DesertBull

I heard on the news today that a Lion was seen in Queen Creek carrying away a farmers EMU. LOL! Seems the kitty came in and killed all 20 of the guys birds. I thought they only killed what they could eat? Does he prefer white meat or dark? G&F says they won't kill it unless it threatens humans. I'll bet the owner of the birds would let you sit on his fence and wait for Felix to show up again though.

points shmoints, that's a great bull no matter what the final score. Don't be disappointed, it takes the fun out of a great hunt and a great accomplishment. If all the record books went away tomorrow, they would not be missed by me. CONGRATS! BTW, doesn't P&Y have a scoring system for non-typicals?

I bought a Tikka 7/08, SS / SYN, for my 17 year old son. It is a sweet shooter amd kicks very little. I can't wiat to hear Lark's comments! LOL!

No, they didn't say. Just drive around and look for a trail of large feathers!

Maybe he was trying to buy weed and his check bounced?

Does anyone know how G&F determines the success rates they publish each year? I know they send out the survey cards after the hunts, but is that how they determine the success ratio? I don't understand why they do not require a hunter to return those cards. If they are going to spend the money to print and mail them, make them mandatory to return or set up a website for each hunter to report their hunt. It's bad enough that their methods of counting animals are suspect, to say the least, but their method of determining how many animals are being killed is just as bad. They use those success rates in their formulas for issuing tags the next year. If it were me, I would make the survey mandatory and if you don't turn it in, you don't get a tag next year.

It's been proven that their counting methods on the Kaibab were very inaccurate.

The color looks wierd because of the flash. My cams do the same thing when the deer is standing close. Great buck. Those eye guards are sick!

That's all nice and dandy, but G&F is not in charge of clean crappers and showers. That is the state parks department and it is already tax payer funded.

I got an email from G&F yesterday asking if I would support a sales tax increase to help support them. Right now, they are not receiveing any money from the general fund or any state tax money, as far as I know. They are totally self supporting. Now, if they take this tax money, they are letting the wolves in the front door. In their survey they sent me, I told them I would not support any tax increase and in their comment section I told them their fee proposal was way out of line.

Rifle hunt - 36B

12A turkey 37B HAM No bear, which is the one tag I REALLY wanted.

If you are married, go hunting. If you are single, go to the race (and take your camera)

Next year you will see the tag numbers go up. I GUARENTEE IT!

Well, I don't see how raising the prices of tags and licenses is going to give us all more opportunity to hunt.

Won't banning all NR put a lot of hard working, honest AZ outfitters in the unemployment line?

There were appx 39,000 deer tags last year. 5% = 1,950 That is enough to cover all the 'Bab and strip hunts, plus several of the primo December hunts like 33, 36a,b,c, etc.

Here is what I am afraid of. They will start this Class A / B price structure to only include the Kaibab/Strip deer hunts and the early rifle elk hunts. Then, when everyone gets used to that, they shift the late December unit 36, 33, 32, etc Whitetail hunts over along with the muzzleloader elk hunts. Then, soon after that, they shift the archery elk hunts some more of the December Whitetail hunts over etc. Once they get a taste of those big $$$$, it will be like sharks swarming around a dead whale. IMO, the whole process is getting way to complicated. Just go back to the pre-bonus point days and let it be a true lottery.

Hopefully the G&F will hold off on raising tag numbers for awhile. Just because we had a great year of fawn production, doesn't mean we should kill a bunch on 1-1/2 year old bucks next year. This year, so far, is shaping up as another dry and warm winter.

I have asked these question in the form of emails, but have never received a response.

Here is another question. If the G&F can justify the higher cost of Premium hunts, how come they say nothing about lowering the prices of less desirable Limited Opp. hunts, Cow Elk hunts, low succes rate hunts, etc? Using their logic, why should a unit 4B muzzleloader cow tag cost the same as a unit 7W general season bull tag?

in addition to what they already get from excise taxes. http://www.azgfd.gov/artman/publish/article_414.shtml

Nothing infuriates me more than the "non-serious" hunter argument. A father wanting to take his kids hunting once a year, not really caring if they get a deer or not, should not be priced out of the experience. Just because hunting is not the first thought to cross your mind when you wake up in the morning and the last thought you have before falling asleep, does not mean you should be "weeded out" so the fanatic can have a better shot at drawing a tag. There are plenty of people that love hunting, but do not have the means to apply in multiple states, or even apply for multiple species in his/her own state. they want to go on their annula deer hunt just the same as the guy/gal that goes on 3-4 hunting trips a year, thought the country. One day, and I think most of us will see this in our lifetime, there will be a flat out "yes or no" vote on hunting. You are going to want these people to vote yes. If you had been priced out of the game or if your dad never took you hunting because you could not afford $200 for license and tags. how would you vote?

WOW, that's awesome. Funny how hunting is supposed to be relalxing and a chance to get away from the grind of city slicker life, but we often put so much pressure on ourselves that it become more stressful than rush hour traffic. This goes to show that you don't have to take the fun out of hunting, just because you drew a good tag! Are the deer still up high, or have they moved down into the winter range? I noticed you said you had a "pinyon fire" going, so would guess you were hunting down low. Congrats!

If the raise is needed to keep officers in the field, do research, catch poachers, etc, then I am all for it. If it is to alter the draw odds of the better hunts in favor of those who can afford it, then I am 100% AGAINST IT. I don't care if you are from California, New York, or freaking IRAQ, charging $1,800 for an elk tag is an embarassment. The NR cap is back in place. They don't need to use $$$$ to deter NR from applying. USO is going to end up winning the public relations battle if that goes through.