Idaho Outdoors

Life is Always Better with an Outdoor Adventure!

Frisbee Golf, Disk Golf, or Frolf? Great Outdoor Sport for Everyone?

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Disk Golf Goal!
Disk Golf Goal!

Disk Golf the 40+ year old sport that most people don’t know about!

Disk Golf or what is sometimes called Frisbee golf or Frolf (our family calls it Folf) is a great outdoor sport for anyone with a little extra time on their hands.

Disk Golf is fairly inexpensive to play; in fact you can pick up a kit with a driver, mid-range, and a putting disk on Amazon or at Sports Authority for approximately 30-40 dollars.

All that is left is to find an old backpack to hold your disks, a bottle of water, your score card, a pen and you are set. The majority of courses are free to play, so the only real cost is for the disks and any accessories you may be interested in purchasing.

Disk Golf Distance Driver Disk
Disk Golf Distance Driver Disk

The disks?

There are actually several brands of Disk Golf disks. A few of the manufacturers include Innova, Diskcraft, Discmania, and Prodigy Discs. Our family prefers Innova not because they fly better or perform better. The reason we like Innova disks is they provide their own Flight Rating System.

The Innova rating system is simply made up of speed, glide, turn, and fade. This allowed a guy like me who had never played the sport before, to figure out which disks to purchase so my family could play the sport. You will find more information on the Innova Disk Flight Rating System here!

Innova DX Disc Golf Set (3-Disc) (Colors may vary) Just $24.99 for Amazon prime Members.

Innova Champion Material Disc Golf, Set of 3 (Colors may vary) Just $37.28 for Amazon prime Members.

The rules?

The rules are very similar to golf you tee off or throw your first disk from the teeing area. Your feet must be within this area when you release the disk and you must be in contact with the teeing area with at least one foot when the disk is released. If any of these rules are violated first you get a warning and on the second time you take an extra stroke or throw.

When throwing from a location where your disk landed you throw from the back of where the front of your disk was located. Same rules and violations apply to throws from a fairway area as from the teeing area.

When you are throwing a disk and it lands in an out of bounds area. Your options are to re-throw the disk from the previous lie; or, A lie that is up to one meter away from and perpendicular to the point where the disc last crossed into out-of-bounds, even if the direction takes the lie closer to the target; or, Within the designated drop zone, if provided. Remember if you are taking a drop you will be given an extra stroke / throw just like golf.

The object of the game is to put the disk in the goal or basket target. They call this holing out!

When you are done holing out record your scores and move on to the next hole!

The Official Rules of Disk Golf can be found here!

Who can play?

The great thing about Disk Golf is the courses are walked so if you can walk, and throw a disk this could be your Sports! This means anyone from my 3 year old granddaughter to my 65 year old mother can play if they are willing to walk the course. It is a great way to bond with your kids if you have a young family, get the kids outdoors and have a little fun with them!

You might even get them to put down their phone long enough to get to know them. Why not teach your kids the merits of an active healthy lifestyle.

Where to play?

The best thing about playing Disk Golf is you get to do it outdoors, if you get to play in the great state of Idaho even better. There are a great number of free to play disk golf courses in Idaho and across the nation.

You can search them on google maps or visit the Professional Disk Golf Association Website and look at the courses on their map.

PDGA Disc Golf Course Directory Map
Gem State Disk Golf Course List
Idaho Parks and Recreation Disk Golf Course List
discgolfcourses.org Idaho Disk Golf Course List

You can even pick your self up a couple of goals from amazon and make your own course where ever you want!

Idaho Disk Golf Clubs!

The Gem State Disk Golf Club (GSDG) is a nonprofit sports organization dedicated to the development, promotion, and enhancement of disc golf in the state of Idaho. If you are interested in checking them out visit their website here.

The PDGA!

The Professional Disk Golf Association is the regulating body for the sport of disk golf with over 16000 members. For rules, questions or if you would just like to become a PDGA member please visit here.

Tournaments?

In 2014 the Gem State Disk Golf Club is holding 6 PDGA Sanctioned tournaments. The tournament series is called the 2014 Strange Disc Tour. There will be tournaments held in Boise, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Rupert, and twin falls.

At the time this article was written there were several of the tournaments that were completed. However if you are interested in playing there should be openings available in the tournaments that have not been played yet. For more information please visit here.

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Rock Hounding Idaho: A Map of 99 Locations in Idaho to start finding Gemstones!

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Rock Hounding Idaho
Rockhounding and Prospecting Tools

Hidden Idaho Treasure Series

So you are interested in Rock hounding Idaho?

