CouesWhitetail

YUM!

Good news!!

AWESOME BUCK!

Thanks to everyone that attended, it was a fun night! I spent most of the night scoring some bucks that people brought in for me to score. Always great to see some nice trophies! Thanks to the AES for yet again hosting a fantastic banquet!

Jay Lopeman wanted to share these pics with you all....WOW! Congrats to the guides and hunter. What a beast! This was taken with one of the special commissioner tags that ran from Aug 2010 to Aug 2011, so they were getting down to the wire! Alan Hamberlin with his giant AZ elk, Mossback guided him. Alan shot the bull with a 7mm at 200 yards.

I thought this was very interesting....do you think AZ should do something like this predator control program? Do you think there is any chance it could be supported by the general public? here are a couple articles about it: Utah governor signs bills to fund coyote killings Programs aim to increase the killing of predators in order to restore deer herds. By Tom Harvey | The Salt Lake Tribune First Published Mar 17 2012 04:08 pm • Last Updated Mar 18 2012 01:19 pm Gov. Gary Herbert signed two bills on Saturday that take aim at coyotes by funding programs to step up the killing of the predators in an attempt to increase the population of mule deer and protect livestock. The governor used the backdrop of bow and arrow maker Hoyt Archery west of the Salt Lake City International Airport and a friendly crowd of employees and hunters to sign SB245 and SB87. The House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the bills during the recently concluded general session of the Utah Legislature. The Mule Deer Protection Act, SB245, appropriated $500,000 to the Division of Wildlife Resources to establish programs to reduce the coyote population in areas where the mule deer herds have suffered significant population losses over the past few decades. SB87 imposes a $5 fee on big-game hunting permits to go toward predator-control programs. Herbert touted the measures as important for Utah’s economic growth, citing hunting, fishing and wildlife watching as a $2.3 billion part of the state’s economy. "What we’re talking about today is really important for our economy going forward," he told the crowd that gave him a standing ovation. Bob Friel, a hunter from Mapleton who attended the signing ceremony, said the bills were needed to help bring back the state’s mule deer population, which would attract more hunters and boost Utah’s economy. More deer mean more licenses sold and more hunters spending money on things like meals at restaurants, he said. "This is an economic issue for the state of Utah," Friel said. The Humane Society of Utah had opposed the bills. Director Gene Baierschmidt said Saturday another part of the legislation, raising the bounty from $20 to $50 for bringing in a pair of coyote ears, is a poor method of reducing predator populations. "We think it’s ridiculous to send the public out there to do that," he said. "For example, if someone is living in St. George and they go and they bring back a bunch of ears of coyotes, there might not even be a problem in that area." Jay Banta of Torrey, a hunter, biologist and former federal wildlife manager, said the "misnamed ‘Mule Deer Protection Act’ is simply throwing money at a solution for a reduced deer herd that won’t work." -------------------------------------- Salt Lake City, Utah – March 18, 2012 – Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed two pieces of legislation into law that will bring millions to the rescue of struggling mule deer herds in the Beehive state. Gov. Herbert’s official support means that Utah coyote control funding will increase by $1.25 million a year. $500,000 comes from a $5 license fee increase, and $750,000 comes from general sales tax revenue from the state of Utah. In total, now nearly $2 million annually will be invested to control coyotes and rebuild deer herds. The governor has studied the issues surrounding why Utah’s mule deer herds are struggling at near all-time lows. SFW has worked closely with the governor and wildlife officials to identify the problems and what can be done to ease pressure on deer. “Data has shown that coyote predation is a major negative contributor to Utah’s deer survival,” according to SFW President Byron Bateman. “Our deer numbers are dwindling despite tens of millions of dollars and thousands of volunteer hours to protect winter habitat, fence highways and improve conditions for Utah’s deer. This is some of the most important legislation related to deer management that Utah has seen in many years. We are very optimistic it will have a positive impact over time for mule deer recovery.” The event was held at Hoyt Archery and Easton Technical new production facility in Salt Lake City. The world’s leader in Archery equipment is a strong supporter of SFW and mule deer recovery effortd. On hand at the signing event was state Senator Ralph Okerlund, state Senator David Hinkins, and House of Representative Kay McKiff, all leading legislative sponsors. SFW and the governor also thanked Senators Allen Christensen and Margaret Dayton and Representatives Mike Noel as well. Randy and Coni Brooks, major SFW sponsors, and many SFW volunteers and chapter leaders were on hand with several Hoyt employees. The Utah Division of Wildlife will be working with sportsmen and the Department of Agriculture to get the most bang for the buck on this coyote control program. It will be centered around rural, private contractors who will be compensated on performance-based programs, and augmenting the current aerial gunning and local county coyote bounty programs.

