Archery HUNTS!!! Some food for thought.

[deercrazy]

the good news i think it will increase the mature buck populations, by eleminating dec hunts people wont go there just to tag out.

 

Not trying to start anything, but won't people just go tag out in November?

[JLW]

the good news i think it will increase the mature buck populations, by eleminating dec hunts people wont go there just to tag out.

 

Not trying to start anything, but won't people just go tag out in November?

Archery hunts in november????

 

James

[bobbyo]

I get real sensitive when special regulations are made for archery only and Rifle hunting stays unchanged. It seems to me the closures are due to a harvest objective that is made to preserve the RIFLE season and not necessarly made to benefit the deer. How about this alternative idea. Archery hunters are real successful. Eliminate a RIFLE season.

[Elkhunter1]

I get real sensitive when special regulations are made for archery only and Rifle hunting stays unchanged. It seems to me the closures are due to a harvest objective that is made to preserve the RIFLE season and not necessarly made to benefit the deer. How about this alternative idea. Archery hunters are real successful. Eliminate a RIFLE season.

I like that idea but my dad still rifle hunts at 76 yrs young, lets keep at least one tag for him.

[Coach]

Becker, I agree 100% that the trophy deer we're seeing in 3A/3C are not the result of good management, but the natural result of the the fires. And that's why I think Unit 1 and 27 will rebound so well in the upcoming years.

 

I'm not slamming AZGFD, they do what they can, but natural conditions create good deer habitat, not government.

 

That said, we have an amazing opportunity to bring back the kind of hunting some of us remember, through good management.

 

Personally, I'd like to see some antler restrictions. I may not be the most popular guy for saying this, but seeing a velvet spike or two point hanging in camp is not going to help some of our trophy quality areas reach their potential.

 

3A/3C in the aftermath of the Rodeo/Chedeski fires produced some of the best elk, turkey, bear and deer hunting this state has seen. Basically written off as a moonscape, these units have produced almost as many 180-220" mule deer as the strip has. I've seen photos of a 12 year-old girl sitting behing a 212" muley, and others of some of the "missed bucks" that are right up with the big ones coming from North of the canyon in 12AW, 13A and B. One of our sponsors has photos of his youth hunters behind some giant bucks.

 

Just imagine Unit 1 and 27 rebounding like 3A/C because of the fires. We just might see deer hunting come back in this state close to what it was years ago, and maybe even better.

[THE RIFLEMAN]

13A and 13B were closed to archery for many years only draw rifle hunts/lesser weapon hunts were availible and no early archery hunts....! There were early overs the counter archery hunts in the 12 units! The 12 units went to draw because of all the out of state hunter overcrowding the unit!

The archery draw for 13a aand 13b actually provided an excelent opertunity to the bow hunters, as it wasn't open to early archery before!

[GotBowAz]

Becker, I would agree with that specially since our season is so long in January. But I don’t want to see it go to a draw like Javelina did. I think that’s ridiculous. I liked the days of hunting OTC pigs in the same units I hunted OTC deer and if they wanted to make a call in day like they do for bear I would be all for it for both OTC tags. The other nice thing would be if you did call in and the quota was met you could move on to another area and still hunt. Just my take on it.

 

GBA

 

[JLW]

Becker, I would agree with that specially since our season is so long in January. But I don’t want to see it go to a draw like Javelina did. I think that’s ridiculous. I liked the days of hunting OTC pigs in the same units I hunted OTC deer and if they wanted to make a call in day like they do for bear I would be all for it for both OTC tags. The other nice thing would be if you did call in and the quota was met you could move on to another area and still hunt. Just my take on it.

 

GBA

that sounds reasonable!

 

James

[Becker]

GotBowAZ exactly my point!

[trophyhnter]

I get real sensitive when special regulations are made for archery only and Rifle hunting stays unchanged. It seems to me the closures are due to a harvest objective that is made to preserve the RIFLE season and not necessarly made to benefit the deer. How about this alternative idea. Archery hunters are real successful. Eliminate a RIFLE season.

I like that idea but my dad still rifle hunts at 76 yrs young, lets keep at least one tag for him.

 

"Its all about the Benjamins"....I think the rifle hunts generate more revenure for deer. Wait I rifle hunt if drawn but I always by an OTC archery tag. Pretty sure that most archers also rifle hunt but not sure the opposite is true. Either way I don't think its mostly about the deer as they are a means to an end (budget revenue) but rather its about the rifle tags revenue exceeds OTC tags revenues. So if you have to piss in someones cornflakes.....archers get the golden stream. It would be nice to see manatory reporting for all species and all modes of hunting but I think G&F use the lack of 100% report(amoung other things) to fudge tags numbers to meet the budget revenue requirements.