Arizona Wanderings

Oak Creek: One of those days…

January 30th, 2011

14 Comments

It was one of those days. I am usually the guy up hours before the sun, driving with a cup of hot coffee and a purpose, trying to be the first one at whatever creek I am fishing. The long work week and an even longer Friday night, found the sun already peaking its head above the hilltops as I started up the truck and made my way to Oak Creek for my first day of fly fishing of 2011. Not a great start to the day.

It was the busiest day I have ever seen on Oak Creek. I stay away from this creek during the summer because of the hordes of people who descend upon Sedona and this tiny bit of water. Normally in the winter, I will not see another person all day and it’s close proximity to the west valley is appealing. On this particular day I must have seen at least 10 other fishermen and several of them on the specific section of the creek that I was fishing. When fishing for these spooky browns, stealth is of the utmost importance and when there are people everywhere you turn, that can make the sneaking very difficult. My guess is that the first warm day of the year had brought fishermen out of the woodwork and straight to this small creek.

I fished all day and I fished hard. The canyon warmed nicely and must have been in the 50’s during the warmest part of the day. Bugs were plentiful, but the fish were not. Mayflies were in the air and under rocks. Sections of the creek were covered with caddis casings ready for spring time temperatures. Spiders and butterflies, were everywhere on the banks of the river, while the water was clear and not too high. I cycled through just about every fly in my box and then did it again. Nothing seemed to peak any interest.

At the end of the day, I sat on the tailgate of my truck eating a bowl of Easy Mac contemplating the happenings of the day. I have not been skunked in quite a while and the little action I had experienced throughout the day was disheartening. I had seen several fish, moved a couple of them and only had one solid hookup through the whole Saturday. To call the day “slow” is an understatement. But after everything, getting to the water late, forgetting my Gink and one of my key fly boxes, seeing tons of people on the water, and no fish to the net, it was a good day. Life is kind of like that. Everything may not go exactly the way you had planned it, but ultimately it is the journey along the way that makes it worthwhile.

Rambling Review – Cabela’s Upland II Vest

January 26th, 2011

8 Comments

Rambling Review – Cabela’s Upland II Vest

Why?

I have been hunting quail in Arizona for quite a few years now and when I first started I would chase after these birds with a small backpack that contained some water and a GPS. This backpack served me well until I started being successful and actually bringing a few birds down. At first I would throw them in the backpack but without going into the details, it turned messy quick. I found myself looking at a couple different upland game vests and decided upon the basic vest that Cabela’s offers, the Cabela’s Upland II Vest. Here is why…

First Impressions –

Game Pouch – The Cabela’s Upland II Vest has a large game pouch that can be accessed from the front or the back. The top of the pouch can be opened by a zipper and its contents can be easily taken out. A limit of Gambel’s quail can easily fit in this large pocket and I imagine larger birds could easily be carried. The vest is lined with a durable shear material that sheds liquid and other organic matter easily.
Outside Pockets – Aside from the large game pouch, there are 4 large pockets on the front of this vest. Two of these pockets are especially deep with zipper pockets. I like to put my GPS, TP, knife, cell phone, and other odds and ends in this portion of my vest. The lower two pockets close with a snap and I may put extra shells on the right side for quick access and then put empties on the left.
Inside pockets – This Upland Vest has an inside pocket on either side. The right side pocket is a zipper pocket perfect for keys or a wallet. The left side pocket is a thinner Velcro pocket that I like to store small sandwich Ziploc bags in for after the hunt field dressing.
Shell loops – On the outside lower portion of the vest, six shell loops on each side are extremely handy for fast reloading. I alternate between 20 and 12 gauge shells and the loops hold both perfectly.

Field Use –

I have had this vest for 3 years and have been very happy with its performance. The rugged material stands up to the prickly, thorn filled desert of Arizona and looks non-the-worse for wear and tear. I have torn through more cat-claw and mesquite trees than I care to remember and as I look at this vest, it looks fairly new. It accommodates my field needs very easily and has seen over 50 days of heavy field use. I usually wash this vest after every season before I put it back in the closet and it handles the washing machine very well.

One thing I am looking at having my wife sew onto the back of this vest is two adjustable straps to loop my jacket into. On a chilly Arizona morning, I will leave the truck with a flannel or other heavy shirt to keep myself warm. After an hour or two, I have worked up quite a sweat and need to shed those extra layers. Normally, my shirt ends up in my game bag with my birds. This is fine, but I would rather attach my extra clothing to the outside of the vest instead of storing it with a bunch of dead birds.

