IA Born

15 of the 22 cards are SPF already! Thanks to those of you who have PMd me! 7 left to grab!

Weren't you in one of the first talking movie filmed in Arizona, too, Tim? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Sorry, friend. I'll go to time out now!

Others I can't believe you've missed so far: The Outlaw Josey Wales The Postman National Lampoon's Vacation (can't go to the Grand Canyon without thinking of that) Sasquatch Mountain Mars Attacks! Piranha 3D 3:10 to Yuma (original)

Beat me to it! CLASSIC 80s!

I think I still have my javelina head from 3 years ago in the freezer. My first archery javelina and its tiny. I'd love to have the skull done, but can't justify the cost. I'm willing to let him experiment on that one. It needs completely skinned/boiled, but if he wants it, I'll let him work on it. I'm in Flagstaff, but should be coming to the valley Sunday for two soccer games. If he wants to experiment with it and we can meet up close to one of the soccer fields, I'll throw it in. I won't know where we're playing and what time until later tonight and I'm in UT for a meeting Weds-Fri night, but I'll have access to the internet. PM is the best way to reach me.

Congrats, Mike! Glad to see you are able to get out, but I bet you rushed home to your new little boy!

Will do! Sure hope to see you back again!

That's awesome! Addie was one of my hunter ed students a couple of years ago. She's a great kid and fun to be around. Your daughter looks familiar, too. Congrats to both young ladies!

There's still room. Our banquet is this Saturday and we'd love to see you up here!

Sorry for getting this out so late, but our annual Hunting Heritage fundraising banquet will be in 3.5 weeks, on Saturday, February 25th. Doors open at 5pm and we have tons of great stuff, and will highlight our youth again this year. We have new table options and raffle ticket packages this year, after hearing requests from some of our past attendees. We'd love to have you be there. My phone number is on the flyer if you have any questions about the banquet. Banquet Flier 2017.pdf

She'll be hunting turkeys, silly! The area around El Dorado is mostly the hybrids, if you can really call subspecies a hybrid. We've talked about it and she really doesn't care. She just wants to get a turkey. I have a friend in Pratt and we have an open invitation to go hunt Rios there anytime. That's been a backup for both of us. I considered turning my Gould's tag over to her, but I only considered for about 10 seconds. She knows why I wont and she fully supports me keeping it. Besides, we've been banking points for my wife and she should get drawn soon, too. That tag goes to Syd. We're both after our Royal Slam and may take you up on your offer for help with an Osceola. I have access to so many family/friends' farms in Iowa for Eastern birds, its unreal.

Thanks for all of the replies and support so far. This has been such an overwhelming, whirlwind, humbling experience for both of us. Janet, from the Kansas program did tell us Thursday that the gun Syd gets arrived in her shop in KS, but wouldn't tell us what it is. She just said "Its a really nice gun!" At breakfast Friday morning, Syd tried to sneak the question in, hoping to catch Janet off guard. All she said was "Nice try, but you're going to have to wait!" Less than two months and we'll be there! I've already made arrangements to ship any wings back to a friend in Iowa to have a custom wingbone call made for Sydney and donate the rest of the wings for whatever he needs. Two short months away...is it too early to start packing?

I meant to include that, but forgot. Thanks for reminding me! Yes, Syd is the first winner from Arizona and she's the youngest ever. As Brenda Valentine pointed out to Syd Thursday night, most of the winners are 15-16 year old boys from out east/southeast. Brenda was so excited for Syd!

