IA Born

I'm in no way claiming to be judge, jury, and executioner here or that I know best. I've been instructing for 10 years and I have seen multiple kids show up to class and they point muzzles at people and have little awareness to what they are doing, even after hammering firearm safety into the class. When we approach the parents to talk about what we're seeing, some (not all) of these parents are either not engaged, don't understand the problem, or just don't care. We've had parents get mad at us for calling out their kids' poor firearm safety on the shooting line. That is not the norm and I never claimed it to be the norm, but I've seen it enough to say that it definitely happens and those are the kids/families that scare me. I agree and disagree with this. I wish the agency hadn't shut the program down for so long. And now field days are hard to get into because of lack of instructor teams putting them on. I feel for the kids who truly want to hunt and learn, but have to wait so long. AGFD started requiring short "refresher quiz" to help with the material retention. The quiz was required to attend a field day for online students and we saw a huge jump in both participation and knowledge. At the same time, even before classes were shut down, we had the same issues. It was also obvious (sometimes admitted) that the parents/grandparents/other guardian actually took the test for the kid just so they could get their kid out hunting. I've had kids freely admit they didn't know there would be a 50-question final exam at the field day to pass the class, even though there is a HUGE red banner on the first page of the online class that says there will be a 50-question test at the field day to pass the class. One teen admitted (sort of paraphrasing) "I just blew through it to get it done. I had no idea there was a test when we showed up." after getting a 22/50 on the test. Think what you want about AGFD's (or any other states') requirements to pass an HE class in order to hunt. I won't deny you that. I'm just a volunteer instructor who's seen the entire spectrum of issues in 10 years. I'll still buy the coffee and we can talk more if you're in Flagstaff and interested.

There's quite a bit of speculation as to why the department hasn't started up new instructor training, but that's for a cup of coffee (my treat). A big part of the exodus in the last year is the training requirements for cyber security and personal information access. Many of the instructors didn't want to be burdened with the training requirements, even though every other volunteer for AGFD has to take them, so they opted out of being an instructor. Now we're down to three (maybe four) active instructor teams across the entire state. We can't keep up with the demand. Our team in Flagstaff went from 20 instructors available down to 11. Burn out happens real quick and every team is pleading with AGFD to get the new instructor training up and running. Ours is the only volunteer training not occurring for the department.

Its time for the NWTF-AZ annual 31-Day gun raffle. We're giving away a great gun every day for 31 days, starting November 24. Get your chances by Nov 10 for the early bird chance at a great Liberty Safe. Chances can be grabbed at our website and are 1/$20, 3/$50, and 7/$100. While you're there shopping, you can still get a 20203 Western States 2A Calendar (2A item every week for 52 weeks), a Prois Turkey vest, $500 in Sportsman's Warehouse Gift Cards, and a Marsupial bird game vest. Share the link far and wide! https://www.naznwtf.org/shop

Yes! We have 13 calendars left. We are drawing for the turkey vest, SW raffle cards, and Marsupial Bird Bag next Thursday. If you're talking about the 31-Day Gun Raffle, you can still get in , but do it quickly, so I can get your name to our RD, who is running the drawing.

Got ours Monday

I don't disagree with you at all. The parents of these kids are the ones that probably scare me the most because they don't see (or want to hear) what we see as instructors.

Is it too late? Taqueria Juanitos is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Tucson!

This is true. Also, we get kids showing up to online field days months (now a year or two) after taking the online class and they are absolutely clueless as to the concepts, questions, and basic firearm safety. And we're supposed to pass them. I hate to say it this way, but there are kids out hunting with a full completion certificate and HE card that scare the absolute crap out of me. I wouldn't feel safe around them at all.

I'll PM you shortly with dates and details.

You attend or your son? Or both?

Its this right here. I teach Hunter Ed up here in Flagstaff and I work for the Federal government, so I get the hoops that are being required. There are Federal regulation requirements that have to be met when using Federal money (PR dollars for HE) and every instructor has access to PII. AGFD got dinged in an audit because volunteers weren't being held to this standard. Unfortunately, not every volunteer, including HE instructors, understands this Federal requirement, especially when it was just implemented a year ago. Shortly after that was implemented, the HE program lost 70% or more of its instructors and there are limitations imposed on getting new instructors trained. I don't know how much of that is because of process and how much is politics. I have my suspicions, but that's for a cup of coffee. Right now, I'm only aware of instructor teams working in Flagstaff, Tucson, and Bullhead area. I'm working on organizing an in-person class in Flagstaff in February. It may be my last class as an instructor because I'm getting tired of the politics.

