Hunt proposal, more limited archery units

[huntlines]

2 hours ago, Wnn135 said:

Glad to see, with no rain and more hunters I am glad to see it. Just hope they would put a mandatory report like new mexico so they can track the harvested animals.

They tried the mandatory reporting on archery hunting about 7 or 8 years ago. Something like that and all of a sudden it was taken away. Don’t remember if we ever heard why they decided to stop. I was only upset about it because g&f only made it mandatory for archery hunters, rifle hunters remained voluntary. Didn’t make sense, should be mandatory for everyone with a tag.

[68OLDS]

3 minutes ago, huntlines said:

I’m planning on commenting and have made my voice heard about several issues during calls to the public.

im just torn on this issue, don’t know how to feel about it.

 I am somewhat glad and encouraged by this change. I would not be upset if they made the entire state a draw for archery deer. Would be like a choose your weapon for your deer hunt. I’m an archery hunter and think this would greatly limit the amount of quasi archery hunters. People who wouldn’t normally archery hunt would put in for rifle hunts. Less people in the field during archery season.

 I also like to put in for quality, hard to draw rifle tags and when I don’t get drawn I fall back to my true passion of archery hunting.

So yes, I will be commenting but still trying to decide what I want to say.

I hear you and I 100% see both sides of the issue.  As others have commented, unit 27 for example, is heavily hunted in the August and January OTC hunts.  It is not a guaranteed hunt same as any other hunt, but you tend to see many folks in that unit running around.  I was in there this past January for 2 weeks and yes the amount of NR hunters was remarkable.  I don’t know how to feel either, primarily being an archery hunter first and rifle hunter second.  I do feel it will help the deer population overall which is a good thing.  I like the idea of restricting NR OTC tags and maybe even taking them away fully, I am not sure yet how that would look.  As some have stated, I do believe it is only a Matter of time before the OTC tag is phased out in favor of a draw system.  I am interested in watching the webcast tonight and finding out the reasoning (hard data/facts) as to why the DEPT is considering these changes.

[huntlines]

6 minutes ago, 68OLDS said:

I hear you and I 100% see both sides of the issue.  As others have commented, unit 27 for example, is heavily hunted in the August and January OTC hunts.  It is not a guaranteed hunt same as any other hunt, but you tend to see many folks in that unit running around.  I was in there this past January for 2 weeks and yes the amount of NR hunters was remarkable.  I don’t know how to feel either, primarily being an archery hunter first and rifle hunter second.  I do feel it will help the deer population overall which is a good thing.  I like the idea of restricting NR OTC tags and maybe even taking them away fully, I am not sure yet how that would look.  As some have stated, I do believe it is only a Matter of time before the OTC tag is phased out in favor of a draw system.  I am interested in watching the webcast tonight and finding out the reasoning (hard data/facts) as to why the DEPT is considering these changes.

Unit 27 this last August was worse than January IMO and most of that was residents. I was elk scouting otherwise I would have left for a different unit to archery deer hunt. 
 

im excited to see what happens in unit 1 with deer population and trophy quality in the next 3 to 4 years. Unit 1 has a little head start and we could see the benefits of draw only in that unit real soon.

[HuntHarder]

This had to happen and will continue to happen at the rate we are going.  Flatlander posted some actual NR #'s earlier this month and they were not really all that high.  There was a pretty big increase, year to year, but the actual # was shockingly low to me.  I remember about 15 years ago when shooting a deer with a bow was an accomplishment.  Now, most guys I know that bow hunt, have shot multiple deer, myself included.  I think I have taken 9 bucks with a bow in this state and only started bowhunting 16 years ago.  Technology has changed and made the game easier.  I urge everyone with an opinion on how to try and curb this trend to reach out to our G&F commissioners and let them know your ideas.  Sooner or later, things need to change and trying to have a say in it will work out best for hunters.  