We got back from the Convention yesterday evening and we're still working on getting caught up on rest. I thought I'd use my current insomnia to get some pics and as much of the story as I can remember up for you all to read. I know Bill is anxious to hear everything, at least by the frequency of texts I'm getting! We drove down Wednesday night and stayed in a hotel near the airport. Our 5 am flight Thursday morning required a 3am alarm to take the 3:30 shuttle to the airport. Syd did great for all of the anxiety of getting things ready, my forgotten backpack, and her nerves, in general. We arrived in Nashville and went to catch our prearranged shuttle to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. That right there should have been an omen. We weren't on the reservation list. Fortunately, I pulled up the email stating we were supposed to be on that list. I even used the "She's the NWTF JAKES national essay contest winner. She's kind of a big deal!" approach and the lady went ahead and comped us on the shuttle list. Once at the hotel, the program director for the Kansas One Shot Governor's Turkey Hunt met us and whisked us off to the rehearsal we were supposed to be at. To say we were overwhelmed at the sheer size of that place and the size of the banquet room is an understatement. Poor Syd was so nervous, but she maintained her composure well. We also got to meet Dr. James Earl Kennamer, one of the original founders of the NWTF. I thanked him for his science-based approach to everything he's done and told him that was why I've stuck with NWTF for so long. After rehearsal we went to get our registration packets and credentials. Yep, not in the system. Supposedly, this is common, but I started thinking about the shuttle-thing. While the gal was trying to track down our credentials, our KS contact took us to the front desk to get checked into our rooms. Yep, you guessed it; not in the system. I pulled up emails showing that NWTF booked our room, but I didn't have a confirmation number. I gave the gal at the counter every single known misspelling of our last name that's ever shown up in hotel registrations, but we got nothing. Of course, our NWTF contact was in meetings all day and not answering her phone! It ended up being a good thing because we got to spend quite a bit more time than planned with the KS turkey hunt rep and her husband. AWESOME people and we can't wait to go hunt. We finally found somebody with NWTF, who turned out to be the VP of Communications, and she made a couple of phone calls. Turns out, we were listed under the general NWTF corporate reservation. We got situated into our rooms and met back up for the welcome dinner. Our tickets said "Seat assignment at the door" so we had to figure out where we were sitting for the dinner. Oh boy, here we go again! We were on the list for needing two seats, but we had no table assignment. Everyone thought it made sense for us to be at the same table as the KS program, but there was no confirmation. The best the could do was to put us at the table right next to them. While we were waiting, I looked up and Brenda Valentine was standing two feet away. I very subtly pointed her out to Syd and then re-introduced myself to her and asked if I could introduce my daughter, explaining why Syd was there. Brenda stopped everything she was doing and stood there talking to Sydney for several minutes. She congratulated her and encouraged her to keep being a strong gal in our sport. It was truly amazing to stand back and watch and listen. Blessed is an understatement. Shortly after we got to our seats, the NWTF seating gal walked up to us, looked at Syd, and said "I didn't realize I was talking to a VIP. I"m so sorry. You're sitting at table X, with the rest of the VIPs." Syd and I looked at each other dumbfounded, but followed her to our seats. We were sitting with some of the program directors of the NWTF and we had a blast catching up and talking. It turns out there is a newly hired person at NWTF who was supposed to make all of our arrangements, but dropped the ball. Based on the reactions of the NWTF staff we were with, I'm guessing there was a serious butt chewing. We took it all in stride, just happy to be there. We ended up bailing early from the welcome dinner because Syd was so tired from our trip. We got up the next morning and headed to the formal breakfast sponsored by Federal. It was great to see Syd's picture flash through the powerpoint slide show. I was able to get a picture of her standing in front of her slide. Its one of my favorite pics from her first elk hunt in 2014. Her presentation was rather quick, but it was just amazing and awe-inspiring to sit there (taking pics and video) and listen to them talk about her. After it was over, Brenda came back up to her, congratulated her, offered more encouragement, and told Syd that she was so used to seeing boys up there win that contest that she was super proud of Sydney! Then she asked for a picture, which I was very happy to oblige. After that, we were introduced to the NWTF CEO, George Thornton. He was taken in by how young and determined Syd was, too, and we took some pictures. That was probably my favorite part. George is an entomologist, so we talked wildlife management for quite a bit. Its nice to be on the same page with folks when it comes to science-based management! In the middle of all that, I happened to look over and see Syd getting her picture taken with Michael Waddell. I've never been one to get starstruck, and I didn't then, but it was great to see these celebrities approach her, congratulate her, and then ask to have their picture taken with her. As soon as we were done there, we went to our room, changed clothes, and relaxed before heading down to the trade show part. We had some booths to hit, including HS Strut (from my home state) and the one by Albert Paul, who makes amazing custom calls (Paul's Calls). Seeing Mr. Paul was a result of Syd getting lessons using TRKHNTR's call last May when we hunted with him. I'm still surprised that my wife didn't kill me when I finally told her today that I ordered Sydney her own custom call and carry case for $240! We should have it right before the youth turkey hunt here in Arizona! The trade show was huge, but we covered as much as we could/felt like. Just about everywhere we went, we got stopped with "Hey, aren't you the JAKES essay winner? Congratulations!" I was simply "the winner's dad", but that's ok. This trip was all about her and I was very proud of all the compliments we received about our beautiful daughter! Sydney is one of very few girls to ever win, she's the first JAKES member from Arizona, and she's officially the youngest winner ever! Saturday was a long day traveling home and, thank God for small blessings. All of that rain ended up calling for her soccer games in Phoenix to be cancelled! We were supposed to meet up with her team for the second game, but it was rained out. That ended up being a good thing because we were so bloody tired, even after napping on the plane! Sorry for the long-winded post, but there was so much to tell. That hotel is HUGE and we're still overwhelmed at how big it was. I definitely highly recommend the NWTF convention sometime. Here are some pics of the weekend. Its very pic heavy, but I hope you enjoy. It was definitely a proud dad moment! Rehearsal Off to The Welcome Dinner Federal Breakfast, Receiving Award Video of Syd Receiving Her Award http://i1071.photobucket.com/albums/u515/bwooldridge/2016_2017%20Journal/th_20170217_081758_zpsh2l7cfxu.mp4 Walking around the trade show Mr. and Mrs. Albert Paul of Paul's Calls Michael and Nick both remembered her and gave her huge hugs in front of everyone! Then she got her hat autographed and, like a great big sister, asked for one for her little brother! Then she got the chance to hold a great horned owl and a red-tailed hawk. And this picture was taken 10 minutes after our plane took off from Nashville at 6am Saturday morning.

More of a drizzle than a rain right now.

Same here. Rather unimpressive so far.

Thanks! We need to make sure and meet up.

I remember you guys! Hope to see you back!

