AZ. Hello Desert Rats

[madmac]

Hey this is pretty nice. OK how many members from AZ. and what part. I was born in Tucson but for the last 18 years I have lived in Prescott Az. Montains, pine trees and a little snow. Anyone near me?


Thanks, Oliver ;)

[DavidOH]

Hi Mac. Say hi to my Uncle Scrub in Safford if you ever get around Mt Graham. :D

[ldsparamedic]

I live in Yuma.

[madmac]

David I have hunted bear on Mt. Graham. The country around Safford is pretty. Idsparamedic, I have been through Yuma a million times. Have even stopped and fished a couple times as well. I have a friend that lives their. Haven't been through as much since my mother died last feb. but still pass through to see other family. Nice to see other members living in Az.

[AzLoneRider]

Greetings to the other Desert Rats. Good to see other AZ folks here. The family and I are about 30 miles east of Tucson. Take care.

[tufhelp]

Went through High School in Phoenix and me and Dad had a mining claim up near Crown King, kind of on the way to Horse thief Basin. Have some great memories from up there in the Prescott National Forest….

[Eranice]

Our family has been around Arizona for a long time. We just settled down again in Duncan, about fourty-five miles east of Safford. It's so nice to see so many people from around here.

[tufhelp]

Hey Eranice, we're not to far from you. Our place is just over the New Mexico border in a little community about 20 miles north of Lordsburg called Redrock.

[Eranice]

Hey Eranice, we're not to far from you. Our place is just over the New Mexico border in a little community about 20 miles north of Lordsburg called Redrock.

I haven't been to Redrock before, but we drive past the turn off a lot. What's the weather like?

[tufhelp]

Pretty much "Tucson" like... Hot, dry, maybe 8" rainfall, scrub desert till you reach the community which is on the lower Gila river. Probably similar to Duncan...

[AzLoneRider]

Is anyone else enjoying the mild weather we have been having? Hot, but not too hot, cool in the evening. Windows open at night with a nice breeze. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and the heat to hit hard. It's been cool enough that the tomato's are still producing and we keep getting blooms. On weekends we have been working outside all through the day as it's only getting up in the 90's and after work it's comfortable because the sun is going down and not direct....

[MissouriFree]

Just wanted to let you guys know I think that Southern AZ is beautiful. Many years ( mid 80's) ago I was doing trips to bare mountain tops in the SW looking for the best places to put new govt radar sites. We would go in by helicopter stay on the mountain top all doing what we do and get picked up in the afternoon..

I had the privilege of staying 3 days in Gila Bend, 3 days in Ajo, and 2 weeks in Phoenix,
. we flew out of Gila Bend Air Force station , Ajo air strip and Luke.

I drove rte 86 from Ajo to Tucson.


The deseart is beautiful....

[gwhilikerz]

I second that motion. If I could choose another place besides KY to call home it would probably be somewhere around Benson or Tombstone. Absolutely beautiful country.

[Eranice]

Is anyone else enjoying the mild weather we have been having? Hot, but not too hot, cool in the evening. Windows open at night with a nice breeze. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and the heat to hit hard. It's been cool enough that the tomato's are still producing and we keep getting blooms. On weekends we have been working outside all through the day as it's only getting up in the 90's and after work it's comfortable because the sun is going down and not direct....

The rain has been awful nice too. I hope it holds out.

[AzLoneRider]

Hey Missouri Free and Gwhil,
The desert is nice, water and heat are the only issues.....

Eranice,
It was 101 here today, I had hoped for the cool the temps of low 90's to stay longer.

[Eranice]

Oh man, Lone, it's still not quite hit 100 here. I'm hoping it stays this way until the monsoons come through. It'll be a miserable August though.

[wittey]

I am north of downtown Phoenix about 45 miles. BCC. Foothills of the Bradshaw MTs.
And have Property in between Ashfork and Seligman north of RT 66. The bugs were terrible the week after Memorial day.

[gwhilikerz]

Hey Missouri Free and Gwhil,
The desert is nice, water and heat are the only issues.....

Eranice,
It was 101 here today, I had hoped for the cool the temps of low 90's to stay longer.
But it is a dry heat right? Just kidding. It was 96 here in Western KY yesterday. The humidity was around 85% until the thunderstorm hit. Heat index was 105

[AzLoneRider]

I am north of downtown Phoenix about 45 miles. BCC. Foothills of the Bradshaw MTs.
And have Property in between Ashfork and Seligman north of RT 66. The bugs were terrible the week after Memorial day.

Hi Wittey,
I have been through both Ashfork and Seligman. The bugs haven't been bad here. What are the summer tempetures where you are? I know Phx is hot, but does the 45 miles make a big difference in heat for you?

[knight88]

I have been living in SE AZ, Hereford, for the past many years, tried Tucson, too hot, tried Sierra Vista hmmm oh well moved to Hereford. Its pretty nice down here since the fence was installed on the border, it made a great difference. We ranch but its so dry this year I am just a middle man between the hay broker and the animals. Most folks here are very conservative, years of fighting the illegals tends to cause that. Jobs are mostly at Fort Huachuca. Cochise county taxes are VERY high, our supervisors think we are made of gold. Feel free to ask questions...

[AzLoneRider]

I have been living in SE AZ, Hereford, for the past many years, tried Tucson, too hot, tried Sierra Vista hmmm oh well moved to Hereford. Its pretty nice down here since the fence was installed on the border, it made a great difference. We ranch but its so dry this year I am just a middle man between the hay broker and the animals. Most folks here are very conservative, years of fighting the illegals tends to cause that. Jobs are mostly at Fort Huachuca. Cochise county taxes are VERY high, our supervisors think we are made of gold. Feel free to ask questions...