here is a link to the CW.com tshirt page....you can order from there or call me (928-200-0544) if you don't want to order online. http://www.coueswhitetail.com/bookstore/tshirts.htm

Best thing is to do is just edit the post to say SOLD. You can edit the title of the post or within the post body.

Stickers and CW.com tshirts definitely add to the luck factor!! thx for the support I am sure I will have that photo in the next sticker video....

Awesome!! Great that you and your dog were so successful!! and nice sticker pic!!!

The contest is still running....three days left to get your guess in!!

+1 I agree Rick and welcome.

Glad you engaged him Ringer. I too thought he had some serious guts coming to a hunting meeting and giving the speech he did. Glad he told you he doesn't want to eliminate hunting. I think people would be wise to realize that there is a large number of people that enjoy wildlife but do not hunt. Those are the people that potentially could be tapped into for funding wildlife projects AND to make sure we engage them in a way that at least maintains them as NOT being against hunting. Inviting those people to habitat projects might be a great way to show non-hunters that hunters spend a lot of time and money on wildlife habitat improvements. Another way is to just invite a nonhunter to go hunting with you so they can see what really goes on and how hunters appreciate nature in a way that many nonhunters do not realize.

This is kind of an unusual situation as we don't normally poll membership on each issue. The board is voted in by the membership and members are welcome at board meetings to present their ideas on issues they see as important. And since this issue has been so important to many people, the ADA created the survey that was mailed out to the membership. As to your question on whether the board can vote to overrule the majority of members opinions...I suppose they can. I don't think that has ever happened.

I have been watching the whole thing....I love being able to watch from home and still be able to submit comments. Thanks AGFD for setting this up for this meeting and the commission meetings. It's a real plus for me since I live hours away from the meetings.

Thanks Keith, glad you are back in town...we have missed you

Our annual meeting is usually in the summer. The last one was in July. So I suspect it will be in July this year. An invitation is mailed out to all members every year. So keep your eye out if you are a member.

Juan Huerta sent in this pic of his son Cameron's great buck! Said he took this 104 6/8 buck on the 2nd day of the jrs hunt. Congratulations Cameron...way to go! Check it out, his buck even has a drop tine!

for others, here is the link to a couple articles I posted about the recent bills signed into law re:predator control in Utah... http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31752

Just a reminder to all the members of the ADA to fill out and return the survey that was mailed to you. One of the questions on the survey is whether the ADA should continue supporting the AZSFW.

Thanks for sharing some of the facts Craig...I posted in another thread what Utah is doing to help reverse the mule deer trend now...focusing on predator control since all the habitat improvements haven't seemed to help enough

Targeted predator control would be the key of course. Hit the predators before fawn drop to give the fawns a better chance at survival. It has helped antelope quite a lot where I have seen it done.

Craig has posted that he does not support the bill.

The AZ Game Rangers are trying to raise money for a law enforcement conference they are hosting in July. This gun raffle and banquet on April 14 is a great way to have fun and support the AGFD law enforcement officers. see the PDFs for more info. Gunposter-Flyerrevised.pdf BANQUETORDERFORM.pdf

Thanks for the headsup Allen, keep us posted if you find out the sponsor