proposed hunts guidelines

[Guest Guest_Diablo]

There is a post on AZOD about the uso suite. It states a AZ dept biologist as saying that the non residents will now get 50% of all tags. Is there any truth to this?

 

 

 

 

What do you all think of these ? Just curious is all no flamming here at all.

 

Hunt Guidelines

 

2004-2005 Hunt Guidelines

 

The Arizona Game and Fish Department annually solicits public review and comment concerning proposed hunt structures. To facilitate this public review, the department publishes the Arizona Game and Fish Department Guidelines and Recommendations for the upcoming hunting seasons. The document presents the management guidelines that are used by department wildlife managers to prepare the annual recommendations for the next year's hunts. Additionally, specific direction from the Arizona Game and Fish Commission is incorporated into the guidelines, such as allocating 2.5 percent of the general and muzzleloader season's antelope permits to juniors-only hunts. The department is attempting to obtain comments on these documents from the public. These guidelines will be discussed at 11 public meetings to be held throughout the state (see schedule below). Public comments are welcomed at these meetings.

 

2004 Public Hunt Guidelines Meetings

- Jan. 13, 2004 - Yuma - 7-9 p.m. AGFD Yuma Regional Office - 9140 E. 28th St.

- Jan. 20, 2004 - Page - 7-9 p.m. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area office - 691 Scenic View Road

- Jan. 21, 2004 - Flagstaff - 7-9 p.m. AGFD Flagstaff Regional Office - 3500 S. Lake Mary Road

- Jan. 22, 2004 - Pinetop - 7-9 p.m. AGFD Pinetop Regional Office - 2878 E. White Mountain Blvd.

- Jan. 27, 2004 - Mesa - 7-9 p.m. AGFD Mesa Regional Office - 7200 E. University Ave.

- Jan. 28, 2004 - Payson - 7-9 p.m. Best Western/Payson Inn, 801 North Beeline Highway (Highway 87), Payson

- Jan. 29, 2004 - Prescott - 7-9 p.m. Yavapai County Board of Supervisors Room - 1015 Fair St.

- Feb. 2, 2004 - Kingman - 7-9 p.m. AGFD Kingman Regional Office - 5325 N. Stockton Hill Road

- Feb. 3, 2004 - Tucson - 7-9 p.m. AGFD Tucson Regional Office - 555 N. Greasewood Road

- Feb. 4, 2004 - Sierra Vista - 7-9 p.m. Buena Performing Arts Center at Buena High School - 5225 Buena School Blvd.

- Feb. 5, 2004 - Safford - 7-9 p.m. Graham County General Services Building - 921 Thatcher Blvd.

 

 

To make this public process as open and easy as possible, the department will also accept comments in any of the following ways: 1) written comments may be mailed to Tice Supplee, Game Branch Chief, Arizona Game and Fish Department, 2221 W. Greenway Road, Phoenix, Arizona, 85023; 2) they may be faxed to the attention of Tice Supplee at 602-789-3929; or 3) they can be e-mailed to azgamebranch@gf.state.az.us. Comments will be accepted until March 1, 2004. Copies of the Hunt Guidelines can be downloaded from the department's Web site (azgfd.com). Public comments will be sent to the six Arizona Game and Fish Department regional offices for consideration in preparing the final hunt recommendation package. The recommended Commission Orders for the trapping and fall 2004 hunts will be presented at the April 17, 2004 commission meeting. Commission Orders for bandtail pigeon and dove will be presented at the June 18-19, 2004 commission meeting. Commission Orders for the 2005 javelina, spring turkey, spring bear, spring buffalo, and the 2004-2005 waterfowl seasons will be presented at the August 13-14, 2004 commission meeting.

 

Commission Order 2: Deer

Two percent (2%) of the general deer permits will be juniors-only.

 

Rotations for deer this year will be: Juniors-only deer in Unit 24B, and muzzleloader deer in Units 12AE and 24A. All other juniors-only and muzzleloader seasons remain the same.

 

Create a Unit 12B West hunt area that will be used to limit hunter harvest on the Paria Plateau. A portion of the permits will still be available to hunt in this area.

 

Implement antlerless deer harvest in Unit 12AW as needed.

 

Commission Order 3: Pronghorn Antelope

Two and a half percent (2.5%) of the general and muzzleloader permits will be juniors-only.

 

Potentially close Units 12A and 12B to the general firearms pronghorn season. Retain archery season.

 

Potentially close one or all of the archery, muzzleloader, or general harvest of pronghorn in Unit 34B.

