utah400elk

I sincerely hope that the AZ Sportsmen can put a stop to this. Many years ago I rallied with numerous people to try and stop this from happening in Utah. It was passed because it would be a financial windfall for the state. It wasn’t but once the handout was given it is hard, if not impossible to stop. It is scary to see just how similar the AZ deal is to the Utah deal. I now live in Wyoming and this whole deal makes me sick to my stomach. The average Joe in AZ will take it in the shorts if this gets passed. I can only guess as to what will happen (all based on the Utah Model). First more than half the tags will come from the nonresident tags (this will be done as a way to appease the residents who oppose it). It will be sold as a way for residents to get more hunting tags. Then they will require everybody to validate their applications at their expo. This will not be a big deal to the people who live in the Phoenix. They will use the masses of people in the metro areas to hose the people who live away from the city. They will try and sell it as a second chance at the tags for the average guy. You can actually have two shots at the tags. I hope there is a very loud and clear voice that can stop this. I am cynical as to the prospects. They tried to tell everybody this bill was dead but I am sure they were working overtime to push this through backroom deals. Funny that at first they tried to say this would save AZ hunting because all the money they raised would go to AZ and now they are trying to bribe the AZ F&G with 30%. I thought the original idea was to raise money for wildlife? If that was the case then why try and bribe the F&G with money. Am I the only one? I have sent emails but as a nonresident I am not sure what good it will do. I would love to see the responses of the people (BPJ) who said this was a done deal and dead. Where are they now? Again, if this is such a great deal for AZ why tell everybody the bill is dead only to try back door the deal again. I fear that in the end they will eventually find the right person to bribe and get this done. I hope and pray I am wrong. Many years ago on Bowsite I begged people to stop SFW from gaining a foot hold in AZ. Denham told me that AZ SFW would be different and wouldn’t try for wealth tags. BPJ said this was a dead bill and not an issue. Not sure how to look at this other than the AZ SFW will lie and cheat to get this done. Please keep up the fight. I am going to join the organizations that cut and ran from AZ SFW when this first started. I would hope that people will take a long look at any organization that is still associated with AZ SFW…

Their argument is a joke. If they really wanted to help wildlife why not mandate money to wildlife. Why have only the left over money, as was stated in HB2072, going to wildlife? These are the same tactics that were used in Utah. Look how that worked out. Millions generated for SFW and no money to wildlife. They claim “For the record, AZSFW is not a chapter nor an affiliate of Utah SFW. Having said that, we do believe they have had very positive impacts on improving wildlife habitat and increasing tags for hunters.” The thing to remember about Utah SFW is that they claim all tag growth in Utah is because of their efforts but claim no responsibility for the decline in tag numbers (i.e. deer herds). I have never taken the time to do the research but it would be very interesting to see what has happened to elk numbers on MT, NM and CO (just look at the 10 years before SFW in MT and NM) and compare the growth numbers in elk tags with Utah with SFW. I would be willing to bet they are very similar. Elk populations have exploded in several areas without SFW. The simple fact is that HB2072 would have given a lot of money to AZ SFW with NO guarantee that AZ would have gotten anything in return. They will now claim they only had good intentions but the proof is in the proposed legislation! Also, why take a month to explain their efforts if they were so good?

First post so here goes… I joined this site when the HB2072 first came to light. I have been very impressed with the skill in which AZ hunters were able to stop this legislation. I have previously lived in Utah and can tell you that SFW, in my opinion, is a cancer that is quickly spreading throughout the west. When I first learned that SFW was forming in AZ, I begged everybody to do everything they could to stop it. This was done on Bowsite. On that site Chris Denham told me they would be different that Utah SFW and that they wouldn’t try and get wealth tags. Well now HB2072 has come out and I am stuck here scratching my head? I am sure that everybody has read the AZSFWC response to HB2072. They claim to not be involved in the drafting process. I am not sure if they are pushing everything onto AZSFW? They appear to be one and the same to me. Same address, many of the same members, etc. Now to my question as it relates to ADA. Can anybody from the ADA help me understand who actually briefed them on the concept of HB2072? Was it AZSFWC or AZSFW? Are these groups the same? Can anybody directly name the individuals who helped with the proposed legislation? It seems very strange to me that in over a month the general public doesn’t know who was behind this bill. I have a strong suspicion that this is AZSFW and that the board of AZSFWC were directly involved. I am looking for clarity on this issue? It is disingenuous at best, more like an outright lie if the same board members from AZSFWC who are on AZSFW now claim they didn’t know what the other group was doing. I am sure I am not the only one who is lost in the issue. It seems very similar to how Utah SFW has worked. The wolf issue is classic! They get caught sending out an email requesting congress not support the Simpson/Tester rider then when it’s passed try and take credit for getting it passed. Seems similar to me. They try and push HB2072 in an emergency bill and then when it gets killed they claim to not be involved with it.