m77

I just heard how the Game & Fish rely on civilian bird watchers to get bird counts and types of birds observed. Have they ever asked a hunter how many and what types of wildlife he/she has seen while hunting??? Seems to me if they rely on bird watchers they could trust the hunter to report harvests and make it mandatory. Alan

I would also agree with a senior hunt. The pioneer license holder idea that bill suggested sounds fair and would establish an easy benchmark. My father-in-law has hunted elk with me when he was 82. He's know 85 and if I drew a tag for this year he'd go again. The only thing that I worry about when establishing special hunts is someone always feels left out. Law suits begin to be used to establish additional hunts for those LEFT OUT. And, the whole system starts crumbling. We'll end up with special needs hunts, women only hunts, non-hunter hunts and god forbid, gay and lesbian hunts. The state of Iowa supreme court will declare it a human rights violation not to. But, after all that, I'm in favor of a Senior Hunt Season. Alan

Where are you Game & Fish???? Weigh in on this one. Tell us what's your opinion. I've made this suggestion and I believe you'd get overwhelming support from the sportsman on this website. It's any easy update to your current program. A reporting timeline after the end of each hunt could be established, say 30 or 60 days. At the time the sportsman completes the reporting he/she could print a confirmation page for their records and you would have a timely reporting of all hunts. Alan

Doug, I'm not in favor of raising fees or making hunting a rich man sport. I believe all of our conservation practices here in AZ and throughout the rest of the country need to be watched closely by hunters and well as non. I know the importance of keeping hunters in the field year after year with some sort of a tag, because we need to increase our numbers if we are to survive as a group. Taking a kid or a work buddy out on a hunt is the only way that'll happen. I think this is one of the best hunting websites I visit with some of the most informed hunters. Some times we do step on our own %$#(s with posts of bait sites, trail cam pictures etc, but there is a general hunter helping to inform other hunters mentality on this site. Thanks again for doing some of the numbers.

Good info Doug, thanks. So, what would happen to the numbers and spreading out the premium tags if the premium tags where weighted? Like the once-in-a-lifetime tags. If the apps for all hunts were due in January and started drawing the sheep tags. If you draw a sheep tag this year your out of consideration for the other hunts that year. Then say a unit 1 archery were once in 10 years to draw and also put you in the 2nd round of other elk tag draws for those ten years. Would more hunters start applying for those premium units? Would those tags get spread around to more hunters giving them a chance at a once-in-ten-year draw? How do you do the math? I have always found in interesting how a lot of the conversations on this website seem to alter the regulations of the AZG&F. Sooner than later someone on this site will post a great alternative or addition to the current draw system and G&F will adobt it. SO JUST KEEP ADDING POSTS LIKE THIS IF YOU WANT TO SEE A CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!

I was discussing the baiting issue with a co-worker today and he made the statement that baiting wasn't always legal in Arizona. Does anyone know when baiting was first allowed? I'm sure Outdoor Writer can answer this question. If it wasn't always legal, why did it become legal? I've made the following statement before in this forum and it wasn't viewed to good but here it goes again. "I feel many hunters in forums like this have sealed their own faith by posting the photos and stories they have about their hunt. Too much information for all to view. A nice photo (try to keep blood out) and an enjoyable story (skipping some of the details) would probably have prolonged the baiting issue we are facing now." We need to police our sport. We already read about too many pouching acts. Making comments about future illegal activities if baiting is eliminated is NOT the right comments for sportsman to make.

Bill, thanks for your input. Your knowledge of hunting Arizona is in the highest regards. I would love to hear the story of your most exciting Arizona hunt or outdoor experience.

Just got back into archery and didn't realize how much I missed it. Are there any organized archery clubs in Tucson? I belonged to an outstanding club in Wisconsin, the Omro Bowhunters Club (www.obhclub.com). Check out there website, the photo pages give a good perspective on the club and it's shoots.

Yotebuster and SDRHunter, I also hunt the fort. I just got back from spending the weekend there. E-mail me and we can talk.

Is that a 1500 or 2500 dollar buck?

Amanda, Looks like a Cooper to me. Pronounced like the Mini-Cooper. The Coo sounding harsh like the letter K is an attention grabber, and the per lets her know it's her your talking to. Sounds and looks right to me. Al

"Aim Small, Miss Small"!

Coues Krazy, you gotta know this is one of the biggest scams going right know. They send you a check for 10,000, tell you to keep 5,000 and send them the other 5,000 back. After you do you find out from your bank the cashiers check was NO GOOD. Know the bank wants their 10,000 back. Hopefully you didn't spend the 5,000 you kept, because you've already lost 5,000 you sent back to the company. Most of these scams are coming from overseas locations, Nigeria being the biggest. These overseas scam companies should be targets for our covert operations, even nuclear operations would be fine with me. We can all thank Al Gore (NOBEL PEACE WINNER) and inventer of the internet for these type of scams. I'm sure the DEMS will find a reason to blame Bush. Like Switchback said "If it sounds to good to be true, it's a scam".

