FISHING, HUNTING & CAMPING 2018 Special advertising supplement
Sunday, August 19, 2018 - 1
Northern Arizona
Fishing, Hunting & Camping guide 2018
ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
Hunting
Women making their mark O
Julie Jacobs
Julie Jacobs with her dad Bob Jacobs
ver the last few decades wom- said, adding that the activity was so en have made a growing mark typical for them that she thought in hunting, which has tra- “that’s what everybody did.” ditionally been the realm of But not everybody does, in a men. One Flagstaff huntstate with so many parks By Nancy Wiechec er attributes her interest and outdoor opportuniin hunting to her father ties, just one in five Ariand her family’s appreciation of the zonans participates in some form of outdoors. wildlife watching activity, accord“Dad’s a big hunter and fisher- ing to the Arizona Wildlife Fedman,” said 35-year-old Julie Jacobs. eration. Those who fish and hunt “From the earliest time I can re- are even more rare. Nationally, 21 member, I was exposed to hunting, percent of men fish compared to 7 fishing and camping, to the out- percent of women; and 8 percent of doors in general.” men hunt compared to 1 percent of According to the latest Nation- all women. al Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Jacobs, who had her first sucWildlife-Associated Recreation, cessful big-game hunt in her early one of every 10 hunters is a wom- 20s, said that for her hunting is not an. And, although the total number just about taking an animal for food of hunters has decreased in the last or trophy. She said harvesting an decade, the number of female hunt- animal is simply “icing on the cake.” ers has remained about the same. “For me hunting is about build“The largest percentage of new ing relationships, spending time hunters are women,” said Jacobs. “I with family and friends. It’s about think this is because of the ongoing having an experience and creating breakdown of the barriers that have memories,” she said. “You can get traditionally defined male and fe- out there and unplug from all the male roles.” distractions, get back to the basics Jacobs leads hunter education of understanding our role in nature, classes in Flagstaff and helps run a in the world.” hunting camp for kids with the loShe easily recalls taking her first cal chapter of the Mule Deer Foun- elk, a small bull shot with a muzzledation. Her foray into fishing and loader. She said her feelings during hunting began as a youngster, and that hunt ran the gamut, “everyeven in adulthood, she said her dad thing from excitement, nervousremains a mentor. ness, anxiousness, happiness, fear “When we were young we would of the unknown, a tinge of sadness, go out every Sunday on a dirt road awe... You name it, I felt it.” somewhere looking at wildlife,” she A 2015 study that looked at the
2 - Sunday, August 19, 2018
FISHING, HUNTING & CAMPING 2018 Special advertising supplement
Hunting
A family of hunters– bob Jacobs, Julie Jacobs and Bob Sharp.
Hunting 10 Tips for Starting Out Hunting is a tradition usually passed down through family and friends, but for those who don’t know someone in the sport, there are materials and tips to help get you started. Small game season is a great time to get involved and many hunts start Oct. 6. Dove season begins Sept. 1 and offers fun hunting for everyone. In the meantime, get to know hunting by talking with the experts and learning about wildlife.
Julie Jacobs
reasons women hunt found that most did so to be with family — to spend time with fathers, partners or children. It also found that most women hunted game they could feed their families — elk, deer and birds, rather than predators like coyotes. Although she is happy her dad taught her about the outdoors, Jacobs said many women may not have had similar experiences growing up. For them she said, there still are opportunities to learn about and try fishing, hunting and other outdoor activities. The Arizona Wildlife Federation has its Becoming an Outdoors Woman workshop, a three-day experience that gives women handson lessons in fishing, hunting, climbing and rappelling, kayaking, Dutch-oven cooking, outdoor pho-
tography and more. The next weekend is Sept. 7-9 at Friendly Pines Camp in Prescott. For more information, visit http://www.azwildlife. org, or call (480) 644-0077. The Arizona Game and Fish Department offers hunter education for people of all ages and skill levels. The department’s Outdoor Skills Network is a great way to see what types of camps and workshops are available from Game and Fish and its network of partner organizations. For an online list of current offerings, search for “Arizona GFD Outdoor Skills Network.” For expert-led or self-guided wildlife viewing opportunities in and around Flagstaff, check out the Arizona Watchable Wildlife Experience at https://www.azwatchwildlife.com. Custom Meat Processing Sausage & Jerky Licensed & Inspected
Simple Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back!
