knothead

Be careful what you wish for because you just may get it. It may help some odds, but you will not be able to hunt at all if not drawn. At least with the way it is set up now you can go hunt OTC if not drawn.

As already said, you need to go to a bow shop, and they can help you. Once you find your correct draw length, reach out and see if anyone has a newer (5 years or less) bow they want to sell with the same draw length. I have been shooting a bow since 1978 and I always tell everyone to bargain hunt for their first bow because you never know if you will stick with it. If you like it and want to continue, then shop for better stuff. Bows depreciate faster than a new car, so it is possible to get fairly new equipment at a real bargain. Just like a new golfer, I would recommend paying for a couple private lessons too. This cuts the learning curve way down and prevents you from developing any bad habits. check out Bowsite.com classifieds. Good Luck and welcome to the brotherhood!

Here's my stab at starting a conspiracy: Maybe the reason they don't go to an outside already established vendor like kalkomey, is then they can't manipulate the data? If everyone that applied for AZ draw on an outside vendors platform, then G&F have less or no control at all over the data. Hmmmmm ever think of that?

If you are an archer, this is not a good sign for the future of bowhunting in AZ. Pretty sad, really.

What answers do I have? My question is for the July ABA Bowhunter Happening shoot. 3 1/2 weeks away and their website has old information. Is there or is there not going to be a shoot? That is my question for which I do not have an answer.

I would guess this is their standard "tow the line" response. The few people who still get a hit, will be from some poor souls rejected card. So yes, technically the draw is still going on, but not really.

Last weekend's shoot was put on by a private for-profit club. The July Bowhunter Happening is put on by the not-for-profit Arizona Bowhunters Association. Historically, this was one of the best shoots in the western USA. The ABA also advocates for bowhunters. Or at least they use to. Don't hear much from them anymore.

Yes it is. I predict once G&F gets 3-5 years of archery OTC quota data, they will have the bullets to make all the archery hunts a draw. I know some guys want to go to all draw but I think the quota system is the best of all the evils. Times are a chang'n.

A little Arizona nostalgia. There was once a time that you could go down the G&F headquarters on Greenway Road / I-17 and watch them manually draw applications from a barrel. I never did it but when I was in HS my boss and his brother would go down and watch. This would have been around 1978-79.

I heard on the news that last time Powell was 100% full was 1981.

There is a post on monstermuleys.com and a NR who has a lifetime license got a call from G&F and said they messed up, and a 3a-3c early archery bull tag was coming his way. He also said they told him NR's with a lifetime license get put into the non-resident draw, not the resident. I always wondered how it worked because numbers on reports never seemed to match. Moving forward it would be nice if their bonus pass and regular draw reports showed all the nr's with lifetime licenses and had a separate column listing the hunts they draw. I think the reason so many people knew they should have drawn was a lot of high point holders cashed in their points and applied this year due to heavy precipitation, late start date for early archery and the realization they probably aren't going to get the hunt they really wanted due to point creep. When a guy with 18 points doesn't draw a tag that can normally be drawn with 14-15 points that makes you do a little research. I'll be honest, I really have my doubts on the soundness of the AZ draw system now. An outside audit of the system looks to be in order.

Congratulations. Been bowhunting since 1978 and I still can't get huevos to hunt turkeys with a bow and arrow. Someday

Your NR friend probably drew a tag in the random draw.

Even back then they knew not to drink Bud-Light or AB products.

Has anyone compared these quota numbers to last years?

That's a good problem to have.

I heard they are supposed to stock lower lake Mary today with trout.

My father completed AZ trail and was a trail steward for a numbers of years. He did it on horseback in the 2000's and he accomplished it over a few years. I believe he was number 108 to complete. He helped a number a of others complete it as well. I think he told me he did the grand canyon and crossed the Colorado River 6 different times because people were worried about that trip.

no comment

15 or so years ago, I saw more turkeys in unit 34 south of Cloudcroft than any other place I have ever been. The road south out of town goes along a narrow meadow and there were Tom's all along the drive strutting right out in the wide open at multiple spots. We couldn't hunt them because they were all on private land. Unit 34 has lots of private land and got to be such a big hassle that we never returned. Anytime I travel out of state to hunt or fish, I come back with a better appreciation of Arizona and all our public land. Good Luck

It does appear that K4 is having some habitat improvements going on on their ranch: https://www.azgfd.com/wildlife/landowners/#:~:text=The Landowner Relations and Habitat,through a variety of programs. But it does not seem that they have a compact agreement with G&F. I could be all wrong but this what I found out with just a little bit of research. https://www.azgfd.com/landowner-compact/

No Thanks. Too many more stupid things that I enjoy more.

I'm pretty stingy with my money but I will and do support the things I believe in. Wildlife and conservation are very important to me so I will support things such as this.

For you guys who know more about fishing than I do. How long will we have to wait until a reasonable chance at catching bass or crappie at Roosevelt or Alamo? Any advice for us casual fishermen is greatly appreciated.

When in 12a in the fall, I see way more birds down in the low country than I ever have up high. I've never been there during spring turkey season so I am not sure if they move back on top of the plateau. I once counted 42 birds in a flock and then drove 1/2 mile down the road and found another flock in the high 20's. Definitely don't see anything near that where I hunt birds now.