't be surprised if someone asks, "What did he score?" 🤣

Will anxiously await the phots and tale of the hunt. Good luck.

One of these days, I'll tell you a funny story about my first AZ hunting buddy -- my grandfather.

Hirsch, Whitaker and Gallizioli were long-time friends of mine. I knew both Vallentine and Avery on a first name basis but didn't mix with them often. I borrowed Hirsch's trailer for an elk hunt in unit 7 during the 1990s. The bathroom and kitchen areas were in pretty bad shape. So when I got home I asked him if he would be using it anytime soon, which he wasn't. So I kept it at my place and completely renovated the damaged stuff, including rebuilding the entire cabinet area that housed the stove and sink and replacing the wood flooring and vinyl in the bathroom. Gallizioli, Jim Tallon and I hunted dove and quail together many times over the years. Steve was still working for the department back then. I lost touch with him about 10 years ago and saw where he died a while back. Tallon, who was my mentor in the writing business, and Whitaker are also dead.

The story I did on it is in the book itself, and I also had it published in Rocky Mt. Game & Fish magazine. I can't recall without looking at my files, but it might also have been in AZ Hunter & Angler.

I'm plenty old enough to remember when hunting and fishing had its own full "outdoors" page in the Phoenix Gazette (now defunct) and AZ Republic. Slowly over the years it shrunk and eventually was shut down. I believe the last outdoor editor at the Republic was DeWayne Smith. Edited: After some thought, I seem to recall Barry Burkhart, not DeWayne was actually the last outdoor editor.

Nice buck, but he won't be breaking any records with it. Both typical and nontypical P&Y Coues deer scored over 130. Sergio Orozco's typical scored 130 1/8 and graces the cover of HOW TO HUNT COUES DEER.

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I've done both with my ammo and never had a problem. Just be sure it's in original boxes or the plastic ones. Easier if you put it in the gun case, however, to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. That way you don't also have to open your bag for inspection if the agent is picky. As for the case, I have a Kalispel two-gun aluminum that I'll be listing for sale. It's built like a tank of heavy-duty .80 ga. aluminum with all welded corners and a locking rod. If you're interested, send me PM. It's like the one on the right in the link below: https://www.kalispeltribe.com/programs-and-services/kalispel-career-training-center/kalispel-case-line-1

There are different rules in place for sporting equipment such as gun cases, and most airlines are the same. For example, this is Delta's: https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/baggage/before-your-trip/special-items.html

Sounds like your expertise with a shotgun is akin to mine. Although I could hit clays 22-23 times out of 25, I stunk up the place when shooting at feathered critters. There were many times when I was out quail hunting where it looked like my shorthair turned to me after a miss, and I could swear if she could talk, she would have sarcastically said "Hey deadeye. How's about letting me shoot and you find the dang birds?"