Outdoor Writer

Did you see the article on Luke's Colorado carp deer in the latest RM G&F mag? -TONY

Here's the short release I wrote up on this rack several months ago for NORTH AMERICAN WHITETAIL magazine. -TONY WORLD-RECORD COUES DEER The Boone and Crockett Club officially recognized a buck from Graham County, Arizona as the new non-typical Coues deer world record. The antlers score a whopping 196 2/8 points, besting the old record by 10 1/8 points. The announcement at the 25th North American Big Game Awards in Kansas City, Missouri during June 2004 occurred after the B&C?s Record Committee thoroughly investigated the authenticity of the Coues deer antlers because of the circumstances involved in their discovery. Buck Buckner, chairman of the B&C?s Record Committee, said the remarkable trophy has the basic Coues? deer configuration, as well as the narrow, inter-pedicel width measurements characteristic of Coues? deer. The rack shows evidence of gnawing by rodents, and is missing a couple of point tips. Two broken abnormal points were x-rayed, as was the entire rack. According to the background B&C was able to piece together, a now deceased member of the Apache tribe killed the buck in the Mt. Turnbull area of the San Carlos Apache Reservation sometime around 1971, and the antlers remained within the family until a nephew sold them to an antler buyer. The buyer later sold them to the current owners, Dana J. Hollinger and Bob Howard. The two men, who collect antlers, submitted the trophy to B&C in December 2003. A special B&C judge?s panel, convened especially to verify possible world-record heads, officially scored the deer as the new record. The non-typical rack, with an inside spread of 12 3/8 inches, sports 11 points on the right side and 15 on the left side. The main beam lengths are 20 4/8 and 19 3/8 respectively, and the smallest circumference between the burr and first point on each side measured 4 6/8.

I just had another spot come open for a late season (2005 rifle or 2006 archery) ARIZONA or NEW MEXICO hero-type Coues article. Must be a decent buck and also have good photos of such. Anyone interested in being interviewed for the article can contact me here via a private message. Thanks. -TONY

A bit of a contradiction in the above, no? Let's back up PRIOR to the recommended changes, like to the survey G&F conducted a while back where a majority of those who took it wanted *MORE* opportunity to hunt. The change to the late whitetail seasons was an effort to do just that, thus managing wildife for the whole rather than a much smaller segment of hunters. The game dept. thought the recommendations did just that, thus had no reason to conduct ANOTHER survey of its own. Now, one thing I can't quit grasp is this: In the CENTRAL units where there are now fewer late tags, the late season will become a more QUALITY hunt for those lucky enough to draw. I certainly would prefer it that way rather than having three times as many hunters afield as it had been. In fact, I probably answered the survey questions much differently than most members here. Yeah, they were likely doing their jobs -- managing both wildlife and people to the best of their ability. Sometimes it merely comes down to the adage, "damned if you do, damned if you don't." Certainly, they are not infallible. Overall, however, the AGFD probably ranks in the tyop 10 in this country. -TONY

I conducted the interview as part of the 2006 Arizona Deer Forecast, which will be published in the Sept issue of Rocky Mt. G&F magazine. So it's really not the complete interview with Wakeling, though there is some of it quoted verbatim. But we sure discussed lots of things. I *think* I know the reason, but I'll call Wakeling again in the morning and put your #1 & 2 on the table. Stay tuned. -TONY

Dave, The 10 percent allocation of whitetail tags is for OVERALL, not on a per unit basis. Total of whitetail permits for this year is 17,120, and there are 1,730 late season ones. G&F tried to keep a min. of 50 late tags in each unit, however. Last year, more than 17 percent overall were late tags. In general, the changes amounted to an overall increase of about 445 permits statewide. I just did an extensive hour-long interview with Brian Wakeling Friday for an article. It SEEMS there's lots of erroneous info out there. I filled out the ADA survey online weeks ago, and as I soon as I did, I had the same concerns Bill Quimby has aired here. Little from that survey can used as a valid polling simply because of how it was conducted. I could have taken the survey several times. Plus, any time one side or the other has a chance to RALLY survey takers, it pretty much tosses out the validity of results because of the lack of randomness involved. That's why pollsters use the telephone to call survey respondents who are generally unaware of the issue(s) and questions beforehand and normally use a smaller sampling such as 1,000 folks. Mike, The very reason that they moved many of the Coues permits from late to early in the central units is why the numbers are skewed toward the latter. The basic premise was to INCREASE hunter opportunity while keeping the harvest pretty much the same. They were able to do that because the early season has a MUCH LOWER success rate -- thus more permits can be issued. So here's what they came up with: Last year in 6A there were 175 early and 150 late; this year 400 and 50 -- and increase of 125 permits. In 23, 300/150 to 425/50 -- and increase of 25. In 24A, it was 175 late only in 2005 and now 550/50 -- an increase of 425 permits. So in these units, there are now 575 more opportunties for permits. TONY

