Uncategorized – Page 18

Navajo Stick Game

https://youtu.be/UdJ8vG-Rl3A A game traditionally played by Navajo women before sunset. The Navajo name for this game is tsìdìł. Navajo legend suggests that Changing Woman gave the game to the first Dine' clans to teach a lesson about ethics, morality, and living in harmony. Players create a circle of forty rocks with a large flat stone in the center. The players then throw wooden sticks into the circle, scoring the game by where the sticks fall relative to the center stone and by which side of the stick was up when it fell. The game is curtailed at nightfall, limiting the duration of the play. In addition to teaching moderation, by stopping the play of the game at nightfall, the game also represents movement through the circle of life: the circle of stones represents the Navajo homeland, Dinetah; the stones that make up the circle are the stars found in Father Sky; the center stone represents Mother Earth; three sticks painted white on one side and black on the other, represent day and night. The four spaces between the stones represent the Colorado, Rio Grande, Little Colorado and San Juan rivers. Today, the game is used in classrooms to teach history, culture, and the Navajo language.

By Sporting Road|September 16th, 2019|Categories: Games, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Dutch Blitz

Sometimes the old games are best games. We saw the Amish kids at a horse auction playing it in the stable areas and had to try it. Turns out, it is a great game that 2-8 players can play. It's easily understood by kids, like Uno, but more going on so that even adults can enjoy. It's fast paced. Adapted from Wikipedia: Dutch Blitz is a fast-paced, family oriented, action card game played with a specially printed deck. The game was created by Werner Ernst George Muller, a German immigrant from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The game is very popular among the Pennsylvania Amish and Dutch community, and among Christian groups in the United States and Canada (primarily in Mennonite communities). Contents 160 cards total:4 decks (one for each player); Pump, Carriage, Plow, and Pail.Each deck includes 10 Red, 10 blue, 10 green, and 10 yellow cards.160 cards available in an expansion deck, for players 5-8. Terminology Blitz Pile This pile of 10 cards is the most important pile of cards to each player since it is the key towards "Blitzing" the other players when all cards from this pile have been cleared. Dutch Piles Stacks of cards in each of the four colors - 1 through 10 an ascending sequence - placed in the center of the table and played upon by all players. Each player accumulates scoring points here. Post Piles Groups of cards placed to the left of both the Blitz and Wood piles in descending sequence For each player, the Post Piles serve as a "trading" or replacement area during the game. There are generally three post piles but in a two person game four or five post piles are often used

By Sporting Road|September 16th, 2019|Categories: Uncategorized|Comments Off

Turquoise

NAVAJO JEWELRY MAKING TECHNIQUES - INGOT From Perry Null Trading Company JEWELRY MAKING TECHNIQUES - INGOT In-got /ˈiNGɡət/ (noun) – a block of steel, gold, silver, or other metal, typically oblong in shape. When the Navajo first learned how to make silver jewelry, they had to be very innovated. The luxury of modern tools or a supply store where they could purchase silver was still decades away. Instead they would collect silver coins until they had enough to make a piece of jewelry. How they turned that silver into a piece of jewelry involved a couple of different techniques. One of these techniques was using an ingot. Today’s silversmiths pride themselves on knowing how to use this technique because it is what the first smiths used. Plus, it is a labor-intensive process that requires a number of steps, almost like the artist becomes more invested in the work. I try and imagine the setting in which those early smiths made their jewelry. Maybe they constructed an additional hogan next to their family hogan to work silver, or they just created a space inside the family hogan. The workspace would be a dirt floor with a limited number of tools. Then they would have to figure out a way to heat the silver to over 1700 degrees so it could melt. This heating the silver would happen several times during the course of making the piece. These early pieces would be thick and would have a simple design. Also, they wouldn’t have any turquoise. It was a new craft where the craftsman was proud to have acquired the skill and it would become the mission of Navajo silversmiths to perfect this craft. A number

By Sporting Road|September 9th, 2019|Categories: Travel, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Ticks, Bears, Coyotes, Bobcats and Cougars

We are the world's first indoor species. Humans living in this generation now spend more time indoors than outside. And it's becoming very apparent when talking to children these days. I frequently get asked about spending a lot of time hunting and fishing in the mountains and about ticks, bears, coyotes, bobcats and cougars. The question usually has something to do with getting attacked by one or getting bitten by a tick or mosquito with malaria, West Nile Virus or the plaque. The chances of getting attacked by a bear are 1 in 2.1 million. So I like to tell people, "No, I'm not afraid of any of those things, as I already got my turn at that and survived a bear coming in our tent, so I really doubt that something like that would happen again to me, as the odds would be astronomical." I have also walked into a sleeping moose in thick willows nearly hitting him with the end of my fly fishing rod. Countless matches burned removing ticks, the odd encounter with a running bobcat and cougar, and watching hundreds of coyotes leave the scene with a human arrives. The Chinese are even paying $4000 for a wild bear gallbladder. It's illegal to sell bear parts in the US, but in case you are wondering why this would fetch such a high price in China, it’s been a component of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for thousands of years. The gallbladder has a high concentration of ursodeoxycholic acid, and even modern scientists can’t deny its medical properties from non-surgical gallstone treatment to preventing tumor growth. Commonly sold as “bear bile,” the gallbladder is dried, ground, placed in capsules, and

By Sporting Road|August 26th, 2019|Categories: Hunting, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Lance Egan’s Team USA Competitive Angling Flies

