IA Born

It was hit and miss. Some really slow going with spurts of awesomeness. I suppose I could/should put a post about it.

Just got back from the San Juan below Navajo Dam. I need to plan a trip to CO!

There is a classroom Hunter Education class in Flagstaff July 20-23. If the weather holds, Saturday's class session will be outside near the Flagstaff Archer's Range. As of this post, there are 6 seats out of 40 available. I'm not the lead instructor, but you can get ahold of him in the link below. https://www.register-ed.com/events/view/198443

The class was July 20-23 and was full. We're hosting an online field day on Sunday, August 27th at the NorAZ Shooting Range. It will be a small class with only 12 slots available, since we will only have 4 instructors. That's as big of a class as we can hold with that low number of instructors.

TTT

Congrats and great story!

Same. A friend convinced me its worth the $10 and I've loved it ever since I got it.

That's awesome! It would be fun to explore and document that. What we've been seeing is pockets of high abundance and areas where we should be seeing them and aren't.

Steep, rocky habitat is actually the preferred habitat of Sonoran desert tortoises. They are only rarely found out in flats and that is usually attributed to emigration from range/territory to another. Mohave desert tortoises are the ones that live in the flats and creep up to the toes of slopes.

I think he's mentioned he likes gladiator movies! Just kidding, Tim! That's awesome. I was involved in both listing decisions for the Sonoran desert tortoise. My supervisor and I fought hard to make sure the science was included and interpreted correctly, rather than making decisions based on emotions. Numbers aren't what they used to be, but they don't need ESA protection right now!

Savage stock is SPF. Remington 700 ADL LA stock is available. Standard LOP on that one.

Class is full with an empty wait list.

Sorry, I should have been more clear. The Savage Axis stock is off a youth/compact rifle.

Still have the Rem 700 ADL (blind magazine) LA and Savage Axis SA stocks available.

Class starts a week from today and there are 4 seats left.

My pleasure! If I can use my connections to get the right answers, I'm all for it!

Just heard back from my friend in the condor program. You're good to go. "If he got drawn in 12A or B he will get info with his tag. If he chose Etag he will get the same info in the mail in a tag envelope."

They should be doing it. I was the Federal lead for the Condor program up until Oct 2021. Getting supplies through big-name companies was difficult at one point due to bureaucratic BS from the companies not wanting to deal with state contracts, even though the process was simple. I'll reach out to the new AGFD Condor lead and confirm, but it shouldn't be a problem for any hunt (youth, Champ, or general). You can always call the R2/Flagstaff office and verify, but the AGFD Condor lead is a good friend and I've asked.

That's very true. The Hunter Ed program is funded by excise tax $$ through the Pittman-Roberston (Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration) Act. A huge requirement is that there has to be an in-kind match to those Federal dollars, and AGFD uses our time as HE Instructors (volunteers) to log person-hours into the system as the in-kind match. The biggest hold-up for getting more classes is that there was a mass exodus of instructors (~70% drop) two years ago, right as we were allowed to start the in-person classes again. There were training requirements (online training classes related to managing PII and harassment) that are mandated as part of the Federal dollars. Many of the instructors decided they didn't want to go through the hoops, so they left. Every training we have to take as HE volunteers is almost exactly the same as what I have to take annually as a Federal employee. I was upset because I have to do it every year for work and then again every year to be an HE instructor and that's time away from my family. My wife encouraged me to not quit teaching, or I'd have been done two years ago, too.

TTT

Scope is sold

Sold

In 10 years of teaching, I see a huge difference in information retention with kids, especially the younger ones, who take the in-person class vs completing the online class.

I think at one time, it wasn't required, but I think they changed it. Keyword is "think" in all my knowledge (or lack thereof). Get him our July 2-23 class here in Flagstaff! I see you're over in Williams.

I think Texas requires a field day now, unlike in California (online class, no field day). It will meet the requirements for all states, but you won't get a bonus point. You have to take an AZ HE class to get the bonus point.