Arizona guys! Heck New mexico too

theox · Mar 13, 2010

LAST EDITED ON Mar-13-10 AT 06:45PM (MST)[p]chime in
im wondering how you feel about your elk hunting opportunities. seems like you guys (arizona)have more opportunity with half the herd utah does.WHile still pumping out monsterous bulls! New mex has close to same number of elk possibly more but also seems like alot more opportunity and still giant bulls!?
So when you hunt elk, how often do you get too?
Do you have a waiting period to hunt elk?
what kind of quality do you usually encounter?
what weapon do you use and the season dates?
would you give it all up for spikes every year and 1 in 20 years a branch antlered bull opportunity?(lol)

?It takes a genius to whine appealingly.?
Mr.Whiny

utfireman · Mar 13, 2010

New Mexico has a herd of 80,000 elk. They give out around 14,000 elk tags.

Arizona has a herd around 32,000 and they give out around 11,000 tags.

Cows tags are included in those tag number's, but for quality and quanity of bull tags, Arizona and New Mexico are top notch.

theox · Mar 13, 2010

LAST EDITED ON Mar-13-10 AT 06:54PM (MST)[p]why doesnt utah follow their suit? Seems Logical right?Arizona is doing something right to offer that many tags with half the herd as utah and to be reigning big bull capital for so many years!

I realize if you add in utahs open bull units(otc) we prob give out more tags but those hunts are so poor i dont feel it should count! those units are more of a joke than anything!

REDDOG · Mar 13, 2010

You thought the Pang sucked, just what the hell are you looking for OX??

theox · Mar 13, 2010

>You thought the Pang sucked, just
>what the hell are you
>looking for OX??

pang sucked cuase there were 10000 hunters on it! it was a zoo!

theox · Mar 13, 2010

LAST EDITED ON Mar-13-10 AT 08:46PM (MST)[p]
lets see go with 30 archery big bull tags plus unlimited spike tags
or 200 big bull tags just saying a little pressure is ok but pang was a general unit quality hunt last year!~ hell you coulda added 200 big bull tags and i bet there still woulda only been 12 bulls killed like the year before the spike hunts!i dont wanna start on pang again its done over and was the poorest excuse for limited e ntry unit!
i hate unlimited spike hunting! its ridiculous! and over crowded its ok if your not hunting your once in 20 year hunt with general season stats!id have loved the hunt if ididnt have to wait 20 years for another elk tag!

booter96 · Mar 13, 2010

While I do agree Arizona offers some of the best elk hunting opportunities to be had anywhere the quality of the bulls and the hunting experience in most units has gone down a bit in the past few years. Reason being, approximately 4 or 5 years ago AZGFD put out a very very vague survey to the hunters here in Arizona. When the results were pulled AZGFD came to the conclusion that the hunters in Arizona preferred quantity over quality. With that said, aside from a select few units that they have deemed to be trophy units, the majority of the elk units in the state have seen a significant increase in tag numbers as well as the number of hunts. This is not to say that you cannot take a high quality bull on both the early and late season hunts rifle, archery, muzzle loader included. Gone are the days that you could pass on several good bulls looking for a great bull on most of the late season hunts, Dont get me wrong it can still be done and AZ still has great hunting it is just not what it was...There are a few units that within a few yrs it will be hard to find anything better then a spike. For those from out of state please do your homework on the unit you apply for as the quality of the unit might not be what it was in the past. Good luck to all this yr ...Dave

Boskee · Mar 14, 2010

You may be off a few on the tag numbers we give out over 25,000 elk tags. Yes the quanity over quality mandate is going to hurt our hunting and already is showing signs of just that.

utfireman · Mar 14, 2010

LAST EDITED ON Mar-14-10 AT 10:04AM (MST)[p]Those numbers where off of stats that I looked into back in 2006.

If I remember right, there is 11,000+/- bull tags and the rest of those 24,000+/- are cow tags? Like I said those numbers where from a few years ago.

theox · Mar 14, 2010

>You may be off a few
>on the tag numbers we
>give out over 25,000 elk
>tags. Yes the quanity over
>quality mandate is going to
>hurt our hunting and already
>is showing signs of just
>that.

when did they start with quantity or quality?

muleybull · Mar 14, 2010

I agree quantity over quality is going to hurt us in AZ in the long run.

But, some of the general hunts can be tough. Once the pressure starts the elk can be hard to find. Especially in some of the top units, a little thick country can make it hard to pull the elk out of sometimes.

www.muleybulloutfitters.com

REDDOG · Mar 14, 2010

OX, this post is kinda funny..As if AZ or NM top units are any easier to draw than UT. So issue 10-20 more tags per unit, what are gonna get? I'll tell ya, less trophy bulls, and still have a butt plug on bonus points.

YOU CANNOT MASS PRODUCE GREAT HUNTING