Also, perhaps 10 or 20 years down the road when more habitat disappears, the NR cap might need to be lowered even more, like to 5% of the permits. Soooo...with a law in place, rather than a somewhat easy change through the game commission's rule-making process, we'll be asking the legislature to do it -- maybe. -TONY

Better be careful what we wish for here. While this particular enactment favors hunters, the next one proposed by a legislator symphatheic to anti-hunters might not. Letting the legislature get its nose under the tent flap in regards to writing rules regulating G&F matters is like the proverbial slippery slope. -TONY

Chris is the guy. Here's what happend when I tried to send to josh@rimrock-outfitters.com. -TONY A copy of your message is being returned to you due to difficulties encountered while attempting to deliver your mail. Very often people attempt to send mail to USERIDs, which are not known to this particular system. The following errors occurred during message delivery processing: <smtp email.msn.com antlerboy132@email.msn.com 99>: ...\ <<- RCPT To:<antlerboy132@email.msn.com> ->> 550 Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable

hey guys, I had a castastropic hard drive crash about two weeks ago, and although I was able to recover most of my data I lost of my email addresses and saved emails that were in my Outlook folders. Among those were contact phone numbers and photos for an upcoming article I have to do on Coues bucks killed in NM and AZ during the 2004 seasons. Now, among those that I need to contact for sure are Scott Adams, Josh Epperson, Tommy Maldonado (sp?) and Ron Price. So if you guys would send me an email at tony10(remove this)@outdoors.net ASAP, I'll let you know what I need. Amanda, I'm posting this message here and in the NM section. Hope that's OK. It's an emergency. -TONY

Josh, Done. It's on its way. -TONY

Actually I had a backup and recovered 98% of my data. The problem arose with my email program, Outlook. I was using it at the time the crash occurred, thus the PST file that keeps all of the folders and saved messages got hosed. Anyway, I've heard from Tommy, Josh and Scott, who is on vacation in TX. Still waiting on Ron Price, though. You probably saw my message on MM by now. -TONY

No, my last name begins with an "M," though. -TONY

hey guys, I had a castastropic hard drive crash about two weeks ago, and although I was able to recover most of my data I lost all of my email addresses and saved emails that were in my Outlook folders. Among those were contact phone numbers and photos for an upcoming article I have to do on Coues bucks killed in NM and AZ during the 2004 seasons. Now, among those that I need to contact for sure are Scott Adams, Josh Epperson, Tommy Maldonado (sp?) and Ron Price. So if you guys would send me an email at tony10 (remove this) @outdoors.net ASAP, I'll let you know what I need. Amanda, I'm posting this message here and in the NM section. Hope that's OK. It's an emergency. -TONY

Jason, Next Dec. issue of Rocky Mountain Game & Fish magazine. Covers and is distributed in seven RM states. -TONY

Hi Jason, I don't buy photos when I'm writing an article on someone's hunt. Any that are used do have the photographer's byline on them, though. -TONY

Whoops. This was a dupe. -TONY

hey guys, I had a castastropic hard drive crash about two weeks ago, and although I was able to recover most of my data I lost all of my email addresses and saved emails that were in my Outlook folders. Among those were contact phone numbers and photos for an upcoming article I have to do on Coues bucks killed in NM and AZ during the 2004 seasons. Now, among those that I need to contact for sure are Scott Adams, Josh Epperson, Tommy Maldonado (sp?) and Ron Price. So if you guys would send me an email at tony10(remove this)@outdoors.net ASAP, I'll let you know what I need. Amanda, I'm posting this message here and in the NM section. Hope that's OK. It's an emergency. -TONY

