Coach

I shot a WB for years, and just loved it. I tinker, so I cut away some of the whiskers where my fletching went through, and pretty much just left it thick at the bottom. Enough up top for containment. I've never been into FPS as much as accuracy, so I never gave a second thought to 8 or 10 FPS lost. It was just a "no brainer" with full containment, consistent draw and release, good accuracy, no moving parts, what's not to love? However, when I bought my last bow, I had it set up with a QAD Ultra Pro HD drop away - and I have to say I'm a convert. With my trusty old Wisker Biscuit I had some tuning issues and had a really hard time getting broadheads and field points to hit together. I never really liked the full contact approach, but it didn't bother me much either. But switching to the QAD, my groups shrunk immediately, tuning issues were literally non-existent. To be fair, I switched bows when I switched rests, but my old bow was a Bowtech Allegiance, which is generally a pretty easy bow to tune, but I had a VERY hard time not only getting broadheads to hit with field points, but getting two brands of "top-of-the-line" broadheads to hit together consistently. I destroyed a couple targets and countless broadheads trying to get to that "sweet spot" where everything just works. For me, it never did. Then I got a Hoyt CRX 35 with a QAD drop away and some Easton ACC pro hunters - groups were cut in half, I can shoot any broadhead I want - Muzzy, Slick Trick, Magnus Stingers and Buzzcut, G5 Montec or Strikers, and everything just flies together. I've actually had two fletchings cut off one arrow by the second and third arrow, all with different broadheads at 30 yards. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Wisker Biscuit for a LONG time and had nothing but great things to say, until I started shooting a QAD drop away, and realized things just got a whole lot easier all on their own.

I'm certainly not "afraid" to hunt down there. I've done some backpack trips along some of the well-used smuggling routes. It is a little creepy at times, if you are completely solo because your imagination can spoil the beauty of the rare opportunity if you let it. I've seen it as more of an annoyance than anything. One year I hunted the Whetsones with work buddy who grew up there hunting. On the way in we encountered BP making arrests, and later some guys set fire to a ranch as retribution for turning their buddies in - most of the time we would get to a hill and glass and see strings of illegals, take time out of our hunt to call them in, etc. I would be hesitant to set up a big camp and leave it unattended down there, simply because everything you leave at camp is very valuable to someone coming across - food, water, tents, clothing, even vehicles, are potentially life-saving to someone who has been on foot for days, hungry and thirsty and needing to get another few miles North.

The Flagstaff Xtreme ropes course looks like a really fun place to work for a young guy, if he's into that sort of thing. Also, if he has access to a truck, trailer, some simple yard work tools like rakes, shovels a weed-eater, lawn mower, maybe a chainsaw, and snow-blower, there always seems to be high demand for that kind of work. My oldest son just turned 16 and he's been doing odd jobs and yard work and stays pretty busy, and the money is darn good if you do a good job and get personal referrals. I know of a guy here local that got some yard work which amounted to nothing more than cutting down a 40' row of dead 4' tall dead evergreens and hauling them off to the tune of $600 - that's about 2-3 hours of hard work max and having the right tools and a trailer. Snowplowing driveways at $20-30 a pop can earn a good paycheck every good storm if you've got clients lined up and do a good job. All those places you listed are good starting points, but probably won't teach him the things he will learn (or pay as much) as some type of simple self-start business that he is in control of where he has to advertise, get the job done right, be accountable, and ultimately own the fruits of his labor.

I like the idea of the Rhino, but I agree with the guys above for range. I've seen them in action during a stalk and they can be awesome, but I've also seen much cheaper radios get far more range. I had some older Cobra radios that I loved, but the newer ones not so much. I was never a fan of older Motorola radios, but I recently bought a 3-pack of the Motorola MT352 TPR in 35 mile range, and they have been way better than my old Cobras. The 35 Mile Range is complete BS, of course, like all the range ratings - it's strictly line-of-sight, perfect conditions, etc. They do perform way better at longer ranges in uneven country or separated by a few miles when driving in the mountains than any radio I've had before. And for $120 for 3 on Amazon, they don't break the bank either.

The rabbit hole goes much deeper...

I sure hope you find it!

What makes you think it's a dog? Must be a Mastiff.

Nice!!!

I'm cleaning out the garage and I've got these two big tents that I haven't used in a long time. One for sure is a "Greatland" (Target) brand, the other I'm thinking is a Coleman. They have all the poles, etc. and are very good tents. I think they are both in the 12' by 12 range. One has a separate sleeping area and cooking area with netting. Because they are both free, I'm not setting them up for pix. Full refund if you don't like them. Since we started "Camper" camping these things have just been sitting around. I'm in the Pinetop/Lakeside/Show Low area - first come, first served, no shipping. More stuff to come. PM me for a meeting spot.

Two campfire chairs with footrests - not sure what to call them - beer drinking chairs? One in blue one in green, free, no shipping first come...

Badminton/volley ball net with rackes, and horseshoes. Kind of a beach sport pack - free. Doubt it's been opened.

