Sneaker

To be capped at their beloved 20% of all tags, algebra says they should put each unit at 16% of what total rifle and muzzy kills were over some historic period.

I'm telling you guys, the problem is archery demand is higher, compared to rifle demand, than it was 30 years ago, but we are using the same old 20% archery harvest cap. They need to decrease rifle tags and increase archery cap to allow hunters to hunt more overall without killing more bucks. I did a bunch of research and sent in comments and beautiful charts and graphs showing the trend of demand but they just said "the department disagrees".

Man the draw odds on these will be so low I feel like the department is just stealing from addicts that can’t help themselves. Like a casino. A lot like the super raffle I guess.

I don't shoot all that much and have heard rumblings of ammo being in short supply, but wow, really nothing out there. I just bought a 410 this morning to take the kids out quail hunting with me, but dang, no ammo to be purchased in stores or online anywhere, its crazy. Good time to be an ammo maker, unless you can't get material to make the shells which supposedly is part of the problem currently.

Wow thanks guys. Just looking for 8 or 7.5 shot for quail hunting, even one or two boxes would probably be fine. I would prefer to pay for them, I live in Kingman but will be in Scottsdale area all day Monday.

Such a bad look for Chad and Mossback AZ, wow.

I hunt some of the same areas that Big Chino does for their OTC stuff(which has largely all gone away now since you can't hunt the rut on OTC anymore in any of their main spots). They put alot of time in, and alot of the area is super thick and very hard to hunt unless A. Its dry and you have cameras(not allowed starting next year) and you sit water(they have run a ton of trail cameras for many years) or B. The rut brings the bucks out into the open so you can find them with does and stalk them. The other two outfitters I know that consistantly killed big deer on OTC in the past(again, not going to be able to now since most late OTC hunts are gone) have private ranches that they take their hunters into mainly during the rut and also used trail cameras and water heavily.

I think your expectations need to be adjusted by alot. Unless you have a month to scout or live in the unit and are there all the time year after year or have a friend that does, no non-premium unit would a non-guided hunter be able to "expect" to find or kill a deer over 180. They are just very rare. They are there, but they are few, even a very good hard hunting out of state hunter would have to just get very lucky to even find one in say 10 days. Alot of places don't even have that kind of genetics/nutrients and there are too many rifle tags in all these general units for almost any buck to even get old enough to see that size. As most people probably do on here , I consider myself a very good hunter, and have probably only seen maybe 4 bucks truly 180 class or above south of the grand canyon in my whole life, and I've glassed and hiked and hunted and ran cameras in AZ ALOT in my life. I agree OTC archery changes hardly will affect what type of bucks the rifle guys could expect to see. If you would be happy with say 160, you could at least have a fighting chance of finding one if you are an all-in hunter on a general unit here.

I ran though yesterday's webcast. They didn't really share any decisions except for the big bad one for us archers: They said they are not going to change archery/overall deer taken percentage. Their reasoning behind it was very flawed I thought, they just happened to find that for the latest year, OTC tags devided by people that apply for the deer draw just happens to be about 20%, "so we are going to leave it." Come on. How about a comparison of that same percentage 30 years ago? I looked up the old hunt books over the last 40 years and that percentage they used jumps all over the place from 12% to 30%, so that is not a good indicator. A much better comparison to gauge archery demand would be to look a t the trend of OTC tags purchased vs Rifle/Muzzy tags given each year. See below. They really need to change their max archery kills percentage to be higher.

My buddies are telling me that a good percentage of the deer made an early move this year and stopped in the very-difficult to hunt and thick mid-elevation level. Last year 100 shots were heard opening morning up top, this year there were like 5.

The online map has most of them but not all. Does not have listed my favorite one for example.

