Flatlander

For those who have not heard, Tony Mandile aka Outdoor Writer on CWT passed away yesterday from complications related to COPD. Another AZ legend has returned to the dust. Rest peacefully my friend.

Check your PM’s.

I don’t know why this never occurred to me. I wish we had bear baiting. We should ask them for it. If all it takes is a bunch of public comments let’s get started. 2 can play this game.

There are two very problematic assumptions in your statement. 1. AZGFD’s mission has nothing to do with hunting. From their website: To conserve Arizona’s diverse wildlife resources and manage for safe, compatible outdoor recreation opportunities for current and future generations. If you are relying on a government agency to protect what you love, you are in for disappointment. 2. This point has been made, but in AZ, you do not have a right to hunt and fish. We have that opportunity because the so far the public has supported it. The second that changes and some anti organization can pass a ballot measure to end it, it will end. I understand that many people are frustrated by what is happening. I also understand that bitching about AZGFD has become a normal pastime around here, and I have participated plenty. But there is nothing to blame them for here. The HSUS is using this process to go on public record and establish the fact that thousands of Arizonans are opposed to predator hunting. Unfortunately, when the comments are posted in their entirety for everyone to see, there will not be a record of how many lion and bear tags are sold each year unless someone submits it as a comment. AZGFD manages wildlife in the interest of the public, so if the public doesn’t want them hunted, guess what? I know how dumb and frustrating this seems to people who are using common sense. Unfortunately, democracy doesn’t always follow the rules of common sense. It follows rules and processes. Right now the enemies of hunting and fishing are monopolizing one of those processes to paint a picture. The fastest and best way to combat that is to overwhelm their effort. I am begging the CMT community to set the snarkiness and apathy aside. This is important. Please comment in support of lion, bear and bobcat hunting. AZHuntGuidelines@azgfd.gov

You can find trees to hang a hammock in.

Public agencies who manage public resources are required to have a formal process for public input. If the anti’s flood the public comment process with requests to end lion, bear and bobcat hunting then if the department doesn’t consider those comments, the anti’s can sue the department on some liberal court and object to the policies, taking wildlife management away from science and into politics. Amber was likely doing hunters a favor by speaking up in a meeting with a well organized sportsmen group who could mount a response. Email your pro hunting comments here: AZHuntGuidelines@azgfd.gov

Very cool, congrats!

Unit 1 and 27 alternate muzzleloader and rifle for the early bull season.

You are correct, anything can change through the public comment period. This is the current direction given to the department by their governing body, the commission.

Pretty awesome stuff. Thanks for sharing, some of those photos are amazing.

The commission gave direction to the department at the 12/10 commission meeting to proceed in this direction as part of the 2023 hunt guideline development process. The audio can be found here: https://azgfd-portal-wordpress-pantheon.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/archive/Commission-12-10-21-WEB.mp3

Saw one big muley buck in the desert today. He was with 3-4 does. Got to 79 yds but I haven’t been shooting beeping to feel comfortable with that one. 👎 Thursday and Friday in 22 bucks were following does. But nothing big.

That’s a beautiful buck, the prongs are unreal and the coat is pristine. You definitely have something to look forward to this year. I hope we can get lucky and snag an AZ tag this year, but if not, Wyoming is a possibility.

That game wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. Actually pretty impressed with how well our defense held up without Jones and Lucas. Definitely not the season we hoped for. Jayden Daniels definitely doesn’t look like a WB that is taking this team anywhere.

Probably early December.