OTC Arizona archery

[Baddog]

Not many tags left to fill. I wonder if this new way will be considered a success?

 

[Northpark]

Not many units still open especially for mule deer. Talking to a guy I know over at game and fish it turns out that they are now estimating that people were killing 70% more mule deer in OTC archery than they were originally estimating. Many units closed to mule deer hunting in the first week. I’m pretty happy they went to the quota system.

 

[Dos Perros]

Do they re-open Jan 1?

 

[bohntr]

What are you guys talking about? The units that are already closed were never open in Dec/Jan anyways (with a few expeditions).

The main change this year (2023) is the limit on NR deer tags to 2890. The state sold an average of 3400 NR tags, so it’s not too much less than normal.

 

[S.Clancy]

Do they re-open Jan 1?

I think the ones that are closed stay closed till August 2023, but could be mistaken.

 

[bohntr]

Youd

I think the ones that are closed stay closed till August 2023, but could be mistaken

You are correct. Those already closed were traditionally only offered in Aug/Sep archery seasons anyways (exception 24b).

 

[Dos Perros]

Thanks guys.

 

[canyonhunter47]

Not many units still open especially for mule deer. Talking to a guy I know over at game and fish it turns out that they are now estimating that people were killing 70% more mule deer in OTC archery than they were originally estimating. Many units closed to mule deer hunting in the first week. I’m pretty happy they went to the quota system.

Before the G&F started the mandatory reporting requirement, various hunters have told me that they don’t report and discourage others from reporting to keep the G&F from closing the unit.

 

[Northpark]

Before the G&F started the mandatory reporting requirement, various hunters have told me that they don’t report and discourage others from reporting to keep the G&F from closing the unit.

I mean it is an honor system to a certain degree unless you get caught on social media or something. That being said my opinion is that anyone suggesting that sort of behavior is not much of a hunter.

 

[greaseywater]

After the recount, 100 more NR OTC tags will be available Friday.

AZGFD

www.azgfd.com

 

[bowuntr]

Yeah, the AZGFD's computer can't count... their entire IT department should be fired and outsoursed... embarrassing. Ed F

 

[Waterman86]

My part of the state is still open and God knows I'm just gonna wonder around the woods for 5- 10 days and come back empty handed. Besides gas isn't that expensive (j/k it's still rediculous).

 

[TheAntlerOutlaw]

Not many units still open especially for mule deer. Talking to a guy I know over at game and fish it turns out that they are now estimating that people were killing 70% more mule deer in OTC archery than they were originally estimating. Many units closed to mule deer hunting in the first week. I’m pretty happy they went to the quota system.

Im a resident and locally, I have seen more bucks and better age class as a result of quota system. Trail camera ban also has played a part.

 

[HuntHarder]

Im a resident and locally, I have seen more bucks and better age class as a result of quota system. Trail camera ban also has played a part.

I am also a resident that was in favor of the quota system and trail cam ban. I have not seen a difference in age class yet but it is sure nice not having cameras on me at every tank.

 

[Northpark]

Im a resident and locally, I have seen more bucks and better age class as a result of quota system. Trail camera ban also has played a part.

Agreed. More bucks and better age class is what I’m seeing. Just less pressure on the deer. And ya the camera thing is kinda nice too.

 

[Idahohillboy]

The quota thing is complete trash I hunt all over southern AZ its a shit show from east to west. I have seen zero
Improvement in buck numbers and quality. Az has always had great bucks and good numbers unless bad droughts hit. In my opinion the whole thing is unecessary. I have otc hunted AZ now for 12 years all over the south east and west end of the state. If you know the history F&G came up with a goal of 20% of the take being archery like over 20 years ago. Since they felt it was being exceeded they imposed these quotas instesd of shutting it down. The demand for archery is way higher now though. All the quotas have done is taken a good thing and messed it up turning it into a rat race. Units over crowding and people on every drinker. I have gone way fown the rabbit hole on this. I must assume Northpark you must be a rifle hunter…. Anyone for the quotas obviously has not regularly archery hunted because it has become more of a shit show every year. I can get behind getting rid of game cams even though they were fun.