The vest I have is in the traditional brown and really like this particular color choice. It gives me the option of using it for other hunts or activities. If I want to use blaze orange, I can throw on a hat to keep myself visible.

My biggest issue with this particular vest is the front zipper. It is not as high quality as I would like and often times will tear from the bottom as zippers do. It is an easy fix, simply unzipping and then re-zipping the zipper, but it can be annoying in the middle of a hunt. The manufacturer could easily remedy this problem by installing a heavy duty zipper. This is but a small bump in the road for an otherwise quality product.

Pros:

Price – Not uncommon to see this product on sale, far below its original price.

Durability – Rugged Material, Game pouch material

Utility- Pockets, Game pouch, Shell loops

Cabela’s name – Cabela’s stands behind products with their name on it.

Cons:

Occasional Zipper Malfunction

No outside straps for cold weather clothing

Not breathable during the hotter months

Prognosis – I recommend the Cabela’s Upland Vest to the beginner and advanced hunter because of its high performance, durability, and great price

* 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.

Arizona Javelina Hunting: Juniors Edition

January 23rd, 2011

6 Comments

Archery javelina season ended a three year long quest for one of these Arizona pigs and truth be told, my cold weather hunting gear was washed and put away. I have been focusing on staying close to home on the weekends and hunting Gambel’s quail and thinking about maybe trying out my new three weight reel. Instead, I was offered an opportunity to go up and help Austin’s cousin on his first bigger game hunt. Arizona Game and Fish has a great juniors program set up in order to get younger blood into the field and give them a decent chance at harvesting an animal. For example, archers usually get two or three weeks of hunting, followed by juniors, then HAM, then rifle. In my opinion, it’s fairly advantageous to take up archery and get out before the majority of the other hunters start driving the roads. The juniors hunt is extremely beneficial too as it gets the kids into the field before the game is too spooked, and I was looking forward to helping Haden bag his first javelina.

Uncle Don and Haden were already camped and had put in a hard day of hunting without seeing any javelina. So Austin and I dragged ourselves two and a half hours to their camp to offer our eyes for Saturday, before coming back home later that night. (It is the playoffs after all.) A quick strategy was arranged and we split into two groups in order to glass more country and try and catch a herd coming out to feed in the morning sunlight.

After glassing for a half hour or so, I hear a tremendous sigh and Austin say, “There aren’t any pigs here, let’s take off.”

On any normal day, it would usually be me saying this. Being relatively new to the west, the concept of staring through binoculars for hours on end can become tedious and boring. Over the past several seasons, I would like to think that I have become a little more patient and experienced.

“Hold off. 15 more minutes.”

I can’t believe the words were actually coming out of my mouth, but sure enough, a minute later, I pick of the distinct movement of javelina feeding their way through a patch of prickly pear. Austin raced off to find Don and Haden, and before long Don and Haden had stalked their way into 40 yards of the herd undetected. Within moments, Haden put a perfectly placed shot behind the front shoulder of a nice looking javelina. The entire scene unfolded through the lenses of my binoculars and was truly awesome to watch. Whopping and hollering could be heard echoing across the valley as we realized Haden had been successful. Photographed, field dressed, and tagged, Haden was carrying out his first pig by 10:30. Not to shabby for a Saturday morning.

Arizona Junior Javelina Season — Arizona Javelina

It was rewarding experience to go up and help Haden hunt javelina and being a part of his success will always be a cherished memory. I think it is an important to pass along the tradition of hunting in respect to American conservation and ultimately family values and respect for God’s creation. Some of my best memories as a young man are walking through the woods with my dad and brothers looking at and learning all that the natural world has to offer. I think it is for this reason that I get so much joy from taking up a fly rod, bow, or gun and getting into the big country of Arizona and taking advantage of everything it has offer.

Rambling Review – Cabela’s Outfitter’s Wooltimate Windshear Vest

January 19th, 2011

6 Comments

Rambling Review – Cabela’s Outfitter’s Wooltimate Windshear Vest

Cabela's Outfitter's Wooltimate Vest — Cabela's Wooltimate Vest

Why?

Hunting in Arizona exposes the hunter to a wide range of temperatures. On a cool morning, temps can be hovering near the freezing mark and by noon be back up into the 50’s and 60’s. In my opinion, a quality vest is essential for layering in the mornings and as a ventilated top layer for mid-day. Having bought and returned several different vests from different retailers, I settled on the Cabela’s Outfitter’s Wooltimate Windshear Vest and struck opportunistically during a sale on this quality product.

