DonMartin
Very Active Member
- Messages
- 2,077
I went to the Arizona Game & Fish Commission meeting on Saturday, to speak as a representative of the Mohave Sportsman Club and area sportsmen.
I don't think I've ever heard so much in-fighting on a commission as I did at that meeting that lasted until almost 6 p.m.
Obviously there are two of Commissioners who don't see eye-to-eye on just about everything, and a couple of times I, and many in the audience, just shook our heads and laughed at what was going on.
I asked the Commission for just two things.
Number one, Region III is the ONLY region in the state that doesn't have at least one Alternative Management Unit for deer. Heck, the boys this year over in Region I wanted one and they got it in 3A/3C without so much as a question from the Commission.
So I asked the Commission, in the interest of being fair and equitable, why can't we get one? After all sportsmen on the west side of the state need a unit to hunt in, with some higher buck/doe rations just like in the rest of the state. (Alternative Management guidelines have a higher buck/doe ratio, target older age bucks, higher hunt success, less crowding, and generally have a lot less tags)
I also asked that the Department go back and adopt the pre-2006 deer guidelines that established a buck:doe ratio of 15 bucks per 100 does. The current guidelines said 10-20.
The Arizona Deer Association had written a letter and asked that an alternative management unit be established in EVERY region in the state, and suggested that Unit 18B be the one for Region III. So this group supported our request. There were more than one written comment that had been turned prior to this meeting, that also supported going back to the pre-2006 guidelines, including at least one former Commissioner (Mr. Larry Adams) and one former and now retired G&F Regional Supervisor (Mr. Tom Britt).
"OUR" Region III Commissioner, Mr. Norm Freeman didn't care for those suggestions I made and asked me why Region III needed an alternative deer management unit. I replied "Why Mr. Freeman shouldn't we have one?" At which point Mr Freeman noted that the matter could be taken care of with hunt orders and didn't need to be changed.
OK, but then our newest member of the Commission (Mr. Mansell) who apparently saw the unfairness of the entire issue and was sympathetic to our request, made a motion to establish at least one alternative management unit in ALL the regions. (Well since Region III was the only one that didn't have one, guess it was about us) And guess what, none of the other commissioners including Mr. Freeman, my friend Robbie Woodhouse and Mr. John Harris (who I worked with at the ALETA Police Academy in Tucson in the late 70's) all decided there was no need for this change and none offered to second the motion for discussion. Thus it died right there.
OK, the "redheaded stepchildren of Mohave County" get slapped down once again.
And there was no discussion at all about the buck/doe ratio recommendation I made.
OK, slapped down again.
But then, a conversation came up about the buck/doe ratios that the ADA had made and lo and hold, the Commission votes to adopt the ADA's buck/doe ratio of 20-30 bucks per 100 does! And this is statewide mind you!
So while that means about an immediate drop of about 10% of the deer tags all over AZ, which really isn't a bad deal as obviously many AZ sportsmen are/were very disappointed with the buck/doe ratio. This means those with tags will see more bucks on the landscape.
And while the Commission didn't respond to the request of our club and our area sportsmen to establish an alternative deer management unit in region III, obviously the ADA has more "juice" and weight with this Commission when it comes to getting things done than we do.
And while I am personally disappointed to tell Region III sportsmen I represented that was unable able to convince at least three Commissioners to support our request, ultimately sportsmen from all over the state (including Region II)did win when it came to the buck/doe ratio issue.
Special thanks to the ADA for getting the Commission to increase the buck/doe ratios so that sportsmen all over AZ will see more bucks on the ground!
And finally thanks to Commissioner Mansell for trying to get the MSC's request up for a vote.
Don Martin
Govt Liaison
Mohave Sportsman Club
I don't think I've ever heard so much in-fighting on a commission as I did at that meeting that lasted until almost 6 p.m.
Obviously there are two of Commissioners who don't see eye-to-eye on just about everything, and a couple of times I, and many in the audience, just shook our heads and laughed at what was going on.
I asked the Commission for just two things.
Number one, Region III is the ONLY region in the state that doesn't have at least one Alternative Management Unit for deer. Heck, the boys this year over in Region I wanted one and they got it in 3A/3C without so much as a question from the Commission.
So I asked the Commission, in the interest of being fair and equitable, why can't we get one? After all sportsmen on the west side of the state need a unit to hunt in, with some higher buck/doe rations just like in the rest of the state. (Alternative Management guidelines have a higher buck/doe ratio, target older age bucks, higher hunt success, less crowding, and generally have a lot less tags)
I also asked that the Department go back and adopt the pre-2006 deer guidelines that established a buck:doe ratio of 15 bucks per 100 does. The current guidelines said 10-20.
The Arizona Deer Association had written a letter and asked that an alternative management unit be established in EVERY region in the state, and suggested that Unit 18B be the one for Region III. So this group supported our request. There were more than one written comment that had been turned prior to this meeting, that also supported going back to the pre-2006 guidelines, including at least one former Commissioner (Mr. Larry Adams) and one former and now retired G&F Regional Supervisor (Mr. Tom Britt).
"OUR" Region III Commissioner, Mr. Norm Freeman didn't care for those suggestions I made and asked me why Region III needed an alternative deer management unit. I replied "Why Mr. Freeman shouldn't we have one?" At which point Mr Freeman noted that the matter could be taken care of with hunt orders and didn't need to be changed.
OK, but then our newest member of the Commission (Mr. Mansell) who apparently saw the unfairness of the entire issue and was sympathetic to our request, made a motion to establish at least one alternative management unit in ALL the regions. (Well since Region III was the only one that didn't have one, guess it was about us) And guess what, none of the other commissioners including Mr. Freeman, my friend Robbie Woodhouse and Mr. John Harris (who I worked with at the ALETA Police Academy in Tucson in the late 70's) all decided there was no need for this change and none offered to second the motion for discussion. Thus it died right there.
OK, the "redheaded stepchildren of Mohave County" get slapped down once again.
And there was no discussion at all about the buck/doe ratio recommendation I made.
OK, slapped down again.
But then, a conversation came up about the buck/doe ratios that the ADA had made and lo and hold, the Commission votes to adopt the ADA's buck/doe ratio of 20-30 bucks per 100 does! And this is statewide mind you!
So while that means about an immediate drop of about 10% of the deer tags all over AZ, which really isn't a bad deal as obviously many AZ sportsmen are/were very disappointed with the buck/doe ratio. This means those with tags will see more bucks on the landscape.
And while the Commission didn't respond to the request of our club and our area sportsmen to establish an alternative deer management unit in region III, obviously the ADA has more "juice" and weight with this Commission when it comes to getting things done than we do.
And while I am personally disappointed to tell Region III sportsmen I represented that was unable able to convince at least three Commissioners to support our request, ultimately sportsmen from all over the state (including Region II)did win when it came to the buck/doe ratio issue.
Special thanks to the ADA for getting the Commission to increase the buck/doe ratios so that sportsmen all over AZ will see more bucks on the ground!
And finally thanks to Commissioner Mansell for trying to get the MSC's request up for a vote.
Don Martin
Govt Liaison
Mohave Sportsman Club