You got'em Ajo, but this is a first-come deal. I'm giving them to whoever shows up first. If you want me to hold them, PM me and let me know when you are going to be here. I don't want to store them any longer than necessary.

The rain is pouring, the rivers are flowing, it's catfish time! Took my oldest sons to my favorite catfish hole yesterday and had a great over-night trip. We let a few go, had some twist off the stringer but sill had a 30+ pound stringer. Fun trip with the boys before school starts.

Gotta love those city bucks! Seems last year there was a huge buck with in-town shots of him right in Colorado Springs.

Not the Verde, this was upper Salt.

Leica and Swaro are best bar none. Then you get into Nikon, Vortex, etc. I used a Nikon 800 for around 10 years and it was one of the best pieces of equipment I ever bought. I gave the Nikon to my son and am now using the Vortex Ranger 1000. It is better in a lot of ways than my old Nikon, in that it is smaller and just has better ergonomics - button placement, snap to your chest strap, that kind of thing. But in ranging, it gets really confused if there are branches or thick cover. Long ranges, it does OK, but not better than the Nikon I used for so many years. One other thing I loved, but almost hated about the Nikon 800, you could put 4 AAA batteries in that thing and they would go for years, literally. You just kept thinking it should be time to replace the batteries, but it just kept on going. It was way bulkier than the current range finders, but that was one reliable go-to hunting tool that served me very well over more than a decade. I hope it serves my son, Matt, as well as it did me.

I have no gripes with guides, or anyone who hunts with guides. For a lot of people, paying for services is natural. When the water heater or air conditioner breaks down, you call a plumber or AVAC person, get a glitch in a light switch call the electrician, flat tire, call AAA. Time for a kitchen or bathroom makeover, pay somebody to handle it, from the concept to completion, you never get your hands dirty. Maybe I'm weird, but I just can't do things that way. If I had the very best elk or deer tag imaginable, I couldn't stand paying somebody to hold my hand through the hunt. I don't mind branching out and meeting people and exchanging information, but it's not the same. I recently re-built our entire house- not because I wanted to - but a simple tile job turned into a nightmare because of the way it had been done by "professionals". I had never laid tile in my life and re-tiled 2600+ feet with all kinds of decorative touches that we would have paid a fortune for, and people still ask us who did it for us. I could go on-and-on with the DIY analogies. Bottom line, you are your best guide. You don't know everything, but I guarantee there are people willing to point you in the right direction. If you are willing to get some starters, just enough to get going, then do the rest of the hard work, you'll see that you don't necessarily need to hire a guide, you just need to ask for a starting point, which are plentiful on this site, and do the rest on your own.

Cool father-and-son trip! Very nice.

Great looking Shotgun. Bump for a really sweet gun, even if it is upside down. LOL.

Another fan of the Havalon - they are an awesome tool. However, while I know some people like to use them as their only knife, I do like having a Buck 119, and my Browning Kodiak, especially when dealing with big jobs like multiple elk. The Havalon is great for skinning and some detailed work, but when boning out I really like a good full sized, fixed blade knife. And the Browning Kodiak, with a saw and gut hook, I can't even begin to count the animals I've processed with that knife.

Man, that looks like a TON of fun. I've always wanted to tap into some of those Lake Powell Strippers! LOL. All joking aside, looks like a phenomenal trip, and those stripers are some of the best eating fish. Back when my wife and I were just dating, some 20+ years ago, her family would go to Powell every summer in a cabin cruiser and take me along. The only rule was, I slept up top under the stars far from their daughter, which was fine with me because I fished all night. None of them liked to eat fish until I did a little beach-front fish fry of stripers and cats I had caught one night. From that point on they all looked forward to some fresh caught fish. Looks like you guys had a blast - catching fish, hanging with good friends, just priceless. Thanks for sharing.

Cooked them up tonight and had my parents and Carrie's mom over for a nice fish fry with some sausage and cheese stuffed mushrooms. Even though they were skinned at the river I cut off the skin membrane and chunked up the meat pretty small then soaked the chunks in buttermilk. After a couple hours in the buttermilk they went to buttermilk/egg wash and then dredged in a mixture of flour, cornmeal, Zatarain's Creole seasoning, Cavendar's, Some Old Bay crab boil, lemon pepper, garlic powder and fresh cracked black pepper and a little bit of crushed red pepper. Then into the 350 degree oil. They came out super good. Crunchy, a little spicy, not too salty, no fishy flavor or mushiness - it was a very good batch of catfish.

Yeah, I'm with you on that - The way I prefer to cook catfish is a little too hot for the fam, so I use Cholula or Tabasco with lime after it's cooked. I'm sure you already have a good recipe for spicy hot fish and poultry, but I'd like to compare notes some time if you want.

Pine donkey, you hit the nail on the head. Sometimes with guys this age they act like rivals. Both of my older boys were great on this trip. They carried their part and worked a good camp, didn't fight, and just recognized dad was trying to create a memory for them. It hasn't always been that way. Glad it was this time.

Nice bucks Shane. You always have a knack for finding the dandies.