Seen the fee proposals for 2006?

[KGAINES]

Diamondbackaz, I have to agree with some of what you said, a trip to laughlin or vegas, and hunting sounds awful cheap compared to that, my wife doesn't hunt so that is what me and her try to do at least once a year. A trip to disneyland or sea world with your kids, hunting is still cheap compared to that, I know you don't do that every year, but it is something a family might save to do. No matter how you look at it doing anything these days as a family is expensive, and it isn't going to change.

Do they still have the youth hunting and fishing license available, is the archery deer tag still going to be good in august and december, we have options that are still better than most states. I also have to say that I am definately not rich, it may cost a little more, but I will still have fun, and continue to hunt.

 

Golf is waaaaaay overpriced, they should let you fish in the lakes and hunt the course for the prices they are charging now.

[recurveman]

DiamondbackAZ - what would you consider your breaking point for putting in for a deer hunt? $200, $500, $1000, $10,000?

 

The point being this. What if your breaking point is 200 and they game and fish wants to raise the price to $2500 for the "serious" hunters? Are you still a serious hunter or a poor hunter?

 

I personally am going to pony up for me and my wife to hunt all species in AZ next year regardless of price. I love to hunt and that is it. Not that I'm rich but it is my past time. I don't think it would be fair to out price everyone. The nonserious hunters have just as much right (even though it frustrates me) to the game as the serious hunters have.

 

Here is the solution. Raise the price of the application fee and keep the tag fee low. Most of the hunts make more money off of the application fee than the tag fee anyways. This way the less fortunate hunters will still be able to put in and the game and fish gets their money.

 

What would make me mad is if they raised the NR's fee's to $1800. That just plays into USO's hands. It would actually help them out. Their clients have money. The only NR's that wouldn't come would be the self-guided or friends and family that want to hunt in AZ.

 

I also believe that you want as many people interested in hunting as possible. There will come a day when there is a serious problem with hunting. It is just a matter of time and we should start recuiting right now.

 

Later,

 

recurveman

[105Coues]

DiamondbackAZ, I must have gotten ahold of a different fee proposal than you did. Mine says the license and tag would cost 117.00 per person, not 50. Like the writers before me, I don't drink or have new equipment but I do hunt very seriously and I am sure we hunt for the same reasons. Hunting is a great way for families to enjoy nature together and spend quality time. We hunters need to stick together if we are to keep hunting.

Well I'm going hunting.

[KGAINES]

I come up with 67.00 for a license and deer tag, on the proposed fee 32.25 for the license and 34.75 for the tag. The class A tags are more for deer and elk, but no more than 5% are class A. The class F youth combo license is still 25.50, 54.00 for the res. class F for us.

[Diamondbackaz]

Looks like I stirred up the pot here a little,

 

Desertbull, I agree lower demand hunts such as limited opportunity should have a lower tag price.

 

Ernesto, I'm not a rich man either being a high school shop teacher. Nor do I play golf, just look how far off the price I was. I do like paying more money on things because quality has always served me well over being cheap. I know I'm not the only Swaro owner here.

 

Recurvman, do you really feel the new prices are extreme? I don't ever see the prices being extreme as both the game and fish and state legislature still need the common man to keep them going. Application fees should only be used for the cost of processing applications and nothing else. I find your suggestion at raising this fee more punitive to poor people since none of it is refunded even when not drawn.

 

105coues, I was using $50 as an example to as a comparative cost to other things. A premium class A tag is $84.75 and the class B is $34.75. I don't find either price out of line. I know you added in a price of a license, but I use the thing for other types of hunts.

[TREESTANDMAN]

As long as I can hunt wolverines with my 12 gauge I'm happy.

[billrquimby]

Let's face it. Game and Fish will sell every tag it offers at these grossly inflated prices -- and at even higher prices, too. It's a matter of supply and demand. The supply is low and the demand is high.

 

What nobody on this forum has asked is why the number of our deer hunting permits have declined each year until we now allow fewer than 40,000 hunters to go hunting.

 

It's not because "more people are moving to Arizona." Only about 18 percent of this state is privately owned and has a potential for development -- ever. Granted, not all of the remaining 82 percent of the state can be hunted because some of it is National Park Service or Tribal land. And a heck of a lot of prime hunting areas on public lands are locked up by people who consider our lands to be their personal fiefdom. But our open-to-hunters public land inventory is larger than the size of many eastern states.

 

The fact remains that the permit lottery system initiated in 1970 -- when Arizona sold about 110,000 deer tags and had a statewide hunter success of about 24 percent -- has been a miserable failure. We should have more permits, not fewer if this lottery thing actually encouraged deer production.

 

If Defenders of Wildlife could claim it had removed 70,000 deer hunters from our state over the past 35 years we'd all be up in arms. When Game and Fish and its annual lottery does it, we look for ways to limit others from getting "our" permits.