9900 E. Wapiti Trail | Flagstaff, AZ | 928-527-1538
Valley Delivery
10% Off Processing
• Take a hunter education course online or in a classroom setting. Learn safety, ethics, rules and regulations and some firearms handling. See https://www. azgfd.com/education • Go to a hunting clinic. Camps, classes and workshops are offered across Arizona.
• Find an experienced hunter mentor and shadow them on a hunt. • Seek out hunting clubs or conservation groups like the Arizona Elk Society, Ducks Unlimited, Dove and Quail Forever, the Mule Deer Foundation or the Arizona Wildlife Federation.
• Visit a store that specializes in hunting gear and equipment. Try Ruff’s Sporting Goods, Bull Basin Archery, C-A-L Ranch or Sportsman’s Warehouse, to name a few local shops.
• Visit a meat processor for tips on game care.
• Ask a wildlife manager, or game warden, about hunting a particular area. Or stop in a Game and Fish office for information and advice. The Flagstaff office is at 3500 S. Lake Mary Road.
• Learn about wildlife habitats and behaviors, like where game animals rest and roost and find food and water. For information on wildlife viewing areas in northern Arizona, visit https:// www.azwatchwildlife.com
• Go to a local shooting range. Try the Northern Arizona Shooting Range in Flagstaff. For archery, contact the Flagstaff Archers club http://www.flagstaffarchers.com. • Start by hunting small game like squirrels, rabbits, dove and quail. These animals and birds only require a hunting license, not a permit tag, and weapons used are simple firearms or archery equipment.
• Go to a taxidermist, see what the small and big game animals of this region look like.
• Hunting is about hiking, using binoculars and learning about the outdoors. Leave your vehicle behind and take a long hike, you will likely see more animals.
FISHING, HUNTING & CAMPING 2018 Special advertising supplement
Sunday, August 19, 2018 - 3
Camping
Gear made here J
im Bell knows all about necessity around Armored Outdoor Gear bags, being the mother of invention. said he’s learned they have multiple In 1996, while hiking the uses. While fishing with his son one South Bass Trail from the South day, he pulled out the Ratsack to keep Rim to the Colorado River, he used the their catch safe from scavenging ratrusty “old-school way” of keeping vens — “Yep. They weren’t getting at his food safe from critters. He put his those fish.” edibles in a stuff sack and Armored Outdoor threaded a clean empty Gear and the Ratsack beBy the Staff tuna can through the top to came known primarily by cover the cinch. “That had word-of-mouth in a town always worked for me in the past,” he where people value time outdoors, the said. business partners said. Eventually, the But rodents are determined, if not Ratsack caught the attention of Backcleaver, when it comes to food, and packer magazine, where the product Bell watched as an acrobatic mouse has been featured four times. In 2004, worked and gnawed its way into his Armored Outdoor Gear sent samples bag for a snack. of the Ratsack to outdoor retailer REI. “That little critter wormed its way “Seven years later and after three into our food, and we were watching it testers, [REI] said they wanted the happen,” he recalled. “At that moment product,” Bell said. That was a huge I thought, there must be something break for their business and the Ratbetter.” sack is now sold in REI Co-op stores, In Flagstaff in 2002, Bell and Tom including the one in Flagstaff, and at Monroe, his business partner, be- REI online. Bell and Monroe also sell gan making the Ratsack Cache Bag, Armored Outdoor Gear products dia hand-sewn rodent-proof stain- rectly through https://armoredoutless steel mesh bag under the name doorgear.com and utilize wholesale Armored Outdoor Gear. Both men distributor Liberty Mountain Sports brought wide-ranging outdoor ex- to get the bags to other sellers. perience to the table, and Monroe Today, Armored Outdoor Gear brought skills at sewing, which he operates from the Northern Arizolearned in grade school home eco- na Center for Entrepreneurship and nomics class. Technology (NACET) business incuMonroe said that over the years bator in Flagstaff. Monroe said they they’ve sold thousands of Ratsacks in moved to NACET a year ago looking three different sizes. Customers in- for additional visibility and to “exclude hikers, backpackers, campers, pand a bit.” Since then, they’ve introanglers and hunters, as well as divers duced new products, ones that meet and snorkelers. The bag’s selling point clear bag requirements at NFL stadiis its light and flexible metal mesh that ums, other venues and schools. beats back gnawing rodents. A sturdy Their patent-pending “clear view hook-and-loop closure adds to the line” of secure venue bags includes protection, and a heavy-duty corner the Duncan Satchel, made with the grommet make it easy to hang out of same knitted metal mesh as the Ratthe way of animals. sack. The 9-by-9-inch bag has a flat Monroe, who’s always toting bottom and a long strap for carrying
Tom Monroe makes a Ratsack.
