The Exploits of Chief Aj: As Told to Chuck Vaughan

By G.L. Vaughan and John Huffer

John “Chief AJ” Huffer comes from a small town in Illinois, but throughout his lifetime he’s become known worldwide for his marksmanship accomplishments. In The Exploits of Chief AJ, author Chuck Vaughan looks into the life of Chief AJ, a Native American, Christian, US Marine, and former bodybuilder who worked out with Jack LaLanne.

In 1987, Chief AJ broke his first world record by throwing and shooting 40,060 wood blocks during eight days through pain and weather without a miss. He went on to break records with air rifles, long bows, a two-hundred-pound English war bow, and slingshots. Throughout his life, he stayed busy participating in different types of exhibition shooting. Chief AJ set up rifle camps and trained instructors to teach others to shoot the Chief AJ way. He always maintained his fitness and won fitness contests into his seventies. He’s been to Hollywood and featured on shows like Discovery Channel’s Top Shot and National Geographic’s The Unbeatables.

The Exploits of Chief AJ shares the story of this storyteller with a booming voice, now in his eighties, who found success in the world of marksmanship and shooting.
www.chiefaj.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 8, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532057977

G.L. Vaughan

Chuck Vaughan attended Arkansas State University. He is an aquatic biologist, small business owner, avid outdoorsman, and Sturm Ruger collector. Vaughan and is wife live in Arkansas.

Book preview

THE EXPLOITS OF

CHIEF AJ

As Told to Chuck Vaughan

Chuck Vaughan and John Huffer

THE EXPLOITS OF CHIEF AJ

AS TOLD TO CHUCK VAUGHAN

Copyright © 2018 Chuck Vaughan and John Huffer.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-5796-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-5797-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018911673

iUniverse rev. date: 10/08/2018

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CONTENTS

Introduction: How I Came to Know Chief AJ

Chapter 1 Early Life and Education, 1937–1954

Chapter 2 Chief AJ Meets Jack LaLanne, 1956

Chapter 3 Corinne and Bible College, 1958–1959

Chapter 4 Chief AJ Films Thunderbirds, 1977

Chapter 5 Squeezing Off Fat, 1981–1985

Chapter 6 Roy Rogers and Chief AJ, 1986

Chapter 7 The World-Record Shoot, 1986–1987

Chapter 8 Shoot Time at Hand

Chapter 9 Front Cover of Guns, September 1987

Chapter 10 About the Chief AJ Stamped 10/22s, 1989

Chapter 11 USMC 10/22 and Gunny Carlos Hathcock, 1991

Chapter 12 Super Chief 10/22 and $1,000 Shooting Challenge, NRA Dallas Show

Chapter 13 Indian Scout—100 Made

Chapter 14 Air Rifle World Record, 1994

Chapter 15 Rifle Training Camps, 1995–1999

Chapter 16 Recurve Bow Record

Chapter 17 Two-Hundred-Pound English War Bow

Chapter 18 A Listing of Modified Firearms

Chapter 19 Blades

Chapter 20 Chief AJ and the Supreme Court, July 16–20, 2001

Chapter 21 Caveman Countdown and Cake

Chapter 22 Daisy BB Guns

Chapter 23 Chief AJ Becomes Cohost of Anything Wild, 2007

Chapter 24 Chief AJ and Roy Weatherby, June 1, 2008

Chapter 25 Chief AJ Reinvented, 2008

Chapter 26 Chief AJ Does R&D for Chief’s Elite Slingbow, 2010–Present

Chapter 27 Hollywood Calls, 2010

Chapter 28 Indianapolis Colts and Chief AJ, 2010

Chapter 29 Tony Reaves: My Friendship with the Chief, 2015–2018

Chapter 30 Grizzly Power, July 2015

Chapter 31 Chief AJ Elite Slingbow Fishing, 2017

Chapter 32 Other Items of Interest and Memorabilia

Chapter 33 Slingbow Models and Accessories

Epilogue

But the people that do know their God

shall be strong, and do exploits.

—Daniel 11:32

INTRODUCTION

HOW I CAME TO KNOW CHIEF AJ

For as long as I can remember, I have always admired Ruger firearms and memorabilia. For many reasons, I wasn’t able to become more serious about collecting them until my mid-twenties. At thirty-six, this hobby developed into a passion that is both rewarding and humbling. Through Ruger collecting, I have been fortunate to meet some of the most interesting people of my life. Chief AJ is one of those people, and this is his story as told to me by the man himself.

Sometimes special people enter your life for special reasons. Some years ago, I met another local Ruger collector named LeRoy Johnson. LeRoy is well known for his handmade, collectible, high-quality duck calls. Over time, he and I got to know each other better, developing a real friendship. LeRoy was an RCA member for about ten years and had some old journals that he sent home with me to read. In the binder were a bunch of old business cards of other Ruger contacts he had made through the years. I asked LeRoy about them, and he said, You know how Ruger guys are … pretty friendly people. I started making phone calls. It wasn’t a big surprise that most of the numbers were no longer in service, but I did make a few new contacts. Sometimes you’ve just got to put yourself out there.

One of my new contacts was a man named Roger. We spoke on the phone a few times about Rugers and my collecting interests. Before I knew it, in a show of good faith, Roger sent me a box of memorabilia to look at. Over the next year or so, Roger and I exchanged several packages. In one of our exchanges, I received a small wood block with a .22 projectile lodged in it. I had to call him to ask about the block’s story, and he proceeded to tell me all about Chief AJ, or John Huffer. Today, I’m ashamed to admit that until then, I didn’t know about him or the world-record shoot of 1987.

You see—Roger and the Chief are very good and close friends. They had been to many gun shows together throughout the 1980s and lived close to each other. Roger and his sons helped the Chief organize and make the 1987 world-record shoot happen. For those of you who don’t know, the Chief set a world record using Ruger 10/22s in 1987. He borrowed eighteen Ruger 10/22s for the shoot, which would span the course of eight days. He personally threw 40,060 wood blocks in the air and then shot each one while in flight without missing. (More on that later.) Recently, he told me that he now knows that he could have used just one 10/22 because a shooter simply can’t wear them out. Chief AJ has led a truly incredible life, setting numerous other world records, modifying countless firearms, and accomplishing some amazing feats. Now is the time to share the exploits of Chief AJ with the rest of the world.

I became more interested in Chief AJ as time went on. Roger sent me more information and memorabilia related to the Chief, and I looked for other items online and at every gun show I attended. It wasn’t until 2017 that I decided to call Chief AJ and introduce myself. We spoke a few times on the phone, and before I knew it, he had invited me to spend a weekend with him. Again, sometimes you just have to put yourself out there. The worst thing that can happen is hearing the word no. I later learned that over the years Chief had been approached by many ill-intentioned people. They either wanted to make a buck off him in one way or another or wished to challenge him in some way as a marksman. Understandably, he had taken some time to determine my motives before extending his gracious invite.

I learned that over the last few years Chief AJ has developed a powerful slingbow that is capable of harvesting any North American game or fish, where legal for use. He has taken grizzly bear, hogs, deer, gators, large fish, and other critters too using a very powerful and highly modified slingshot. These slingbows can have up to a fifty-pound draw, making them a far cry from the ones many of us had as children.

Chief AJ has been slingbow fishing in a river near his home in Illinois using the powerful slingshot. When he went to the river in 2016, he would sometimes find a few fish, and other times he’d find none at all. In 2017, he developed a fish attractant that draws fish to the location and time he wishes to shoot. He can now go to the river knowing that he will be successful. He told me about his special formula that brings in the fish—not just one fish but schools of sizable fish, perfect for shooting. This formula also accounts for timeliness because the whole process takes around two hours. As an aquatic biologist who works with fish every day, I was extremely interested to see this for myself. I drove up to Illinois from Arkansas to meet Chief AJ in person and see him in action. I offered to video him drawing in the fish and shooting. He was enthusiastic about because we could use the video on his website.

I arrived in Illinois on a Friday and was greeted by a welcome sign placed by the Chief himself.

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I knew I was in the right place.

That evening, we went to eat at his favorite Chinese restaurant. For those of you who have never met the Chief, I want to stress something: if he is in the room, you’re going to know it because you will hear him. His voice is booming, and he has many stories to tell. After passing an easy hour eating and chatting, I realized that we were surrounded by people at other tables but that everyone was dead silent except us. I’ve never seen someone captivate a room like Chief AJ. As we were leaving, some people clapped, and a few even stopped us to thank him for the wonderful stories. He has lived an incredible life and openly shares his experiences with anyone willing to listen.

After an early breakfast on Saturday, he took me to the river with four of his top secret fish attractants. We tossed the blocks in the river from a bridge about seven meters above the surface and spaced them equidistantly across the thirty-meter width of the slow-moving water. He had done this many times and was extremely confident that his formula would work.

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Upstream view.

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Downstream view.

We went back to his home in Tuscola, Illinois, to talk more and do some trading. He graciously allowed me to obtain his last (and favorite) 10/22 that he had kept for his personal collection.

IntroImage4RedRiverCampRifle.jpg

This rifle has a wonderful pedigree after being fine-tuned and used by the Chief in exhibition shoots all over the country. He even sold it at one point but missed it so much that he bought it back. Now I will cherish it until I am forced to pass it on. That day, I also obtained some one-of-a-kind pieces of Ruger history and Chief AJ memorabilia that I would never have acquired any other way.

When two hours had passed, we went back out to the bridge overlooking the river. Sure enough, as we peered over the rail, there were fish everywhere. I was stunned that so many very large fish were lurking below. They were not only lurking but also congregating around the attractant. At times, they even formed a circular pattern that we like to call fish circles. He was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.

He handed me a camcorder ready to go and got his fishing gear together. It took only a few seconds before he spotted a good-sized carp. This Cyprinus carpio is an introduced nonnative to the river. The fish was swimming parallel with the bridge and gave him a great, although difficult, broadside shot. Shooting off that bridge is like shooting off a two-story house at a moving target while also dealing with the refraction of the water. The photographs do not do justice to the difficulty of this kind of shot. The Chief has hand-eye coordination that is part natural, part trained, and part supernatural.

With the camera running, he drew back and loosed a big barbed fish arrow down to the water. It was a great shot, placing the arrow clear through the tail. Upon being struck, the water exploded with action. The fish ran back and forth across the river, but the barb in the arrow held. I ran down the very steep bank with camera still rolling. The Chief guided the fish toward the bank from above on the bridge where I was ready to help land it. All the while, the rest of the fish continued to lurk near the attractants.

Here’s how bow fishing goes: you hunt the fish and then shoot if presented with a shot, but it is not successful fishing until you land the fish. As a team, we landed that fish and a few others that day. We even took some selfies as proof.

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To say the least, he was excited at having made the shot and gotten the video in a single beautiful morning. He later told me that he felt some pressure to hit the fish in front of me with a camcorder running, especially after I had driven six hours to hang out with him. I can’t imagine—after all the records that he has set and tests he’s been through, he still feels pressure like that. Perhaps that’s part of what drives him to excel in the ways that he does.

I left Illinois feeling so blessed to have been allowed that precious time with Chief AJ. We spent a wonderful weekend of connecting, chatting, and laughing. It is amazing to think that a single phone call led to an experience I would have never thought possible, and it’s one I will treasure always. That experience gave me the idea for this book. The Chief’s life is incredible, but I wasn’t certain that he would be on board with a book about him. I was wrong, and we’ve been working on this volume every day since I brought it up.

I’ve always been told that I have an old soul. In a world fueled by instant gratification and modern technology, I find I sometimes stand alone in my age group when it comes to my interests and passions. In fact, through these interests, I’ve developed friendships with gentlemen much older than myself. LeRoy is eighty-two, and Chief AJ will be eighty-one at the time of this publication, but the age difference means nothing to the friendships we’ve established. Since meeting them, my life has changed in many ways. I am proud to say that these two gentleman are some of my closest friends.

Even at eighty on Christmas Day 2017, Chief AJ is in unbelievable shape with energy to spare. He continuously inspires me with stories of his life, advice, and quality conversation. Charlie Davis once told me that if the Chief says he can do something, he can and will get it done. The Chief and I are similar in that regard.

At the urging of Chief AJ and others, I was able to display with the Ruger Owners and Collectors Society (ROCS) for the first time this year. It was all because I reached out at the right time with good intentions to the right people.

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I think that the displays were well received, and it was truly an honor to be a part of the ROCS and the 2017 Tulsa Show. The displays of the Chief AJ Red River Camp rifle and Ruger memorabilia won best of show, along with winning the ROCS first place intermediate.

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And now for the Exploits of Chief AJ, as he told them to me.

—Chuck Vaughan

CHAPTER 1

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION, 1937–1954

Chief AJ (John Huffer) of Tuscola, Illinois, internationally known for outstanding marksmanship, was born on Christmas Day 1937 in the Florence Crittenton Orphans’ Home at Peoria, Illinois, and was given the name of Clearance Moore. He was the son of a Cherokee father and a Menominee mother. In that era, it was the policy of the state to place mixed-race Native American babies with middle-class Protestant families so that the children would grow up civilized instead of savage. Six months later, baby Clearance was adopted by Charles and Dorothy Huffer of Urbana, Illinois, and he was renamed John Huffer.

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Photo from October 1946. Mother, Dorothy Busey Huffer; Father, Charles Clem Huffer; John Charles Huffer; and Mary Kathrine Huffer.

My adopted parents, Charles and Dorothy Huffer, were old-country Germans and good parents. They wanted to do everything right for me, and I’ve always known this. When it came time to start me in school, it was a big decision for them. Having been born on Christmas Day, I was at the bottom of the age bracket, so I could start school as the youngest in a class or wait a year and be among the oldest in class. They went for getting me in school as soon as possible, making me the smallest and youngest in my class.

My strongest early memory was of second grade. I walked each day down California Street to Leal Grade School. There I was, walking to school, and blocking the sidewalk was