runningbird Report post Posted March 15 Did anyone else receive an email from the AZ deer association? It is claiming the AZGFD commissioners want to do away with the auction tags. The links provided only give one side. Also the AZ deer association repeatedly refers to sticking to the north american model. Which they previously stated was outdated, when they were part of a group that wanted to take over the auction tags. I am unable to find any relevant information on this topic. So wondering if anyone else has info. The Arizona Deer Association recently presented the Arizona Game and Fish Commission and Department with a letter stating our position and concerns with potential changes being considered within the Special Big Game Tag program. We want to thank those who took the time to compose and send an email to the Commissioners in our last email request. HOWL for wildlife has now picked up this cause and makes it simple, quick and easy to make your comment known. HowlforWildlife.org has worked with several Wildlife Conservation Organizations to put together a “Howl” to get our voices heard. It only takes a few minutes and is of vital importance if we want to show the Commission that this is not just a few individuals that have concerns with reducing revenues for wildlife conservation. Should the Commission do away with the wildly successful live auction model we currently have for these Special Big Game Tags, our wildlife will truly suffer. This program generates millions of dollars annually for our wildlife. Please let your voice be heard and let our Commissioners know we want to keep the program we already have in place. Time is of the essence. Here is the link: https://www.howlforwildlife.org/azconservationtags Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MogollonMan Report post Posted March 15 The commission could care less about the opinions of hunters, they have shown that over and over again. They only listen to people and organization with deep pockets and the anti hunting community. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dusty Report post Posted March 15 Which they previously stated was outdated, when they were part of a group that wanted to take over the auction tags. I hope they're not gearing up for another round. Hunting was supposed to be over by now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues247 Report post Posted March 15 The commission got rid of the auction tags this morning. They are allowing them for one more year and as of 2026 they won't be allowed. Raffle only after that. They showed the loss of money wouldn't be substantial by just having raffles vs auctions. A big point they made was something like 36% of all auction tags had been purchased by the same 3 or 5 people and how that doesn't fit the North American Model. 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted March 15 Huge disappoint in my mind. I am all for the current state of Auction tags, there isnt a need for more, just keep what they have now. The current state of raffles isnt going to come close to what the auction tag raises. Especially since they recently changed it to having to be inside the state to purchase tickets. Maybe im wrong but I just dont see it without them adding a bunch more raffle tags. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oz31p Report post Posted March 15 20 minutes ago, Coues247 said: The commission got rid of the auction tags this morning. They are allowing them for one more year and as of 2026 they won't be allowed. Raffle only after that. They showed the loss of money wouldn't be substantial by just having raffles vs auctions. A big point they made was something like 36% of all auction tags had been purchased by the same 3 or 5 people and how that doesn't fit the North American Model. Who care who’s buy them, if I had the money they’d all get bought by the same person every year 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues247 Report post Posted March 15 42 minutes ago, bonecollector said: Huge disappoint in my mind. I am all for the current state of Auction tags, there isnt a need for more, just keep what they have now. The current state of raffles isnt going to come close to what the auction tag raises. Especially since they recently changed it to having to be inside the state to purchase tickets. Maybe im wrong but I just dont see it without them adding a bunch more raffle tags. They laid out a pretty good estimate of how much the raffles will bring in using past numbers. For all animals but elk, sheep, and mule deer raffles make more money than the auction and for the big three auctions make more but it wasn't a ton more. They also talked about there being a way to switch it back to allowing out of staters to buy tickets. All in all the overall amount of money from auctions doesn't make that much more than raffles so the way I see it, let an average guy have a chance at a once in a lifetime tag instead of the millionaires that can go on any hunt they want in the world every single year. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues247 Report post Posted March 15 42 minutes ago, oz31p said: Who care who’s buy them, if I had the money they’d all get bought by the same person every year That's exactly why they got rid of them. The north American model of wildlife doesn't allow rich people to have more of a chance to hunt an animal than a poor person. And overall, with raffles there won't be a ton of difference in money made. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted March 15 3 minutes ago, Coues247 said: They laid out a pretty good estimate of how much the raffles will bring in using past numbers. For all animals but elk, sheep, and mule deer raffles make more money than the auction and for the big three auctions make more but it wasn't a ton more. They also talked about there being a way to switch it back to allowing out of staters to buy tickets. All in all the overall amount of money from auctions doesn't make that much more than raffles so the way I see it, let an average guy have a chance at a once in a lifetime tag instead of the millionaires that can go on any hunt they want in the world every single year. We have a chance, its called the Super raffle or whatever the name it is now. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