The Duncan Satchel by Armored Outdoor Gear
across the body, plus a ring loop on the inside to secure keys. They also have a tote bag that’s larger than the Duncan and backpack coming in the line soon. Monroe said the benefit of such bags is that they’re a “sustainable and durable alternative” to clear plastic or PVC-type bags that can rip or be easily damaged and then thrown away. He said the Duncan Satchel is made to last and is also razor knife and slash resistant, making it a non-target for thieves. Bell and Monroe have overcome more than a few obstacles in business, but since they began their small venture, one thing remains constant. Each bag is still hand-crafted
and packaged in Flagstaff. Monroe is most often seen behind the large guillotine-style cutter slicing portions of mesh for the bags or at a sewing machine, helping churn out about 50 units each day. Although he works a lot, Monroe said he’s proud to be “going against the grain” of mass-manufactured, foreign-made products. “This is what small American manufacturing looks like,” he said from Armored’s small studio-production space located in view of the San Francisco Peaks. For additional product information, visit https://armoredoutdoorgear.com.
4 - Sunday, August 19, 2018
FISHING, HUNTING & CAMPING 2018 Special advertising supplement
Fishing
Time for weekend fishing & camping
S
chool’s back in, but that doesn’t nities such as clean and spacious mean summer has ended. Week- campgrounds, picnic areas and fishend family fishing and camping ing piers. Kids can catch sunfish off in Arizona can produce some piers and over rocky shoreline areas of the best memories life can spawn. using No. 12 hooks and small pieces Located nearby are of worms. Craylots of stocked or fish can be trapped Article courtesy of Arizona self-sustaining fish, Department of Game and Fish. here as well. The quality camping lake has self-susamenities and scenery that’s as cool taining populations of largemouth as the air temps. Fire restrictions have and smallmouth bass, sunfish, wallbeen lifted, allowing campfires and eye, carp, catfish, black crappie and gooey s’mores for the kids. But please black bullhead that are easy for kids to remain vigilant with fire safety, and catch. Try a simple worm on the botalso be safe with monsoon storms — tom. Fishing also is good for 12-inch get off the water when you hear light- stocked rainbow trout — try fishing at ning, watch out for flash flooding, and least 10 feet deep. Directions: Fool don’t forget to bring a few extra layers Hollow Lake Recreation Area is locatand a rain jacket. ed in east-central Arizona, two miles north of U.S. 60 off Highway 260 in Top five family camping and fishing spots Show Low.
in northern Arizona.
3. Show Low Lake and Creek
1. Kaibab Lake
This family-friendly camping area is a few miles from Williams. We recently had a report of excellent fishing with anglers catching trout and crappie on small jigs and lures. PowerBait fished on the bottom also has been working. Catfish are being caught on nightcrawlers and prepared catfish baits. More than 40,000 trout have been stocked in the lake this year. Directions: From Flagstaff, take I-40 west to Exit 165; turn north onto AZ 64 and go about 2 miles to the campground entrance on your left. Paved and all-weather gravel roads are suitable for passenger cars.
2. Fool Hollow Lake
An excellent fishery for getting the family into the outdoors and onto sunfish and mudbugs (crawdads). Has excellent family-fishing ame-
Possibly the state’s premier walleye fishery, Show Low Lake has a yearround concession with 75 campsites (seven have electric hook-ups). New facility improvements, including a new fish cleaning station, restrooms, stairs from the upper parking lot down to the boat launch, and ADA boat trailer parking are now open. The lake and creek are great for putting the family on trout, sunfish and crayfish. The lake also has smallmouth and largemouth bass, channel catfish, and bluegill, and is stocked regularly through the summer with 12-inch rainbow trout. Kids can catch sunfish from the fishing piers or among the rocks along the dam with a small hook and piece of worm. The meadows portion of Show Low Creek also is a great family fishing area for channel catfish. It’s easy to access and is excellent for kids — there’s even a disc golf
Photos by George Andrejko, courtesy of Arizona Game and Fish Department.
course. Directions: From Show Low, take Show Low Road southeast one mile from Highway 260.
