A little from the AZGFD meeting

[AZ402]

I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the outcome of the meeting but here is a little run down.

The days main topic was to set the fall season dates
and
permit numbers.

The deer season was talked about for most of the morning . Concerns over
whether a youth doe hunt on the Kaibab was in the best interest of the
herd. After
much discussion from both sides of the issue the Commission authorize
100
youth doe tags , the recomendation was 400 doe permits. 300 buck only
permits
were then added to other youth hunts so the youth weren't short changed.

The proposed restructing of Central AZ Coues Whitetails hunts also had
alot
of discussion. The Commission approved the proposal to take permits out
of the
December rut hunt and place more tags in the October hunt for more
hunter
opportunity .Much of the discussion here focused on the AZ Deer Ass.
online
survey that showed it's participates did not support this proposal.


Much of the changes in regards to the elk season had been made prior to
this
meeting. However several people spoke out about declining elk numbers.
The AZ Elk Society then made a short presentation
regarding the
states overall elk herd . The Commissioners then asked the Department
for an
estimate of the current elk population . They stated it was between
16,000-17,000
post hunt elk .
Current guide lines for the states elk herd is between 25,000 and 30,000
post
hunt elk .There was alot of discussion here regarding elk/cattle and
habitat
conditions &rainfall etc... The Commission then ageed that 25,000 elk
was too
many however 17,000 was too few .They passed this year's hunt permit
numbers
but directed the Department to increase the herd to around 20,000 post
hunt elk
by 2008.

 

[sreekers]

The increase in Elk numbers sounds right, while still keeping your herd with all the trophies. Not educated enough on the rest to say whether it will effect anything.

 

[BuzzH]

Looks like I may be waiting a little longer for a second chance at coues deer...

What do the November coues hunts look like? or are they even going to have any November hunts?

 

[AZ402]

Buzz, I'm not 100% sure about Nov coues tags in the Central units. I'm under the impression that it'll be managed like the Southern units (Oct,Nov and Dec hunts?) The Nov hunt up in the area you drew this past year could be decent. If you were lucky enough to draw the same tag in Dec, you sure wouldn't have to worry about any pressure. The regs should be out soon on the net. Hopefully you get that tag again soon, I'd like to get back in that area again...........

 

[AzSlim]

It is easy to get a coues tag in the southern units. I have hunted the 4 day 36B hunt in Oct every time I applied, last year was my third choice. I have yet to get a rut hunt tho, despite being my first choice for many years. Also, if you shoot a bow the archery tags are OTC and during the rut. Not many OTC tags left in Az, archery deer, archery turkey, lion & fall bear are the ones I remember, if you want to rifle hunt deer/elk you have to get in line with the rest of us.

I think they added 2 days to the early whitetail hunts this year and took some rut tags away and added them to the Oct & Nov hunts. Should be pretty easy to get a tag as there will be a few units with 1000+ tags.