If AZF&G want to keep the quotas they need to start it in January and run it with the calendar year of the tag. That would give us a chance to rut hunt in some of the better units for big bucks. They also should adjust it to archery being 30% of the take since bowhunting has completly blown up in the last 10 years due to IG - forums - other things. Get rid of December all together and go back to regular seasons. Everything would be fine. I am confused why any hunter wants someyhing taken away but if I was to take something from hunters it would be scopes on rifles call me crazy. Big bucks would be everywhere.

 

[HuntHarder]

The quota thing is complete trash I hunt all over southern AZ its a shit show from east to west. I have seen zero
Improvement in buck numbers and quality. Az has always had great bucks and good numbers unless bad droughts hit. In my opinion the whole thing is unecessary. I have otc hunted AZ now for 12 years all over the south east and west end of the state. If you know the history F&G came up with a goal of 20% of the take being archery like over 20 years ago. Since they felt it was being exceeded they imposed these quotas instesd of shutting it down. The demand for archery is way higher now though. All the quotas have done is taken a good thing and messed it up turning it into a rat race. Units over crowding and people on every drinker. I have gone way fown the rabbit hole on this. I must assume Northpark you must be a rifle hunter…. Anyone for the quotas obviously has not regularly archery hunted because it has become more of a shit show every year. I can get behind getting rid of game cams even though they were fun.

If AZF&G want to keep the quotas they need to start it in January and run it with the calendar year of the tag. That would give us a chance to rut hunt in some of the better units for big bucks. They also should adjust it to archery being 30% of the take since bowhunting has completly blown up in the last 10 years due to IG - forums - other things. Get rid of December all together and go back to regular seasons. Everything would be fine. I am confused why any hunter wants someyhing taken away but if I was to take something from hunters it would be scopes on rifles call me crazy. Big bucks would be everywhere.

Oof, I don't know where to start. The quota is much better than going to a full on draw. I imagine within 10 years, the quota system will be gone and it will be draw only. Living in Az and bowhunting as much as I do, I can say, without a doubt, that killing a deer is much much easier now than it was 20 years ago. Technology and the increase in archery participation on a whole has led to more deer getting killed. I think not having mandatory kill tracking until the last few years, really hurt. Without knowing how many deer are being taken, it is very hard to understand the impact to the herd. I am all for mandatory kill reports for any weapon. There will be some deceit, but the vast majority of hunters will report honestly.

I think for NR it would be better to go to a draw vs. the rat race it is to get a tag right now. I had a few NR buddies miss out on tags this year because they were slightly to late. Racing to get tags is silly imo.

I have 100% seen a decline in Mule deer #'s in the units I hunt over the last 20 or so years. There is still great bucks to be had, but overall our MD are hurting. Whitetail on the other hand are thriving and expanding their range into more traditional MD habitat.

Increasing the overall harvest to 30% I think would be a good thing as well, but it would take away from gun hunters. Very hard battle to fight, with how many gun hunters there are vs. bowhunters. I do not think any of us want things taken away, but some of us realize that without limiting things, our resource as a whole will or could be taken away. Trying to stay ahead of technology is AZGFD's 2nd biggest problem with the 1st being our severe drought.

I for one would never get rid of December hunts as I have taken 90% of my archery bucks in December. The quota system is not perfect, but I feel like it was a better option vs. going to draw only. Like I previously mentioned, I anticipate draw only within 10 years.

 

[willfrye027]

The quota thing is complete trash I hunt all over southern AZ its a shit show from east to west. I have seen zero
Improvement in buck numbers and quality. Az has always had great bucks and good numbers unless bad droughts hit. In my opinion the whole thing is unecessary. I have otc hunted AZ now for 12 years all over the south east and west end of the state. If you know the history F&G came up with a goal of 20% of the take being archery like over 20 years ago. Since they felt it was being exceeded they imposed these quotas instesd of shutting it down. The demand for archery is way higher now though. All the quotas have done is taken a good thing and messed it up turning it into a rat race. Units over crowding and people on every drinker. I have gone way fown the rabbit hole on this. I must assume Northpark you must be a rifle hunter…. Anyone for the quotas obviously has not regularly archery hunted because it has become more of a shit show every year. I can get behind getting rid of game cams even though they were fun.