I'm not surprised and expected no less! I'll try to take a picture of Syd's face when I tell her you don't really care to see her play soccer!

We're flying home Saturday, so we're definitely going to go the exhibit hall on Friday. You should come to south Phoenix Saturday afternoon to watch her play soccer! You think she's good at turkey calling, you should see her as a goalie!

Every day I pick Syd up from school, she's counting down the days until we head to Nashville. Tomorrow, after I get back from a long day-long meeting in Kingman, we are driving down to Phoenix to catch our 5 am flight Thursday morning. There is such an air of giddiness around our house, its unreal. She finally found the right dress (God help me) for the formal breakfast Friday morning and she's working hard to get as much ahead in her school work as she can while we're gone. I don't think it will really sink in until we get to the hotel and convention. I'll try and get some pics updated throughout the weekend, but if I don't, I'll get them up next week!

I was going to make a smarta$$ post about wondering how many people will complain tomorrow that the system crashed tonight, but I thought better of it. Or does this count? Good luck everyone!

This is the youth camp I want to take my boys too but I don't see anything on there site for registration (Unit 1/27). Here you go, directly from the AGFD website. Its how all youth camps are being registered this year. https://register-ed.com/programs/arizona/170-outdoor-skills-network

Friday was a cold, but great day! After five unfilled javelina tags for various reasons (overlapping soccer games, soccer injuries, illnesses, pheasant hunt, disappearing pigs, no pigs), our daughter was finally able to get it done at 1205 on opening day! About three weeks ago, she asked me if she could use my AR to hunt javelina instead of her 7-08. Who was I to tell her no? Our original plans started to fall apart, but a chance encounter on her deer hunt in October paid of big dividends and is leading to a lifelong friendship. Brittany Passmore, from the Mountain Project, offered to take Sydney and me out in 19A to a spot she knew held pigs. We met up, drove out to the spot, started glassing, and started freezing our butts off! It was so cold and windy, that I ended up bouncing back and forth from my binos to my truck with some Jet Boil-made coffee (thanks to Sydney for digging out the coffees and the idea!). I did glass up a nice 4x4 or 4x3 (too far to be sure), but chose not to go after him because Syd was my priority. She tried hard to convince me to go get it since we weren't seeing anything, but I reminded her she was my top priority. After about 3 hours of seeing nothing, Brittany suggested we head farther up the canyon to get a different vantage point on where she'd seen the herd Thursday afternoon. We were there about 15-20 minutes when Brittany decided to head up to a nearby ridge to look down into where the pigs were Thursday. About that time, Syd told me she was hungry, so I fired up the Jet Boil to get her spaghetti ready. I did a quick look up to the hillside to the north and saw nothing but a cow that was perfectly deer colored. The water was about ready for lunch when I looked back up the hillside. PIGS!!! I let Syd know there were two javelina on the hillside. We'd have to eat later. She started gearing up and I called Brittany to let her know what was going on. "Look to the left of the deer-cow." I scrambled to get the AR ready while she got her tag and license and we took off. The plan was to get to the ridge opposite and reassess. Brittany sent me a text letting me know she had eyes on them for us. As we were going, I realized I left my call and my binos in my truck, but was thankful I had my rangefinder. I'd have to use that to spot and glass. As we got closer, I realized we may be looking at a 150+ yard shot, so I adjusted the scope (Nikon p223 3x32) two inches up (I'd sighted it in dead on at 100 yds). We got to the opposite ridge, saw three pigs milling about, and set up. Syd picked a pig that finally stood broadside long enough and I called out a range of 153 yards. Unfortunately, she missed, but the pigs didn't scatter like I thought they would. They ran about 20 yards to the right, passed the deer-cow, and regrouped with a "WTH was that" attitude about them. They weren't overly spooked, but they weren't exactly calm, either. Syd was able to regroup, get on another pig, make a course correction and fire a second shot. This all happened in about 90 seconds from the first shot. I watched two pigs take off in a dead sprint and a third one kind of jogged off in that direction. That pig ended up going about ten yards, turned around, and dropped within five yards of where Syd shot it. I was so proud of her for maintaining her composure and making a great follow up shot. While I was policing up gear and unloading the AR, Syd had a great phone call with Brittany, who saw it all happen through her binos. We hiked across the canyon, recovered her pig (a big sow), took some photos, and started the field dressing. Syd made a perfect double lung shot. Those Barnes VOR-TX 55gr TSX did an amazing job! I was able to figure out that her follow-up shot was 160-170 yards. Brittany helped me do the gutless method and, while we were doing that, Sydney hiked back to my truck to drive it up to us. This was, by far, my favorite hunt with her, although I'm not sure I'm getting my AR back! A huge thanks to Brittany Passmore and her husband Kevin, as well as my buddy for letting us crash in his camper Thursday night! Also thanks to The Mountain Project for making Syd's day even more special! I'm still enjoying my proud dad moment today! Using my extra coat and the door as a wind block to glass After the shot celebration Trophy Pics

Bump this back up. Our banquet is two weeks away and I'm hoping to see many of you there. I'll be easy to find there (the dummy on the mic), so come talk to me and let me know you're from CW.