When a friend with a boat asks if you want to go fishing, the answer is always yes.

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The season has been over for a few weeks now. The dog knows it. I know it. We’ve both settled in to the routine of the off season. I cleaned the shotgun, put it in a gun sock, and stowed it in the safe. I bathed the dog and now she smells like that oatmeal shampoo. She’s already back to roaming the backyard and intermittently stalking song birds and lizards.

My mind is wandering to turkey season. Instead of the yellow grass and oaks of southern Arizona, I’m wondering what the weather is doing in the high country. I’m thinking about getting down the decoys, breaking out a slate call, and seeing if I have enough shells to go pattern the shotgun like I do every season.

But I dare not start digging out gear and making piles of camouflage clothing. I won’t open the safe and rummage through shells. I refuse to start scratching the slate just yet. The dog will know. She’ll sense I’m cheating on her. She’ll sit there patiently, watching with her sad orange-brown eyes, knowing I’m going hunting without her. I can’t do it to her yet. Maybe in a week or two.

It breaks my heart to see her so sad. But I do love turkey hunting, and September grouse season is a long ways away.

The post Mearns appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

I pulled the truck off the side of the dirt road in roughly the same spot I had marked on the map. Shrugging into my vest and slipping the shotgun from the case, I flipped the tailgate down, dropped the dog dish into the dirt and opened the nozzle on the blue water jug. As the water splashed into the metal dog dish, I hoisted Sunny onto the tailgate and secured her GPS collar and watched the screen on my handheld to make sure everything was working. Sunny jumped off the tailgate and slurped water before turning away from the truck into the tall yellow grass. I slammed the tailgate closed and hit the key fab to lock the truck before turning and walking into the grass myself.

I scanned ahead looking for the brown body of my dog and felt the familiar buzz of the GPS. I looked down and Sunny was on point, 20 yards from the truck. I snapped the shotgun closed and walked towards her. The ground erupted in front of me as 12 Mearns quail popcorn flushed straight away. I picked one of the last ones to get off the ground and dropped it from flight. Sunny was on it in a moment, rolling, mouthing and savoring the taste of fat male Mearns quail in her mouth. That alone was worth the drive to the border.

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Sweet Sunshine Lady found the one and only cholla bush in 4 square miles and wound up with a leg and mouth full of spines. We spent a half an hour together in the shade of a mesquite tree, pulling everyone of those barbed needles I could out of her hide and tongue. After that episode, she slowed down and we hunted a couple of large coveys together, knocking down three Gamble’s quail together.

I don’t know if everyone feels the same way about their dog, but I love my sweet idiot. We’re both have our flaws, but love hunting together.

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Rambling Review: Zenbivy Light Bed

Why: I’m always working on my sleep system for hunting, fishing, and camping trips. The truth is that the temperature ranges so drastically in Arizona that it can easily be 100 degrees in the summer on a fishing trip and single digits on a winter hunt. I’ve experimented with different bags, quilts, and pads, and all of them have an application. However, the Zenbivy Light Bed is a unique product that provides a versatile sleep system. (This review is based on the 25 degree system)

First impressions:

The system – The Zenbivy Light Bed system is a two part bag system that attaches right to your sleeping bag.

• Zenbivy Light Sheet – A fitted sheet that attaches securely to the sleeping pad
• Zenbivy Light Quilt – A down overquilt that attaches to the fitted sheet using a series of hooks.

Lightweight – The Zen Bivy Fitted Sheet and Quilt weigh in at 2.3 pounds.

Field Use:

To be honest, it took me an evening of messing around with the Zenbivy light bed to completely understand all of the ins and outs of this system. Bottom line, it’s extremely versatile and designed to set up the quilt into three different modes.

• Mummy mode – The quilt is able to be cinched in mummy mode which allows the bottom to be secured all together for maximum warmth.
• Rectangle mode – Using the hook system, the quilt is secured to the fitted sheet to give a tucked in feel like your bed at home.
• Quilt mode – If you’re saving ounces, you can leave the fitted sheet at home and sleep directly on the pad with the quilt on top.

Between turkey season, a family camping trip, and an overnight fishing trip, I’ve spent several nights in the Zenbivy Light Bed. I personally sleep really hot. I have a 3/4 zip mummy bag I’ve used forever and I always wake up on fire in it, but never can find the sweet spot to be comfortable. From my experience with the Zenbivy Light Bed, I really liked running the rectangle mode. In the night as I develop hot zones, I was able to take a hook or two out and kick my leg out without the whole sleep system rolling with me. The 25 degree quilt worked extremely well for my summer trips.

Pros:

• Versatile use in multiple climates
• Fitted sheet can be used on different sleeping pads
• No slipping off you’re sleeping pad in the night
• Lightweight and packable

Cons:

• Cost – any sleep system worth its salt costs money

Prognosis:  I really dig what Zenbivy has developed with their Zenbivy Light Bed system. It is a great lightweight addition to my backcountry setup.

* Disclaimer:

The reviews at Arizona Wanderings are my honest opinion. Arizona Wanderings is not sponsored by or associated with any of the stated companies and is accepting no compensation, monetary or otherwise, in exchange for this review.  My independent status may change in the future but, as of the date of publication, no relationship other than described above has been pursued or established.

