CouesWhitetail

Rep Weiers did remove the bill, but he is scheduled for surgery in a few days. I will ask that he respond, but I would suggest a modicum of respect for him. Trashing me is fine, but Jerry is a really good guy who has guaranteed a lot of good things for sportsmen. I would hope that he could get a measure of respect and let him explain his position on the bill. just an fyi, I personally invited Rep Weiers to come here and address concerns when I spoke with him on the phone the other day. I also emailed him the link to this discussion so he could read it himself. As John mentioned he is having shoulder surgery very soon and with all the many things he has to do I don't know that he has time to come argue here in this format any time soon. But you can of course call or email him and voice your opinion or schedule a meeting with him.

The ADA banquet is always 10 to a table....not sure what you are trying to say here?

Wow, WoW, WOW!! What a buck!! Those 2s and 3s are phenomenal! No brainer for sure. AWESOME and thanks for sharing the pic. WOW!

Rep. Weiers is a strong supporter of sportsmens issues.....I think voting him out is a really bad idea. yes, this bill is not one of his best and is highly controversial, but he himself pulled it to get more input from sportsmen in order to craft the best bill possible. Now I can't answer as to why he didn't get the input to start with but really, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Please review his record and make a decision on his history of service. Have we become such knee-jerk reactionists that there is no room for working with someone who made a poor decision? Does everyone on the planet have to be perfect and if they make a mistake you just destroy them? He is the one that sponsored the bill that got us a sportsmen based commission to review and recommend commission candidates to the governor. he has also worked on the wildlife conservation plate and other sportsmen issues. These are all huge positives. It seems to me you are fighting the wrong enemy. from his website: Representative Jerry Weiers is a State Representative from Arizona representing Arizona’s finest District, district 12. He was first elected in 2004. He, along with his brother, Jim Weiers, became the first brothers in Arizona history to serve in the House of Representatives at the same time. He is chairmen of the AZ House of Representatives Military Affairs and Public Safety Committee, as well as a member of the National Conference of State Legislatures Military Sustainability Taskforce. He also serves as a board member for the Phoenix Air National Guard Patriots (PANG Patriots). Helping Veteran’s and military personnel has been a priority to him since first elected in 2004. Currently, he, is working on a project with Military and Law Enforcement Agencies to help Veterans reintegrate to society after returning from active duty tours. Another project he is working on is a Life Line system for Veterans providing them with contact information for organizations that specifically help them. He is an avid outdoorsman and is the President of Arizona Legislators for Wildlife, and a Four year member of the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses. He is also a life member of the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, a life member of the Arizona Elk Society and a life member of the Arizona Antelope Foundation. view more of his record: http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=58&Legislature=49&Session_ID=87

yes, indeed we are planning on having tables....the last few years I think we have had three tables, so I am hoping for the same. This year is a little different. The banquet will be held in conjunction with the International Sportsmen's Expo. All banquet dinner tickets will include one ticket to the Expo. Let me know who wants to go!! attached is a flyer about the banquet: 2012 banquet flyer.pdf

Brian gave you good info. If you have topo maps, look for areas above 7,000 ft for ponderosa pines. There will be some patches of forest below that, but the pines get thicker above that.

