Mule Deer Fanatic

Garth Goodrich of http://arizonahuntingtoday.com has this to say about proposed Arizona bowhunt changes:

The end to what we, as Arizona bowhunters, once knew, is coming to an end.
Earlier, I wrote a blog titled, “bowhunters under attack”. Today, the Commissioners of the Az Game and Fish Department passed the hunt recommendations for archery deer.
This means that units 1, 3ABC, 7 12A, 13A will go to a draw, meaning we have to apply for a tag to hunt these units. All other units in AZ will be monitored and, if the bowhunters achieve more than a 20% success rate, based on rifle hunters success, that particular unit will also go to a draw. If the success continues to climb, then that unit will be removed from the archery deer hunt in January of each year.
The sad thing is, the decision was based on partially guesswork as, rifle hunters do not have to report their success, but Game and Fish somehow came up with success numbers per unit for gun hunters, then based bowhunters’ success rates from gun hunters’ success rates.
This was done so the game and fish department could follow the new trend, “hunter retention and recruitment”. But, as it seems game and fish will actually push resident hunters to other states, in their quest to hunt.
Just so you know, this decision was contested by members of the Az Bowhunters Association, Mojave Sportsmen Club and, the Az Deer Association, plus several individuals. But, all of their commitment and perseverance fell on deaf ears.
Times are changing and , it does not appear to be for the better for bowhunters in Arizona.