IA Born

I don't think Vortex makes a thin bubble level for the 35mm Razor scopes. I could be wrong, though. I looked at the smaller diameter Vortex levels and definitely see two different thicknesses on the rings. This one is hefty.

Traveling to Tucson tomorrow and coming back Sunday. We can stop anywhere off the interstate and meet up if anyone wants this. $2300 takes the whole package home.

Traveling to Tucson tomorrow and coming back Sunday. We can stop anywhere off the interstate and meet up if anyone wants this. $30 cash takes it home with in-person delivery.

AZ treefrogs are awesome! We found one up on Escudilla on a cold, rainy day on my daughter's elk hunt back in October 2017! I was surprised to see it considering the weather.

We got back July 3 from a family vacation in Belize. We spent all but the last two full days/day we left on Caye Caulker, leaving early for the mainland because of the predictions at the time for Hurricane Beryl. It was predicted to hit our area the day we were leaving (7/3) before slowing down and changing course. I told my wife I'm not going to Caye Caulker and not going flats fishing. Everyone was on board with the plan, so I booked two boats with Chasin' Tail. Jacob and I were paired up in the other boat for our flats fishing day on Caye Caulker. This would be my 4th time chasing bonefish, my third time with a only a fly rod. Jacob and I worked out a deal that he had first chance at any tarpon we came across if I could have first chance at bonefish. He's hooked and jumped a tarpon, but never landed one. I've been through all three stages of tarpon fishing, and did it with my Orvis 9wt, so I get that he wanted to land one. We were in rolling tarpon right away, but casting a 12wt fly rod is tough. I've never cast a 12wt, so I can't blame Jacob for switching to spin gear quickly. Unfortunately, the tarpon weren't cooperating after the switch to spin gear/live bait, so we moved to the bonefish flats. I grabbed my Orvis 8wt, stepped up to the platform, and made sure our guide and I were on the same page for communicating fish locations and distances. Full disclosure: I've never been good at casting long distance with saltwater fly rods. It took a minute to find bones in the sea grass, but our guide called out 50-60 feet at 11 o'clock! I laid out a beautiful cast and remember thinking "I did it! There's my victory for the day!" Then a bonefish took my Crazy Charlie, but I missed the hookset. The tug got my heart racing, but I kept stripping and missed a second hook set on the same cast. I felt this one on better and even saw the fish off the bow. We moved around, looking for another school when it happened. I laid out another 60-foot cast, felt the take, and set the hook. I managed to pay out the line and let the fish take the reel. It’s true what they say about bonefish. They are smaller, but they are extremely powerful. It put up a helluva fight, made one reel-screaming run, and put a serious bend in my 8wt rod. We boated it, took some pictures, and (my favorite part), I was able to remove the fly and set it free myself. It barely left the water. I fought back every emotion I've ever had on this journey. I sat down, told Jacob it was his turn, and only left my seat again to help get him those longer casts. I found what I needed and wanted. I tried my best to make it about the fish, but I realized it never was and never will be. I spent the rest of the day, and a big part of the rest of the trip admiring that beautiful fish and all it stands for. We couldn't get the bones to cooperate for Jacob, despite our best efforts. We ended up going back to tarpon spots, where our guide handed me a spinning rod and told us both to cast out. Who am I to say no? Jacob caught a Spanish mackeral at our first stop and then hit the motherlode. A tarpon hit his line shortly after it hit the water, but the hook didn't get set. Jacob and the guide saw the tarpon jump, but I was busy admiring the bend in his rod and the sound of line peeling from the reel. Jacob got rebaited, cast back out, and was hooked up within minutes of his line hitting the water. It wasn't a tarpon, but he landed a nice Jack crevalle. He rebaited again, cast back out, and was hooked up again! Another, bigger Jack crevalle. It happened two more times with the rebaiting and hooking up within a couple of minutes of his bait hitting the water, landing a grey snapper and dogtooth snapper. All told, Jacob landed four fish within 20 minutes, all while my line was 20-30-feet from his line. I wasn't even upset. I had what I needed, and I never ever get tired of watching my kids find fishing success. My wife and daughter were in the other boat, and they had an awesome day on the water, too. My wife never fails to amaze me. Their boat stopped for bait for tarpon on spin gear, and my wife hooked up instantly. She hooked into and landed a 50-60", 60-lb tarpon! I'd have loved to see that play out. Sydney got some fly-casting pointers and cast to and landed a nice bonefish! Syd caught a few snapper, too. Minnie has now landed one more tarpon than I have (2 total for her) and both of hers really showcase how mine is considered a baby tarpon. Sorry for the sideways pics. This always happens to me and I don't know how to make it not do that.

