IA Born

I love seeing the "free to youth/teen" stuff like this! I was blessed to have a friend give me his kids' hunting clothes when my daughter started. I've been able to hand those down to my son as she outgrew them and, as he outgrows them, I give them to a buddy's son, who is a couple of years younger than my son. Good on you!

My daughter and I just got back from freezing our butts off at Lower Lake Mary to help maintain our sanity. We didn't catch any fish, but watched four osprey catch 8 total fish, including one 20 feet in front of my daughter! My kids have the youth turkey hunt in 5B or 5a (haven't decided yet) and my son and I have leftover 12A tags, so we're in the same boat as you, but with a shorter drive!

The closure order is not overly clear, but I just called the Flagstaff RD. The Coconino NF's website spells it out very clearly, too. Developed campgrounds, day use areas, visitor centers, heritage cites, and some hiking trailheads have been closed. The rest of the forests are open for hiking and dispersed camping, including the upcoming turkey hunts. The currently closed forest roads are anticipated to be open by early/mid April, which is standard procedure every year, weather dependent, of course. And, yes, groups of more than 10 appear to be banned for now.

I remember when the previous owner of BBA in Flag opened the shop in Tucson. He opened it and hired folks to run it exactly like he ran his shop here. Top notch. The current owner of BBA in Flagstaff has maintained the same principles for the Tucson shop. You definitely can't go wrong with BBA in Tucson.

Its that time of year again. We have our deck of cards for your chance to win a Commissioner's Turkey Tag. There are 10 decks statewide, giving a total 540 chances to win a commissioner's turkey tag for the state of Arizona. You have 365 days to hunt, should you win, any turkey in any open unit in Arizona. More specifically, this gives you the chance to hunt the Gould's which is only found in Arizona, New Mexico and Northern Old Mexico. $20 gets you a chance. You do not have to be an Arizona resident but you will have to have a valid hunting license to hunt. Second prize is a Savage Axis .308 w/ 3-9x40 scope. The drawing will be August 1, 2020. If you want a ticket for the raffle, message me. If you want multiple chances, we can make that happen, too.

I'll take my chances with Abaco. The place we stayed at in 2017 in Treasure Key is doing well, too. I recently told some colleagues on a conference call about me moving to Abaco permanently. They mentioned the hurricanes. All I said was "The last we saw him, he was in the middle of a double haul!" That's how I want to go out...

I cleared 10 inches from our driveway in Flagstaff this morning. Thinking about social distancing on Andros Island or Abaco Island for the rest of my life...

I never really thought of it that way. He's a skinny little turd, so that rifle is more than 10% of his weight!

Just gonna throw this out there for my fellow Gen-Xers!

Scope is SPF...

Our NAZ (Flagstaff) Chapter NWTF is next weekend, March 14 at the Doubletree. Would love to see some of you there, especially if you're local! https://events.nwtf.org/30020-2020

To be fair, this is the same supervisor who went to bat for me with our previous supervisor (ran the whole office) after the big boss got mad at me because I couldn't go to a meeting due to my daughter having the Unit 1 early rifle bull tag in 2017. My supervisor knows where my first priorities are and supports me fully. After three years, though, I kind of owe it to her to put my career up front! I'm counting down the days until retirement (only 16 more years)! Then I'm going to be following all of my favorite hatches, standing knee deep in the best trout streams or living near the saltwater flats!

If you're hunting in my neighborhood and I'm in town, holler if you need help!