good news

[KGAINES]

Greetings, my name is Dan Caputo and I am the wildlife manager for unit 6A. I am seeking feedback on a possible hunt change in unit 6a. This site was recommended to me as a place to receive honest feedback.

 

I am recommending that permits be transfered from the December hunt into an October hunt in Unit 6A. The new October hunt will be similar to those offered in S. Arizona. It will be four days long and offered on the first weekend of the mule deer season. The December hunt will not be changed, other then a reduced amount of permits. For example: last year there were 250 permits offered in December. With the proposed change, there maybe 150 permits offered in December and 150 offered in October. The management objectives will target the same overall harvest, but will reduce the pressure on the older aged class bucks that become vulnerable during the December mating season. We can offer an increase in total permits without taking more bucks because the success rate in October will be lower then December. These are a few biological and political reasons that I believe an October hunt should be introduced:

 

1) There will be a net increase in permits, which will provide more opportunity to sportsmen. This increase in permits will not negatively impact the population because the overall harvest objective will remain the same. Besides, if you are strictly a 6A coues deer hunter, then you will have two chances in the draw, rather then just one.

 

2) Many portions of Unit 6A are not accessible in December do to scheduled road closures and possible weather conditions. An October hunt will allow hunters to access areas such as Woods Canyon, Munds Canyon, Williard Springs, and the Oak Creek Rim.

 

3) The Buck:Doe ratio in Unit 6a has been around 19 Bucks to 100 does. These are pretty modest buck numbers to justify having a high permitted hunt that targets breeding class bucks during the rut. The majority of October hunters will harvest 1-2 year old bucks. This will lighten the pressure on the breeding class bucks during the rut without negatively changing the buck:doe ratio.

 

4) Unit 6A does not have a blanketed whitetail population, like what is experienced in S. AZ. The populations are scattered into pockets. As a result, during the December hunt, hunters are concentrated into those same pockets. I have received numerous complaints concerning hunter overcrowding issues on the December hunt. Spreading the permits over two hunts will reduce hunter density and provide a more quality hunt.

 

5) Many hunters have expressed frustration over deer movements during the rut. It seems like they find bucks in August, watch them through November and then loose them as the rut begins in December. An October hunt will provide for different hunt tactics based on deer behavior alone.

 

Keep in mind that this is only a suggestion and has not been made into a decision yet. I wanted to ensure that you all had an opportunity to comment on the matter before it becomes proposed. Even if it is proposed, it can still be rejected by our Game Branch or The Commission. You can also direct comments to me at dcaputo@azgfd.com

 

On a personal note, I am a savvy coues deer hunter that would only entertain ideas that would improve the quality of the hunt. I personally am willing to sacrifice a few draw percentages in December in order to have the opportunity to hunt in October.

 

Thanks

Dan Caputo

[KGAINES]

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/index...?showtopic=1243

There is the link to the entire thread on the oct. 6a early hunt, I re-posted his initial post above.

[GRONG]

Hey Keith, thanks for posting Dan's post, I hadn't seen it before. He seems to be genuinely concerned about the deer and elk in our state. I know of only one other like him. I have talked with Dan on the phone before and he seems like a strait guy, I'm glad he's the one that runs the unit I live in. I know some other wardens, that I as well as many others, would like to meet when they're off the clock and have a little talk if you know what I mean.

 

Josh

[JVS]

Wow the ideas are flowing. I'm glad it's the game and fish that has to make all the decisions and not me! You guys sound like a hard-to-please crowd. Of course, if we lived in a perfect world we could get a December rifle coues tag OTC. Oh man what hunting opportunites used to be! I know the populations have bounced back in a few areas this year. We have had decent rains for a few years now...at least 18-24 months anyway. I saw quite a few more fawns last year than in recent past, and lots of yearlings and fawns this year. I'm not saying the increase of tags we are seeing should be instigated, but it seems to me there are a few more animals out there. I do agree with the idea of the G&F running the show like a business. It should be ran like a non-profit and they should cut all the stinkin' studies on endangered species, etc, and charge that to another fund...charge the FWS, charge the sierra club, then they couldn't buy elk tags! I know it doesn't work that way, but we can wish. Why do hunters pay for non-game studies?!! And yeah, you'd be surprised at the price tag attached! We need to give the state flack about that. Anyway, How about that 103:100 fawn to doe ration on the kiabab this year!!! Holy crap. I wanna see that state wide. All we gosta do is a state wide cat-n-dog whack and the game population will explode. Easier said that done. Go whack a dog.

[couesdiehard]

I'd like to see the kill numbers for these 3 species before I get to worked up. I saw more deer last season than I have in the last 5 and I see no lack of elk. The antelope tags really baffle me!

[DesertBull]

Actually, I think the idea was to to take some December tags away, but add more October tags because the success rate would be much lower, giving more people the chance to hunt but killing the same numer of deer, more or less.

[az4life]

Until We see some proven justification for the increase, I think we all need to question the motives. When questioning government agency motives... Follow the money...

 

The AZGFD is supposed to serve the people's interests to manage the game resources of the state. In this case, They are increasing the tags, and this will most likely the increase the overall harvest.

 

Maybe they are trying to cover budget shortfalls by reducing the heards thus giving them less game to manage. This would be the equivalent of an AZGFD' tantrum.

[DesertBull]

For what it is worth, I was one of the few that did not like the idea of adding October hunts to units 6A and 23.

[Couesi1]

Hey Josh,

No I don't know what you mean.........what exactly did you mean by that "off the clock statement? Please explain.

Thanks

C-1

[KGAINES]

I think we all know what you means, but when you say talk, in my years in kickboxing the talking was always done before or after the fight. Or am I wrong?

[hunterdude]

N o, I think you have the idea! I could be wrong but I think you are right.

[GRONG]

I've heard lots of guys over the years talking about loving to see a specific game warden off duty so that they can kick their asses for them w/o assaulting a police officer you know. There are good wardens and there are bad ones, I believe the good ones stay around for a while and the bad ones usually get themselves into trouble and get booted to desk jobs to stay away from the public. I know of a couple specific wardens and a particular commissioner that are rotten to the core and willing to bust you for the slightest, I mean slightest infraction. Especially if you're a guide. As a guide you are held to a much much higher standard than the avg Joe Hunter. If they've got a chip on their shoulder the day you happen to run into them and you talk long enough to them than they'll turn your words against you like you can't even imagine. The best thing you can do when talking to a warden is say nothing other than hello and goodbye. It's a total and complete shame because I know that Dan Caputo (6a warden) and Tom Bagley (19A) warden are pretty dang good guys in my opinion and I'm sure there's more. Just like a poacher makes us hunters look bad so does one rotten butt warden. I shoulda been done typing after the first sentence.

See ya,

Josh