 

Alter the hunt area boundaries in Unit 19B to reflect the construction and opening of the newer, paved Fain Road.

 

Commission Order 4: Elk

Five percent (5%) of the total elk permits will be juniors-only.

 

Rotations for elk this year will be: early general bull in Units 1, 3A and 3C, 8, and 21; muzzleloader bull in Units 3B, 4B, 5BS, and 23S; and archery bull in Unit 22S.

 

Change the legal method of take and dates in the Winslow Hunt Area in Units 4B and 5A from general to archery only. Four (4) new archery-only hunts will be held between September 1 through December 31, 2004.

 

Add 4 limited opportunity elk hunts to the Canyon Creek Hunt Area in Unit 23 to address riparian recovery within areas impacted by the Rodeo-Chediski fire.

 

A general limited opportunity elk hunt may be added north of Camp Verde in Unit 6A.

 

The Skull Valley/Kirkland Junction Hunt Area may be added to the 15A-19B limited opportunity elk hunts scheduled for November 5-21 and December 3-19, 2004.

 

Commission Order 5: Turkey

Juniors-only hunting opportunities will be offered at levels comparable to previous years. Season dates will coincide with the general fall and spring seasons.

 

Eliminate the juniors-only turkey hunt in Unit 23. Permitted opportunities will be accommodated in other open units.

 

Eliminate the general fall turkey hunt in Unit 13B South.

 

Eliminate the archery fall turkey hunt in Unit 13A.

 

Commission Order 6: Javelina

Juniors-only hunting opportunities will be offered at levels comparable to previous years.

 

Commission Order 7: Bighorn Sheep

No changes

 

Commission Order 8: Buffalo

Eliminate one hunt on the Raymond Ranch bison herd to adjust harvest to meet management objectives.

 

Add an additional hunt on the House Rock bison herd to adjust harvest to meet management objectives.

 

Commission Order 9: Bear

No Changes

 

Commission Order 10: Mountain Lion

Change the legal animal to "any lion except spotted kittens or female accompanied by spotted kittens." Additionally, multiple bag limits and boundaries will be evaluated in regards to population management objectives in the units that currently have these designations. Those units include: Units 13A/13B, 16AS/18BS, 21 West, 22 (south of AZ Hwy 87 and F.S. Road 143, and west of AZ Hwy 188), 28 (south of U.S. Hwy 70), and 37B (north of the Gila River).

 

Commission Orders 11: Squirrel; 12: Cottontail Rabbit; 13: Predatory and Fur-bearing Mammals; 14: Other Birds and Mammals; 15: Pheasant; 16: Quail; 17: Chukar Partridge; 18: Blue Grouse; 19: Doves; 20: Band-Tailed Pigeon; 21: Waterfowl; 22: Common Snipe; 23: Trapping; and 24: Sandhill Crane

No changes. Note: Season dates and bag limits for Commission Orders 19, 20, 21, 22, and 24 are subject to final approval of Early and Late season Federal Frameworks as prescribed by the Migratory Bird Commission.

 

Commission Order 26: Population Management Hunts

Minor changes are recommended to the population management hunts first offered in 2003. To date, 57 elk and 10 buffalo tags have been issued in 2003.

 

Commission Order 29: Special Big Game License-Tag Hunts

The 2004-2005 Special Big Game License-Tag seasons were approved at the October 2003 Commission meeting.

 

R12-4-803 Status of Wildlife Areas

The Arlington Wildlife Area (Located in Unit 39) will have an additional restriction. Proposed wording:

 

4. Arlington Wildlife Area (located in Unit 39):

a. No open fires.

b. No firewood cutting or gathering.

c. No overnight public camping.

d. Target or claybird shooting permitted in designated areas only. (new)

e. Motorized vehicle travel permitted on designated roads, on designated trails, or in designated areas only.

f. Open to hunting in season.

[300 wsm]

Hey Diablo thanks for the info. United States Outfitters (George Taulman) has been trying to sue the Az game and Fish for over a year now, for the 10% cap on all of our antelope, elk, and deer north of the colorado river tags. They won in state court but now it is in supreme court. They think they should have the same opportunity as residents at drawing those tags, because they want to make money in Az by guiding. That is how they won in state court is because they said it is a buisnes and they should have a right to work over here. I think we should back the Az Game and Fish as much as we can, because they have been fighting them every step of the way.

