Big Boquillas Ranch Threat or Leverage or Both!

[DesertBull]

so why not get sportsmen's groups together to push to make corner hopping legal, with all the good map software available now the avg hunter will know where the boundry lines are and public ground can be accessed

 

 

What if I can jump over the fence corner without touching it?

 

[Red Sparky]

so why not get sportsmen's groups together to push to make corner hopping legal, with all the good map software available now the avg hunter will know where the boundry lines are and public ground can be accessed

Because if it is like NM the private landowners won't go for it because they would lose all the free access for their hunters to use "public lands" others can't.

 

edit: Their reasoning is their land extends up in the air to 1000 ft., (the height a LE airplane would need a search warrant if they were lower) and you would have to be in their "air space" therefore technically trespassing.

[Mathews]

This hole Big Bo thing trips me out, I hunted big bulls with my buddy on there last year, I didn't mind paying the $60.

Now where I get a lil confused is the access part. I know of TWO cases, one being a gentleman that has posted pictures hunting deer on the big bo when there was no access allowed at that time. Another gentleman I know personally was on the ranch this year to scout for elk WAY before anyone else was allowed on.....just a lil FYI both of these gents work for big name guides........

Last year I was in there the first morning the ranch was supposed to be open. Was flagged down by a rancher and asked what I was doing on the ranch.. Showed the idiot my pass and explained myself. Next thing he said.. "Yeah so and so out of kingman has been in here scouting pretty hard for elk.."

 

Must be nice to have an in

[elkaholic]

I'm sure there are few of the guides and different outdoorsman groups whom might have a little pull with the BO rancher , since they've been involved with hunting or the ranch cleanups for many a yr.

 

just like asking permission or helping out any rancher who has private land in the off season- it often opens gates that are closed normally for everyone else

 

lots of the " who ya know" gets ya an advantage!!

 

just like around my land - I have the local cattle ranchers # and call if I see a cow or calf in trouble - he's in the field a lot more than I can possibly be and he remembers stuff like that and when asked where the deer or elk are - he doesn't mind giving the latest sightings

[audsley]

Offering corrections and additions to a generally very good thread.

 

First, AGFD is not holding the big cards, as someone said earlier in an otherwise excellent post. The state legislature is holding the big cards. And that's where ranchers will run to if things don't go their way on this.

 

Ranchers have far more influence in the legislature than hunters, and the legislature can make things worse for us in a number of ways. Calling for a showdown is risky business and should be a last resort only.

 

Legal footing for wildlife and hunting exists almost exclusively in the state statute that created the game and fish commission back in the early 30s. (The state constitution does not mention wildlife.) The legislature could dissolve the commission tomorrow if it wanted to, and there'd be no higher authority to appeal it other than a ballot initiative.

 

It's doubtful the legislature would ever dissolve the commission, but they have other means for punishing AGFD and sportsmen.

 

Working against us is public ignorance about history, ranching, hunting and how things are playing out in Arizona nowadays. Most people aren't interested enough to gain a meaningful understanding of these subjects, and the news media and the people they quote aren't helping.

 

(Just this morning the Az Daily Star ran a letter to the editor stating that nobody eats bighorn sheep; they merely cut off the heads and go home. I responded in the comments section with several bighorn sheep recipes I've been using since taking my ram last December. For what little good that does.)

 

The best I can suggest is that Rthrbhunting and his colleagues continue demanding data to back up the Boquillas assertions, and that any lies, exaggerations and bad faith negotiating be exposed to public view.

[Swivelhead]

Landowners can do as they please with their land. End of story. Attempting to punish them for exercising their property rights is baloney. Do I wish there was a way to access public lands within? Of course but that is a separate issue. Big Bo has allowed public access for years, much longer than most other large ranch properties. Charging trespass fee's for access beats the heck out of a total lockup.

[naturebob]

Tucson has an English Newspaper. .....Interesting.......BOB1

[SirRoyal]

I have been reading all the posts everyday.

I'm looking for a balance.

 

Sometimes I get caught up looking at things thru my own experiences and or my own emotional tunnel vision which breeds a selfish point of view that lacks an objective outlook based on a bias one way road that can lead to a collision of the opposing parties point of view.

 

Don't ask me what I just said , I'm stilling trying to understand it! Lol!

 

This thread is good!

 

I'm headed to the Kaibab to help a buddy knock down a good'n!

 

But I shall continue to stealthy glance thru the lense of this thread as to keep my mind objectively balanced , but only to those posts that contain worth that apply to the above original Topic.

 

 

 

Hey Bob , That means you Lol, oh and few others.

[ThomC]

No English in Tucson, its liberal language. Sad but true! Back to the topic I suspect that Audsley knows the scoop or the poop.

[AZJR]

Dave,

Sent you a message.

Jim

[Explorer]

Just like the Baca float and all the other ranches south of ash fork.

very true. 18b should be eliminated from all elk hunts. By including it in the hunts they are basically catering to Chad Smith and his airforce of goons.

[hawkens]

They need to not allow hunting on the 500,000 acres and open up the 250 000 acres of state trust to access !!!

[111]

I think the AZGFD has the advantage in this deal and in order to keep it they can't give in to the BO at all. A few years ago I believe the AZGFD dealt with the Unit 19B closure in the best way possible. A private land owner in unit 19B closed access to hunters and was likely trying to use the land to charge antelope hunters outrageous fees for tags. The AZGFD department cut unit 19B rifle antelope tags from around 50 to 5 tags so the landowner would have no hunters to charge an increased fee to.

 

Being elk can explode in population quickly I don't think the AZGFD can use that same strategy as they did in 19B. If the BO decides to close their gates, even with a dramatic tag cut there would still be enough tags left for the wealthy hunters to hunt the Boquillas. The next best option might be to cut out the BO from unit 10 and leave them to control the elk herd. Eventually they would get so tired of the elk and would be beg hunters to control the population again. Another possibility, if cutting out the BO from unit 10 is not possible then make it illegal to hunt on private land in unit 10. Not sure if that would be legal, but again that would leave the BO to control the elk herd themselves.

 

Hopefully everything gets taken care of the best way possible and the AZGFD goes into this situation the right way. Overall I think the AZGFD does not want AZ to become anything like New Mexico, where landowner tags are very common and Guided hunters get a percentage of the tags in each unit.

[AZBULLHUNTER]

close it overated

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

Don't forget about babbit lands, they have a full page in the regs, laying the groundwork I'm guessing. Starting to look like other states now. Its a bummer but it is private. I don't think cutting them from the unit is the answer either, I don't know of any other state that has done that and Montana has some much larger ranches. I say negotiate some tag percentage that allow access and draw off those separate from the rest of the unit. And then hand them a few landowner tags.