Auction tags

[HuntHarder]

1 hour ago, firstcoueswas80 said:

Is there public access to what exactly the funds have been spent on in the past?

You should dig into this and see if you can get a public information request.  

[twigsnapper]

50 minutes ago, HuntHarder said:

You should dig into this and see if you can get a public information request.  

No need to dig, it’s a public process that involves all of the local non profit organizations that represent wildlife in AZ in conjuction with AZGFD people from all regions and units.  All the speculation about where the money goes comes from people who don’t even understand how the process works and aren’t involved.  Join a wildlife organization and have some input…
 

https://www.azgfd.com/wildlife-conservation/on-the-ground-conservation/cooperative-programs/habitat-partnership-committee/

[HuntHarder]

21 minutes ago, twigsnapper said:

No need to dig, it’s a public process that involves all of the local non profit organizations that represent wildlife in AZ in conjuction with AZGFD people from all regions and units.  All the speculation about where the money goes comes from people who don’t even understand how the process works and aren’t involved.  Join a wildlife organization and have some input…
 

https://www.azgfd.com/wildlife-conservation/on-the-ground-conservation/cooperative-programs/habitat-partnership-committee/

Could you simplify it for us and just give the number of dollars raised and then where X amount of dollars were spent?  

[twigsnapper]

Just click the link and look at the different years and where the money goes.  It’s all there on the website.

[HuntHarder]

I looked at those links.  This helps a ton and thanks for posting a link.  I think going forward, it would help alleviate a bunch of unnecessary heart ache if the numbers were all on 1 page.  I.e. the amount of money raised from auction tags, raffle tags and exactly where it was spent.  I see the projects, but quick and easy spreadsheets or graphs would help most of us.  

So many guys hate on EVERYTHING Agfd does and I think full transparency and easy access would go miles.  I like the direction we are going with eliminating auction tags.  

[wildwoody]

I like the game and fish. Thankless job for sure..

[StickFlicker]

23 hours ago, runningbird said:

I also think getting rid of the auction tags will really decrease the value of the big game banquets.

The organizations don't get a penny for auctioning/raffling off the tags.  All the money goes to Game and Fish, who can then fund various projects with it.  As far as attendance at the banquets potentially being down and decreasing the funds raised for any particular organization, the majority of the raffle tags are purchased by a guide that attends solely for the purpose of buying the tag on behalf of one of his rich clients.  With a few exceptions, the guide wasn't typically there to participate in the banquet or spend much other money that would then help the fundraising efforts of the organization.  Eliminating the auction tag sale at a banquet will likely only remove one or two attendees from any particular banquet, and they weren't going to spend money on anything else anyway.

[yotebuster]

19 minutes ago, StickFlicker said:

The organizations don't get a penny for auctioning/raffling off the tags.  All the money goes to Game and Fish, who can then fund various projects with it.  As far as attendance at the banquets potentially being down and decreasing the funds raised for any particular organization, the majority of the raffle tags are purchased by a guide that attends solely for the purpose of buying the tag on behalf of one of his rich clients.  With a few exceptions, the guide wasn't typically there to participate in the banquet or spend much other money that would then help the fundraising efforts of the organization.  Eliminating the auction tag sale at a banquet will likely only remove one or two attendees from any particular banquet, and they weren't going to spend money on anything else anyway.

I would counter and say that there’s always more people there bidding then the winner.  You might be surprised how many people are there that are watching to see if it sells for less then expected.  I’ve sat in on several banquets with hopes of getting a tag for a little less than I expected it to go (which would be out of my budget).  I would also argue that watching those tags sell is a major draw in those banquets.  It’s not gonna be a 50% drop but it’s gonna be a drop in attendance for sure. 

[StickFlicker]

14 minutes ago, yotebuster said:

I’ve sat in on several banquets with hopes of getting a tag for a little less than I expected it to go (which would be out of my budget).