Please note: The map is at the bottom of the Page!

Idaho has a rich geology with many types of gemstones found across the diverse landscapes. For those of you that would like to do some rock hounding Idaho, a full listing if Idaho gemstones by county can be found at The Idaho Department of lands Website.

My wife and I have spent many years prospecting and rock hounding Idaho. It is very rewarding for us and a fun activity for the kids, especially when you find “treasures” as we like to call them.

A few years back we purchased a book Rock hounding Idaho: A Guide to 99 of the State’s Best Rock hounding Sites (Rock hounding Series) by Garret Romaine. Even though it was a little dry reading, as a reference book when we were trying to find new places to explore, it was great.

I took the time to go through the book two years ago and enter all of the GPS coordinates, and meta data (locations, descriptions, and types of minerals found at each location) into an excel spread sheet. Then I spent the better part of about three weeks trying to figure out how to change the degrees minutes and seconds to decimal degree GPS coordinates. This was all so the information could be imported in to my ArcGIS Mapping program. I know boring!

The punchline is last year Google came out with the Google Maps Engine. This allowed me to use the same spreadsheets to upload data to a google map, and then embed it here for every one to use! Cool Huh!

If you have any questions or are looking for some tips where to go, just look me up on facebook or google plus.

Also if you like this map, please like us on all of your favorite social media sites. If you like this article please subscribe to our website, there will more great content just like this in the future.

For more information on Idaho Rock hounding, you can purchase Garret Romains book from the link above or you can download the BLM Rock hounding in Idaho Guide!

The Pledge to Protect Our Sportsmans Heritage for Our Youth!

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What is the Sportsman Heritage?

The sportsman in me was nurtured and developed from the age of four. That was my first memory of dad spending time with me in the woods, at the river, or at camp.  I believe that all who live this way of life have an obligation to pass the sportsman heritage to their children if they are interested.

Sportsman Heritage
My Son’s Elk 2006

My father is a great man; he spent many years punching the time clock, always trying to figure out how to make that extra buck. His motivations were always pure he loved spending every second he could with his family. If he could spend that time with our family hunting, fishing, or running around new country, well that was even better.

My best memories from childhood include running around with dad whether we were fishing, hunting or just at elk camp hanging out.  Some of these memories are the same ones my children cherish to this day.  I made it a point to take them to some of the same places my dad and I visited when I was a child.

Heritage: Anything that has been transmitted from the past or handed down by tradition, a way of life!

The realization that our sportsman way of life was actually our sportsman heritage did not hit me until my children started hunting and fishing with me. Whether we were teaching them how to tie a hook on or watching them pull in the biggest bass of the trip. By empowering them to succeed in our outdoor adventures, we have taught them valuable lessons that will benefit them for a lifetime.

The principles of our sportsman heritage flow into our everyday lives. They empower our success, free us of fear, and help us overcome adversity.



Should we practice good Conservation?

Sportsman Heritage
My mom with her grandchildren 2010 elk hunt.

For years many of my family considered conservation environmentalism. After serious reflection and discussions we have decided this is not necessarily the case.  As stewards of hunting, fishing, prospecting, camping, or whatever it is you like to do. We need to take care of everything we touch.

Many of the outdoor clubs have put conservation practices in place. For instance the Geocachers practice the Cache In Trash Out (CITO) motto which means they go find a geocache and leave with some trash. By following good conservation practices like cleaning up a campground, or picking the pop can out of the river we are keeping the resources that our children will want to use some day clean.

That is not environmentalism that is good common sense.

I know making a pledge to our youth is a little corny.  However I would rather be a little corny and have the resources to teach my grandchildren to hunt than not.

The Pledge to protect our sportsmen heritage for our youth!

  • I pledge to protect the resources so my children and grandchildren can use them as an adult.
  • I pledge to teach my children and grandchildren the ways of our family’s sportsman heritage..
  • I pledge to be kind to help my children and grandchildren be self-confident and firm to teach you respect for others.
  • I pledge to pass on the rich sportsman heritage that our family has passed down generation to generation, so that my children and grandchildren see the value of harvesting wild game for their table.
  • I pledge not to harvest, more than our family can eat.
  • I pledge to teach fair and ethical behavior in the field.
  • I pledge to protect these rights that were inherited from my father so my children and my children’s children can enjoy them.
  • I make this pledge not only to my own children and grandchildren, but to any child, grandchild, adult, or group that is interested in learning about being a sportsman.

Please take the pledge pass on the sportsman heritage, allow our youth to enjoy the same rights and heritage that we have. Mother Nature created the great outdoors for everyone.