+1 We are not too far removed to remember the Fiesta Bowl and their "administrative" costs. Different arena same corruption The AZSFW board is strictly volunteers initially, each of the beginning few who started the organization back several years ago were required to pony up some significant cash to be a board member. The only person who does get paid is Capitol Consulting, who acts as our lobbyist at the state legislature. I know of absolutely no lobbyist who would ever do the political infighting that has been necessary to carry the water for us who would do it as low as Suzanne and company have done. Thanks for the reply, John. I have a question regarding the wording in your statement though. You mention; "..... strickly volunteers initially". Is that referring to the fact that 'initially' the beginning few ponied-up money? Or is it indicating that it is 'initially' volunteers, but there could or might be paid positions in the future? Or will it always remain strickly volunteer? Again, I only ask because this seems to be a big bone of contention with SFW in other states, at least in Utah. Lark, your point regarding no outfitter response is very insighful. No doubt that local outfitters would LOVE to have more big money tag holders to guide.... S. Wow! So much traffic on this topic!!!! John; I might have missed it, but I don't think I saw a response to my question above. Will all SFW members/associates (Board members, or otherwise....) remain volunteers in the future? Or will there be administrative or executive positions created that are paid/salaried? Again, I only ask this because it seems that the Utah guys have a big problem with this in their state. Also, you mention a meeting being scheduled next week. Will that meeting be open to the public? Or members of ALL organizations that are apparently behind SFW? Or just board members of those organizations or SFW board members only? Thanks for your continued replies to this VERY hot topic! S. Hey Stan, I have spoken with John about your questions.....none of the board members are paid and there are no plans to create paid admin or exec positions or to pay board members on the AZSFW. The fundraising side group of AZSFW is the AZSFWC...they are the ones that hold the banquets. I think the lobbyist is partially paid through funds raised there and also private money. And the meeting you are talking about is open to board members of the sportsmens groups. If you want your voice to be heard, I suggest you contact whatever sporstmen's group you belong to and give them your opinion. And as I emailed around to everyone in the forum, I will be attending and will be sharing the views you guys are expressing in this thread.

Outstanding!! Wow, standing for 2.5 hrs in the wide open with deer that close! WOW! that's tough right there!

Wow, nice deer!

Congratulations!

Welcome....I hope you enjoy hunting in our amazing state! Here is a link to the AGFD hunt unit reports so you can find more info about any unit in AZ. http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/hunting_units.shtml

+1 I did the same thing....still haven't seen him out there. I still am hopeful he is still alive and will show up someday when I have a tag.

regulations have changed....for more info: http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=29746

wow, sad article, but great reminder to please pick up your ammunition! I find unspent ammo fairly often.

Very nice Steven! Looks your clients should be very happy!

Very cool Jim!!

Thanks DB........definitely something to point out and discuss. from the PDF, with one more line than Desertbull posted: All tags shall be exempt from the bag limit established from time to time by the commission with the limitation that the qualifying organization shall not issue more than one permit or tag per species per year to an individual except for auction permits or tags. Mule deer and whitetail deer are treated as separate species.

I think these are some valid concerns. It seems to me that the current governor tags would have to decrease in value due to the increased supply of tags created by the new bill. but re: some guy buying all of them....I believe that they still can only kill one elk per year, one deer per year, etc.....right?

Thanks for informing me Amanda; I was not aware of AZSFW - that is a shame on me. How do I become more informed about AZSFW and their work? here is a link to their website: http://arizonasportsmenforwildlife.org/