You might be right, of course, but did you go solely for that purpose (like the handful of guides that act as agents and buy most of these tags did), or would you have attended anyway?  I agree it's a bonus to "hope against the odds" that the average guy could buy one of these tags at a banquet, but I don't think that many of these average guys would change their mind about attending if the auction tag wasn't there.  Many of these banquets sell-out each year anyway, so a different person would likely just buy the ticket even if they didn't choose to attend.  And there is still a strong possibility that some of these raffles will be held at the banquets, as they have been in the past, so you can go buy tickets and watch the drawing in person.  Some may not buy online raffle tickets because they have conspiracy theories, but they might buy tickets in person if they could see them go into the drum and watch the actual drawing in person?

[wildwoody]

25 minutes ago, yotebuster said:

I would counter and say that there’s always more people there bidding then the winner.  You might be surprised how many people are there that are watching to see if it sells for less then expected.  I’ve sat in on several banquets with hopes of getting a tag for a little less than I expected it to go (which would be out of my budget).  I would also argue that watching those tags sell is a major draw in those banquets.  It’s not gonna be a 50% drop but it’s gonna be a drop in attendance for sure. 

Many are call ins, and internet. Takes hours

[yotebuster]

2 minutes ago, StickFlicker said:

You might be right, of course, but did you go solely for that purpose (like the handful of guides that act as agents and buy most of these tags did), or would you have attended anyway?  I agree it's a bonus to "hope against the odds" that the average guy could buy one of these tags at a banquet, but I don't think that many of these average guys would change their mind about attending if the auction tag wasn't there.  Many of these banquets sell-out each year anyway, so a different person would likely just buy the ticket even if they didn't choose to attend.  And there is still a strong possibility that some of these raffles will be held at the banquets, as they have been in the past, so you can go buy tickets and watch the drawing in person.  Some may not buy online raffle tickets because they have conspiracy theories, but they might buy tickets in person if they could see them go into the drum and watch the actual drawing in person?

That’s a good point.  If they could continue the raffles via the banquets that would really get people excited.  My guess is they’re gonna switch to many more raffle tags to replace the funding from the auction tags.  I bet that’s why they were testing the water with those special allocation tags last year.  I’m all for any of that type of raffle where you can raise way more money then a particular tag is “worth”. 

[bonecollector]

On 3/16/2024 at 4:04 PM, yotebuster said:

That’s a good point.  If they could continue the raffles via the banquets that would really get people excited.  My guess is they’re gonna switch to many more raffle tags to replace the funding from the auction tags.  I bet that’s why they were testing the water with those special allocation tags last year.  I’m all for any of that type of raffle where you can raise way more money then a particular tag is “worth”. 

Then you'll hear people saying that taking more tags away for raffles is a money grab.

I asked on a g&f post about those raffle tags if the money went to the HPC fund and I didnt get an answer.

The mule deer tag just auctioned off for $625k. That is going to take a lot of raffle tickets to make up for that.

[HuntHarder]

Imagine next years auction tag prices!  I'm betting they will be even higher since it will be the last year.  

[654321]

On 3/16/2024 at 4:04 PM, yotebuster said:

That’s a good point.  If they could continue the raffles via the banquets that would really get people excited.  My guess is they’re gonna switch to many more raffle tags to replace the funding from the auction tags.  I bet that’s why they were testing the water with those special allocation tags last year.  I’m all for any of that type of raffle where you can raise way more money then a particular tag is “worth”. 

The AZGFD won't be switching to many more raffle tags, that was already tried once and it was a real chit storm for the Representative Weir when he tried that with a house bill.  There will still just be 3 tags allocated for each species for a total of 30 tags. If you're referring to the limited entry tags I'm sure they will continue but I doubt they will ever get to crazy with the number of those that are allowed.

[yotebuster]

49 minutes ago, 654321 said:

The AZGFD won't be switching to many more raffle tags, that was already tried once and it was a real chit storm for the Representative Weir when he tried that with a house bill.  There will still just be 3 tags allocated for each species for a total of 30 tags. If you're referring to the limited entry tags I'm sure they will continue but I doubt they will ever get to crazy with the number of those that are allowed.

Just wait for it.  You are correct, they probably won’t be Gov type tags but expect a Utahish type deal where premium tags in every unit are available in a side pot for raffle.  Mark my words.   I’m actually all for it.  I think using 1-2 or 5 animals to drum up a premium will always produce more than it costs the resource.  Also I was never going to be able to afford to buy a tag at an auction so the more I can buy raffles for the better.