AZ Night Hunting & Shotgunning Lions

[Healy Arms]

A big thanks to TJ & Peg for the outstanding Coues WT Christmas party. As was discussed at the party, here's the nighttime and new legal take mountain lion hunting information I've gathered thus far from AZ G&F regulations and AZ game officer & dept biologist Ron Day.

 

Finally - night hunting for lions is here and is referred to in the G&F Regulations as "Daylong Hours". I believe this will make calling them more productive and we should see more photos from successful hunts posted here. Here's what I've learned about the December 2, 2011 rule changes:

 

Shotguns Shooting Shot: It's now legal in AZ to use a shotgun shooting shot (slugs are still okay too) to kill a mountain lion. I called the AZ G&F and asked if there were any restrictions on shot size and was told no. The intent behind the law revision was to allow the predator callers who call lions while armed only with a shotgun to legally take the lion. Mr. Day said that most predator hunters were going to be hunting with shells that would be appropriate for killing coyotes (T-shot & larger) and that those same loads should be sufficient for killing lions.

 

Centerfire Rifles After Dark: It's legal to use a rifle for hunting lions after dark. Don't confuse the nighttime coyote regulations with the lion regs - the AZ G&F doesn't restrict the weapon for lion hunting, they actually added one (shotguns). The safety concerns with shooting a rifle across an antelope flat in the dark were greatly reduced in the hilly/mountainous terrain most lion hunts would be conducted in, so centerfire rifles were kept as a legal after-hours method of take.

 

Hunting After Dark / Artificial Light: Mountain lion regulation note 27 provides for using battery powered lights. Your light can be handheld or mounted on your gun (or a combo of both). It CANNOT be affixed to or plugged into a motor vehicle in any way.

 

Hunting After Dark / Locations: Night hunting for lions was designed to give relief to bighorn populations, thus the units/areas where hunting lions at night is allowed are limited. At this time the Daylong areas are: Units 6A South, 13B, 15B (west of Temple Bar Rd) 15C, 15D, 16A South, 18B South, 22 (south of Hwy 87 and FR 143 and west of Hwy 188), 31, 32, 37B (north of the Gila River), 40A, 42 (south of the Buckeye-Aguila Rd and west of 335th Ave), and 44A (east of Cunningham Wash). Click this link for more details: Updated AZGF Regs

 

Hunting After Dark / Seasons: Hunting in the units/locations listed in the Daylong section is year round - July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. Lots of opportunity here.

 

Hunting After Dark / Multiple Bag Limits: This rule is exactly the same night/day. If you're fortunate enough to have already bagged a lion and want to buy another tag & keep hunting in one of the multiple bag units, it's your responsibility to make sure the unit hasn't closed and reverted back to one-per-calendar-year. Refer to the AZGF regs for details.

 

VERY IMPORTANT! The Game & Fish asked we recognize that nighttime hunting is designed to help meet certain predation objectives. Taking bobcats and fox during the nighttime hours is always prohibited and the department will seek hunting privilege revocation for folks caught taking them after legal shooting hours. Mr. Day said calling bobcat and fox in the daylight is sufficiently easy to accomplish and they should be given a break in the dark.

 

I think this covers it - please post if you have any questions and I'll answer it or track it down. Obviously my research on the topic is from a predator caller's perspective, so if you hound hunters have anything to add regarding night hunting, that would be great too.

[tjhunt2]

Thanks Mark for all that information and thanks again for bringing your son to the x-mas get-together. With this new law in effect we all just got an early x-mas present.

 

TJ