[COUESAZ]

you are right as a guide you like to see hunters come from out of state. they are willing to pay and alot of times they tip very well. I am a life time arizonan and if uso keep it up they will ruin it for alot of us in arizona that should have the first chance at our own game. so we should back our game and fish dept any way we can. uso is trying to get the monopoly on all the hunting, and that is wrong anyway you look at it.i dont like to talk about other outfitters and guids like this but they need to be stoped.

[Guest Ernesto C]

Non residents get and will get a 10% of the permits on some of the most popular hunts and they only get 4 to 8% depending on the luck of the draw. That 50% is only a rumor.

 

There is in fact a law sue,but what they are saying is that is discriminating charge non-residents more than residents,what they want is to buy tags at regular price,that is still in court.

 

Thank you. Ernesto C.

[Guest CDN]

Ernesto, info on the USO suit is incorrect. It has nothing to do with cost and everything to with the nonresident %'s. It has been said that Az. is disrupting interstate commerce. Call the Director's Office and ask for the latest info. I called them last week. They are very informative and up front about the case. They need to here are support. thanks CDN

[coues addict]

To All Concerned, I am a California resident and have been hunting in Arizona for over 25 years . I am a" do it Yourself " hunter . I have nothing against guides . I have two good friends that are guides in Arizona. I , really just can't afford guides for the most part. I don't think that nonresidents should get 50% or whatever of the tags , It`s just not fair to the Arizona residents. I fully realize it is very hard to draw certain tags ,but, thats part of what makes them so special when you do get one. I hope that everyone stands behind Az Game and Fish and we get this thing behind us. I really love hunting in Arizona and I can accept the fact that I might not always get the very best tags , but , thats life, Hang in there all you Arizona residents and keep fighting for your rights. Coues Addict

[Jason]

I totally agree with you. Residents should always get the majority of the tags in their state. If Arizona doesn't win the case with USO, ALL residents in ALL western states lose. I apply in 5 states, am an Arizona resident and have hunted more in New Mexico then my own state. If it wasn't for NM i would never get to hunt. I feel bad for NM residents because they lose out on 22% of their tags and have a lot of Private Land with tags costing in the thousands for them. Then for a NM outfitter trying to get more tags in all western states is crazy.

[deserthunter23]

all good info and we all need to back fish and game in this.I dont know all the specifics but each state has different draw percentages for out of state hunters.Some like Colorado you need to accumulate bonus points for a couple of years for certain hunts.In other states non residents arent even allowed to draw for some species.All in all Arizona is very fair in a high demand product.We all want to get drwn each year but that is why we have such special animal harvests in this state .Personally I believe in ethical ,fair chase hunts with guides.Am not and never will be a fan of USO.Keep the fight going and we all will be winners.

[coueshunter]

USO has used a good tactic and may well win with this state, but all us hunters resident and non-resident alike will lose because the state will jack the tag fees up. I got to see how "qualified" the uso guides were on a couple clients they had up on the Kaibab this past season. The guides hadnt been up there for quite a few years, hadnt scouted this year and showed up the last 4 days of the hunt. The clients deserved alot better and didnt get it. Duwane Adams had two of USO clients that cancelled on USO and signed up with Duwane because of some of the issues USO brought up after they paid for their hunt. I for one dont trust their operation, it seems they want to book as many clients regardless. The clients end up getting the short end of the stick...............Allen...........

[COUESAZ]

As a guide and owner of my own guide service . I do it because I love to hunt, And love to be in the outdoors. MY son and I are even starting to do a little gold prospecting for another hobby to do in the outdoors. Heck we even cook in the dutch ovens in the back yard atleast once a week just to be outside. USO is a comercial company in it for the money and the job .That is the way it goes some times. I am not saying they are bad for that. I only want them to back off of us. It should be up to each state to do it the way they want to. So they should just leave us the heck alone. Besides that I have seen some of the game they have taken on the outdoor chan latley and they have gone way down hill. I don't want to get so pissed off about it, But I just can't help it so please forgive me.

Jade Goodman

Edited January 1, 1970 by ARIZONA GUIDE

[Diamondbackaz]

See http://www.gf.state.az.us/nrm/archives/wn_012103.html on info on this court case

[Diamondbackaz]

see end of page 3 and beginning of page 4 of this http://www.gf.state.az.us/pdfs/inside_azgf...tes01_15_03.pdf

Edited January 1, 1970 by Diamondbackaz

[COUESAZ]

Good information to see. Thank you for that I truley like the first one you have up there from the game and fish page. thanks again.