4. Woods Canyon Lake
A family fishing mecca. Woods has been stocked with tiger trout, and along with nearby Willow Springs Lake, is scheduled to be loaded with rainbow trout weekly. For families who aren’t in to camping in a tent or camper during the summer monsoon storms, the closest lodging is at Forest Lakes Lodge, 11.5 miles away on Highway 260. For a novice angler – or for a kid’s first fish – try putting a small piece of a worm on a small hook (No. 12 or smaller) and dangle it in shallow water between rocks for sunfish. Don’t forget about catching crayfish, too. The best bet for anglers with boats or kayaks (the Woods Canyon Lake Store has boat and canoe and kayak rentals and camping amenities) is to hit the water just before sunrise and troll, or slowly work, small in-line spinners 15 feet deep. Any deeper, and you’re typically fishing below
the thermocline where during the summer there is no oxygen. Anglers could have no problems getting a six trout daily bag limit or hooking into a rod-rattling tiger trout. Directions: From Flagstaff, take I-40 west toward Winslow. Then take State Route 99 east and Wallace Road to Woods Canyon Road.
5. Big Lake
This is an Arizona family staple. Cutthroats have been biting on and off, and there are plenty of rainbow trout along with lots of crayfish for kids if the trout are not biting. The best part may be the excellent and plentiful campground amenities. Shore-angling is still an option, but as the summer goes along, you might want a boat (rentals are available at the store) because most trout will be deep. Trolling from a boat is the most productive method during the summer. If shore fishing, get out early or late in the day, and take cover in your vehicle or camp during monsoon or lightning storms. Directions: Starting from Pinetop Lakeside, Big Lake is accessed via state routes 260 and 273.
ARIZONA GAME & FISH Region II - Flagstaff • 3500 S. Lake Mary Rd. 928 - 774 - 5045 • www.azgfd.gov
SUPPORT WILDLIFE CONSERVATION!
HUNTING
OPPORTUNITIES NEAR THE FLAGSTAFF AREA
VISIT THE PORTAL FOR EASY ACCESS TO EVERYTHING GAME & FISH • Set up a portal account today! • Access Draw Results days before anyone else! • View past and current licenses. • Check your bonus points.
General Fishing License available for residents for $37 and non-residents for $55.
• • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
Cottontail Rabbit Dove Ducks Quail Sandhill Crane Tree Squirrel
Antelope Black Bear Bison Bighorn Sheep Elk Javelina Turkey Mountain Lion Mule Deer White-Tailed Deer
WANT TO LEARN OUTDOOR SKILLS?
24/7 ONLINE SERVICES AVAILABLE VISIT AZGFD.GOV
North Central Arizona has the greatest variety of fishing in the state. Both cold and warm water opportunities are found from Flagstaff to Camp Verde. The Verde River offers smallmouth bass, channel catfish, flathead catfish and roundtail chub. Upper Lake Mary has walleye, northern pike, and crappie. There are no trout in Upper Lake Mary. Lower Lake Mary offers great springtime trout fishing. Other small lakes around Flagstaff and Williams are stocked with trout and catfish depending on the time of year and Oak Creek has brown trout opportunities in the fall.
BIG GAME
Refer to several pages in the hunting regs for camps and clinics available for hunters of all experience levels!
SAVE TIME, GO ONLINE
FISHING
SMALL GAME
General Hunting License available for residents for $37. Combo hunting/fishing available for $57.
SHOOTING
RECREATION
The Northern Arizona Shooting Range, east of Flagstaff, offers ranges for rifle and pistol shooting, trap and skeet, and sporting clays for the avid shotgun shooter. northernarizonashootingrange.org. Shooters may also find some locations within the forest for safe and responsible shooting. Please remember to always pickup trash and spent shells and cartridges.
OHV
The Arizona OHV Decal will only be issued by the Arizona Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division. The OHV Decal is available online at www.servicearizona.com, or at any MVD office or Authorized MVD Third Party Service Provider.
WATCHABLE WILDLIFE • The Arizona Watchable Wildlife Experience (AWWE) highlights 30 watchable wildlife sites within 30 miles of Flagstaff. Visit azwatchwildlife.com for more information. • Ask about our World of Wonder watchable wildlife program. Offering wildlife viewing cams, hands-on experiences, and other wildlife programs. • Join our “I Support Wildlife” program through our portal to support wildlife conservation!
Hunters and anglers pay for wildlife conservation through purchases of licenses, tags and stamps, and through excise taxes on hunting and fishing gear.