?"lcrWWM In Yard Of Spring Creek Home \ By RUTIIIE PIPKIN James Arrington of Haywood Coun ty couldn't believe it. Since deer season opened, he'd been chasing the granddaddy of the bucks But now, on the last day, just like the year before, it seemed the whitetail had won. "I'd been there hunting him that morning," Arrington said. "I was fix ing to come on home.'' Out of the woods, Arrington return ed to base camp, the house of his brother-in-law, who lives 12 miles out side of Hot Springs, near Spring Creek. While in the woods, they'd seen the 12-point whitetail several times that season. "I'd done shot at him twice and missed him," Arr ington said. But back on his own turf, Arrington found a surprise. Not more than 50 yards from the house, there stood the deer. "He started to cross the highway, and then the dog barked, and he stepped back toward the house," Arrington said. While the deer was debating direc tions, Arrington, a sportsman for more than 20 years, jumped back in side and grabbed his 300-caliber Win chester Magnum, took aim and bang! He had bagged his deer. His shot hit the noble creature in his left rump and, as he started to run off, he crumpled, falling into the creek. It 162-7/8 on the Boone and Crockett scale. Boone and Crockett measurements were started years ago by the Boone and Crockett Club (named for Daniel and Davie), to help push big-game hunting in North America into the forefront. The measurements are made based on symmetry, compar ing the antlers and points in cir cumference and length. To qualify for the Boone and Crockett record book, a deer must measure 170. That's happened in North Carolina only once, that time with a Granville County deer, said Joffrey Brooks, wildlife biologist for District 9 of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. "U came awfully close," Brooks said of Arlington's deer. "You really don't realize how many millions of whitetail deer have been harvested in North America each year, and how (few) score 170, or even 160. . "! Last year was the first one ever (at 170) of the thousands that have been harvested in North Carolina. So you see, that one that fellow has is a real trophy in itself.'' Arlington was thrilled. "I couldn't believe it had such a rack on him until I saw it," Arrington said. A native of Saunook in Haywood County, Arr ington grew up roaming the moun tains But he says he's never seen a local deer that compares. Arlington has bagged whitetail in Virginia, but was in the habit of giv ing them away. But not this one. As of last Tuesday, it claimed the prized position over the mantle in the Arr ington's living room. "I've always like the outdoor sports, and enjoyed collecting guns," he said. "So I always bunted. But I never really expected to kill one that big." Especially not while standing in the shadow of the front porch. Marion tufl Photo James Arrington or Haywood County shows off the 12-point whitetail deer he shot last winter just 50 yards from his brother-in-law's house in Spring Creek. Forest Service Proposes Changes In Appeal Process The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing changes in the process that allows the public to appeal decisions made by national forest officials. "We reviewed the current regula tion and found that we needed to streamline, expedite and eliminate confusion in the appeals process," said F. Dale Robertson, chief of USDA's Forest Service. The proposal separates appeals on permits with the U.S. Forest Service to use or to occupy National Forest system lands from appeals involving objections to land and resource management planning and project implementation decisions. Currently, all appellants use the same process -- they can obtain review of a forest officer s decision at two higher levels of authority. For ex ample, a district ranger's decision can be appealed to the forest super visor and then to the regional forester. The decision can be changed ? of the levels the proposal, both types of i would be given a streamlin review at the next ad ministrative level, with discretion for further review at one more level. Ap- ? peals involving special use permits would retain many of the features of the current rule. Contractual disputes would not be subject to either rule. "Our appeals process is a valuable way to review key decisions, but it has been abused and has become too slow and too costly a tradeoff that im peded land and resource manage ment activities," Robertson said. The proposal encourages comment regar ding the payment of filing fern to discourage abuse of the appeals pro cess, he said. If the proposed rules are adopted, the U.S. Forest Service will monitor how well deciding and reviewing of ficers meet deadlines and prompt ac tion will be taken to remedy ex cessive delays in processing of ap peals. Robertson said. The proposal was published in the May 16 Federal Register. Comments on the proposal must be received in writign by July 15 and should be sent to F. Dale Robertson, Chief (1570), Forest Service, USDA, P.O. Box Forest Service, UED/ ^ 77% of all newspaper readers look at every page. That is impressive. Especially since nearly half of any prime-time television audience is engaged in some other activity at the same time they are watching. Simply put, TV doesn't get the attention of active voters the way newspaper advertising can. So if you want to send your message to active voters who will pay attention to your message, use newspaper advertising. Auto Stereo with Cassette ? Dig?ta< Tun* 4 dock Hf O 0 ? 15 Statto* Pre Sat W W O O ? Autoravaraa. Fader V ^ ^ ? ? 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