trphyhntr Report post Posted July 21, 2021 Made the mistake of searching Arizona desert mule deer on YouTube. Wow. Had no idea so many out of state crews came here and filmed hunts. Truly disheartening 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Swivelhead Report post Posted July 21, 2021 AZGF's funding/promotion of AZ hunting on the WWW has exacerbated the elimination of OTC archery deer units and any leftover permits doled out after three annual draws all while filling coffers with NR money. Get over it. Hunt opportunity we had in the past was going away sooner rather than later by virtue of our exploding population coupled with the loss of hunting opportunity in other western states and elsewhere. IIRC, AZGF attempted to put archery deer to a draw in the early 2000's. Resistance was fierce at that time, the proposal was dropped. Don't have a crystal ball but expect OTC deer will be gone in 5 years. As stated by others, units that are still open for OTC deer will see a lot more pressure. The upside to this is NR's who have invested in hunting AZ and accumulated bonus points for other species will likely continue to do so keeping "outside" money flowing. However, NR's will be subject to the up to 10% rule and that will likely dampen their enthusiasm to continue pumping money into AZ. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flatlander Report post Posted July 21, 2021 One of the themes that AZGFD has been trying to demonstrate with its advertising effort is the value an annual hunting license affords people, especially NR's who have to fork it over to buy bonus points even if they have no intention of hunting that year. The irony here is that they have devalued their own commodity by running otc archery into the ground and reducing opportunity and therefore value of their product. This line of reasoning may ring true with the department, since it impacts their pocket books. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HuntHarder Report post Posted July 21, 2021 7 minutes ago, Flatlander said: One of the themes that AZGFD has been trying to demonstrate with its advertising effort is the value an annual hunting license affords people, especially NR's who have to fork it over to buy bonus points even if they have no intention of hunting that year. The irony here is that they have devalued their own commodity by running otc archery into the ground and reducing opportunity and therefore value of their product. This line of reasoning may ring true with the department, since it impacts their pocket books. Huh? We still have some of the best OTC archery hunting in the west. I am not sure it was devalued their commodity, if anything, it has increased the value as we have more and more hunters each year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted July 22, 2021 Well, this is sorta good news. Maybe people will stop coming in droves... https://www.abc15.com/news/business/desert-in-distress-new-study-ranks-arizona-as-worst-place-to-live-in-2021 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naturebob Report post Posted July 22, 2021 Saw that this Morning Kev. Good its on MSNBC cause only Liberals watch that station and maybe they quit moving here...............BOB! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roosevelt Mark Report post Posted July 22, 2021 Perfect Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yuma Outdoorsman Report post Posted July 22, 2021 7 hours ago, trphyhntr said: Made the mistake of searching Arizona desert mule deer on YouTube. Wow. Had no idea so many out of state crews came here and filmed hunts. Truly disheartening Man I did the same thing today and my jaw hit the ground. There was one that hunted the fields in 41 and they talked about how hard they hunted and blah blah blah and all they did was shoot deer in the field or on trials less than a 1/4 Mile from the fields. I bet the pressure out there this year is going to be even crazier than and it already is. Sounds like dove season every opener from what I’ve heard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HyNoon Report post Posted July 23, 2021 On 7/20/2021 at 1:11 PM, Redman said: Arizona has been LONG known for OTC hunts- every publication from Huntin Fool to Field and Stream has publicized this for a long time. 2020 and probably 2021 with CV-19 were strange years, many people changed their life habits - no more soccer or flag / tackle football games for little Johnny, kids not in school.... many people not working in the office, people had time to burn. Not condoning G&F paying celebrities to hunt, but they always had a marketing budget- This .... everyone wanted to get out of there house and get a break from being stuck in their home. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zslayer Report post Posted August 2, 2021 😂 just had this sent to me on social media. 1 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstcoueswas80 Report post Posted August 2, 2021 27 minutes ago, zslayer said: 😂 just had this sent to me on social media. I'll take one of those! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
knothead Report post Posted August 3, 2021 me too 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites