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Welcome to the site Jim. Sorry to hear that most of your hunting days are behind you. I know you mentioned you'd be selling off some stuff, but I am sure there are plenty of folks on here that would appreciate hearing about some of your hunting stories, so feel free to share those as well.

Was in the same boat this year and ended up going with the Kowa's, and have zero regrets of not going with the Swaro.

Same here. They are still birdy, but I swear they think we are just going for a 15 mile walk in the desert.

Definitely recommend Tritronics. My upland G3 set (4 collars, two remotes) has been going strong for over 7 years. Looks like the Pro 500 and Upland 550 are the newest iterations of that line.

Can you clear out your inbox, I cannot send a PM.

Was the barrel reamer made for the 115 VLD's? How does it shoot?

Unit 29 had 44 tags left over in 2016 for the early November hunt, and in 2015 had 30 tags left over for the late October hunt and 59 tags left over for the early November hunt. For the general hunts, the total left over deer tags in 2015 were 2610, 2016 were 1870, and as previously mentioned, 2017 were 1508 and 2018 are 1614.

FYI, the portal is updated with draw results.

PM Sent

Just curious, why carry your 15's around your neck and not in your pack?

And your wallet will never be heavy again! Quality glass is way too addicting.

$101

Liberty and San Diego both had 200 or more YT yesterday too. Sounds like a dang good day on the water.

Did not draw for Antelope or Deer. I knew Antelope was less than 100% with 0 points, but was still hopeful. Leftover list does not look promising either. Looks like I will be headed to Utah and/or Idaho in September.

Wear a long sleeve shirt and tuck the butt of the rod into the cuff. Keeps you from breaking your wrist and will help slow you down. On your casts, wait until you feel the feel the rod load under the back/front cast, before moving the other direction. I would even say wait until the line falls flat, just so you can feel the whole load. Casting is much simpler than it seems. At the line weights we are talking about, the reel is primarily a place to keep the line stored while traveling. There is no need to spend big bucks on nice drags and large arbors. Even the simplest of drags can handle the class of fish you will be targeting with that set up. If you get a reel with no drag, then learn how to palm. Having a reel for the 5wt that you can get a spare spool for will be great, so you can switch between the floating and sinking lines easily (though you can reach quite deep without a sinking line. but it is harder to stay down that deep). Orvis Battenkill's are hard to beat for the price, and you can get a reel and a spare spool for less than $160. But Ross, Lamson and Sage also make great entry-level reels. I've not owned a Reddington in decades, so I will reserve my comments on that brand, but did pick up a TFO reel as part of a kit, and it is also not too shabby of a reel. I am not sure what your fly collection is looking like, but there are fairly consistent patterns that work year after year in the same bodies of water, depending on air and water temps. Call local shops ahead of time, let them know when you will be on the water, and ask what typically works that time of year. Buy in bulk or tie your own before you leave, then stop in to thank them and get latest conditions, plus pick up a half dozen flies as a thank you. Before you leave, buy some very fine netting (mosquito netting or small green fish nets-think goldfish as a kid), 2 wooden 3/8" thick rods 10-12" long, and make yourself a little seine net that you can roll up and tuck out of the way, but can drop down into the water and see what is floating through. Pull the net up, take out your fly box, and match what you see in the net. Be aware of which bodies of water you fish require barbless hooks. Watch your back casts, keep the sun off your neck, trust your poloraized glasses, and tight lines.

Go with standard tipping practices. A bit more if they are providing lunch. I will say that the clients I remember from when I guided were the ones I had the best conversations with, shooting the chit like we were age old friends, and not the ones that tipped the most. If I was going to fish a river for 4 days, I would do day #2 guided, if that is what I could afford. Get into the swing of things and learning the water on day one, then pay attention to everything the guide feels like teaching on day two, then apply those to days three and four. Also, if you do go guided, many times they will have access to private waters, and a cheaper walk/wade trip will put you on smaller fish that rarely ever see a fly. Just a thought.

Could do a whole month just in YNP. If you are going to be in southern/central Wyoming, then I would hit the North Platte and the Big Laramie. In Colorado, I would fish the South Platte at Cheeseman Canyon and between Spinney Mountain/Eleven Mile reservoirs. If the timing is right I would recommend the caddis hatch on the Arkansas, or the stonefly hatch on the Gunnison. Both are spectacles to behold. Otherwise the Green, Blue, Fryingpan and upper Colorado would be my recommendations. The tailwaters of the Taylor River hold the biggest trout you will ever lay eyes on, but as it is the most technical fishery I have ever fished, I cannot recommend it to a novice flyfisherman. Of course, once all is said and done, you need to fish the San Juan in NM, as it is on the path home. Gear wise, you could fish the whole trip with a 5wt, though the big browns in some of those rivers would warrant a 6wt line (also helpful for shooting through the wind). I have fished every single one of those waters with a 4wt, some even with a 3wt. If I was doing a trip like this, I would likely take a 9' 5wt, with three spools for the reel, two 5wt and one 6wt, and then a 7'6" 3wt setup for any small creeks I stop to have lunch or camp near. All line would be WF floating, except the second 5wt would be WF sinking/sinktip. Don't forget the gammut of leaders, tippet, strike indicators and weights. Enjoy the trip, sounds like a blast.

