Arizona does away with auction tags

[Gobbler36]

If we had itemized breakdowns of all the money spent and where it went and it showed an overwhelming majority went back into habitat and conservation id be all for them but I don’t know if that’s available

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

If we had itemized breakdowns of all the money spent and where it went and it showed an overwhelming majority went back into habitat and conservation id be all for them but I don’t know if that’s available

It’s not because it doesn’t.

 

[BBob]

It’s not because it doesn’t.

Okay then, where does it go? You say there’s no breakdown but then you say it didn’t go to habitat or conservation so if you can’t prove one then how do you prove the other? Do you think the department is actually skimming or stealing those funds for its own internal use?

As far as raffle tickets with sales managed by one of the non-profits:
“These Arizona Special Big Game Tags were established to raise funds for wildlife management. Every dollar raised for each species is returned to the Arizona Game and Fish Department and managed by the Arizona Habitat Partnership Committee (AHPC) for that particular species.”

A list of AHCP projects and funding:

Habitat Partnership Committee - Arizona Game & Fish Department

Wildlife Habitat Issues and Improvements Habitat Partnership Committees (HPCs) are designed to facilitate local decision making regarding wildlife habitat issues and improvements, and act as a vehicle for partnership development … Continued

www.azgfd.com

 

[Travis Hobbs]

I’m quite sure Arizona has extremely specific rules regarding auction permits. I believe 100% of the funds needs to go back to on the ground work for the same species (obviously other species benefit from habitat work)

I personally have no problem with a limited number of tags going to auction. $500k for example for the statewide mule deer tag is a significant amount of funding that benefits generations of deer and hunters. This money is usually put up as seed money for matching funds from other federal funding sources.

It’s not a perfect world. I wish it didn’t have to happen, but the reality is, wildlife needs help, especially habitat.

Arizona for instance doesn’t do outfitter allocated tags in comparison to a state like Idaho. I’d rather see a couple tags go at auction than 5–10% of available tags be handed over to an outfitter for no cost as a state sponsored welfare program.

 

[BBob]

I believe 100% of the funds needs to go back to on the ground work for the same species (obviously other species benefit from habitat work)

Another source:

Big Game Tag Auctions Raise $2.5 Million for Conservation

Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Habitat Partnership Committee (HPC), helped to allocate over $2.5 million toward habitat improvements

muledeer.org

I previously posted the link to the HPC mentioned in the link above but here it is again:

HPC: Project Proposal and Planning Resources - Arizona Game & Fish Department

Planning Resources Habitat Partnership Committees are designed to facilitate local decision making regarding wildlife habitat issues and improvements, and act as a vehicle for partnership development and communication between private, … Continued

www.azgfd.com

 

[Andrew12gauge]

Kinda like education, I’m just not sure that more money to fish and wildlife departments is always the answer to the problem. Schools continue to ask for more money while doing less with it, and the same trend seems to be true of a lot of fish and wildlife departments. I’m sure the game won’t suffer for the $$ lost by Arizona from auction tags


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[fisherman983]

On one hand I think it's great because I don't agree with auction/gov tags being used as a tax write off/incentive and the whole crews of guides crowding picked out animals for some Uber rich guy to swoop in and kill, take some pictures and leave. On the other it's probably going to be financial hit to the available money put towards conservation

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[OMB]

But I guess still you would have Joe blow crying about it even though the actual population would benefit. Next will be raffle tags that you have to be present to win or have to purchase in person. Bunch of cry babies

I'm fairly agnostic on whether there should be auction tags or not, but the actual benefits to the population has pretty mixed results. There was a data set in the Summer 2023 issue of the WSF magazine that showed an increase of Desert Bighorn tags between 2010 and 2020, but total Rocky tags issued across the West had declined. I suspect with Rocky's, if you pulled that data for 2000, or 1990, it would be even an even bigger delta. We can pat ourselves on the back about how much money is raised from these auctions every year, but are is it really growing the pie at all? One could make the argument that the Kuiu Conservation Direct program has done more in the last few years than any $500k auction tag.

It's already been touched on, but the optics of these tags have gotten so out of hand, especially in the case of Arizona with a 365 day tag. I'm glad these people have worked hard to feather their nest and can afford to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the tag and for an army of 2 dozen guides, but at some point a majority of hunters (and probably a lot of non-hunters) are going to say this is obscene.

We can all admit that this isn't actually hunting. Maybe it's time to press pause before this gets any further out of hand.

 

[sndmn11]

It would be a neat thing if the folks who regularly bid on AZ auctions straight away donated a portion of their highest bid from the last auction. It would definitely highlight who of the bunch is a conservationist, and I'd wager that if each tossed in 10-20% of their last bid (won or surpassed) the amount raised would be larger than the winning bid alone.

 

[mt terry d]

More $$ for government is always the worst use of it.

 

[Coveyleader]

What needs to happen is a pilot program, or full on implementation, where the funds go directly to stop these absurd ballot initiatives in the western states.

 

[Shō[t]gun]

What needs to happen is a pilot program, or full on implementation, where the funds go directly to stop these absurd ballot initiatives in the western states.

I’d support that. $500K can barely buy an acre in actual deer and elk areas. But it could fund some full time defense against anti’s.

 

[CorbLand]

What needs to happen is a pilot program, or full on implementation, where the funds go directly to stop these absurd ballot initiatives in the western states.

Can’t happen. Government funds can’t be used for things like that.

 

[CorbLand]

I think the resource is going to suffer in the name of “equity”. Not only do raffles generally bring in less than auction tags, they cost more to administer and adding more raffle tags (especially those where you need to be in state to buy) will further limit the revenue potential - not to mention cannibalize the existing raffles.

I looked at some numbers the other day, and sheep tags in AZ are 40%+ over the past 30 years, and I have to believe auction tag money was integral to the expansion of public draw opportunities.

For those who are hung up on rich guys being able to buy an auction tag, are you happy to do away with that if it actually means less potential opportunity for yourself in the future?

Be interesting to see if these funds are what really caused the increase in those tags. They have an auction tag for deer and I don’t think anyone would say that they are doing better because of it.

 

[MattB]

So many guys “guessing” about things they could actually “know” if they spent a little time educating themselves. Knowing might even change their perspective.

 

[Coveyleader]

Can’t happen. Government funds can’t be used for things like that.

It could happen if set up correctly.

 

[Weldor]

Bro are you saying you didn't like the palanquin with the Jimmy Johns decal on the side door?

Or Chick fil a

 

[CorbLand]

It could happen if set up correctly.

Expand.

 

[KHNC]

Now if New Mexico would make ALL landowner tags , Ranch Only, or eliminate them totally, we would really be getting somewhere. Totally different than AZ tho. NM tags are just pure profit for rancher greed.

 

[BBob]

NM tags are just pure profit for rancher greed.

Don’t forget about those outfitters over there. There’s at least one or two in on that racket