IA Born

This right here. We had to haul a$$ Wednesday to go get our kids from the 2-week summer camp they were at because nobody could guarantee the fire wouldn't spread that way (just west of Groom Creek). I've done tons of wildlife surveys and other job-related stuff in that area. When I heard Walker was being evacuated, my blood pressure shot way up. I have a friend working on the incident management team and we were texting talking off and on all morning, Wednesday. She was one of our emergency contacts for our kids. She was getting me info and finally called me up, to let me know all the people she knew were saying "Tell your friend to hurry the #$#% up and get his kids out of camp!" It cost us a fly fishing trip to the San Juan that we still have to pay for (sore subject), but our kids' safety will always be first. They were bummed that we were pulling them out, but then we got the email from the camp director that evening saying mandatory evacuations were in order for their camp.

Responding to PMs

Truck has been sold. Pleasure doing business with you and your son, Tom!

Exactly. I've been teaching our daughter (now 13) to drive since she was 10 for that very reason! Glad you got out ok and got your ankle fixed right!

Right off the bat, I strongly suggest looking at a Temple Fork Outfitter Pro II series. Hands down, one of the best fly rods on the market at a fraction of the price of a Sage, Orvis, etc. I own two TFOs (7'3" 3wt and 6' 2wt) and got my wife one (8'6" 5wt) and they cast and handle amazingly. New, the Pro II series are about $169. A cheaper version, but still great quality is the Signature II series. I'm not sure I'll every buy another Orvis or Sage again after handling TFOs. I'm always nervous with used fly rods because of not knowing their history, kind of like with used bows.

Lemme talk to the wife. Just sent her the link.

Definitely not a leopard frog. It has suction pads on its toes, which is only in the Hylids (tree frogs), and never in the ranids (leopard frogs, spotted frogs, bull frogs, etc.). That is most definitely a garden (canyon?) variety Hyla arenicolor, better known as the canyon tree frog. Very common, but very cool.

Can Talyor look anymore confident, Lance??? I have never put my daughter in for a youth elk hunt for the exact reason Lance and others have said. We've been blessed with three straight years of deer tags, but I have a feeling that will change soon and we'll go to the general deer hunts, again for the exact same reason. Better draw odds, which means better chances of keeping them interested. I've had several parents tell me before that their kids have lost interest in hunting because they haven't gotten drawn for the youth elk tags for four to five years straight. That's a risk I'm not willing to take.

AZ NWTF is starting up the first Wheelin' Sportsmen Chapter and having their first annual fundraiser. NWTF Wheelin' Sportsmen is a part of NWTF that is dedicated to helping sportsmen and sportswomen with disabilities outdoors, hunting and fishing. Right now, there is a committee of one, but he could really use some help in both planning and acquiring donations. The guy leading the charge on this is a dear friend of mine and is part of our chapter here in Flagstaff. He could really use some help getting this going. At the same time, please consider coming to the first fundraising banquet on June 3rd at Bass Pro Shops in Mesa. Info can be found on our NAZ NWTF Chapter FB page: https://www.facebook.com/NoAZChapterNWTF/ Flyers with ticket information: 2017 NWTF Wheelin' Sportsmen Banquet flyer.pdf

I have a peer-reviewed article about the Yellowstone wolves and its a great science-based approach to what happens in herd dynamics. In this particular article, it documents black and grizzly bear predation on elk calves as being higher than wolf predation. It also documents what we all know in wildlife management and that is the reality of population ecology. Wolves are having virtually no impact on the larger herds in the study area because they are able to reproduce faster than they are being predated. Small elk herds are shrinking because they cannot reproduce fast enough. The funny thing is, this would be the case with or without wolves, especially in bear (black and grizzly) country. Throw in mountain lion predation and it quickly becomes far more than a "wolf issue". I also have the article where biologists for both Wyoming and Montana have gone on record as saying that their scientific data show that wolves have not had the impact on elk herds that everyone thought they would. Elk herds are doing just fine in those two states, even with healthy wolf populations. The first article I mention is too big to attach here, but I'll gladly email it to anyone that wants it. The other one is from Peterson's Hunting magazine a couple of years ago and I have it at home. I can scan it and share it later this week if anyone wants that one. The funny thing is, if you go back and read Lewis and Clark's journals, they describe an abundance of wolves, grizzly bears, elk, moose, black bears, mountain lion, and deer, all living in perfect population dynamics. It wasn't until white settlers moved west that issues arose and then it was, in reality, a competition for resources. And I've seen parts of the genetic data for wolves in Arizona. While it may be in question as to which subspecies was in which part of the state, its clear that wolves were fairly widespread in Arizona, including well within the current reintroduction site. Wolves are another reason why I really hate the subspecies concept. Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were actually widespread across the entire U.S. at one point. And, yes, I'm all for removing Federal protections and managing them properly as a big game species once science-based recovery goals have been met. Idaho and Montana have done a great job of managing them as big game species, setting quotas and issuing tags. I could honestly care less if people love or hate wolves. But they, like all game species, should be managed based on sound science and not emotion.