This ^^. I can tell just by the fact that its an 03-A3 that its not one of the problem children 03s. Those were made pre-WWI (well before the 03-A3s)and were known to have rather brittle barrels due to forging the barrels wrong. All of the Remington's have a 2-groove barrel, which didn't affect their accuracy at all. Remington and Smith Corona did it to save time and money to get rifles to soldiers faster. $1200 is a very fair asking price for that rifle. I have a 1918 Springfield 1903 in mint condition and I know I could get $4-$6k for it if I really wanted to sell it.

Not much else to say that hasn't been said. I have a Dec Coues tag down south and I'm debating on my 30-06 shooting 168 gr Barnes TTSX or my son's 300WM shooting Barnes 190gr LRX. Both extremely viable options and, yes, you can never get them too dead.

We've have decided its time to pick a winner for these three items. These raffles have been running too long We will be drawing a winner December 15th and shipping them out in time for Christmas! Go to our website and get your chances while you can. $500 in Sportsmans Warehouse gift cards for $20/chance, a Marsupial upland bird system for $20/chance, and a Prois ladies turkey vest for $10/chance. Get your chances while you still can! Again, we will pick a winner for each of these December 15th. https://www.naznwtf.org/shop

I don't have 1K to spare, but I can probably get you a couple of hundred Federal GM215Ms if that will work. If I don't see this right away, feel free to PM me so I see it quicker.

Been a long time, Mike. How many do you need?

Thanks for the reminder to get that information out!

We got your order and are working on filling out all of the ticket stubs. With this, we typically don't email stubs out unless they are specifically requested. Thanks for that reminder. I need to let everyone know we received online orders and are working on getting the stubs filled out and that they will be submitted for the drawing in plenty of time.

Only 2 days left to get your tickets for a chance at the early bird raffle. Tickets will still be available November 10th, but you won't have a chance at the safe! https://www.naznwtf.org/shop

If you're going to inquire on those regards, then please pressure them to get New Instructor Trainings (NITs) up and running again. We're short across the state, in part because of the new training requirements and the HE program is the only volunteer program in AGFD that is NOT training new volunteers. We keep asking them to get NITs up and running so we can have more instructors and, therefore, have more classes up here in Flagstaff, but we keep getting told not right now.

Only 9 days left to get your tickets for a chance at the early bird raffle. Tickets will still be available November 10th, but you won't have a chance at the safe!

Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.naznwtf.org/shop

Bump. Get your 31-Day gun tickets and calendars!

I keep cleaning out the garage and safe, as well as upgrading gear. I realized that I have a handful of posts of stuff for sale, so I’m posting one, concise post with everything. Prices are listed below with each item. In Flagstaff but will ship on buyer’s dime. Will also be in Scottsdale 23-25 June and can steal away from family gathering to meet up. Youth Block GenZ archery target. Open layered design. Good shape, but definitely used by my kids. For bows up to 40lb draw weight. $20 Wyoming Saw used once, but I only got about a quarter through my daughter's elk before I lost my patience, packed it up and went a different route. $15 3-Arrow Quiver. Never seen the field, only range time and backyards. I don't remember the brand of the quiver, but its a 3-arrrow off my daughter's old bow. $15 Apex Tundra 3-pin bow sight. Lightly used on my son’s bow. $15 Hornady 12g turkey loads. $15 Leupold Dual Dovetail 1" High rings. $20 Leupold Dual Dovetail 30mm medium rings: $20 Youth insulated hunting boots. Cabelas brand, Size 6M, 600g Thinsulate insulation: $25

Bump. Heading to McDowell Mt Park tomorrow afternoon/evening for my son's mountain bike Race. Camping at the park for the weekend and can meet near the park or off the interstates on the way, Saturday (near the park), or on the way home Sunday.