The 2005 Don Q Awards for 'Noteworthy' activities in the Great Outdoors

Here are the winners of the 2005 "Don Q" awards for "noteworthy" activities in the Great Outdoors during the course of this past year:

A shaky partnership: Marty Martinez, who asked his fishing partner, Norm Budden, to pay half of the moving violation ticket that Marty got for making a "California" stop at a rural stop sign.

Norm was asked to pay because he was a passenger. Hellooooo!

Awesome Mother Nature display: A tie between: 1. The spectacular snow flowers blooming along Grizzly Road at Davis Lake, Calif. in the Spring. 2. The breathtaking colors of the Fall leaves of the Quaking Aspen trees in Hope Valley, Calif.

Best head-scratchers: The numerous wildlife bills introduced by a Southern Nevada Assemblyman during the last Legislature. Thank God, that they died a quiet death. Some people can be downright dangerous in an elected office.

Can you "top" this: The mind-boggling photo of the guy sitting on his snowmobile on top of the snow on TOP of the roof of his restaurant at the Bishop Creek Resorts last winter.

Wow! Don't ever complain about snow depths here in Carson City!

Enough already: With all of the dumb, annoying, unending medical ads on television that promise to cure everything from falling hair to falling arches and everything in between.

Hmmm, whatever happened to the old-time commercials like the bears in the Hamm's beer ads?

Funny comment No. 1: Norm Budden, who, while accompanying me on one of my non-productive deer hunting outings, disgustedly said, "Your secret deer hunting spot is so secret, even the deer don't know about it."

Funny comment No. 2: Marty Martinez, after reading my column on funny things that happened in 2005 (which included him, not once but twice!), calling me "A dirty, rotten, low-down, egg-sucking dog." Yipes!

How in the heck do they steer:

1. The woman in the SUV, who passed me at a high rate of speed between Reno and Carson, who was talking on a cell phone with her left hand and brushing her hair with her right hand!

2. The woman in a blue car on Carson Street, who was talking on a cell phone with her left hand and drinking coffee with her right hand!

I could learn to hate you: Bob Sanders who drew a pronghorn antelope, Rocky Mountain bull elk and a buck mule deer tag, all three tags for Nevada!

And, then proceeded to bag three nice trophies. Geez, why can't I do that!

I created a monster: Buying a digital camera for Elaine for her birthday. She took a total of 796 photos of her and her mom's nine-day trip to Alaska in late June. Holy Moly! 796 photos! She saw Alaska through a view finder!

Nice job, well done: Dave Beronio for his very successful, first-ever, fund raiser for the Sierra Nevada Chapter of the Mule Deer Foundation in early April at the Carson Valley Inn in Minden.

And, no, before you ask, I did not win any raffle prizes there, either.

Of course, it's summer: Having to scrape frost off our windshield on Sunday, June 19 at our cabin (elevation 6,000') near Davis Lake, Calif.

Three days later, the days started to get shorter as we moved back toward winter!

Strangest catch of the year: The Harbor Porpoise that I accidentally caught while halibut fishing in the ocean at Sitka, Alaska in late May.

It was so exciting that I totally forgot to capture the incident on film. Darn!

The epitome of bad luck: The poor guy from Las Vegas who got rejected on a total of nine different applications for big game hunts in Nevada. Nine different rejections! Geez, I sure don't want that guy for my California Lotto partner!

The pitiful streak continues on and on: Yours truly who, once again, did not win a raffle prize at the Carson Valley Chukar Club fund raiser in early March.

That is some 20 years of losing! Darn, it's gotta end sooner or later!

They won't let me forget: Norm Budden, Bob "Slick" McCulloch and Don Hettrick, my fishing partners, who each took a first place in the John Riordan Invitational Fishing Derby in April.

Sigh, the best I could do was a third place.

Which will happen first: The total completion of the Carson Bypass or seeing someone in Carson City get a traffic ticket for running a red light or the possibility of Hell freezing over.

Take your pick. My pick is Hell.

Why not get up 10 minutes earlier: All of those women drivers on Carson Street, just before 8 a.m., who are using their rear-view mirrors to apply their make-up on the way to work. Geez, look ahead, don't look at yourself in the mirror!

You need to carry a purse: Norm Budden who lost his wallet while deer hunting in Northern Humboldt County.

Fortunately for him, 14-year-old Shayla Miller of Reno found it three weeks later and returned it to him.

Thanks for the weekly info: All of my contacts who very graciously and generously provide me with detailed, weekly fishing reports for their areas.

All the way from Shasta County in Northern California to Crowley Lake in the Bishop area to Wildhorse Reservoir in Northeastern Nevada. They make fishing reports easy every week.

Special Thanks No. 1: All the faithful readers of the weekly "Outdoors" page.

Special Thanks No. 2: All the folks at the Nevada Appeal, who help bring the "Outdoors' page to you every Thursday.

Special Thanks No. 3: Barry Smith, Cathleen "Cat" Allison and Rhonda Costa-Landers at the Nevada Appeal for all of their invaluable help.

Happy New Year to everyone!

n Don Quilici is the Outdoors editor for the Nevada Appeal.