KGAINES

Others are ahead of us when they want to get their agenda followed. We better be prepared for a long drawn out fight on this, because where we look at the wolf program as a little thorn in our side, they look at it as a dagger in our hearts. http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_poli...exican_wolf.php

"AZSFW was told "when it becomes a matter of funding programs for people versus wildlife, that there is little sympathy for wildlife". This was from an e-mail received from AZSFW after the sweeps were approved. Rather irritating to know that we can approve and donate our monies specifically wildlife and outdoor funds, only to have the gooberment swipe em as they feel fit. The attitude and beliefs that underlie and found the quoted statement should be disturbing to sportsmen. Doug~RR " We just didn't know that there was only little sympathy for the wolves and others like them, it is only the hunted species that don't get no sympathy. Doug sorry I took your post and moved it here, but as I said in my letter to the governor; that if she or the legislature want to steal money from the AZGFD then they should take it from the wolf, condor, jaguar, spotted owl, red squirrel, and lizard funds and leave the species that are hunted alone since they are funded by sportsman's dollars. Keith Gaines

I read that and laugh at some of the statements that they make, first off these are not pure wolves. Second and most offensive to all of us is the way they state that this program is here whether we like it or not and they are going to make it work no matter the cost. http://wolfcrossing.org/blog/wp-content/up...are-hybrids.pdf http://wolfcrossing.org/docs/realitybites.pdf

It freaking starts with the governor and then trickles down from there, I am sure after some checking we can find out for sure, but they are politicians, the doublespeak will be tenfold when they are questioned about why. It was negotiated, it was settled for, it was our only option, it was blah freaking blah, blah, blah. Every single one of our legislators needs to be reprimanded by us sportsmen for this, and the worthless governor needs voted out for sure. You can send an email to the governor, but contrary to what many think that person does not have the cojohones to respond. I have sent a few with questions and recieved the typical email received I will respond soon and have never heard back.

DB when you get the chance send Commissioner Freeman an email and ask him, I will do the same. Then at least we will know where he stands up front or if he is a liar in the end. http://www.azgfd.gov/inside_azgfd/commission.shtml He hasn't been added to the list yet.

It was a petition that the sportsmens groups put together to oppose the sweeps, the commission would not sign on to it. The sweeps were probably going to happen anyway, but it would have been great to see the commission side with the hunting groups on this and show opposition and fight for the money that the department needs.

I believe she did, but there was also a big group of houndsman, the AZGFD, and others that put forth that lion hunt proposal. If we are talking about the three month closure for most units.

At least he doesn't go by firstgirlfriendwas80, so he has that going for him.

I am pretty sure I know a guy that knows that guy, and he said that he told him the same thing.

Every thing I have heard about him has been good, plus I think he is a step up from who he is replacing. I also heard he won't be swayed by a couple of the current commissioners. I am on a wait and see with him, I have been sort of pleased with what we have seen from Commissioner Martin so far, from waht I expected that was the worst choice ever and she is far and away better than two others on the commission. We have to hope commissioners Woodhouse, Martin, and Freeman back us, because there are a couple of others that have their own agenda and don't care what we think, see, or expect.

https://www4.wildlifelicense.com/az/start.php Has anyone seen this, has it changed.

Nope didn't kill him, just watched him for a little while. I thinks it's the same one I saw earlier in the week. There is only one snake that will get the beat down from me and it's not a king snake. I have pulled over on the side of the road and picked them up and carried them across or chased them across. The only snakes I have ever had an issue with have been rattlers and a couple of water moccasins. I have to say that when we were moving into our house I was headed to the store and got a call from my sister who was at the house and was told there was a snake and they had seen it in one of the rooms, I turned around and headed home, when I got home my three year old at the time was at the door, she immediately told me that there was a bucking snake in the house, she repeated that to me three or four times before I realized she was mis-pronouncing what my sister had called the snake. It was a little king snake, it was caught for a short time, but got out while all the moving in was taking place. Needless to say I never told my daughter what the exact term my sister used for the snake was, but apparently it scared her.

