The commision listens

[ThomC]

The commision did listen to the Elk hunters and dumped the new Elk hunt changes back to the 2005 setup. The changes that concern whitetail seasons are still in doubt. They want to shorten the Dec. hunt to the last 10 days of Dec. and add 6 days to the Oct. hunt. Their idea is to make all hunts 10 days, uniformity is the reason. If you don't like these ideas then you better get busy and yell like the Elk hunters did.

 

1) Written comments may be mailed to: Game Branch, Arizona Game and Fish Department, 2221 W. Greenway Road, Phoenix, Arizona, 85023

 

2) Comments may be faxed to the Game Branch at 602-789-3929

 

3) Comments can be e-mailed to azgamebranch@azgfd.gov.

 

Deadline is March 1, 2006

[firstcoueswas80]

thanks for the info! i sent them a email telling them what i think! we all need to speak up!

[bowhunter4life]

need to thank the the arizona bowhunters butt. and the desert christian archers and az. elk butt. they put in hundreds of hours toward this.if you all are not members .I ask you too these are just a few things that hunting clubs throughout az. do for az.hunters.also a huge thank you too the 6000 elk hunters that took the survey.it made a big difference!!!!!!!!!! mike

[CouesWhitetail]

I will second that about thanking the bowhunting groups. That was a good survey, I wish we had done one for deer hunters. I was one of the 6000 who took the elk survey. Nice to see some clear results from it.

 

Amanda

[rthrbhntng]

For you Coues deer hunters that want to know there will be a survey just like the elk one for the deer hunt changes. Please take the survey as soon as you find out about it and tell every one that you know. Because of the success of the elk one the bar has been set high and the commission will only listen if you get the numbers. I am with the Arizona Elk Society and I was at the meeting on Sat to make a statement and the feeling I got was the commission is tired of hearing from individuals and groups that don't poll there membership.

THE DEER SURVEY IS BEING PREPARED RIGHT NOW AND I WILL MAKE SURE THIS WEBSITE AND OTHERS GET THE INFO ASAP.

Steve

[CouesWhitetail]

Great news Steve! Who is creating the survey? Will it be pretty much the same as the elk one?

 

Amanda

[rthrbhntng]

Amanda,

the ADA is working on it and will coordinate with Leonard Ordway from game and fish on the questions. The website will hopefully be a generic one that can be used again. I'm pretty sure that Mark Bool is taking the lead on this. They hope to have it up and running by the end of the week.

Steve

[KGAINES]

I also took the elk survey and think one for the Coues hunts would be great, we have all probably sent our own opinions to them one at a time, which might help a little, but together they will take more notice, at least I hope they will.

Thanks Steve for the info.

[CouesWhitetail]

Thanks for the info Steve. I was talking to Mark about doing that survey last week but I didn't think it was going to go forward. I guess the commission meeting changed some people's minds about the need for it. We have an ADA board meeting Wed where I imagine we will find out the details on the survey.

 

Amanda

[bowhuntinmaniac]

Please dont forget they want to shorten the archery deer in January to 3 weeks........

[bowhunter4life]

and loose some time in december!!!!!!!!! and appears in september also!!!!!!!

[BowhuntCoues]

need to thank the  the arizona bowhunters butt. and the desert christian archers and az. elk butt. they put in hundreds of hours toward this.if you all are not members .I ask you too these are just a few things that  hunting clubs throughout az.  do for az.hunters.also a huge thank you too the 6000 elk hunters that took the survey.it made a big difference!!!!!!!!!! mike

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

One big voice does make a difference, thanks to all that participated. Now we need to continue with the deer hunts.

[couestaxi]

Great job folks, the commission did listen to hunters this time. i do believe however that this is just temporary. These hunting season issues are just a small battle in the major changes going on at AZGF. The most important issue to date is the new commissioner that our governor wants in. If Ms. Martin gets in that will make 2 of the 5 commissioners that do not have hunting as a top priority. The latest addition, Bob Hernbrode is pushing for "watchable wildlife" vs. hunting. The 2 other candidates - Art Pierce and Nancy Lewis - are big time hunters along with being 2 of the most prohunting voices we have. Problem is this does not fit our Governors plans.

 

Please contact the members of the AZ Senate Natural Resources Committee and tell them you are a hunter and a sportsman or woman who does not support Jennifer Martin's nomination.

Members of the AZ Senate Natural Resources Committee:

 

 

Senator Jake Flake, Chairman (Republican) jflake@azleg.state.az.us

Senator Robert Blendu, Vice Chairman (Republican) rblendu@azleg.state.az.us

Senator Tim Bee, Member (Republican) tbee@azleg.state.az.us

Senator Marilyn Jarrett, Member (Republican) mjarrett@azleg.state.az.us

Senator Marsha Arzberger, Member (Democrat) marzberg@azleg.state.az.us

Senator Robert Cannell, Member (Democrat) rcannell@azleg.state.az.us

Senator Rebecca Rios, Member (Democrat) rrios@azleg.state.az.us

 

 

Please call and email today!

 

The Sierra Club is jumping for joy that they may have 2 folks pushing towards non-consumptive species on the commission.

 

These changes to our hunting seasons are just a start so lets keep up the good work and continue to work together.