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Sunny and I headed south early on Friday morning to brave the weather and try and find a few Mearns quail. We were both soaked through after the first push, but we persevered and were rewarded with a covey after lunch. By evening, we were both exhausted, soaked, hungry, and ready to rest. We made camp and crashed out shortly after dinner.

With blue bird skies on Saturday morning, we met up with a few friends and their dogs. We made a couple of runs through a few quality canyons and the dogs found plenty of Mearns quail. It filled me with pride to see Sunny work and retrieve. There’s plenty of work yet to polish us both up. We’ll be hitting the hills again soon.

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I returned from South Africa two weeks ago after an unbelievable ten day hunt in the Limpopo Province. It took me well out of my comfort zone and left me with an appreciation for a new hunting experience and some unforgettable memories. I was fortunate enough to hunt at Greater Kuduland Safaris on their 145,000 acre property. I saw so many different animal species while hunting there, and the diversity and animal numbers are a testament to what a good habitat can do for native species.

An African hunting trip was never something that was on my radar. I’ve never been on a guided trip before and was a bit anxious about the entire experience. But after the first few days of hunting, I was quick to realize that I was among kindred spirits. We hunted hard everyday in beautiful country and enjoyed the ups and downs of any normal hunting trip.

While there, I was fortunate enough to harvest an impala and a warthog with my recurve, and on the second to last day was able to take an awesome wildebeest bull with a rifle. I’ve got a journal full of chicken scratch and a plethora of photos to accompany the memories in my head. With so many great memories, I plan to share these experiences in several individual posts in the future.

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I had a conversation with a good friend the other day about gear that has stood the test of time. It prompted some further reflection and I thought it would be appropriate to put together a list of gifts for the outdoorsman.

1. New Upland Bird Hunting Vest – I get quite a few emails about bird hunting vests and generally it comes down to two: The WingWorks Upland Vest or the Q5 Centerfire Upland Vest. Both strap vests are made in America and bulletproof.

2. K-Pump 200 – Accept no substitute. There’s no pontoon boat pump out there better than the K-Pump 200.

3. Work Sharp Guided Field Sharpener – The Work Sharp Guided Field Sharpener is a solid sharper and I always carry it in my big game kill kit.

4. Sage and Braker Bore Snake – The Sage and Braker Bore Snake is the perfect stocking stuffer for the active hunter or shooter on your list.

5. Jim Matthews Signature Quail Call – I just got my hands on my Jim Matthews Signature Quail Calls and haven’t posted a full review yet. But let me tell you that these beauties sound so good and I’m very impressed with the quality and sound. More to come on these calls.

6.  Stanley Brand – The Stanley name long been synonymous with quality and I’ve had the opportunity to get my hands on a number of their products. My favorite as of late has been the Stanley Vacuum Pint. Stanley products always make for a good gift.

7. Lowa Renegade LL – Nothing is more critical than a solid set of hunting boots and the Lowa Renegade LL (leather-lined) fit the bill.

8. Sierra Nets – Handmade by my good friend Greg Madrigal, a Sierra Net is a work of art. If you have a fly fisherman on your Christmas list, make his year and have Greg make him a net.

9. Mountainsmith Day TLS – This little lumbar pack goes with me on every fishing trip into the mountains. Can’t beat the Mountainsmith Day TLS for comfort, durability, and utility while fishing.

10. A new bamboo rod – Treat yourself. I recently commissioned my good friend and rod builder Mike Johnson, owner of Agua Fria Alchemy to build me a new bamboo rod and it is a dream to fish with. Do yourself a favor and put a bamboo rod under the tree for yourself.

I also want to mention one of my favorite products lately, it is the dermaroller and I totally recommend you guys to check it out.

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I made it home late on Friday evening from the latest Pig Farm Ink BarFly, and morning came much earlier than I had anticipated. After hastily gathering gear, DJ and I made it into the field for an early morning of hunting Gambel’s quail. The desert was pretty quiet for the first couple hours and we opted to change up locations and look at a different piece of desert. The change paid off and we ended up flushing a couple large coveys onto a sprawling flat which gave us an hour or two of hunting singles.

I haven’t had this productive of a morning all season, and it was nice to see such a so many birds. The desert in this area was healthy from our frequent summer rains and there was plenty of undergrowth, feed and cover that has obviously helped this particular area. With a solid morning like this one in the books, I’m looking forward to getting out these next few months and putting more miles under my boots, since walking and traveling is actually pretty healthy, and I been looking to lose some weight, even taking a supplement called rapid tone that help with this.

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So the story goes, I used to have a whole room in our house all to myself. Camo and waders hung in the closet and the table was always covered in fly tying material, tools, and books. My rod tubes were leaned in the corner with an assortment of arrows and a couple of long guns.

Then we had a little girl. I painted that room pink for her, sold some of the gear that hadn’t seen much use and moved what was left to the garage and guest bedroom closet.

Then 8 months ago, I found out we were having a little boy. So I painted the guest room blue, sold a bit more gear that was seeing even less use and moved the rest of the gear into the master bedroom closet. It didn’t take long for my patient wife to let me know that the “clutter” piled in the corner wasn’t going to fly. So after a couple hours in the garage, I came back with a fly rod tube rack that hopefully will keep the rod tubes a bit neater and the wife a bit happier about having to make some room in the master bedroom closet.

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