draw only deer hunts

[coues krazy]

I hunt on foot , but you cant help but see all the hunters driving the roads. And if you dont see them, you hear them on every ridge with a road on it.

 

I agree that taking archery opportunity away and adding rifle tags will do nothing for the deer herds. But as a bowhunter I am glad to see less people during bow season on the kaibab. I hope I draw up there this year so I can see the difference that 1500 less hunters will make. It might even be possible to find a tank without two or three tree stands on it

[DesertBull]

Wonder how many guys won't even realize that Kaibab is now a draw and just buy a deer tag and take off for the weekend like they have been doing for years? Especially non-residents.

[More D]

My thoughts exactly.....also who (WM’s) will be there to enforce the 'draw tag in hand to hunt'?? Knuckle heads will still go and plead ignorance to the changes for a long time especially with out enforcement……

 

It seems to be a good idea taking into account what little I know…..

It might allow for deer herds to recover and not become so nocturnal, if managed well.

 

 

 

 

 

[elkhunter]

I know there's alot of negatives about the draw only archery tag....lets look at the positive

 

Have you guys seen the kind of bucks that are killed during archery seasons? I worked at AZGFD this past summer and during the archery season...a huge majority of bucks brought in were spikes. Hardly anything bigger than a forkhorn came in. I'm going to assume that the archery draw will create an older class of bucks for the following years to come, that'll help out the buck age class in 7

[DesertBull]

I know there's alot of negatives about the draw only archery tag....lets look at the positive

 

Have you guys seen the kind of bucks that are killed during archery seasons? I worked at AZGFD this past summer and during the archery season...a huge majority of bucks brought in were spikes. Hardly anything bigger than a forkhorn came in. I'm going to assume that the archery draw will create an older class of bucks for the following years to come, that'll help out the buck age class in 7

 

 

I think there will be even more pressure to fill the tag if you have to draw it. Many archers already feel that any buck, expecially a Coues buck, is worthy of an arrow.

[WOODSAZ]

I know there's alot of negatives about the draw only archery tag....lets look at the positive

 

Have you guys seen the kind of bucks that are killed during archery seasons? I worked at AZGFD this past summer and during the archery season...a huge majority of bucks brought in were spikes. Hardly anything bigger than a forkhorn came in. I'm going to assume that the archery draw will create an older class of bucks for the following years to come, that'll help out the buck age class in 7

 

That or there will be more spikes for the rifle hunters to hammer.I wish they would have cut the rifle tags in that unit.

 

[.270]

many years ago i hunted with a bow a lot. i've taken most of the Az. big game with arrows. pigs, deer, elk, bear, turkey, lion. multiples on most of em. i loved the fall bow season. heck, i love any season. but around the time that compound bows started getting real popular, mid to late 80's or so, the guys in the back of trucks riding around shooting spikes got out of control. i remember a big camp o' guys that had some guys i knew in it. there were 12 guys in the camp. they wounded 15 bucks, and tagged one. and several of them were law enforcement folks. seemed like everyone i knew would wound at least one buck every year. a lot of guys would wound multiple deer every year. i always blamed it on guys shooting too far and hitting them in the leg or guts. but they all had 80 and 90 yard pins and could hit a target most of the time and it is hard to not shoot when you're hunting. that time of year, about any wound is fatal. flies get to em and they die. i really got sick of camo'd up jackasses in the back of of a truck tryin' to act like a hunter. about this time i really saw the deer population drop off. i went 6 years in a row, and shot a buck, with a rifle, that weighed over 200 lbs field dressed. a couple were way over. big bucks. big racks. all in unit 1. then it went to heck. last time i hunted unit 1 i shot a 2x3 near the end of the season. only thing bigger than a spike i saw. i quit even applying for that unit after that. this was about the time the elk population exploded and i'm sure that had a lot to do with a deer decline. but i also think that all of the little bucks getting gutshot by roadkillers had a drastic affect of the population. calculate in a concerted effort by the azgfd to outlaw trapping, trying to put a big damper on predator hunting in general, a concerted effort to really increase the elk herd, and a few other factors like dry years, etc, and the deer about disappeared in u1. and 27 really took a dive also. i have not seen one deer, not even a doe, in the last 2 u1 late bull hunts. my kids saw a couple bucks one night in the headlights, 2 years ago. the permits have gone from 1500 to i think 100. something like that. from a unit that i have seen over 40 bucks in one day before. don't know how much of en affect bow hunting had on the decline, but it nosedived like nothing i've ever seen. talk to a game ranger, and all they say is that the buck/doe ratio is ok. doesn't matter what the total number of animals is, i guess. i think something should have been done years ago. it's too bad too. because it was a lot of fun. it's also too bad that a buncha roadkill specialists did what they were doing and were allowed to do it. me and my youngest son went turkey hunting and fishing in u1 last weekend. we saw well over 500 elk. saw 2 little bunches of deer. about a dozen all together. and u1 is good deer country. i agree with going to a draw, but i think they were way late in doing it. i imagine that the loss in funds was the major reason they ignored things so long. dollar signs seem to matter a lof more than wildlife anymore. anyway, hunt hard guys. it's gettin' harder all the time. Lark.

[ronaldo]

what I want to know is how the heck did unit 23 miss the draw system? Have you been there lately during a archery hunt? Very crowded... I am not a fan of this archery draw at all...Maybe i am, Who knows...LOL

Ron

[bcoover]

There will be even more people in 23 now that you can't hunt the other units. I would of like to see that unit go to a draw as well.

[billrquimby]

Lark, I also did a lot of bowhunting in the days before compound bows, sights, carbon arrows and the other "improvements" to the sport. I also remember when Units 1 and 27 had deer behind every other tree. I don't blame hunters for the decline in deer numbers, though. The deer herd up here began falling as our elk herd grew. In the days when we could see 500 deer in a drive from Greer to P.S. Knoll on the Black River we would feel lucky to see a dozen elk. Today, it's the other way around.

 

I do think the deer situtation is improving, though. I'm seeing more deer just about everywhere they've thinned the forest around Greer. There were nine in my yard last night, and we saw three or four groups where I took my son-in-law for a turkey Monday.

 

Bill Quimby

[.270]

i think the elk explosion had more to do with it than anything, but i also think that unchecked bowhunting was a more than a small factor. between the two, it devastated the herd. Lark.

[cbryant11]

i think the elk explosion had more to do with it than anything, but i also think that unchecked bowhunting was a more than a small factor. between the two, it devastated the herd. Lark.

wolves didnt help either.....cbryant

[Eagle Eye]

So who is putting Archery as their first choice? I will be putting Kiabab archery as my first choice... I love going up there, been going there for like 8 years now. I already know where i want to set up.

[coues krazy]

My buddy and me will also be putting in for kaibab archery first choice. He lives in marble canyon, and spends alot of time on the kaibab so hopefully we draw and he has some bucks located before the hunt!

[4Falls]

Much as I hate to admit it I think putting all archery hunts to a draw is necessary. As an avid archery hunter I do enjoy being able to buy a tag over the counter every year. Like others here Ive seen the archery deer caravans in units like 27 and the Kiabab and also in 6a and 20a. Im sure going to miss my over the counter tag, though. But the good ol' days are over and gone.