The decks are all labeled for each chapter, making each card unique, and all participants' info is on the card.

Its that time of year again! We have a deck of cards for our chapter up here in Flagstaff to raffle off the Governor's tag that is donated to the NWTF AZ State Chapter every year. Remember, the Governor's tag is good for 365 days in ANY OPEN UNIT (Gould's, Merriams, Rio units) in Arizona. All proceeds go towards turkey research and turkey habitat improvements. The drawing will be on August 5, 2017 at the Huachuca Goulds Banquet in Sierra Vista, AZ. We have been selling cards pretty well so far and I'm offering up the rest here on a first-come-first served basis. There are 22 cards left in our deck. Cards are $20 each and second prize is a nice gun, although we haven't been sent the official poster/flyer with what, exactly, the gun is. I'll be sending that inquiry after I submit this. And a huge thanks to Phil Cramer for already buying 5 cards from us! PM me with how many cards you want, and we'll work out the details from there (addresses, names, phone numbers, etc.). Help us Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt!

Wow, those guys are 10xs worse than the worst Coues Whitetailer... Some of them are for sure. Some of them are good friends of mine, but its fun to sit back and read when this topic comes up...and it does almost every year!

We still have some cards left. Lets get these sold!

Just did a general search on Iowawhitetail and tons of threads came up. https://www.iowawhitetail.com/forum/search/528309/?q=ozonic&o=date

I'm pretty sure there was a November antlerless hunt last year. A friend of ours' son got his first deer up there during the Nov doe hunt. Three years ago when I took my daughter up for the Oct doe hunt, there was a November weekend. Two years ago, they combined them back to one Oct hunt due to lack of manpower to patrol and work check stations, and then they reopened the 2nd (Nov) hunt last year after receiving many complaints about how crowded the first weekend was the prior year. I know I was pretty vocal to many friends over at AGFD.

Nope. There are many differences that I won't bore the group with. Boas are the most ancient of the snake lineages. Gopher snakes and their family are relatively recent from an evolutionary standpoint.

There are a few threads on Iowawhitetail.com about these with reviews all over the place. There are guys that are die hard believers in them and guys that think they are junk. These are all die hard treestand, scent eliminating whitetail hunters, too. I can dig for those threads if you want or you can go and do a search when you get time.

Definitely a gopher snake.

Definitely a juvenile gopher snake.

That right there. Check out Iowawhitetail.com. There are several guys from MO on there and they will more than likely help you out.

I've seen their tracks down in the northern end of the Pakoon part of the Grand Canyon NM in 13B. That surprised me a little considering how hot and dry that place is. I know they are mostly concentrated on Black Rock Mountain and vicinity in 13B, but there are a few along the Virgin River corridor. There are some folks up there that have them pegged and go after them religiously, though.

I used to be a die hard Oakley guy, but then discovered Smith when I started working in wildfire management. I get a pro deal on Smiths and its hard to beat that price. Outside of the prodeal pricing, I love my Smith Parallels. They have the interchangeable lenses, so you can switch from grey polarized, brown polarized, amber or yellow for low light, and clear for safety. They are light weight and fit great and the clarity far surpasses the polarized Oakleys I used to wear. If you can figure out how to qualify through Experticity (formerly promotive), I can send you an invite and you can get killer prodeals on Costa, Native, Smith, Revo, Bolle, Spy, Wiley X, ESS, Otis, Gargoyle, and a few other top quality sunglass brands.

Its been so fun following your season both here and on IG! Nice job to both of you. You've got me so motivated to get Sydney's Royal going, starting next season!

That's awesome, Ammon! Thanks! Do I need to get you in touch with Roy, or do you have that covered? I'm hoping to convince you to donate a call to our Flagstaff banquet for next February, too!