Hi Knight,
Welcome. Are you on a well? If so, how deep is it?

[wittey]

Hi Wittey,
I have been through both Ashfork and Seligman. The bugs haven't been bad here. What are the summer tempetures where you are? I know Phx is hot, but does the 45 miles make a big difference in heat for you?


It may be 5º cooler in day and 10º at night.

[madmac]

Well. Thought I would check back in. It's nice to see so many folks here in AZ. I have been to just about every city and town in Az. Haven't seen one listed yet I have not been through or stopped in for one reason or another. Az. is a great state with weather to suit everyone. I love this state. Born here 58 years ago and will probably die here. Prescott has nice weather but if I had a choice I think I would move to Pinetop or Heber.

[AzLoneRider]

That is a nice area Mac, I spent a lot of time both above and below the Rim.

[AZTimT]

Hi AZ, I guess since I am still in the middle of moving to MT and haven't yet sold the place or changed my license I can still say I'm from AZ. I've lived in Yuma, Payson, Flagstaff, Prescott and all parts of Phoenix over the last 31 years and loved the state. My favorite area of all is out on the Mogollon Rim. I have a fond memory of watching the sunset on a cloudy day from inside the fire tower west of the Young Rd (512 if I remember right). I highly recommend anyone visiting AZ to find a way to see the Mogollon Rim (pronounced Muggeeyawn) during your travels at least once in life. I was living in Payson when they rebuilt Zane Grey's cabin in the west part of town in 2005. Heck, I played 8 man 1A football in high school all over the state... Orme, Heber, Joseph City, Mayer, Seligman, Fredonia, Patagonia... fun times.

I'm gonna miss the beauty and incomparable variety of AZ, and as a native, I still love the state, but it doesn't feel like the AZ I grew up in anymore. My mom's side all live there still in Mesa and Flagstaff though, so I will have an excuse to visit. For me, Phoenix is populating too fast (notice the 7 digit license plates and 5 area codes, I miss the 602 under a million people days) with liberals and I fear that soon the state majority will change from red to blue. Poor Sherriff Joe has his work cut out for him too, the media don't want to let him do his job. Propane Jane didn't do AZ any favors in my opinion.

I sure hope that they figure out a way to get the budget back in order and outlaw those stinking radar cameras. They're illegal (violation of privacy) up here in MT where I am moving to. They also don't charge sales tax or forest access fees up here, no emissions anywhere and you can get a permanent plate for 10+ year old vehicles for $200 one time fee. Plenty of water and cheaper electricity (7 cents per KWh 24/7) up here too. Just a few of many reasons I'm leaving, but the biggest factor for me was that the budget is balanced with a surplus up here, over the counter deer tags and better care for veterans. Downsides are daylight savings time, you pay a bit more (double for me on equal values and offset easily by yearly sales tax savings) for property tax. The climate/scenery around Missoula is like Heber/Show Low but at less than 3,000 ft elevation. Still a dry rocky mountain climate though, so if you don't mind the cold/snow it is pretty nice. Honestly, if I could afford to retire at this age and keep both places I would, but fantasyland is not for me.

knight88, I helped build some of that border fence down by Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge and Organpipe National Monument west of Lukeville/Ajo back in 07-08. Talk about a job that was dangerously fun and yet strange (Davis Bacon wage wise). I had my doubts about it's effectiveness back then due to how the section we were on was designed (a vehicle barrier you could walk right over/under made out of steel posts and decommissioned railroad track). I suspect the design near you is different (the people barriers east of Lukeville made more sense since they actually stopped people) though so I was happy to hear that it is making a difference. Did they ever put up the expensive camera watchtowers for the border patrol in your area?

Anyways, I am glad to meet so many people from my home state and I hope you all have a wonderful perfect AZ warm (not hot) day. I'll miss those too here in a couple more weeks. :cool:

[lostone1413]

Hello from Cottonwood AZ. You do any training with any of the self defense teachers in the Prescott Area? You have some very good ones some I feel that our way better then Gun Site

[AzLoneRider]

Hello from Cottonwood AZ. You do any training with any of the self defense teachers in the Prescott Area? You have some very good ones some I feel that our way better then Gun Site

I have't but plan on going up to that area one day and doing some excersizes with some a couple of them. Right now money is what stops that from happening.

[madmac]

Cottonwood? I make a trip over that direction a couple times a week. Camp Verde jail to be exact. Cottnwood is nice. A little warmer than Prescott but you guys have the Verde River and fishing on the Verde is nice. The reason we have good instructors here in Prescott is because many of them have trained at gunsite as well as every other program they can get envolved with. They are a commited group of guys and gals. We have a pretty good training calender considering the economy and price of ammo. I do my Milo and gun Qual. next month. I host the Prescott Trap and Skeet club as well so I get to practic a lot. Anyways, enough about me. Glad to see so many folks respond to our state post. Hope to keep in touch with all of you as well. Keep safe. Not all the bad guys are behind bars.

[lostone1413]

I agree with having the best. I've trained mostly with Matt Sheibert and Gabe Suarez. Matt style is more modern Tec. More like Gunsite. Gabe is more the way most self defense situations would be. Allots of moving as you draw and moving as you fire and allot of Force on Force training. It best to train both ways. But with Gabe best have your gun handling down pretty pat. Big difference in drawing and shooting when on the move. His classes our at the Yavapai Rec Center so being outside allows that type of training plus Gabe himself has been in some shoot outs so he pretty well knows what will work and what won't Matt has his classes at High Noon Gun Shop. Being indoors limits the training more to the modern tec style

Matts style is more shot placement while Gabes style is to get the most lead in the BG in the shortest amount of time