Antler Restrictions

[oz31p]

IMHO, if you want to see a larger number of bigger/better age class deer here's what I believe the management strategy needs to be:

 

1. Reduce the number of tags in all units

2. Find a way to Increase the annual Lion harvest (you could also add Coyotes - particularly for Antelope)

3. Open up access to ALL public lands to help spread the pressure.

4. Mandatory Harvest reporting so they know what is actually being harvested

5. Restore/rebuild and develop water catchments

 

I'm no expert but it would seem to me that these 5 things would have tremedous benefit for big game.

mabee we should keep saying it till some one listens.

[audsley]

Scoutm, I'm with you all the way on No. 3. If the state's sportsmen had equal access to ALL of the legally huntable public land in Arizona, we probably wouldn't need to worry about No. 1. There would be plenty of habitat, game and elbow room to go around. I've been very disappointed in the lax attitude Arizona hunters have shown toward this issue.

 

Sportsmen's conservation groups and AGFD have been expanding wildlife waters, but cattle numbers are down and livestock operators are letting their tanks go dry in the early summer to save money. We need to keep up our support for adding new wildlife waters and maintaining existing ones, but I doubt we'll see much of a bounceback in deer populations until more rain falls to produce cover and feed over a wide area.

 

Same with mountain lions and coyotes. More rain will solve our problems. Predator removal will only band-aid the situation, although predator removal is critical when antelope and sheep are translocated to a new area and when ungulate populations have dropped to very low levels.

 

As for mandatory reporting, I worry about truthfulness and compliance in general. I think there enough eyes on the ground to tell us how deer populations are doing. What might be a good idea is an additional survey of what hunters saw during their hunts, not just what they harvested. This could be done on a sample basis where only 10-20% of hunters are surveyed in each unit regarding what they saw.

[scoutm]

. What might be a good idea is an additional survey of what hunters saw during their hunts, not just what they harvested. This could be done on a sample basis where only 10-20% of hunters are surveyed in each unit regarding what they saw.

 

I wouldn't trust these numbers at all. During our hunt we were seeing 10+ bucks per day. Other hunters in the same area weren't seeing 10 deer total. If the surveys were sent to both of us the results would have been at the opposite ends of the spectrum.

[abovethecoues]

I am for less tags (would even pay more), some antler restriction and mandatory reporting for all.

 

I heard nothing but crowded hunting areas and low buck numbers from friends this year. Even the Kiabab was a disappointment.

[Bryan Burkhead14]

I think if they dropped the permit numbers and if more people predator hunted it would increase deer herd sizes drastically' also some units are allowed to many tags in my opinion. Gas is high ammunition is high , everything is so expensive especially feeding all them lion dogs nobody can afford to do it anymore. I think predators are the number one reason for the declining deer numbers.

[tjhunt2]

Antler restriction in az. :angry: :angry: Need I say anymore?

 

TJ

[GotBowAz]

I don’t believe antler restrictions will get you anything and I’m one who likes to hunt every year and NOT have to draw tags. . I hunt one unit for a few days by back packing in. I hunt another on weekends or just day hunts. I like the freedom of those options.

 

 

As for hunting pressure...first off as one other poster mentioned if you want to get away from the crowd you can do it in most any unit, that is if you want to go to the effort.

 

Second thing is a big mature buck will go nocturnal or skip out of the area if the pressure is too much. I hunt WT in Michigan and have seen this pattern for years. If you want that big buck figure out where he goes when the pressure in that particular area he was or is living in gets hammered with hunters. The thing with lower Michigan is it all private property so the hunters don’t have the opportunity to move much like we do here. We are very fortunate with that. IMO, it is predators that hurt our herds and that is what we need to control better. We can only hunt during daylight hours except for mountain lion. Predators hunt 24/7 and there are a LOT more of them in the field than there is of us.

 

BTW, Utah just went to a $50 dollar bounty for coyotes. I like that! Thin the predators you will grow bigger antlers and herds and STILL keep opportunity to hunt every year.

 

GBA