What's AZ Gonna Do ?

[BruinBreath]

I pass over all of the Arizona post's. Just got sick of reading it so I stayed away. I was hoping someone could tell me what it will cost for a non resident sheep tag and if I can just "buy" a point after purchasing the non resident license. Or will I have to front the money and then get a refund if I don't draw ? Thanks for your help.
BB

 

[MNHunter]

No one knows exactly what they are gonna do yet. They are going to get rid of online apps for at least 05 so you will have to mail in the full tag amount and wait for a refund. In 06 they plan to have system in place where they charge the full tag amount online.
If memory serves, "buying" a bonus point in years past was the cost of the tag, no refund. It obviously wasn't worth it for non-residents.

 

[ASUCoues]

2005 online is gone. It is going to be through the mail and all money is due at time of application. I think they are trying to get 2006 set up so you can use your debit card. All money will be due at time of application. I think you will have to buy a license to apply but then you will get your bonus point if not successful.

Regarding cost. They are working on that right now. AZ has their fees and annual allowable increases capped by state law. They have drafted what those caps will be and are sending them through G & F before sending to the legislature.

FYI - the good ole days for nonresidents in AZ are over. They are going to have to pay some big bucks to come and hunt in our state now.

Check out www.azgfd.com. They keep the site updated weekly on what is happening.

 

[BruinBreath]

Thats what I was afraid of ASUCoues. Looks like I wasted about 1,500.00 in Arizona all these years for nothing. That money could have bought a mean BBQ grill.

 

[sheriff38]

There ever was any "good ole days" for us regular non-res in AZ., Its just gonna get worse. The ones that can afford to hunt will continue to take tags from the locals!

 

[MNHunter]

BruinBreath,
I think you may be in a good position for the immediate future if you have a lot of points. I may be looking at this wrong but if you have a lot of points, and they do away with non-res quotas, that will open up every tag to the possibility to be drawn by a non-res. If they also allocate say, 75% of tags to people with the most points, you may have good luck in the near future since you built up points when it was "cheap". The non-res who are going to be hurt the most IMO are the people who just got in the game recently.

 

[ASUCoues]

Sheriff, I think you need to go back and look at what our non-res rates were compared to other states. I just looked them up and they were:

License - $113.50
Deer - $113.50
Elk - $371
Sheep - $920

AZ has some of, if not the the best mule deer, coues deer and elk hunting in the country. Why else would USO have fought so hard against us. To be able to hunt Kaibab mule deer for $227 dollars as a non res was a gonga deal (assuming you could get drawn).

UT non res premium deer is almost $600. UT non res elk is $800. UT non res sheep is $1,500. NM non res sheep is $3,000.

I think it is safe to say that the non residents who hunted in AZ for all these years got gonga deals for what they were buying and YES the "good ole days" for non residents in AZ are over.