Keeping found heads in Arizona

[Bikes]

We just began hiking a lot in Az. and would like to know the rules on keeping found heads with antlers. Thanks

 

[cpugsie]

Unless they have changed the rules, anything you find is yours.

 

[TagLine]

Sorry but that is not true, I had a problem of this sort just last year, I found a elk skull with antlers still attached and brought it back to my camp, Azgfd drives by and saw the skull and stops and consficated it, The officer told me that when the animal dies it becomes property of the state and is therefore illegal to pick it up and keep, The fine if I remember is like 1800.00 and 60 days inprisonment, Now this is a law that is not been inforced until recent he told me, After answering a few of his questions(whereabouts did I pick it up,) He said he would investigate the situation and get back to me, It took about a week and a half and he contacted me, He met me back in my camp the following weekend and wrote me a tag for the skull and placed it on one of the antlers, He told me I could pick up all the sheds I found but with skull attached I needed to call the department and report it so that a warden could come and investigate and once there was no problems found they would issue a tag for the skull, It was a long week and a half waiting to see if I was gonna wind up the the steel bar hotel and get fined to boot but it worked out ok I my behalf, If you call the game and fish department and ask they will give you any info you need, I too believed it was ok but was rudely awakened,If you do pick one up keep your fingers crossed that they don't see it or you will more than likely go through the same routine as I did, Now when I see them laying I just let them lay, LOL

Tagline

 

[JadgBob]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-05-07 AT 11:56PM (MST)[p]A few years ago my sister-in-law's father, Dean (I'll call him that because that is his name)was hunting in the far northern part of Arizona (where he is a resident)and jumped a bull that ran off through the timber. After it ran a short distance he heard a loud crashing noise and went to investigate. He found the bull laying dead in front of a big pine tree. The only thing he could figue out, looking at the accident scene, was that the bull had tripped on a root while zig zagging and collided with the tree, head-on, breaking his neck.
Dean thanked his maker for his good fortune, put his tag on the bull, gutted it and took it out of the woods. On the way home he stopped, I believe at a check station, and with naive excitement told the wildlife official about his experiance. The official explained that Dean could not tag an animal he found dead and confiscated the meat, hide and head (including his tag).
I guess in the state of Arizona's mind it is better to leave the meat to rot. I have always wondered at the thinking of the official but after reading this post and the the responses this may explain it. Even if it sounds extremely unreasonable in Dean's situation. Maybe the warden in NM can shed some light.
---JadgBob

 

[jodog]

I was always under the impression that you either kill a elk your self haveing a valid tag or you contact AZFG if you find a dead elk and they will do like they did in your case. It is supposed to prevent poaching, or people would probably kill an elk, hide it and claim they found it later in the year. This way you call them when you find one and they can try to determine what happened, how the elk died , legal or illegal.

As far as the elk running into a tree did Dean ever get the skull and antlers back after they investigated it? Finding a whole dead elk is really no different than finding a skull.
I'm currious as to what happened on that one.

 

[couestaxi]

Currently there are no specific laws in Arizona regarding pick-up or "dead-heads". The "directive" they are going by is a memo from the Director and not a law. The officers are assuming the aninmal was poached or did not die from natural causes. Thus they are asking you to call an officer anytime you find a head to have it investigated. I recently asked 2 officers to show me in Title 12 or Title 17 where the laws regarding this subject were.................they could not find them! This is Arizona where you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. Even the officer said they will "make you jump thru the hoops to get it back but you will get it back if you make a big enough stink". And AZGF officers wounder why hunters are so frustrated with them? Basically you cannot pick them up although there is not law against it, just a trip to your local lawyers office and a fee to them, few nasty phone calls.................good luck. Its funny, the AZGF will spend weeks investigating a wounding loss or winter kill animal but will not investigate other issues such as illegal quad use, dumping....

 

[RELH]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-06-07 AT 09:44AM (MST)[p]It seems that the only thing that matters to Arizona G&F is protecting their money they make on their overpriced tags. I am glad to see that they are impartial, they screw over the locals as much as they do the NR.

RELH