If AZF&G want to keep the quotas they need to start it in January and run it with the calendar year of the tag. That would give us a chance to rut hunt in some of the better units for big bucks. They also should adjust it to archery being 30% of the take since bowhunting has completly blown up in the last 10 years due to IG - forums - other things. Get rid of December all together and go back to regular seasons. Everything would be fine. I am confused why any hunter wants someyhing taken away but if I was to take something from hunters it would be scopes on rifles call me crazy. Big bucks would be everywhere.

Starting the season in January makes sense. It’s annoying to plan for a January hunt and watch the quotas fill up in December. I imagine a lot of guys hunting in December are punching tags on anything legal before the end of season. Starting in January should theoretically make people chill out and hopefully be more selective. Any of these small changes are just managing hunters..weather is going to actually affect deer herds.

Writing this from my deer camp. Had to make a last minute unit change due to quotas..I don’t think I’ve seen that particular unit quota ever fill so early but I imagine the lack of monsoon moisture has made a lot of young bucks susceptible at water holes.

 

[willfrye027]

Oof, I don't know where to start. The quota is much better than going to a full on draw. I imagine within 10 years, the quota system will be gone and it will be draw only. Living in Az and bowhunting as much as I do, I can say without a doubt that killing a deer is much much easier now than it was 20 years ago. Technology and the increase in archery participation on a whole has led to more deer getting killed. I think not having mandatory kill tracking until the last few years, really hurt. Without knowing how many deer are being taken, it is very hard to understand the impact to the herd. I am all for mandatory kill reports for any weapon. There will be some deceit, but the vast majority of hunters will report honestly.

I think for NR it would be better to go to a draw vs. the rat race it is to get a tag right now. I had a few NR buddies miss out on tags this year because they were slightly to late. Racing to get tags is silly imo.

I have 100% seen a decline in Mule deer #'s in the units I hunt over the last 20 or so years. There is still great bucks to be had, but overall our MD are hurting. Whitetail on the other hand are thriving and expanding their range into more traditional MD habitat.

Increasing the overall harvest to 30% I think would be a good thing as well, but it would take away from gun hunters. Very hard battle to fight, with how many gun hunters there are vs. bowhunters. I do not think any of us want things taken away, but some of us realize that without limiting things, our resource as a whole will or could be taken away. Trying to stay ahead of technology is AZGFD's 2nd biggest problem with the 1st being our severe drought.

I for one would never get rid of December hunts as I have taken 90% of my archery bucks in December. The quota system is not perfect, but I feel like it was a better option vs. going to draw only. Like I previously mentioned, I anticipate draw only within 10 years.

I’m all for opportunity..and I think a draw would be a good thing. Do away with otc for the nonres..make it a draw in the regular draw period. Keep the quota and otc for residents but let nonres draw an otc tag and have to choose between that and putting in for rifle hunts/strip/etc. I think that would allow the dedicated archery guys to easily get a tag and eliminate some of the “well why not just buy one” crowd.

 

[HuntHarder]

Starting the season in January makes sense. It’s annoying to plan for a January hunt and watch the quotas fill up in December. I imagine a lot of guys hunting in December are punching tags on anything legal before the end of season. Starting in January should theoretically make people chill out and hopefully be more selective. Any of these small changes are just managing hunters..weather is going to actually affect deer herds.

Writing this from my deer camp. Had to make a last minute unit change due to quotas..I don’t think I’ve seen that particular unit quota ever fill so early but I imagine the lack of monsoon moisture has made a lot of young bucks susceptible at water holes.

Not just young bucks dying on water this year. It is drier than last year and last year was really bad. The animals are very concentrated this year and are near a water source. The dust this year is the worse I have seen. The rut was terrible in December.

The only problem with starting in January, is most units would close for the rest of the year. Bucks are really easy to kill in January. They are rutted out of their minds. Not sure how that would play it.

Good luck on your hunt this year. Shoot a giant