Dick

You are right, good thing they have ability to edit on this site. It was nice meeting you also and I am in total agreement, there was a lot of confusion. I am not sure they knew what they were voting on at times! There was a lot to consider with the Kaiba issues, number of doe tags and all.

In a conversation last week, Leonard mentioned to me that bowhunters are coming into compliance on returning harvest reports. Some of the results of that are that they are finding that success in some areas is much higher than what they expected. Units 22 and 23 were two units mentioned in particular and that a good portion of that success was on whitetail. He has reports of a lot of bait activity in those units from wildlife managers and they feel that could be a factor. He said that harvest in those two units was nearing the success of the general hunt. On an average archery harvest has been considered to be around 6%, in 22 and 23 it must be considerably higher, I think that general harvest is around 15% but not positive. Could hunter density and the popularity of hunting whitetail with a bow be a part of that factor? I would think so. I personally have not heard anything about public perception but that does not surprise me. It seems as though we always have a topic of debate. This one could be around for a while. I have hunted Texas and Kansas and in both of those states, baiting for deer is common prac

This whole system sometimes seems so extended that it is hard to follow or understand, even if you try to. Last Dec Leonard addressed the issue of the elk hunts being later than he felt they needed to be, even though he was the one that originally asked them to be the week later. From public comment and harvest reports, he knew they had made a mistake. The recommendations that they went to the Commission with in the spring of 2006 were to be for a two-year period, a change from the normal changing every year. That meant for Leonard to move the elk hunts a week earlier he had to ask the Commission to do that, give his reasons, and they made the decision. He made the recommendation! He could recommend that the archery elk and turkey be moved a week earlier but my understanding that he is not going to. He is going to explain his reasoning on Saturday and again let the Commissioners make the decision. I would love to see him go into the meeting and say that he did not think it was that big a deal but obviously, it was a huge issue to the archery community as was evident by all those in attendance at the meeting! Therefore, he has an alternative that he could offer to the Commission. Does he? He probably does because there is always the possibility that he will be directed to make the change and the Commission will want to know "how". Leonard will be prepared. Will we? That might be the decision maker!

Believe me, Leonard is an active hunter, both rifle and bow. He is very proud of his heritage and the fact that he and his son share hunt camp. Do I agree with the elk and deer hunts overlapping and some of the other issues we have had to deal with, no way! But that doesn't make him a tree hugger, anti-hunter or any thing else except for someone with a different perception of how things should be run sometimes. Remember, the Dept was directed by the Commissioners to try to come up with a way to create "Hunt Oppotunity" to work more towards " hunter recruitment and retention". The Commission is Leonards boss. One thing I think we need to remember that we can sometimes agree to disagree, fight our butts off for what we think is right, and if everyone is treated fairly and with RESPECT,we can come out of it with the knowledge that usually the issue is the point of disagreement, and it most often is not a personal thing with the person we are arguing with. I have a lot of respect for most of the people that I have met within the Dept. I think they are there for the love of what they do and for no other reason. They could work for another agency, have less grief, make more money and have a brighter retirement! Why else would they stay there. I have two freinds that are Phoenix police officers that would love to work for the Dept. Neither are qualified nor could they afford the pay cut if they were qualified! I personally think that is pretty sad! Do I support the current proposals, no way, have I argued over Bull elk tags in the past? Yes, two years ago the victory was in the court of the hunters. The Commissioners listened to the outcry that we wanted our "Bull Elk Hunts Left Alone". Last December our arguement over losing 1400 antleless tags to the general hunt went in favor of the generl rifle hunters. You win some, you lose some, by Saturday noon we will know for sure on this one.

No, it hasn't even been mentioned officially but it was brought up in a conversation with Leonard. It is not part of the agenda for this hunt set meeting.

