Going out of country to Mexico, which has arguably the best largemouth bass fishing an angler can find, is one of my bucket list items.

I hate to be the one who says, “I told you so,” but the Arizona Game and Fish Commission at its February meeting in Yuma voted to start the rulemaking process to try and control coyote calling contests in Arizona.

The father-son team of Ray and Donnie Scroggins shook off a tough first day at Martinez Lake on the Colorado River to easily win the Kingman Bass Club’s second tournament of the year.

The results of the 2019 elk and antelope draws are posted and many local sportsmen have found out that they have been successful.

The outbreak of pneumonia that swept through the Black Mountains appears to be over, and the animals still out there seem to have weathered that storm. But there is one major concern, according to Region 3 Terrestrial Wildlife Program Manager Erin Butler.

This story is about Kingman residents Sara Alearin, who while hunting with her uncle, local sportsman Steve Nueberger, bagged her first javelina while on a hunt in game management Unit 18B.

Having just spent the past two weekends on the Handgun, Archery, Muzzleloader (HAM) hunts in Game Management Unit 18B, I am really concerned by the lack of javelina herds seen.

Hunting javelina for the first time can be a daunting task. Matter-of-fact, many new javelina hunters will go on average about four hunts before they take their first collared peccary.

With all of the unsettled weather the last several weeks in Mohave County, those who have had HAM (Handgun-Archery-Muzzleloader) javelina tags have had a rough time finding the “gray ghosts of the desert!”

The last of the spring 2019 javelina seasons is set to open Friday, but with the continued unsettled weather, hunt success this year may not be as high as in past years in units favored by local sportsmen.

If you are an Arizona sportsman, today is an important day for you.

You no doubt know the name of Kingman resident Donnie Scroggins. He is president of the local bass club and is an avid bass angler.

The annual Friends of NRA banquet and fundraiser will be held at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9 starting at the Mohave County Fairgrounds, 2600 Fairgrounds Blvd.

A few weeks ago there were 27 sportsmen and women who came from all over America to take the Arizona Hunter Education class in order to get a permanent bonus point.

One of the questions I’m often asked as a Chief Hunter Education instructor is, “How valuable are bonus points when it comes to helping draw a tag?”

Every day, somewhere in America, there are anti-hunting groups who are working to take away our rights to own firearms or our privileges hunt.

The first tournament on the Kingman Bass Club’s tournament trail was held last weekend at Cattail Cove on Lake Havasu, and for most of the nine teams that competed, they found bass fishing tough.

Unless you’re hiding your head in the sand, I think you’re gonna see the organized hunting of predators, and especially coyotes come under attack in the months to come.

There is a lot of news from the Arizona Game and Fish Department that I think you, the Arizona sportsmen, need to be aware of when planning for fall hunts.

It has been said that you never get too old to enjoy the great outdoors.

Taking a trip out of state to visit family and friends not only strengthens the bonds between us, but also produces a lot of new and exciting memories.

The New Year isn’t but eight days old, and there are a number of local sportsmen and women who have already filled their archery deer and javelina tags.

I decided to call the folks in Mohave County who have to repair or replace these signs to get figures on what these vandals and thieves cost the taxpayer.

The meeting in Meadview was held due to an earlier public meeting, one that was held in Kingman at the Mohave County Library on Dec. 10, was moved outside of the building due to so many people attending the meeting.

Many times in the past I have penned stories about our local youth and the success they have had on their hunts. Today is Christmas and this is a special story about a young lady and her first-ever big game hunt.

The team of Mike Hulsey and Paul Tassie caught only six bass all day, but five of them were good enough to garner them the top prize of $2,000 for the one-day Weekend Warrior bass tournament at Lake Havasu.

Kingman resident Tad Levandowski had waited a long time for a rifle deer tag in Arizona.

If there is one message I would like to pass on at this time of the year, it is that we should all help out our fellow man, every chance we get.

There are many nonprofit organizations out there whose mission is helping others.

The fall big game hunting seasons are going on all over Arizona for everything from mule deer to elk, and unfortunately there are some of you that have tags but for a variety of reasons, won’t be able to use them.

For those sportsmen who weren’t fortunate enough to draw any big game tags this fall, don’t despair. There are still plenty of hunting opportunities out there.

Assisting a young person as they journey through life toward becoming a sportsman is something many of us do.

If you are one of the many people who forgot to apply for a spring 2019 javelina or turkey tag, there is still hope.

The one thing that remains constant is the friendships that are made and are held in a sacred trust. It’s called comradery, and that is what hunting is really all about.

Hunters will have the opportunity to participate in one of three programs that are being offered.

I’d like to publicly say: Thank You!

For many who had drawn Unit 10 antlerless elk tags this year, it was a year when not many elk were taken.

They were here on assignment to do a story on the burros in Oatman and in the Black Mountains.

Aubree Gordon is the youngest daughter of Kingman resident Rink Gordon. Gordon is an accomplished sportsman who has taken his children on a variety of hunts as they have grown up.

Predator calling is one of the most challenging and exciting sports many hunters in Arizona participate in.

In Arizona, tags are issued for all of Arizona’s big game animals. These tags, which in effect are a transfer of ownership from the State of Arizona to a hunter, are placed on different areas of the animal.

The father-son team of Charles and Doniphan Schmidt brought in the largest limit of bass to easily win the Kingman Bass Club’s last tournament of the year, which was held on Lake Havasu.

I read a letter to the editor in the Kingman Daily Miner dated Oct. 5 where a woman from Sedona wrote about an organized varmint hunt that was held last weekend in Mohave County.

Seems like every fall when the big game hunts start, I hear stories about sportsmen who have not filled their tags, but yet claim they had a successful hunt.

The 2018-2019 waterfowl and snipe regulations are out, and for those wanting to hunt waterfowl it’s time to repair the decoys, waders and clean the shotgun.

Good friends are few and far between. When we lose one, it is hard to take.

It was hot as six teams of anglers from Kingman Bass Club took to the water on Lake Mead to test their skills on the largemouth and smallmouth bass that call this huge Colorado River impoundment home.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, in 2017 there were 4,291 recreational boating accidents involving 658 deaths nationwide.

The rumors about the Bureau of Land Management Kingman Field Office Travel Management Plan (TMP) and Environmental Assessment that is currently out for review and comment has garnered the attention of a lot of local folks, and in some cases, has upset a few.

I wrote a story in June of how Kingman resident Gwen Gillman had donated her late husband’s camo clothing to the Arizona Elk Society’s Camo Closet program.