Importing Deer and Elk into Arizona

[swwildlife]

Once again there is confusion regarding the importation of Deer and Elk trophies into Arizona.
The Game and Fish would like you to believe that it is illegal to bring back your unprocessed trophies. This is NOT true. you can bring back any and all parts of raw deer or elk if it is taken to a licensed taxidermist or meat processor.

In the G&F regulations it says that it is Illegal to bring back deer or elk unless certain things have been done as to limit the spread of chronic wasting. Unfortunately the G&F have not told the whole story. they have only told us part of it. It is NOT illegal to bring back parts. In fact you can bring the whole intact carcass back if it is taken to a licensed taxidermist or meat processor. This self imposed regulation is bad for Arizona business. If you like your taxidermist then by all means use him. don't let the G&F pull the wool over your eyes and be forced to leave your trophy in another state only to pay high shipping costs.

[654321]

R12-4-305 section I

[.270]

So now it's illegal to process your own meat if you kill it in another state? Who are the idiots that thought up that one? Did it have any input from the "licensed" meat processors? They can go to hel l. I'm still gonna cut up my own. Lark

[wildwoody]

And by the way there has never been any proven cases of chronic wasting disease in az. Ever, just like there reason for baiting....

[Northern Pintail]

Wildwoody... You're exactly right and thus the rule, to prevent bringing it in from say CO. It is legal to take the entire thing to a taxidermist or processer as they dispose of the carcass properly. The fear is a random person shooting deer in CO that has CWD, processing it in AZ, dumping the brain/spinal cord in the woods where it could be picked up by deer in AZ. Through that process AZ could potentially have CWD

[Edge]

AZGFD would like you to believe a lot of things that just ain't so.

[swwildlife]

My problem with it is 2 fold, 1st, is that they, the G&F make it sound like it is illegal when in reality it is not. thus hurting businesses in Arizona. and 2nd, chronic wasting will never be in Arizona because our deer population is way too low and not concentrated enough. and as it pertains to this issue, the contaminated bones and spinal column left in the desert by the self butcher will never transfer the disease to a living deer. deer are vegetarians, they do not eat the flesh of other deer.

[.270]

I see it benefitting 2 groups of folks while rippin off the guys that pay all the bills, hunters. And for no good reason, biological or otherwise. So if I kill a buck 10 feet in new mex I hafta pay a dollar a pound to some joker that won't do near as good a job as I will. And before I can keep the rack or skull I hafta pay some other joker because he's 'licensed'? I don't think so scooter. Lark

[DesertBull]

Remember, during the meeting on banning bait, the commission was advised by certain sportsmans groups to "sell" the bait ban on CWD and other diseases even though there is no evidence bait spreads disease.

[Red Sparky]

I see it benefitting 2 groups of folks while rippin off the guys that pay all the bills, hunters. And for no good reason, biological or otherwise. So if I kill a buck 10 feet in new mex I hafta pay a dollar a pound to some joker that won't do near as good a job as I will. And before I can keep the rack or skull I hafta pay some other joker because he's 'licensed'? I don't think so scooter. Lark

No you just need to check your GPS again and put your AZ tag on it.

[654321]

I see it benefitting 2 groups of folks while rippin off the guys that pay all the bills, hunters. And for no good reason, biological or otherwise. So if I kill a buck 10 feet in new mex I hafta pay a dollar a pound to some joker that won't do near as good a job as I will. And before I can keep the rack or skull I hafta pay some other joker because he's 'licensed'? I don't think so scooter. Lark

The way I read the rule, bring the meat boned out or cut and wrap it. You can bring the head back it just has to be free of meat or brain tissue, or bring the skull cap free of brain tissue.

[swwildlife]

654321 that is only partly correct. if you call the chronic wasting department or anyone besides the receptionist, they will tell you that it is ok to bring in a whole intact carcass. here lies the problem. G&F is not telling you the whole truth and your local business and home butchers suffer. I was told the only ones that can inact a law is the commission, so in the mean time they use the language that they use to get people to think it is illegal.

[Shane.A.Luke]

I can tell you that we left two WY antelope bucks to get boiled out in another state due to this rule. We would normal have this done here in AZ. This is good to know. I wish it was clearer. I guess we should have called our local taxi before making plans for out of state processing. Thanks for bring this forward.

[MT_Sourdough]

You all should talk to the cattleman's associations. One of the reasons why the govt. forces these regulations down people's throats is to serve another constituency. In this case, because of trade deals and regs that markets impose to allow the sale of beef. It forces bureaucrats to arrange a song and dance that demonstrates the State's beef production is safe. Bureaucrats arrange the song and dance, but in this case, it's the sportsman that are forced to do the actual singing and dancing.

This has been a battle back in Montana for a long time and is front page stuff.

[IA Born]

Once again there is confusion regarding the importation of Deer and Elk trophies into Arizona.

The Game and Fish would like you to believe that it is illegal to bring back your unprocessed trophies. This is NOT true. you can bring back any and all parts of raw deer or elk if it is taken to a licensed taxidermist or meat processor.

In the G&F regulations it says that it is Illegal to bring back deer or elk unless certain things have been done as to limit the spread of chronic wasting. Unfortunately the G&F have not told the whole story. they have only told us part of it. It is NOT illegal to bring back parts. In fact you can bring the whole intact carcass back if it is taken to a licensed taxidermist or meat processor. This self imposed regulation is bad for Arizona business. If you like your taxidermist then by all means use him. don't let the G&F pull the wool over your eyes and be forced to leave your trophy in another state only to pay high shipping costs.

 

 

You are correct except for AGFD not telling the whole story. Two years ago when this law was first put in place, I raised all kinds of questions with folks I knew at AGFD. I was planning a trip to Texas to take my daughter on her first deer hunt and TX regs are such that you CANNOT bone out an animal until it reaches its final destination. It has to stay quartered or whole until its at the processor or your home to be self-processed. That, along with AZ's new law, created a major problem for me traveling from Texas to Arizona. According to the law, I would have had to stop somewhere in NM and bone it out before bringing it across state lines to get it to my processor (not going to wait in TX or have it shipped). As a Federal agent, I am not subject to any gray area of any law, so I made some phone calls, starting with friends. I used my wildlife management background to talk biology, reason, and law with them. It didn't take long for folks at AGFD to see the dilemma that the law created and they were working on it. Shortly after that, they mailed out post cards to every hunter they had licenses on file for stating exactly what you are saying: "you can bring back any and all parts of raw deer or elk if it is taken to a licensed taxidermist or meat processor." I distinctly remember getting that post card in the mail shortly after I was assured it was being sent due to realization of the mistakes. It sounds like AGFD forgot to update the regs in the book or put in the clarification language. That is a big deal, but AGFD did realize the situation they were putting hunters who travel to other states in as soon as they crossed the line. They didn't want hunters getting cited for pulling over as soon as they crossed the state line and have people boning out game on the side of the road.

 

As for CWD in Arizona, it really is a matter of time before its detected here, biologically, in my humble, biological opinion. Its in NM, CO, and UT. Its not a hard jump to go from population to population to population of cervids from the three neighboring states. It may not ever be as prevalent as it is in the other states due to lower densities, but I'd be really surprised if it never showed up in the future. As for no evidence that baiting spreads disease, there is plenty of scientific literature out there documenting the increased rate of spread of certain diseases as a result of congregating animals at bait or feeding stations. In Wyoming, an increase of up to 20% in cervid brucellosis was documented as a result of the winter feeding programs. I'd have to dig through my literature, but its there and I can email it to anyone interested when I find it again. In no way am I bringing this up to advocate against baiting, just sticking to and pointing out science.