Euro nymphing is all the rage among marketing and fly shops these days as they tought their wares of "tactical angling" and "competitive angling." This is nothing really new compared to the methods that Rim Chung has employed for the last 30 years with his light-line nymphing methods here in Colorado, but the European methods seem to have evolved along similar paths. Fly shops have jumped on board, in an effort to sell more rods and a whole new line of leaders and flies, in an industry that has been largely stagnant for the last ten years. I have to admit that the premier guru of this euronymphing method is Lance Egan who has now produced probably the two best fly fishing videos/movies that have ever been produced to date, and the links to these movies are below. So being curious about his flies, I decided to order a few of his flies from his www.flyfishfood.com site. The ones we have found most useful in Colorado and Montana, we have posted tying directions here. Gut Sack Sow Bug Gray - 18 Stonefly Chenille - Coffee/Black Egan's Rainbow Warrior - Red - 18 Egan's Rainbow Warrior - Pearl - 20 Egan's Tungsten Surveyor - 18 Egan's GTI Caddis - Amber - 14 Egan's Frenchie - 18 Egan's Jig Frenchie - 12 Egan's Jig Rainbow Warrior - 16 Transfoamer Pink - 10 Pat's Black and Tan Rubber Leg - 8 The Thread Frenchie, a take on the classic Frenchie a very well-known Euro style fly is a great way to get a super slim bodied Euro style fly. This fly has evolved thanks to Lance Egan of Fly Fish Food and for good reason. Not only is

By Sporting Road|August 26th, 2019|Categories: Fishing, Fly Tying, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Trail Etiquette for Horses, Bikers, and Hikers

https://youtu.be/zzc2ZbyGNqw This is a good reminder from Douglas County Parks.

By Sporting Road|August 16th, 2019|Categories: Uncategorized|Comments Off

Turck’s Tarantula

It's funny how time flies and how over time, some flies disappear while others just get repackaged with easier to tie foams, etc. One day, the Madam X is a popular pattern, and then you wake up and it's two decades of Turck's Tarantulas, and now there are dozens of knock-offs including the The Chubby Chernobyl, the Rubber Legged Stimulator, or the Stoneflopper. Thirty years has gone by since the Madam X. Sounds like a country song doesn't it? But, so is life, time passes, things change, some get easier, some just get uglier. And the flies are in essence the same, but have gotten easier to tie with foam replacing spun hair, etc., which not only makes the flies uglier, but much easier to tie. I have to say I am glad I stocked up, back when flies were good looking. One of my favoite flies is Guy Turck's Tarantula. I was one of the first to order it from him from his site back in 1995. In 1990, Guy began guiding float fishermen for Jim Jones’ High Country Flies in Jackson. In August of 1990, while searching for a pattern that improved the durability and visibility of the increasingly popular Madam X fly, Guy developed his clipped deer hair head, rubber leg hopper/stonefly imitation. During a slow afternoon Guy handed his creation to a client, World Bank head Jim Wolfensohn. Noting the fly’s bulky, leggy appearance, Wolfensohn quipped, “What is this thing, a tarantula?” This wonderfully creative fly name stuck like head cement. By September when the Snake’s hefty Classenia Sabulousa stoneflies become active, another guide pal, Shannon McCormick, introduced Guy to master fishing entrepreneur George Anderson of Livingston. Turck gave the “Montana

By Sporting Road|August 3rd, 2019|Categories: Fishing, Fly Tying, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Silk Fly Tying Dubbing

Often times I am asked where do you get the natural beaver fur dubbing dyed in various colors for tying Rim Chung's original RS2? I was surprised the other day when Rim suggested to a guy that he buy silk dubbing. I didn't even know it existed. The problem with commerical beaver dubbing is that the fibers are cut and blended in a blender type machine. This results in a lot of short, coarse pieces that go onto the thread in a big clump. The natural fibers off the pelt, can be 1/2" to even 1" long and they can be aligned vertically with the thread, a few fibers at a time, to form a dubbing rope which is then twisted finely onto the thread. The problem nowadays is there are not many commercial companies offering beaver fur on the pelt, and if it is offered, it is usually only in the natural gray, brown and sometimes black, not the olive, yellow, and tan that Rim also uses. So to check it out, I ordered some Kreinik silk dubbing in the following colors:Adam's Grey Black Cinnamon BrownDark DunLight CahillOlive Hare's Ear Pale Yellow They are nice and fine fibers, with longer strands, perfect for substituting for natural beaver. So if you can't find natural beaver dubbing on the fur, and/or don't have time to dye your own then try some silk dubbing. Kreinik Manufacturing Phone: 1-800-624-1928 Fax: 304-428-4326 URL: www.kreinik.com

By Sporting Road|August 3rd, 2019|Categories: Fishing, Fly Tying, Rim Chung, RS2, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Crystal Meth and Other Crazy Pink Flies

Our daughter is going crazy over pink flies. Here’s one of her favorite new patterns. Pink Crystal Meth: The Crystal Meth or Sucker Spawn is a another pattern that was originally designed for Great Lakes Steelhead fishing and now used a lot in the Northwest and Alaska. The flash in this pattern makes is especially effective in off-color water. Also a great fly for trout in high water conditions. Hook Daiichi 135, size 12 Pink Veevus 8/0 Thread Fluorescent Pink or Fluorescent Shrimp Pink diamond crystal braid

By Sporting Road|July 14th, 2019|Categories: Uncategorized|Comments Off

Dai-Riki Fly Fishing Hooks Discontinued!?!?

One of our favorite hook companies, at least for scud and streamer hooks, has discontinued business as a hook manufacturer. It was a less expensive alternative to Tiemco/Umpqua hooks, and was better for scud hooks as the hook was offset to the eye, which improved hooking performance. Now we begin the search for a substitute, as there are many new hook manufacturers entering the market in the last few years. We loved the Dai-Riki 135 for my daughter's favorite fly.

By Sporting Road|July 12th, 2019|Categories: Uncategorized|Comments Off