AZ, My two cents worth: The ballistics for a 130-gr. bullet from your .270 are very close to what I get in my .264 with 140-gr. bullets. Since I quit reloading several years ago, I've been using Winchester's factory loads with 140-gr. Powerpoint. My son also now uses them in his .270 because I no longer reload for him either. Over the last 2 years, that load has accounted for 11 of 12 African critters from a warthog up to a kudu. Only thing I shot with my .300 WM was a zebra. I used more than one shot on only one -- a black wildebeest -- that I had hit a bit far forward while it was trotting thru the brush. Although the first shot did put him down, I decided to finish the job quickly. Below is a bullet from a blue wildebeest. He was facing directly at me at about 175 yards, so I aimed just below his jaw. Bullet stopped up against the hide next to his tail. He went down where he stood as if someone had chopped off his legs and never twitched. In BC, a month prior to the African hunt, I killed a 7'6" black bear with one shot at about 100 yards. He was standing nearly broadside but at a slight angle facing me. I nailed him through the front shoulder. The bullet took out both lungs, traveled through the rear ham and stopped up against the hide. Bear ran about 20 yards and died. Bullet was nicely expanded and held together quite well considering what it went through. In New Zealand in 2004, the same bullet dropped a red deer stag, chamois, tahr and Arapawa ram -- all one shot kills. Only the tahr went a few yards before dying. If you decide to use another Winchester bullet for bear other than the Powerpoint, I would go with the Accubond rather than the rapid expanding bullets. Save the latter for Coues deer. -TONY

Diamondbackaz, That's an excellent site for FACTUAL information. The paper CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE: IMPLICATIONS AND CHALLENGES FOR WILDLIFE MANAGERS by Beth Williams is a good overview. One FACT to pay attention to is the incubation period of CWD. The minimum time that has been proven in wildlife has been 15 months from EXPOSURE. That was the reason I had asked someone the question about how long it takes for the disease symptoms to appear. Now if anyone here really wants to learn something about CWD, instead of citing the expertise of Murphy, attend the 2nd International CWD Symposium in July. The first one in 2004 was quite informative since those taking part DO KNOW what they're talking about. -TONY

Hunterdude, And you remind me of the typical big mouth who thinks ad hominen attacks change facts. They don't. All they do is make the point that you have no facts to put forth. Grow up. Have a nice night. -TONY

Newbe, Yes, no need to tell anyone. It's obvious. Here's the pertinent one -- once again. The cause of death was confirmed as Creutzfeldt-Jakobs Disease (CJD) NOT Chronic Wasting Disease. NO game animals anywhere have ever tested positive for CJD. Even Murphy can't change the above. -TONY

Kevin, Yuppers. That would be Tom Thorne and Beth Williams. I had spoken to them several times over the years while researching articles on CDW. Good people and probably the most knowledgable in the world on CWD. They also did a lot of research on brucellosis. -TONY

Lark, >>heard this weekend that a good friend died from what they think was cwd.<< You can start with the above as hearsay and rumor. It's the first sentence of your first message. I THOUGHT I had a heart attack several months ago; it was indigestion. >>it isn't a disease that just happens, you get it from something that has it. from what i can gather,<< The above also isn't necessarily true of CJD. That's why it's referered to as random or sporadic. In many cases, all the symptoms are identical to Alzheimer's and even an autopsy of the brain requires much testing to decide whether it CJD or Alzheimer's. Both affect brain tissue in a similar fashion. The same tests also show whether the prion is CJD, CWD or Mad Cow related. As for what the "scientists" think, I've been covering CWD since the very first critter with it was discovered in the wild during the 1970s. Same with whirling disease in trout. The FACTS, however, are what I posted. Anything else is nothing but specualtion. Are you even aware how long it normally takes for the symptons of any "prion" borne disease to appear in humans and how long it takes before they actually die from the diseases? Are you aware that INGESTION appears to be the only way humans have contracted mad cow disease to date? Covered the CWD stuff earlier. -TONY

Bingo! Rumors and hearsay too often grow legs of their own. I've already interviewed several folks for a piece I'm writing on this, and so far there is NO indication any of the hearsay and rumor bear any resemblance to the facts. -TONY