Help me understand

[AZ RANGER]

Can anyone explain why most of the late wt hunts in the state have only 40 tags or less for the late Dec. hunt, but unit 31 has 165. And that number is even up from last years 125 tags.

 

Surely there is a good reason, does anyone know what it is.

 

[RoughCut]

A couple of units including 31 are under the "Alternative Management Strategy" which is supposed to enable hunters higher hunt success rates and opportunities to harvest older-age bucks.

[AZ RANGER]

A couple of units including 31 are under the "Alternate Management Strategy" which is supposed to enable hunters higher hunt success rates and opportunities to harvest older-age bucks.

 

Thanks

Any idea how AZGFD chose the units they did for this.

[308Nut]

AZGFD has gotton greedy.

 

They can sell MANY more early tags by taking away from the late tags and maintain the same harvest rate. They call it more hunter opprotunity. I call it greed.

 

It used to be they gave out a generous amount of late tags and a generous amount of early tags. Now they give out mass quantities of early tags and very few late tags.

 

This is why most of the units have very few late tags. Heck 22 only has 25 late tags.

[RoughCut]

A couple of units including 31 are under the "Alternate Management Strategy" which is supposed to enable hunters higher hunt success rates and opportunities to harvest older-age bucks.

 

Thanks

Any idea how AZGFD chose the units they did for this.

 

 

That is a great question to which I don't have an answer. I bet it's easy to find on their site though. I will look and post if I find anything.

 

 

 

308Nut:

 

I hear what you are saying, I know a lot of people that agree with you too. Though any Coues fanatic would love to hunt the Late hunt. I personally would rather hunt 5 early hunts than one late hunt. I like the better draw odds for the earlier hunts. I also think it makes it pretty special if you draw a Dec. tag as you won't have to be fighting off other hunters. I drew a late tag last year and it was really not being bombarded.

 

my 2 cents

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

AZGFD has gotton greedy.

 

They can sell MANY more early tags by taking away from the late tags and maintain the same harvest rate. They call it more hunter opprotunity. I call it greed.

 

It used to be they gave out a generous amount of late tags and a generous amount of early tags. Now they give out mass quantities of early tags and very few late tags.

 

This is why most of the units have very few late tags. Heck 22 only has 25 late tags.

 

 

Ya-but, that is cuz there ain't no deer in unit 22. And when there are soooooo few deer it is nice not to have any competion in the woods. Seems to me everyone oughta hunt 31 cuz there must be more deer there if they offer more tags. Kinda like the rest of the 30's (units) where a guy can see 100+ deer in a day.

[Red Rabbit]

From the Hunt Guidelines:

"Alternative Hunt Management" will provide opportunities to harvest older age class animals, for lower

hunter densities, and for higher hunt success. Alternative hunt management for mule deer will occur in

Units 12A, 12B, 13A, 13B, 45A, 45B, and 45C; hunts will be managed in accordance with the parameters

below. Alternative hunt management for white-tailed deer will occur in Units 6A, 23, 30B, 31, and 36C;

hunts will be managed in accordance with the parameters below. A limited amount of December whitetailed

deer harvest opportunity will be offered in most white-tailed deer units, but up to 30% of the harvest

will be allocated with December permits in those units managed under Alternative Hunt Management. A

total of up to 5% of all white-tailed deer permits statewide will be offered in December."

 

Units 30B and to some extent 36C were chosen due to the limited access. With only a few access points, 30B would not be a good unit for increased hunter numbers.

 

This years increase in Dec permits in some AMUs was to meet the "up to 30%" harvest objective.

[Red Rabbit]

This is why most of the units have very few late tags. Heck 22 only has 25 late tags.

 

Ya-but, that is cuz there ain't no deer in unit 22. And when there are soooooo few deer it is nice not to have any competion in the woods.

 

Ya gotta have a unit specifically for those who want to hunt harder and longer, right? When you finally see a deer, there is then a real sense of accomplishment.

[AZ RANGER]

Thanks guys

 

I was aware that most units had Dec tags reduced a couple of years ago, but my home unit 31 was increased and I guess I missed the reasoning for it.

 

Thanks again

[Coues79]

AZGFD has gotton greedy.

 

They can sell MANY more early tags by taking away from the late tags and maintain the same harvest rate. They call it more hunter opprotunity. I call it greed.

 

It used to be they gave out a generous amount of late tags and a generous amount of early tags. Now they give out mass quantities of early tags and very few late tags.

 

This is why most of the units have very few late tags. Heck 22 only has 25 late tags.

 

 

Ya-but, that is cuz there ain't no deer in unit 22. And when there are soooooo few deer it is nice not to have any competion in the woods. Seems to me everyone oughta hunt 31 cuz there must be more deer there if they offer more tags. Kinda like the rest of the 30's (units) where a guy can see 100+ deer in a day.

 

If there is a place in 31 that you can see 100+ deer a day, I would love to know where it is. The deer numbers in that unit have been declining over the past 5 years and are now what looks to appear somewhat close to what unit 29 holds (just looking at availability of tags) . 29 took a tremendous hit by drought in the early part of the decade and is slow to recover. The deer numbers in that unit used to be crazy high, but are minimal at best anymore. There are some big bucks in 31, granted, some are taken every year, but that goes for every coues unit.

 

I mentioned before in another thread that last year, I hunted a ridiculous amount of time in 31 (November and December) in places that I have taken big deer 100+ along with other family and friends. I did not see one mature buck, all spikes and 2-points, of which were few and far between. I don't think the alternative management strategies are working for 31.

[June]

Thanks guys

 

I was aware that most units had Dec tags reduced a couple of years ago, but my home unit 31 was increased and I guess I missed the reasoning for it.

 

Thanks again

 

 

AZRANGER,

I HEAR YA. I for one did not put in for your home unit 31. But a chance at one of those 165 Dec. tags was still tempting. I've looked up at those mountains and looked down."yep, that'll do it." I wonder how many without an AZ zip code will do the same? I don't get it either. I see it as no alternative hunting. best of luck. Peace

 

Oh. yeah, Wasn't to sure how well discharging a firearm a 1/4 mile from a federal prison would go over.

[308Nut]

AZGFD has gotton greedy.

 

They can sell MANY more early tags by taking away from the late tags and maintain the same harvest rate. They call it more hunter opprotunity. I call it greed.

 

It used to be they gave out a generous amount of late tags and a generous amount of early tags. Now they give out mass quantities of early tags and very few late tags.

 

This is why most of the units have very few late tags. Heck 22 only has 25 late tags.

 

 

Ya-but, that is cuz there ain't no deer in unit 22. And when there are soooooo few deer it is nice not to have any competion in the woods. Seems to me everyone oughta hunt 31 cuz there must be more deer there if they offer more tags. Kinda like the rest of the 30's (units) where a guy can see 100+ deer in a day.

 

Dont spend much time in 22 hugh.

 

If you applied your sheep tactics in 22 for coues, you might change your tune.

[DubTee]

308, I think C n' S was being sarcastic.