I have to agree with Steve about his take on the presentation by Brian at the DCA meeting. The Dept. made the orginal proposal for these dates two years ago, they also realized that they had the elk hunts too late all away across the board. They asked the Commission for their permission,or direction if that is how you want to put it, to move the elk hunts one week earlier on the calendar. The Commission gave them direction to do that at the Dec. meeting in Phoenix. The fact that the archery deer would overlap the archery elk was NOT an oversight. As a matter of fact it was part of the discussions with the Dept while we were trying to save the 1400 antlerless permits that were shifted over to general hunts. Leonard made those of us at the meetings with him aware that there would be that overlap. Our comments were that there might be some elk hunters unhappy with it, Leonards thoughts were that it wouldn't be that many units, if would offer some extra opportunity for elk hunters to take a deer and a turkey and that he really didn't think it would be that big of an issue. "Well, the Dept. has found out that it is a lot bigger issue than they thought it would be". They have recieved a ton of phone calls and e-amils stating outrage at the idea of the proposed recomendation. Leonard will make the recommendation as it has been written but I know that they are expecting a great deal of resistance. It is important that if you have comments that you attend the Commission meeting, fill out a "Blue Slip" and if you don't want to speak, you can ask that your comments be read. Standing in front of the Commission is not a joyous thing but it isn't all that bad either. The important thing, the Dept has heard the outcry, that is why they attended the DCA and ADA meetings. They actually instigated those appearences! NOW IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE COMMISSIONERS SEE THAT SAME OPPOSITION! ATTEND THE MEETING, FILL OUT THE BLUE SLIP AND MAKE YOUR FEELINGS KNOWN! Dick

To update who will be where Leonard is going to be at the ADA meeting on Tuesday the 17th and Brian Wakling will be at the DCA meeting the same evening.

To update who will be where Leonard is going to be at the ADA meeting on Tuesday the 17th and Brian Wakling will be at the DCA meeting the same evening.

Thanks for making an effort to keep my days straight Amanda. Your correct, the DCA meeting is in Phoenix on Tuesday the 17th at 7 PM, Calvary Community Church located between Thunderbird and Cactus on the south bound service road. Room 204. I am quite positive that someone from Game and Fish will be present.

In my conversations with Leonard he had also stated that he was really surprised at the outcry that he is getting over the overlap of elk and deer archery hunts. I reminded Leonard that at the Dec. meeting we were fighting over the issue of trying to keep 1,400 antlerless archery tags. We spent a lot of our time on that issue and that was where our focus was at the Dec. Commission meeting. Unfortunatly, the overlap in seasons was not addressed, although it may have been mentioned and fallen through the cracks. My hopes would be that the Dept will consider moving archery deer and turkey a week earlier and it would more align with where it used to be. Prior to recent changes, we had been able to hunt archery deer through the first week of archery elk in units"where there was not an open elk season". I would like to see us get that back! I will be at the Commission meeting. Amanda had posted that Leonard would be at Desert Christian Archers meeting on the 19th, actually that is a mistake that I will take blame for, DCA is the 16th the same as ADA and I am sure Leonard can not make both. Maybe we could get Brian or someone else to attend DCA? "Hunter Recruitment and Retention" are used a lot by the Dept. today, I am totally in agreement with them on that statement but at what cost? We only have so many tools to works with

In my conversations with Leonard he had also stated that he was really surprised at the outcry that he is getting over the overlap of elk and deer archery hunts. I reminded Leonard that at the Dec. meeting we were fighting over the issue of trying to keep 1,400 antlerless archery tags. We spent a lot of our time on that issue and that was where our focus was at the Dec. Commission meeting. Unfortunatly, the overlap in seasons was not addressed, although it may have been mentioned and fallen through the cracks. My hopes would be that the Dept will consider moving archery deer and turkey a week earlier and it would more align with where it used to be. Prior to recent changes, we had been able to hunt archery deer through the first week of archery elk in units"where there was not an open elk season". I would like to see us get that back! I will be at the Commission meeting. Amanda had posted that Leonard would be at Desert Christian Archers meeting on the 19th, actually that is a mistake that I will take blame for, DCA is the 16th the same as ADA and I am sure Leonard can not make both. Maybe we could get Brian or someone else to attend DCA? "Hunter Recruitment and Retention" are used a lot by the Dept. today, I am totally in agreement with them on that statement but at what cost? We only have so many tools to works with.