forepaw Report post Posted March 15 15 minutes ago, Coues247 said: That's exactly why they got rid of them. The north American model of wildlife doesn't allow rich people to have more of a chance to hunt an animal than a poor person. And overall, with raffles there won't be a ton of difference in money made. They could have solved this just by limiting auction tags to one purchaser, for one species, every x number of years, or maybe once per lifetime. As it stands now, it will be gone. The elephant in the room, which no one is mentioning is sure, the raffles come close to the auction amounts, but for how long? The auction tags would have been a high demand item among wealthy hunters for years to come, but what kind of support will the current gen. Z kids provide? And the generations coming after, given the financial shape of the country, and looming international uncertainty? Overall not an easy call, but I think it could have been adjusted to allow the auctions to continue in some form. Let's face it, just because someone is wealthy, and maybe a snob, does not mean they don't value a lifetime tag as much if not more than joe hunter. There are plenty of citizen hunters, some right on this forum who I believe, don't put in the effort, are marginally ethical, and for whom getting their story and photo on social media is valued as much as the hunt. I am hopeful that it will work out. I think they only focused on two dimensions of a three dimensional problem. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildwoody Report post Posted March 15 1 hour ago, oz31p said: Who care who’s buy them, if I had the money they’d all get bought by the same person every year I care which doesn't matter, the rich get the auction tags and the guides who block off roads and have 30 none hunting gumbies on every point . I have 28 points for antilope and 25 for Bighorn and will probably never get drawn, but being I'm poor I will keep trying and buying raffle tags I know ill never win. And you really think this money goes to the animals , I say it goes to administration and lawsuits. So in my opinion only Jimmy John and Gallo can donate the money if they love the animals that much, and put in like the rest of us. On that now bring the HATE. Im ready 9 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ike Report post Posted March 15 just watched the meeting. Basically, small "big" game like lion and bear revenue generated by the change is "projected" to go up slightly. Bison and pronghorn are projected to have somewhat higher revenue. For the big game we are famous for elk, mule deer, and bighorn sheep there is a projected DEEP decrease in revenue. Just one of these species tag allocation going to a raffle is enough to blow away any benefit from any other increases we might see in a raffle situation. So, i guess money isnt everything? The other concerning thing is the raffle revenue has dropped precipitously across the board with the change to Conservation First USA. Not a good time to make a change like this given the downward trend. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted March 15 Just now, wildwoody said: I care which doesn't matter, the rich get the auction tags and the guides who block off roads and have 30 none hunting gumbies on every point . I have 28 points for antilope and 25 for Bighorn and will probably never get drawn, but being I'm poor I will keep trying and buying raffle tags I know ill never win. And you really think this money goes to the animals , I say it goes to administration and lawsuits. So in my opinion only Jimmy John and Gallo can donate the money if they love the animals that much, and put in like the rest of us. On that now bring the HATE. Im ready Wrong! The money goes into a HPC fund which can only be used for certain things, like water catchments and such 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues247 Report post Posted March 15 49 minutes ago, ike said: just watched the meeting. Basically, small "big" game like lion and bear revenue generated by the change is "projected" to go up slightly. Bison and pronghorn are projected to have somewhat higher revenue. For the big game we are famous for elk, mule deer, and bighorn sheep there is a projected DEEP decrease in revenue. Just one of these species tag allocation going to a raffle is enough to blow away any benefit from any other increases we might see in a raffle situation. So, i guess money isnt everything? The other concerning thing is the raffle revenue has dropped precipitously across the board with the change to Conservation First USA. Not a good time to make a change like this given the downward trend. The raffle revenue didn't drop "precipitously". It dropped, but not much. Most likely more due to the out of staters not being able to buy them. They discussed the ability to try and get it back to allowing all the states that can legally participate. That would help offset any drops in revenue. There also wasn't DEEP decreases in revenue from deer, elk, and sheep. Yes there was a drop but nothing that's gonna cause some severe problems. In the end, money isn't the only thing that's important. Chances to hunt an animal should be fair and available to everyone. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
runningbird Report post Posted March 15 I also think getting rid of the auction tags will really decrease the value of the big game banquets. I have only attended a few, but they do bring in a lot of money. 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