First impressions:

The first thing I liked about this vest is the blend of fleece and wool. I know many outdoorsmen love their wool, but this blend gives you the best of both worlds, warmth without the itch. The Windshear lining was another selling point to combat the harsh winds that blow through Arizona’s countryside.

The big front cargo pockets are roomy but close with a snap. This concerned me because I was afraid I would inadvertently undo the snap and lose items, but this has not been the case.

Two zipper pockets round out the utility of this vest. One pocket on the right chest and one on the interior left side are perfect for securing keys, hunting/fishing licenses, or other necessities. All the zippers on this vest are of very high quality which goes a long way in the durability of the vest.

Brown — Cabela's Wooltimate Vest = Good Small Stream Mojo

Field Use:

Hunting – I have worn this through Arizona’s deer, upland bird, and javelina seasons as a base layer and as a top layer for later in the day. The vest fits me snuggly which is ideal as a base layer. Pockets are perfect for gloves, a sandwich, or shells. As cat-claw should be Arizona’s state bush, the vest has stood up to 3 seasons of abuse and performed flawlessly. As durable as the vest is, one of the most important aspects, in my opinion, is how quiet the material is in the brush. I am also partial to the Outfitter Camo as well.

Fishing – I really enjoy wearing this fishing as the weather turns cooler. My fly boxes fit perfectly in the front pockets (one in each) and I store my camera, Gink, and hemostats in the chest pocket. The wool/fleece combo keeps my core warm and beads water when I take an inadvertent dip into the cool creek. The longer back of the vest keeps the chill off my lower back, as I spend half the day crouched or bent next to the streams.

Overall –My opinion is this is a rugged, high quality product whose company stands behind their workmanship. The Cabela’s Outfitter’s Wooltimate Windshear vest is arguably one of my favorite articles of hunting clothing. This should be on your list for consideration if you are looking for a hunting vest.

Arizona Javelina — Cabela's Wooltimate Vest

Pros:

Warmth without the bulk

No itchy wool

Windshear(wind resistant)

Comfortable fit

High collar/long back

Easily accessible, well thought out pocket location

Durable/Quiet Material

Cons:

Snap pockets

Difficult to size, recommend getting several to try on and get the best fit.

Prognosis – Everyone needs a quality hunting vest and this rugged article of clothing fits the bill. Definitely one of my favorite articles of hunting clothing.

* Disclaimer:

The News: All Things Quail Hunting…

January 17th, 2011

4 Comments

As you may have noticed, the cold weather and heavy snows up north have kept the fly fishing to a minimum this past month, but has allowed me to focus much of my time on hunting Gambel’s quail here in the Valley. All of this quail hunting has really stirred the pot and jumpstarted several of the projects that I alluded to during the URL change of this site. So as kind of a sneak peak of grandiose things to come, here are some of the projects that are in the works and you should be keeping your eyes peeled for.

1. The Quail Hunting Forum – On February 12, 2011, a new quail hunting forum, dedicated to all things quail hunting will be launched. This forum allows for quail hunters to unite and find their voice in discussing quail hunting, bird dogs, conservation, and all other things quail related. Quail are often overlooked for their more distinguished cousins and it is time that a dedicated site be formed. So mark your calendars and be ready to join in the discussion.

Coming February 12, 2011...

2. The Beginner’s Guide to Hunting Gambel’s Quail Ebook – Another project that I have been working on is an ebook that focuses on hunting Gambel’s quail in the Southwest. My email inbox has slowly grown as more questions have been coming in about hunting Gambel’s and basic questions on gear, tactics, field dressing, and recipes. This ebook will take a beginning hunter with no experience from the door of his truck to the bird on the table. It has been a fun writing process, but has also been quite an undertaking as well. More information will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks and I am looking to be launching the ebook towards the end of February.

Any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated. I look forward to getting more information to everyone in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for your support and patience.

Ben

Arizona Quail Hunting…

January 15th, 2011

0 Comments

The cuts and scratches on my arms and hands are proof of the hard work that I put in this morning while hunting Gambel’s quail in the Arizona desert. I had met Austin this morning before light and we drove to a spot that is loaded with Gambel’s quail. Normally, when I open the door of the truck in this particular spot, my ears are assaulted with the sounds of quail just getting off the roost and looking for friends. Instead, this morning the only thing I was greeted with was a blast of wind in my face. Windy conditions kept quail quiet and in bed until the sun was much higher in the sky. We walked and trudged up and down hills filled with jumping cactus and mesquite trees with the end result was 5 birds between us. A good morning all in all and with more birds in the freezer and the playoffs in full swing, I foresee a Quail-B-Q in my future.

Rambling Review – TFO Finesse Series 7’9” 3 weight

January 12th, 2011

16 Comments

Rambling Review – Temple Fork Outfitters Lefty Kreh Finesse Series 7’9” 3 weight

TFO 2 — Temple Fork Outfitters - Finesse Series 7'9" 3 weight

Why?

I first fell into fly fishing through a bubble and a fly, but shortly after, I inherited my grandfather’s old 5 weight Fenwick. After 6 months or so on Arizona’s small streams, I started looking for a small stream rod that would be up to the task of delicately presenting dry flies to hungry wild trout. With a tight budget, I read review after review looking for that perfect rod. After many suggestions, I realized that I needed to start actually picking up a different rods and trying them before buying. So, having said that, my recommendation before buying any rod is to go cast several in the same category and come to your own decision. I settled on the Temple Fork Outfitters Lefty Krehl Finesse Series 7’9” 3 weight. Here is why…

First impressions and notable features:

At 7’9” the rod is relatively short and therefore makes for a great small stream rod when overhead limbs are low and tight. It does break down into four pieces and is convenient when packing for an overnighter into the wilderness or planning on taking it on a flight back to New York. The rod comes with a TFO sock but no tube. This unfortunately forces the buyer to purchase an additional piece of equipment.

Cosmetically, I feel that the rod has a nicer finish then some of the lower end TFO rods. Although this has nothing to its fishability, I like to think that someday I can pass it on to a son or someone else who would also get enjoyment out of it and to have an appealing finish on the rod makes it a nice heirloom or gift. Having fished with it for a year now, the cork is not of the highest quality which again does not matter too much to me, but if you are looking for a work of art, keep looking.

Probably the deciding factor for me as a small stream fisherman was the lifetime warranty that accompanied the rod. Knowing how clumsy I am and the nature of the small stream, it is inevitable that an accident will occur and a quality warranty leaves me one less thing to worry about. From everything I have heard, TFO is a great company to do business with and stands by that warranty 100%. Furthermore, if you’re looking for help concerning online business, go to salterrasite.com and consult with their professional Web Designers. For more details, contact 480-273-2273.

Field use:

The Temple Fork Outfitters Finesse rod is my go-to-rod and has brought countless fish to hand. I truly enjoy fishing my TFO and believe I made the best decision in my purchase. It has a nice slow action and makes presenting a dry fly a breeze. I generally fish with a 10 to 12 foot leader for those spooky wild trout and presentations with this rod are gorgeous and delicate. This rod handles a hopper dropper set up well, but weighted buggers or bulky indicators can become cumbersome and casting is not as fun although the job will get done.

The rod bends well to small stream fish and although I have landed several fish pushing 20 inches, I gave thanks to heaven when that fish finally entered the net. I have put this fly rod through the ringer and been pleased with the results. I would not hesitate to encourage a friend to cast this rod if they were looking for a small stream dream to cast.

TFO Finesse — Cork, Reel Seat, and Brookie...

Pros:

Slow action = delicate dry fly presentations

Short length for low overhead

Lightweight

Appealing finish and reel seat

Lifetime Warranty

Cons:

Not the greatest quality cork

Difficult to throw heavily weighted streamers

No rod tube with purchase

Prognosis – Quality rod at a fantastic price that will not let you down…

Skinny Morning Brown — These feisty wild trout put a nice bend in the TFO 3 weight...

* Disclaimer:

2011 Arizona Quail

January 8th, 2011

12 Comments

As I stated in an earlier post, I thought my Arizona Gambel’s quail season was over, but with my javelina success opening weekend, the rest of January is looking wide open for my early morning hunts. The quail in my usual spot are getting to the point where they know the sound of my truck, so I opted to try somewhere new. The brisk winter air offered the perfect weather for a morning walk in a brand new location. Birds were vocal and, after several flushes, held tight which allowed for four birds in the bag. My freezer is looking full and the wife is giving me the look, so it might be time for some bacon wrapped quail or even a new recipe.