Bump. Coues tags are out. Who needs a solid Coues rifle??

Sorry, just now seeing this. Haven't really logged in for some time. Feel free to PM with any specific details. This was our first time there and we spent much of it on Caye Caulker. Take plenty of cash is my biggest suggestion. Most places, even on Caye Caulker, take credit cards, but some places are cash only. There is a bank with an ATM on the island, but then you're getting the international charges for the ATM fee. Everywhere takes US dollars, so that makes it easier. Do your research on tours. Everyone has a boat and will take you snorkeling, but you may end up in a boat with 10+ other people. The snorkeling/spearfishing guide that came highly recommended had a 4-person minimum, so when my wife decided she didn't want to snorkel Hol Chan Marine Reserve, we couldn't book through him. After seeing my daughter's pics of the solo trip she did, I highly recommend going with a reputable snorkeling guide to Hol Chan. Bliss Beach on the north half of Caye Caulker is worth the trip and I recommend taking the boat shuttle all the way, otherwise, you're looking at a long walk or a moderate bike ride. They Mayan Ruins tours at Altun Ha, just outside of Belize City were cool and the history is amazing. Definitely take high-quality bug juice. Don't go in June/July. It hot as balls there and full of mosquitoes, even on Caye Caulker. Our next trip will be a winter trip and we're considering a wildlife/birding tour on the mainland, in addition to back to Caye Caulker. Lobster Season starts July 1 and ends Feb 28, so if you're after fresh lobster, that's my recommendation for when to go.

We are hosting a classroom Hunter Education class in Flagstaff. There are currently 19/40 signed up. It starts next Thursday, July 18. All information, including dates, times, locations, and lead instructor contact info (its not me this time) is in the link: https://www.register-ed.com/events/view/213707 I will be helping organize things, but another instructor is the lead instructor for this class. We will not be taking online students for the field day on Sunday because we don't have enough instructors to maintain the required student-instructor ratio per AGFD policy. Saturday's session will be outside, weather permitting, at the ramada across from the Flagstaff Archers Range on Ft. Tuthill County Park. BBQ lunch (burgers and hot dogs) will be provided for lunch on Saturday to all participants.

Awesome! Looking forward to teaching her. We have an extremely fun instructor group, so she'll have fun. We have two amazing female instructors, and I have a hunting daughter, so the girls in the class get extra attention and help. I'm not the lead instructor, but holler if you need anything. I can recommend the good eating spots around town, too.

5 spots left. Class starts tomorrow.

6 spots left for the class that starts this Thursday

I think Jeff now has a better understanding of my obsession with topwater anything! I grew up on farm ponds in Iowa and those are some of my absolute best memories. I found out one of the family farm ponds I used to hit (my dad's mom's sister/ her husband) is still in the family and I can fish it anytime I want. I'm working on my return trip just for that. My buddy, Jeff, was cracking me up. He was mad because he caught that crappie. I was giving him heck because I'm just about the fishing and could really care less what I catch. I finally convinced myself I need to get panfish poppers, but I've also been tempted to go with the worm/bobber like my extremely youthful days just to have nonstop action. To be fair, Jeff hasn't been fishing as long or as seriously as I have, so he hasn't entirely reached the point of "its not about the fish".