So I'd like to do some trips out of San Diego this year, and set up for some trips out of Mexico next year. I've picked up a pair of old Penn Senator reels (a 4/0 and a 6/0 which I plan on rebuilding) with old matching rods, but I would like to get things set up properly for whatever type of fishing I may get myself into. Considering most of my trips from SD would be limited to long weekends, I don't think I'd take more than a 3 day trip. With that in mind, and from what research I have done so far, it seems like I need 4 rigs to fish with at the points of 30#, 40#, 60# and 80# set-ups. It seems like most fishing is done with live bait, but that there is also jigs, spoons, irons and poppers, plus a few others I am sure. What set-ups are worth investing in two speed reels? I am sure there is a difference between jigging, trolling and casting rods; which should I be using? Just trying to budget out my summer expenses and get things ordered now before they go on backorder. Thanks, Jerry

Heck yeah. But it will be back.

I will wait for the listing. Never could get into FB, too much BS and drama.

TJ, once it is listed, can you post a link? I have some friends moving here from out of state this summer and have been trying to help them find a house.

So I have been upgrading some of my hunting gear this year, including my optics, and am now at looking at finally getting a good spotting scope (or two). Most of my hunting is broken down into two types; back country spot and stalk archery that includes having everything on my back all day (occasional backpacking rifle coues hunts on leftover tags), and base camp hunts out of a vehicle with youth, new or disabled hunters. Time spent between the two used to be about 60/40, but has been closer to 40/60 the last few years as I've drawn fewer tags and focused on helping others more. With that in mind, and the budget that I would like to work with, I have been looking between the following set-ups: Kowa 880 w/TE-11WZ eyepiece and 550 vs Swaro A/STX w/65 & 95mm lenses Brand new (will buy used, but price differences hopefully will be similar) the Kowas will run about $1300 cheaper for the pair vs the Swaro's. The Kowa 550 is 28oz while the Swaro 65 is 58oz, but comes with a 60x max zoom and 40% larger objective lens as compared to the 45x zoom of the 550. While the weight of the larger glass is negligent being vehicle based, you do gain a 17% larger objective lens with the 95 vs the 88. Seeing as how the glass between the two large spotters is neck and neck for most purposes, the biggest factors would be cost and lens size. If the lens size warrants the cost, then the eyepiece is already paid for, which makes the smaller spotter for packing much cheaper for the Swaro lens then buying the Kowa 550. But then I look at the weight of the 65mm Swaro at 57.8 oz, and the Kowa 88, w/eye piece weighs in at 66.7oz. For a 10 oz gain in weight, you gain an 83% larger objective lens, and at that point, would you just carry the Kowa 88 and not worry about a second spotter at all? And if a single spotter is the answer, you'd have to consider the Meostar S2 as well given the lower cost and near similar performance. Thoughts? Thanks. As a side note, does anyone know where I could look through the Kowa's here in the valley? I'll also be in California (Sacramento, Tahoe, SD, SF and LA) and Nevada (Reno, LV) over the next two months and can check out places there too, if you know of any.

TJ, may want to have a chat with your Realtor. Your house is not listed on any MLS sites yet.

Well, after tons of thought, research and emails on various forums with owners of each, I ended up buying the 884 this morning from Doug at CamerlandNY. As always, customer service was top notch. Once it gets out here, I will get it out in the field and do a review on it. Lay also try to get a Meopta S2, Leica APO and Swaro ATX/STX out there too and do a full write up. Thank you to everyone who responded or PM's about this.

I shoot the 125gr Montec's as well, have for over a decade now. I always sharpen out of the package, and while I have not taken many animals in that time frame, my longest tracking job was 60 yards on a Javelina. Have missed a few shots and dug them out of dirt/rocks and a few trees/logs and have always been able to resharpen them and put back into my quiver. Will also say that when hunting, I will resharpen them throughout the hunt, just to make sure they always have the sharpest edge possible. Have been contemplating switching things up this year and going to a single-bevel broadhead for more weight and EFOC.