Arizona Archery hunt changes
Garth Goodrich of http://arizonahuntingtoday.com also has this to say about the upcoming archery mule deer hunt changes for 2008:
Well, I got a little more information about the new archery deer draw that will start in 2008 in Arizona.
Units going to a draw and # of tags (+/-): 1 – 200 tags, 3A/3C – 150 tags, 3B – 75 tags, 7 – 500 tags, 12A – 1850 tags, 13A – 120 tags, 13B – 120 tags. The number of tags is preliminary and will most assuredly be adjusted before the time of draw.
Also, the following are units that will no longer have an archery deer season in December. Units 17A, 20A, 22, 23, 35A, 37A & 42.
On the bright side, all the archery deer hunters that draw a permit for 12A, 13A & 13B can also buy over the counter buffalo and elk tags like the rifle hunts in these units.
What baffles me, is unit 37A…..it only has a December and January hunt and, every year has leftover rifle tags. So, this is a unit that is not in high demand but, we as bowhunters, lost a hunting opportunity for no logical reason.
The Game and Fish Commission voted, approving these changes, without listening to fact. The recommendations were based partially on educated guesswork, and was done in the name of hunter recruitment and retention, at the expense of bowhunting.
Some of us feel that it will only be a matter of time before all archery deer will be in the draw process, making it difficult to draw a tag, and also making hunters choose to apply for either a rifle or archery tag. There will be no 2 season hunters anymore.