 

[Explorer]

Im not concerned with the draw. What concerns me is no place to hunt in December in my neck of the woods. And some only open for 2 weeks in January. Would rather draw a tag in an area I want to hunt when I want to hunt. Like previous posts but more bluntly put.. Thanks for moving here!! And you are welcome for all the tags.

[trophyseeker]

46 minutes ago, huntlines said:

They tried the mandatory reporting on archery hunting about 7 or 8 years ago. Something like that and all of a sudden it was taken away. Don’t remember if we ever heard why they decided to stop. I was only upset about it because g&f only made it mandatory for archery hunters, rifle hunters remained voluntary. Didn’t make sense, should be mandatory for everyone with a tag.

If I recall it was only for a couple units to see if a draw was necessary for ARCHERY in those units.  They were already on a draw for general. 

[6AYoteHunter]

They need draw only for NR and they need to crack down on people lying about residency status ASAP. We calculated the max NR tags in unit 9 two years ago and saw more out of state plate hunters than the max by almost double in 6 days. They also need to have license checkpoints. Was out in 6B during the December tag with almost no permits and the place was more crowded with hunters than ever before yet no tag increases. 

[TOBY]

If you had to purchase your otc archery deer tag online from game and fish and print yourself or they mail it to you.

Now there are only so many tags per unit sold and done.

Not a draw or points given up

If they could  come up with a happy number per unit that doesnt flood the xxxx out my home unit that would be cool.

If you hunt multiple units you have to pony the dough for a second unit  tag.

Open to opinions on this as it is a better option than draw only in lots of units. Some units maybe draw...

 

[bigorange]

2 hours ago, CouesFanatic said:

Exactly, what are they doing in 33?  I'm happy to see tag reduction but that's pretty aggressive. Curious to see how this goes. 

Re-reading it made more sense to me. They cut the total tags in 33 by 850 if my math was correct. (33 has always seemed to have way too many tags, so again that’s probably a good thing) In my example the 200 tags proposed was a -225 decrease from last year. 

[huntlines]

25 minutes ago, trophyseeker said:

If I recall it was only for a couple units to see if a draw was necessary for ARCHERY in those units.  They were already on a draw for general. 

Hmmm I don’t remember it that way. I could be wrong but I thought it was state wide mandatory harvest reporting for archery hunters. I need to go back and look.....

[trophyseeker]

35 minutes ago, huntlines said:

Hmmm I don’t remember it that way. I could be wrong but I thought it was state wide mandatory harvest reporting for archery hunters. I need to go back and look.....

I believe it began in 2010-11. It was for all non-permt tags, i.e not by unit. But the purpose was to see which of them would need to be put to a future draw.

"Archery deer hunters, except those issued a hunt permit-tag through the draw process, must contact the Arizona Game and Fish Department office in person, or by telephone (1-866-903-DEER [3337]) within 10 days of taking a deer (pursuant to R12-4-308). Those issued hunt permit-tags through the draw process will receive, in the mail, a hunter questionnaire to complete and return."

The rule was gone for 2012-13.

[Explorer]

Anything about tag prices increasing?

[elkaholic]

Why wouldn't they want archers hunting rut hunts.

[huntlines]

18 minutes ago, trophyseeker said:

I believe it began in 2010-11. It was for all non-permt tags, i.e not by unit. But the purpose was to see which of them would need to be put to a future draw.

"Archery deer hunters, except those issued a hunt permit-tag through the draw process, must contact the Arizona Game and Fish Department office in person, or by telephone (1-866-903-DEER [3337]) within 10 days of taking a deer (pursuant to R12-4-308). Those issued hunt permit-tags through the draw process will receive, in the mail, a hunter questionnaire to complete and return."

The rule was gone for 2012-13.

I knew it went for a couple of years. First year I almost forgot and our local game warden called me. Second year I remembered and called him to let him know he couldn’t arrest me. 
 

Then it was gone without an explanation and no changes to hunt structures. Weird 

[huntlines]

12 minutes ago, elkaholic said:

Why wouldn't they want archers hunting rut hunts.

Cuz you all are killing too many big bucks with your bows.....