Has anyone received an email from this group, I received an email from them suspiciously after my letter to the Governor. Of course I still haven't received one from that office. This is my reply to the two emails I have received from this group. I have absolutely no idea how you guys got my email address or who you are and this bothers me greatly. I recently sent a letter to the Governor expressing my displeasure with the raiding of 13,000,000 in AZGFD funds and the proposed raiding of the dept. next year. Of course our Gov. didn't have the capability or the inclination to return my email so I think she and her little group gave my email to your group and now I am receiving emails from you. Our Gov. is worthless to me, she has no idea how to be fiscally responsible with our states dollars and still keeps spending, and has included a 500,000,000 bond to balance the budget. If there is a way for me to find out if the Governor's office forwarded my email to any and I mean anyone besides whoever it is she pays to respond to her emails, I will seek every possible way to prosecute them for whatever it is she and her staff did. If I were you I would try my damnedest to make sure you are only a recipient of my email address and not in any way a contributer to sending it any further than it already is, and if you were to lose my email address it would not bother me in the least.

Very good post ac guy I got this in an email, far cry from New Orleans. Have you seen the pictures from Iowa of the people looting the liquor stores, carrying away televisions from retail stores, sitting on the roof begging for someone to take care of them, collected in the baseball stadium complaining about the food and shelter being provided? Neither have I.

This is the email I received from commissioner Martin, I sent this and received a response within two days, I sent one to the Governor's office the day after this one and still have not received a response. June 9th until now, the governor must be real busy spending money she doesn't have to worry about the people of this state. Mr. Gaines, Thanks for your interest and your support. The funds being swept in 2008 are not Special Tag Funds, but rather monies from our Watercraft Fund, Off-Highway Vehicle Fund (OHV), and a portion of a legal settlement we had received. Regarding agencies that "need general fund money," we are actually not a general fund agency, but rather operate off of federal funds, license and tag fees, Heritage (lottery) Funds and dedicated funds such as Wildlife Conservation Fund, Watercraft and OHV. The fact that we are not a general fund agency makes sweeps of our budgets especially frustrating for many of our stakeholders. I appreciate your concern, and it would certainly be appropriate for you to try speaking with your State Senator and Representatives and/or the Governor's office regarding your concerns. Let me know if there's any more information I can provide. Thanks, Jennifer Martin

I am sure you are going to get some help here, but with fuel costs and everything else Gila Wilderness Hunting might be an option. http://www.gilawildernesshunting.com/t_main001.html Good luck and have a great hunt.

Cogratulations, God bless you and your Family.

I would bet there are leftovers for all the archery draw hunts south of the river, and more than last year for the units Doug mentioned because of the added hunt.

This was my letter to them on 06/09/2008, no replies from them. I am not sure if it is possible for the state to take money from the Special tag funds or any of the self funded monies that are paid to the AZGFD since it is not a general fund agency and relies on sportsmen's dollars and federal funds, but from everything I have read it seems they can. I am a huge supporter of the AZGFD and I also know the struggles it seems that the department has to keep up with projects, let alone the funds needed to run the department properly. I hate to think that the legislature and the governor would take the special tag funds and other sportsmen's dollars to try and fix a 2 billion dollar deficit that the state is in. Instead of attacking departments that need general fund money on top of the sportsmaen's dollars, special tag funds, and federal money they should try and be more fiscally responsible and fix the problem, not create more. I am a little long on this, but if I could get a little insight from you or the legislature I would appreciate it, you can forward to any state senator or representative including my email address so that they may reply as well. I would hope that if we are better informed as sportsmen and women we could help the commission and the department to prevent the theft of our wildlife's dollars from the state legislature and the governor. Thank You, Keith Gaines Native of Arizona, Sportsmen, and supporter of wildlife.P.S. If the governor's office has to take money from the AZGFD why don't they take the money from the wolf, condor, or jaguar funds instead of raiding the money that is paid by sportsmen to be used by sportsmen, and don't get me wrong I don't mind my money helping non-game species, but it sure don't seem fair when the first attacked is the revenue producers.

Nope I didn't see child molesting or counterfeiting, so that can't be them.

With the other tags I have I won't have time, so I passed.

They tried to GIVE me a Lark tag.

Congress

As a country we limit ourselves greatly and allow other countries to tell us how to live, when if they had the same resources they would exploit them to the fullest. We have Texas, Alaska, and any other untold resources off the coast that we also won't explore. We are allowing our country to be dependent on others when it is not needed, we have resources of our own, but instead we buy oil from or allow oil sold from countries that have questionable policies when it comes to terrorists.

http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/in...ic=9339&hl=