I just got back from a long weekend in Iowa seeing family that I haven't seen in a long time. Long story short, my aunt (dad's oldest of his two younger sisters) has cancer again after 22 years of remission and, because of the treatment level last time, can't have treatment this time. As she says "I'm ready to go be with Jesus and my Buddy.". Her husband, my Uncle Bud, passed away 10 years ago this October. She asked me to come back and see her down in Pleasantville before things get bad with the cancer. I stayed at my best friend's house with his family in West DesMoines the whole time. He and I have known each other since we were 2 years old. We started at the babysitter together (my great aunt/grandma's sister), wen to preschool, elementary, junior high, high school, and college together. All the perks of growing up in small town in Iowa. After visiting my aunt and a handful of other family members from my dad's side, Jeff and I took off to a local farm pond he has access to near Winterset. Of course, I had to take my fly rod back with me. We hit the pond Friday night and Saturday. I caught two bass Friday night on poppers. The first one was my favorite because it was a popper tied up by my son, Jacob. I ended up losing that in a tree (placed a new order with Jacob on the drive home), tied on a store-bought popper, and caught a second bass. Jeff didn't want to try the fly rod, so he was hitting his spin gear. He caught a nice black crappie and "future champion" bass on a weedless spoon/grubtail combo before I convinced him to switch to topwater action with a floating Rapala. Jeff: "topwater never works here!". Me: "Bass are bass, no matter the pond, and topwater always works in the evening. Trust me." He switched and landed a 4-lb beautiful largemouth. We went back Saturday for a couple of hours before dinner with his family and we each caught a "future champion" on topwater. He is now going to expand his topwater arsenal and we're working on our next adventure. I wish I knew why these pictures upload wonky/upside down/sideways, but at least his Friday night pond monster is normal. I'm also realizing I need to convince my wife to let me get a 7-wt fly rod/reel for bass. Fingers crossed on that one I'm hoping to not have to tell her my 8wt bonefish rod will work for bass so I can get the 7wt! First bass of the trip, on a popper tied by Jacob Jeff's first bass of the trip, on a weedless spoon/grubtail combo. Jeff's pond beast on topwater. She pulled off two tail dances before being landed. My last fish, on a topwater Rapala Saturday night.

I have an old Redfield 2-7x32 scope that I'm willing to give to a youth who needs something to get them started or needs a good plinking scope for a .22LR. Its been in my family for years. It came on a 1970s Rem 700 BDL 300WM that my dad bought from a cousin in Chicago when I was probably 10 or 12. I pulled it several years ago and mounted it on my .22 rifle, where its sat for longer than I can remember. Its obviously long enough ago that I didn't understand over-torqueing ring screws. I clamped those suckers down and never thought twice. Despite my best efforts to crush the tube, the scope is still in great shape for glass and adjustments. I recently finally upgraded the scope on my .22 and don't need this one. It probably isn't worth a whole lot, so I'd love to give this to a youth who needs something to get started or to plink with. It includes the Butler Creek caps, and I can even throw in some new rings that didn't work on my rifle, but came with the new scope I bought as a package deal. If the buyer wants to pay for shipping, great. If not, fine, as long as it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg. I'm out of town middle of next week, so it may take me a minute or three to find a box and ship it, but I'll do my best to respond as soon as possible and get it shipped as soon as possible. I'm just setting realistic expectations, so I don't end up on someone's "this guy's a jackwagon seller" list.

That was quick! Scope should be (hopefully) shipped out by this weekend.