BH4L, dude, you got to be a little loco. When my son was 10 thru 14 I didn't even buy a tag for myself. I solely focused on giving him the greatest hunting experiences I could. Help him hunt that big boy and get him on your wall. If you don't, someone else might be showing him off!!!!!!!!!!

EBB, I was floored when I saw the outstanding photos taken by azhunterswhocare. I would only hope that if a hunter calls something like that in, that blackhawk helicopters would come diving out of the sky. I was told that when the border patrol catches and processes illegals for smuggling, they then return them to Mexico only to catch them another day. What's wrong with that?????? I have also seen the illegal immagrants garbage dumps left throughout our state. If they are only coming here to work, maybe they can start by cleaning the mess they left behind on their way BACK to Mexico.

EBB, I believe Lance is the individual you are asking about. Try him at the e-mail address listed below. Lance Altherr Arizona Hunters Who Care azhunterswhocare@hotmail.com

grizzly

azpackhorse, you voted for Clinton didn't you!!!!!!!!!!!

Rembrant, all those things you have listed in the BRACKETS do not draw game to a specific spot for the purpose of harvesting. Training wildlife to feed in this manner is not fair chase and not ethical. We can fool ourselfs into believing what we are doing is the right thing to do, even when it's not. Kind of like when Bill Clint was getting BJs in the oval office. I never heard one democrat or even one women's rights groups come out and say it was unethical and wrong. They all liked the sleeze bag so much they fooled themselfs in believing he did nothing wrong.

Great, now the terrorist can start the oceans on fire. We won't have to worry about the gas companies buy up the patten, Green Peace will protest it as an evironment hazard. Safe the WHALES!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Outdoor Writer, We all know changes need to be made, but how? Can we start a ballet initiative to change the AG&FD Counsel members positions to ELECTED POSITIONS and vote them out? Can we start a liason group consisting of a member from all the splinter groups to try and consolidate Arizona Hunter Views? Do we just storm in large numbers one of the meetings and just throw them out and take over? What you say, Outdoor Writer.

A free for all is what we currently have. No registration, no quota.

Why not set a statewide quota? Everyone must register their kill. Once the quota is met the season is closed.

High Country Coues, did you actually imply that hunting pressure during the rut changes rutting habits and lessens the ability for mature buck to impregnant does. I made that same assumption a month ago and Outdoor Writer told me it had nothing to due with the decrease in the deer population in Arizona. He post interesting articles by Expert writers stating the water/rain conditions is the reason for the decline. I am also a believer in hunting during the rut HAS a direct effect on the ability for mature buck to spread those great genes. Why does G&F allow hunting during the rut??? Why does G&F allow hunting within 500 yards of a water hole (archery or rifle)????? Why does G&F allow placing perminent tree stands or ground blinds on public land????? We have become our own worst enemies with websites like Coueswhitetail. We post pictures of game at water and salt. We argue over hunting rights at those water holes and salt licks on public land. Hunters seem to think putting up a tree stand or ground blind gives them exclusive right to a water hole or and area that they spread their salt. We advertize on this website every day the problems associated with our SPORT. Game and Fish doesn't have to hold meetings, ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS READ OUR POSTS. I learned a lot about Coues hunting from this website the first couple of years I monitored it, the last number of years I watched a decline in the quality of this websites posts. It's fun to brag about how much game is coming into a salt lick or water hole and post those neat photos, but there is always a consiqence (spelling check needed) for not keeping ourselves in check. The single most important statement I continue to hear today is that we all need to attend those G&F meetings in large numbers. Maybe we can have a forum title G&F Meetings, put more effort in recruiting members to attend, and have a consolidated agenda with an articulate spokesperson that everyone supports at the meeting.

So, if there are three waterholes in an area you would like to hunt and you put a trailcam on each one. Only one of the waterholes has a 115 inch whitetail coming into it, the other two have much smaller buck. Which waterhole are you going to hunt. And, didn't that trailcam help you locate and take that buck. Take away all three trailcams, which waterhole do you sit on. Do you shot the 89 inch buck when he comes into the hole you choose without the aid of the trailcam. The bigger buck lives another year. Who do you think your fouling when you say the trailcam didn't aid in the taking of the bigger buck???? Salt is even worse, it changes the feeding habits of the deer and you are training them to come into a specific spot. Then hang a trailcam there and you might as well be hunting in TEXAS.