That can’t be legit. Was it a marked vehicle that stopped them? I’ve spent a lot of time on the Hualapai and Supai. I also personally know several of the Game officers(tribe members) and Tribal police officers(not tribe members) from Kingman, I’ll try and contact someone today and ask. But it only costs $30 to trespass to go down to Diamond Creek on their dirt road. Passage on the paved supai road has always been free and I think has to be free since it is a highway. Wasn’t stopped during the rifle bull hunt at all. Maybe the person stopping them was actually trying to tell them/ask/inform that they have to pay the boquillas trespass fee to access the ranch but there was miscommunication?

Anyone on here do much of this freediving style? I did some 3 prong for the first time on a recent trip to Hawaii with some young hawaiin guys that were really good and man, so much fun. I'm sure a part of it was that I was in some of the clearest water with the highest density and diversity of fish of anywhere on earth, but it would be fun to get into some here in AZ. I learned to relieve the ear pressure and be able to dive down much deeper than I previously could, maybe got to around 25 feet. The regs allow spearing for carp, buff, and talapia state wide, and Mead, Powell, Pleasant and only the northern part of Lake Mohave for Stripers. It seems like alot of times the water in alot of the lakes isn't clear enough to be able to see very far, which would obviously make it very difficult. Anyone done much of this in AZ and have any tricks, time of year, locations etc? I'm in Kingman so Mohave is the closest to me.

We had alot of fun while chasing the September Bugles. It was tough for finding big bulls this year however, with the drought during horn growth season. We passed on many herd bulls trying to find something better. We shot the biggest bull we saw, a bull I saw while scouting, minus one tine, on the 4th day of hunting, which happens to be our shared birthday! Getting in position and the final sequence and realization of the accomplishment will be quite the memory for the rest of our lives. My wife and daughter are better shots than myself and most men for some reason. Maybe because they care just a little bit less and that allows them to focus on the task better?

I suggested the department change the general archery deer kill cap in a unit from 20% to 35% to allow for more OTC hunting. They have been using the same cap percentages for like 30 years, and there are far far more archery hunters now, by percentage, than there were back then. Its only fair guys. Its only fair.

Good ol PNF!

They were going pretty good Wednesday evening between Prescott and Seligman, which resulted in nice wall hanger for my buddy and a memorable 12:30am finish pack out for us...

I'm sure there have been a few dozen killed in the state by now, but the chances of those being a member and having cell service are low lol. Its hot out there. A hot hunt when it has rained so much over the last 2 months that you probably can't hunt water or wallows effectively could make it tough going this year.

I was expecting you to say because you just got done with the worst possible strip archery hunt and have sworn off archery forever, lol. Nice looking setup.

I hate to be the pessimist but I’ve never seen a heat wave of this level on the opener, with its hundreds of people running the woods blowing calls, and the rut be good or bugling stay strong after opening morning. Kingman is supposed to be over 100 degrees for 3 of the first five days of the hunt so I think western units are going to be very slow initially. Was quiet last weekend.

A Park City utah couple was arrested and pled guilty three years ago for doing the same thing: https://www.kpcw.org/post/park-city-couple-accused-stealing-hunting-equipment-enter-plea#stream/0

This happened to me a couple year ago, except I was the guy driving behind the other. It was prelight on a long skinny road to get to the tank I planned to hunt but got stuck behind a duelly of all things at 4:30 in the morning. Well eventually he pulled over and he was planning to go to the exact same spot. I got his number and told him he could sit my blind. I went to plan B and saw 14 bucks before noon and shot a 6x6 muley. He saw one doe. Sometimes it pays to play nice boys and girls

Where are the updates? Haven't seen anyone have any luck on the strip, and not much from the Kaibab yet either... too much water and too warm I presume.

I'm in the 2 blade, singe bevel, heavier arrow camp. Need penetration to kill things. I have seen so many animals run way too far and sometimes get away all because the setup was too light and their penetration poor. Just watch any whitetail show lol, arrow doesn't even get half in. Based on Dr. Ashby's research, having 3 or 4 blades or having mechanical heads cause too much ristance, especially if you come into contact with bone.