PHOENIX – The Arizona Game and Fish Department is seeking public comment on proposed hunt guidelines for the 2018-19 through 2022-23 hunting seasons.
The proposed guidelines were developed based on input received through written public comment and information gathered during a webinar and eight public meetings conducted statewide. The proposed guidelines can be viewed on the department’s website at http://azgfdportal.az.gov/hunting/guidelines (PDF).
Comments on the proposed guidelines may be submitted through August 2 to AZHuntGuidelines@azgfd.gov, or by mail: Hunt Guidelines, Attn.: Amber Munig, Arizona Game and Fish Department, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086.
The hunt guidelines provide the biological and social parameters used by wildlife managers to formulate the annual hunt recommendations (season structures, season lengths, season dates, permits allocated, etc.). These recommendations result in the hunts in which licensed hunters may participate. While hunting opportunity is important, wildlife is held in the public trust; therefore, using science-based principles to shape the guidelines process remains paramount to ensure healthy, sustainable and diverse wildlife populations in perpetuity.
“Your comments are important,” said Amber Munig, big game management supervisor. “The biological sideboards for managing wildlife and maintaining healthy, sustainable populations are fairly broad. Your input helps us fine-tune management within these sideboards. Please take a moment to give us your views.”
The final proposed hunt guidelines and all public comments, along with department responses to those comments, will be shared with the Arizona Game and Fish Commission at its September meeting in Flagstaff.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department does not receive general funds from the State of Arizona. The conservation and management of the state’s game animals is made possible by funding generated from the sale of hunting licenses, tags, and matching funds from the Wildlife Restoration Act, a federal excise tax that hunters and manufacturers pay on guns, ammunition and other hunting/shooting-related equipment.
As an older hunter, I would much prefer a longer Mearns’ Quail season, with a corresponding smaller bag limit if necessary. The number of birds in the limit is not as important as the opportunity to be in the field with the dogs. The current limit, eight per day, is very liberal, and could be reduced if the season could be lengthened.