TTT

bump

My son, Jacob, has decided to take his love of turkey hunting and turkey calls, and fly fishing, and make it a side hustle. In the past, he's made turkey calls and tied flies for donations to help raise money for his various adventures (GCY river trips, TKD black belt promotions, etc.). Now he is stepping into the world of making turkey calls (pot calls) and tying flies to help him earn spending money. Jacob has kicked around the idea for a couple of years, but now he's committing to it. If you're interested, you can reach out to me or I can put you in touch with him directly. He's building his Instagram page, so please check that out and give him a follow @Wooldridge_Calls. He currently has one call for sale and has one posted he made for me showing their effectiveness. We're working with him on fair pricing to be competitive and still make money without being greedy. He's 2 weeks from turning 16 and learning that aspect with our guidance. He has access to various wood types for both pots and strikers and can make the calling surface and sound board slate, glass, copper, aluminum. He can work with you on a design or come up with one on his own. Jacob's pot calls are all I carry now when I'm turkey hunting and I always go for his flies first when I'm fly fishing. I've never been disappointed. Below are some pics of his earlier pot calls and some flies he's tied. He hasn't gotten any fly pics up on his IG page, but he's planning to shortly. Thanks for considering. Pot Calls Sound.mp4

That's awesome!!! Great bird with great hooks! I can't wait to tell Jacob!

Not gonna lie. Same!

This isn't actually a new thing, unfortunately, When I was in grad school at UTEP 1997-1999, we were warned not to hike that hill. Its a very obvious peak right outside El Paso and was popular for locals to go on "pilgrimages" of sorts to see the holy site up there. It was made very clear back in 1997 that it was extremely unsafe up there due to the cartel activity. To be clear, I'm not justifying anything, just pointing out its not a new thing at all.

We are hosting an in-person classroom Hunter Ed class in Flagstaff Feb 8-11. I set it up three weeks ago and only one kid has registered so far. Class will be 6-8pm Feb 9 and 10, 8am-5pm Feb 11, and the field day will be 9am-1pm Feb 12. Classroom portions will be at the Flagstaff AGFD office and the field day will be at the NAZ Shooting Range. 100% attendance for all portions is mandatory. NAZ NWTF and the local AMDO group will be providing pizza lunch on Saturday, Feb 11. All firearms and ammunition will be provided. Preference is for kids who need the class to hunt; however, we encourage parents to take the class with their younger kids. As of this morning, there are 17 seats left. Thursday, February 8, 2024 6:00pm - 8:00pm Friday, February 9, 2024 6:00pm - 8:00pm Saturday, February 10, 2024 8:00am - 5:00pm Sunday, February 11, 2024 9:00am - 1:00pm Full transparency: we set the class schedule up based on local instructor availability and local (Flagstaff, Williams, Parks, Bellmont, etc.) kids' availability. We've found that drawing a class out 2 hours at a time over 3 weeks gets old and information retention is not great, leading to lower success/passing rates. Saturday can be a long day, but we break it up by rotating stations with the AGFD room split with a divider and rotate between each side, pulse the lobby so kids aren't sitting in the same seat all day. Throw in plenty of breaks, an hour lunch with a test review, and plenty of jokes, and the day flies by. The kids get plenty of time and opportunities to blow off steam and pent-up silliness and wiggles. On top of that, we rarely, if ever, go until 5 pm. We will not be accepting online students into the field day for this class. We do not have enough instructors to maintain the required instructor:student ratio and keep everyone safe. Our Flagstaff instructor group will be hosting several online field days this spring-fall for those students who took the online course and need a field day. https://www.register-ed.com/events/view/206214

It's me. I'm the contact point person to reach out to for Hunter Education classes in Flagstaff. We're looking at another class July 18-21.

Seriously, dude? I was going to go $255. $265?

Jeff Knorr, Jeff Knorr Construction (https://www.jkc-inc.com/about-us-jkc-inc-in-flagstaff-az) is solid, so is Mike Furr Construction (https://mikefurrconstruction.com/). I'd have to dig for the other names I've worked with/dealt with here in town that I'd feel good recommending. Mike Furr did our loft addition several years ago and got us a quote for another back room addition a couple of years ago. You won't go wrong with either one in town I will tell you, though, that most contractors are booked out about a year, maybe more. That could have changed, but be prepared for that answer. Mike Furr wasn't booked out that far in advance, but the cost of lumber and concrete at the time made our addition cost-prohibitive, so we passed.