Early Archery Deer Hunts

[hunter72]

I won't hunt the early hunt the deer are ugly and if you don't get them down quick the meat will go bad.i would like to see this hunt start the third week of Sept.

[creed_az_88]

I'm actually pretty happy with where it's at. I got within shooting range of four bucks today and waited for ten minutes for one to present a shot. The only buck that presented me a shot was the only one of the bunch that wasn't fully developed. I passed on the shot because it wasn't fully developed and it doesn't bother me one bit! Not all the bucks are fully developed right now and that's just part of the game. The great thing about the game is that everybody gets to play it how they want. Shoot what bucks you want don't shoot what bucks you don't want. Pretty simple. Lots of bucks are broken during late January. Does this mean we should end the January hunt early and start it earlier in December. I don't think so. I personally feel that we are very fortunate in az to have the archery seasons that we have, and to ask game and fish to make changes to them could hurt us all in the long run. Just my opinion.

 

 

-Creed

[muledeerarea33?]

So if your Hunt the December/January hunt, do you pass on anything less than a 115" mature 4x4 because its not mature or done growing? Same applies to rifle hunts. Is it ok to shoot a spike or 2 point in a rifle hunt or late archery hunt but it's not ok to shoot a big 3x3 during the earlier archery season?

[izquik72]

There are other archery seasons.

If you dont like it dont hunt it!

 

I go out with friends in August but leave my bow in camp. I dont want to harvest a velvet deer with a mangy coat.

[CouesBuckhunter]

/>I'm actually pretty happy with where it's at. I got within shooting range of four bucks today and waited for ten minutes for one to present a shot. The only buck that presented me a shot was the only one of the bunch that wasn't fully developed. I passed on the shot because it wasn't fully developed and it doesn't bother me one bit! Not all the bucks are fully developed right now and that's just part of the game. The great thing about the game is that everybody gets to play it how they want. Shoot what bucks you want don't shoot what bucks you don't want. Pretty simple. Lots of bucks are broken during late January. Does this mean we should end the January hunt early and start it earlier in December. I don't think so. I personally feel that we are very fortunate in az to have the archery seasons that we have, and to ask game and fish to make changes to them could hurt us all in the long run. Just my opinion.

 

 

-Creed

+100 to that.

[Webber]

Majority of people hunt early in August because they are meat hunters which is good for them, but the other people hunt early because its easy to pattern a buck this time of the year!!! In January it's little different hunting more spot and stock cuz the rutt, sitting in a tree or a blind sucks in the cold just speaking for my past experience!!i would much rather kill a hard horn buck than a velvet one its awesome to se a big o velvet buck grow all his inches!! That's why I just hunt in dec and jan!!

[wildwoody]

i just wish the gamies would give us back the december archery hunt back in 22 and 23 since they did away with batting but i guess like the elk in these units , they want the riffle slotter. but what do i no

[bwakeling]

Amanda nudged me to engage on this one. But you guys have touched on many of the reasons why the early season is when it is.

 

Moving the season later in the year will result in an overlap with another season. We have tried to avoid overlapping seasons to the extent possible. Trying to find a free week during the fall is just about impossible. There is always a hunt going on somewhere. And this is largely a good thing (lots of chances to participate), but it makes it challenging to move things around.

 

If you don't find the buck you want during the early season, you can always come back during December. Or start early in January. When compared with a lot of other states, Arizona actually has a longer period during which you can hunt deer with archery tackle than a lot of other western states!

 

And we are looking at ways to get some of those seasons added back in that have been removed. No promises, but we are looking at harvest to see if it drops now that a lot of baits are no longer lawful.

 

Brian Wakeling

Game Branch Chief

[Seldom Drawn]

 

And we are looking at ways to get some of those seasons added back in that have been removed. No promises, but we are looking at harvest to see if it drops now that a lot of baits are no longer lawful.ry Elk tag

 

How about you give the archery elk hunters,the combo Deer and Turkey hunts back as well.

 

Seldom Drawn

[Coach]

It's always nice when we get direct feedback from G&F. Thank you, Brian for taking the time to respond to this thread.

[muledeerarea33?]

How about reviving the archery doe hunt?? It seemed hunting was alot better when that was going on.

[muledeerarea33?]

And yeah, thanks for responding and giving feed back. I just wish it would happen more often from more officers.

[CouesWhitetail]

Thank you Brian!

[wildwoody]

Amanda nudged me to engage on this one. But you guys have touched on many of the reasons why the early season is when it is.

 

Moving the season later in the year will result in an overlap with another season. We have tried to avoid overlapping seasons to the extent possible. Trying to find a free week during the fall is just about impossible. There is always a hunt going on somewhere. And this is largely a good thing (lots of chances to participate), but it makes it challenging to move things around.

 

If you don't find the buck you want during the early season, you can always come back during December. Or start early in January. When compared with a lot of other states, Arizona actually has a longer period during which you can hunt deer with archery tackle than a lot of other western states!

 

And we are looking at ways to get some of those seasons added back in that have been removed. No promises, but we are looking at harvest to see if it drops now that a lot of baits are no longer lawful.

 

Brian Wakeling

Game Branch Chief

thank you for listening, your great, but how can you check the harviest if we did away with reporting our archery kills. just wondering. thanks again

[Tines]

Interesting subject. First of all, G and F doesn't care about hunters shooting bucks that haven't topped out. Hunters do. Even then, VERY few hunters do. Especially when a 100" balled up buck is 20yds away licking a crater of salt and he's two weeks from being 110". He looks "good enough"! But in the end it doesn't matter unless you're into inches. G and F doesn't really care about that either.

 

But here's some thoughts. Just for arguments sake, why NOT push the archery hunts in southern AZ back a week or two?? As it sits, the archery deer hunts down here already overlap with bear hunts and the less than 20 antelope tags for 2013.

 

So with that, I MIGHT be able to understand the concern about a statewide move. But they're also already a couple weeks ahead in growth up north at this point anyway. Kinda defeats the purpose. Along with the elk hunt issues. So it wouldn't make a difference.

 

Point being, the first rifle deer hunt to begin in southern AZ (and maybe statewide??) are the jr. hunts. That's a month AFTER the archery hunt ends! I don't see how moving it a week or two in the non-elk hunt units would make a difference. Salt hunters wouldn't benefit from a move but water-hole hunters might.

 

But here's a better idea. How about an early muzzleloader WT hunt in southern AZ right after the archery hunt ends?!?! Hahaha!

 

In my dreams.