 

Bill

[ultramag]

I like the idea of a little increase, lets face it the tag is the cheepest part of the hunt, only if it is for more useful things like more game wardens,management tools,recruiting young hunters,understanding preditors,habitat improvements etc.

i dont really care about some tad pole that lives in some creek somewhere.

 

maybe i should care! but the thing that gets everyone going is the fact that if you want to hunt every year you have 2 choices archery and oct rifle.some people believe that the number of hunters is expanding but that is not the case

1973 = 83334 hunters for 75200 tags = deer taken =13618

1985 = 80014 hunters for 92345 tags = deer taken =23457

2004 = 90057 hunters for 36665 tags = deer taken =8552

 

now thats only about 10000 hunters for 31 years. what we need is some rain or something so the deer herds can grow then we can get drawn every year and the game and fish still wins they can sell more tags. but the amount of tags are at an all time low.but the costs for everything is going thru the roof. so the writing is on the wall! we are going to pay more. i dont think we are going to get hammered to the point where we cant hunt anymore.hunting is still cheap. i took the family to the movies the other day and spent 60.00 bucks i will dam sure spent 60.00 bucks for a decent deer tag heck i would spent a 100.00 just dont tell the game and fish that i said that.

[coueshunter]

BillQ hit the nail on the head. OPPORTUNITY. This state has extremely low opportunity especially on premium hunts. We are wasting away our youth because of the no opportunity and yet all of us want to provide a chance for our kids. AZGFD has within its means to establish almost any Opportunity type hunts for deer/elk for juniors but yet does not seem to listen to the general cry of the public. I dont like not being drawn, but could stomach it alot better if my children could at least draw a tag. Luckily our family drew one cow tag this year and my son Travis shot his first cow. This would have been the second year in a row without any tags in our family. without whining I will just state the facts. I have drawn three early coues hunts and not one other tag in applying for 8 years. The opportunity for myself and my family has been very slim over this time and it is hard to keep your wife/children and yourself pumped up when you dont have the opportunity. I challenge AZGFD to look into creative ways to increase the opportunity for kids or our future will go down the road and this state will only have a few die hard hunters and alot of rich non-resident applicants along with the landowner tags the AZGFD will probably approve in 2006......................my three cents............Allen Taylor.............

[DesertBull]

Here is what I am afraid of. They will start this Class A / B price structure to only include the Kaibab/Strip deer hunts and the early rifle elk hunts. Then, when everyone gets used to that, they shift the late December unit 36, 33, 32, etc Whitetail hunts over along with the muzzleloader elk hunts. Then, soon after that, they shift the archery elk hunts some more of the December Whitetail hunts over etc.

 

Once they get a taste of those big $$$$, it will be like sharks swarming around a dead whale.

 

IMO, the whole process is getting way to complicated. Just go back to the pre-bonus point days and let it be a true lottery.

[Diamondbackaz]

  DesertBull said:

Here is what I am afraid of. They will start this Class A / B price structure to only include the Kaibab/Strip deer hunts and the early rifle elk hunts. Then, when everyone gets used to that, they shift the late December unit 36, 33, 32, etc Whitetail hunts over along with the muzzleloader elk hunts. Then, soon after that, they shift the archery elk hunts some more of the December Whitetail hunts over etc.

 

Once they get a taste of those big $$$$, it will be like sharks swarming around a dead whale.

 

IMO, the whole process is getting way to complicated. Just go back to the pre-bonus point days and let it be a true lottery.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

They can only do 5% of the hunts as class A

[DesertBull]

There were appx 39,000 deer tags last year.

 

5% = 1,950

 

That is enough to cover all the 'Bab and strip hunts, plus several of the primo December hunts like 33, 36a,b,c, etc.

[bullwidgeon]

There are solid oppertunities for children in this state. Granted they may not be Kaibab rut tags or Late coues hunts and they could be better. But come on guys if you just want to take your children out deer hunting then put 5 early and november whitetail hunts on one application and I assure you, the kid (and you) will be hunting yearly. Same goes with elk, there are leftover L.O. cow tags every year and most rifle cow tags go out at 50-80% draw odds if you put them in first or second choice. I am not sure about the entire class A class B tag idea. I don't see why they just didn't raise the fees across the board all the same, they shouldn't have 5% of the tags in the state more expensive than the rest. As far as Non Residents go, until I can draw a tule elk or antelope tag in California or hunt without a guide in Alaska and Wyoming for everything as a NR then we shouldnt let any NR's hunt here at all (except for maybe a few cool New Mexicans). Obviously if it is OK for Cal and these other states to keep us out of some of their hunts all together than we should ban all NR's from everything except leftover hog tags and sandhill crane hunts and small game...

 

Bret M.

[Diamondbackaz]

  DesertBull said:

There were appx 39,000 deer tags last year.

 

5% = 1,950

 

That is enough to cover all the 'Bab and strip hunts, plus several of the primo December hunts like 33, 36a,b,c, etc.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thats exactly what I am hoping for

[DesertBull]

Won't banning all NR put a lot of hard working, honest AZ outfitters in the unemployment line?