nosajpo - You are absolutely correct; becoming an organized group with a united agenda would be daunting. You are also correct that the strong opinions (however varied) held by Arizona's outdoorsmen can ultimately be its strength. While I'm often disappointed when I see individuals post knee-jerk comments that do not help our cause, I am also equally encouraged that folks are so passionate about Arizona's outdoors. The ultimate challenge is organizing and focusing that wonderful passion unto a machine that carries the same force with AZGFD and the Legislature as the well funded organizations representing ranchers, landowners, and other special interests. Unfortunately, all the well intended groups such as ADBSS, AAF, ADA, AES, etc have separate agendas that do not address global issues of wildlife/land management in Arizona. We join these groups and good things get accomplished on a micro-level; however, the macro issues which impact us all go unaddressed. Frankly; until Arizona's hunters, fishers and outdoorsman can unite and fund an entity that will day-in-and-day-out keep tabs on AZGFD and the Legislature (I'm talking lobbyists and lawyers) we will continue to be frustrated. Messrs. Quimby is 100% correct when he says we need to take legal action to get the attention of the policy makers. While we may have a small victory from time to time (i.e. HB 2072 being placed on hold), they don't address the big picture and long-term change. I've read many references in this post about bad things that happened in Utah. I was directly involved with one of those fights and it became painfully obvious that we were ultimately going to take it in the shorts and lose. We had all the passion on our side; however, the opposition was better organized and funded. Instead of debating whether we should pay more for tags or other game enhancement fees; how about we discuss donating the same money to the creation of an organization that will help shape policy, rather than complain about it? Getting HB 2072 delayed is a reactive victory. We need to be proactive in shaping legislation instead of being surprised by it. Just one man's opinion. This is exactly why AZSFW was formed....to provide an organization that looks are larger picture issues and proactively push legislation that address wildlife and hunter-related issues. AZSFW is a group which all the species-specific groups (ADA, AES, ADBSS, AAF, etc) are a member of. The point was to provide a unified voice from the varied species-specific groups. AZSFW has been extremely effective in passing legislation....they are the ones who pushed forward the idea of a sportsmen's committee reviewing and selecting commissioner candidates to be presented to the governor. Now obviously this issue is divisive and likely will not receive support from all the sportsmen's groups, but my point is that AZSFW was created as a group that would look to the larger issues of AZ and work in ways that individual species groups could not.

Hey All, Skull Hooker has dropped the price they charge me for their products and I am passing the savings on to you. The little skull hooker is about the same price, but the big skull hooker is $24 cheaper!! There is still time to order for xmas. If you order today or by 2 pm tomorrow I can ship tomorrow and for most places in AZ, it will arrive overnight. Free shipping!! this is an excellent product for any hunter you know: http://www.coueswhitetail.com/bookstore/skull_hooker.htm

Clicked link. Is the big one $55 or $24 off the $55? Thanks. It's $55, it used to be $79.

HELLO!! Did anyone see my post saying that the bill is NOT moving forward right now! Rep. Weiers has put it on hold because he is aware of the concerns sportsmen have. So you do have time to review, gather info and make comments. Here is my post again: PLEASE NOTE: I JUST SPOKE WITH REP. Jerry Weiers ON THE PHONE AND HE WANTED ME TO LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT THE BILL IS ON HOLD NOW......IT IS NOT MOVING FORWARD AT THIS TIME. HE UNDERSTANDS THERE ARE A LOT OF CONCERNS AND IS INTERESTED IN GETTING FEEDBACK ABOUT THIS. All the sportsmen's groups have been invited to meet with the AZSFW next week and we will bring the concerns of our respective membership to that meeting to get answers. So, in addition to contacting Rep. Weiers, I recommend that if you are a member of a sportsmen's group, such as the AZ Deer Association, the AZ Elk Society, AZ Antelope Foundation, etc, that you contact them and voice your opinion so that they may bring it to the meeting.

PLEASE NOTE: I JUST SPOKE WITH REP. Jerry Weiers ON THE PHONE AND HE WANTED ME TO LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT THE BILL IS ON HOLD NOW......IT IS NOT MOVING FORWARD AT THIS TIME. HE UNDERSTANDS THERE ARE A LOT OF CONCERNS AND IS INTERESTED IN GETTING FEEDBACK ABOUT THIS. All the sportsmen's groups have been invited to meet with the AZSFW next week and we will bring the concerns of our respective membership to that meeting to get answers. So, in addition to contacting Rep. Weiers, I recommend that if you are a member of a sportsmen's group, such as the AZ Deer Association, the AZ Elk Society, AZ Antelope Foundation, etc, that you contact them and voice your opinion so that they may bring it to the meeting.

Actually, as I posted before, I haven't decided on this yet. When making a decision about this, I think it's important to get as many facts as possible. I think it's important to hear from lots of hunters, the AGFD commission, other sportsmens groups as well as the people who created this bill. I expect to be attending a meeting next week with the sportsmens groups to discuss this issue.