Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Would you pay more 4 tags/licenses if

Whttail,

Thanks for the info and links.
I am very proud to be a guide/outfitter, but at the same time I feel shameful about what others in my same profession do. Money is what moves mountains it seems like. I am very much against the rising cost of tags and such in AZ, but I feel we need to do something.
I don't know if you are aware, but in AZ the Game and Fish is the only self-sustaining department. The only help they get outside tags and fines and such comes from the lottery. Not much else. Most of the high cost of tags come from the pay raises game wardens want/need. However the cost of tags is getting rediculous.
I love to guide and make money doing what I love (hunting), but however I would much rather hunt with my best friend and my Father than guide. In saying this I mean the tags are getting to the point where my father would rather not hunt than pay for a tag that may or may not be filled. I cherish every moment I can with my dad especially in the outdoors. Most of my guiding in AZ now, the money goes for our tags, as I am now paying for Dad, myself and my best friend. Anything extra is for the trip.
So when it comes to hunting, I love the chance to guide and help people take a trophy, but at the same time, I watch hunting getting to the point where only the rich can do it. I am not rich, so I am sure in a few years hunting for me will be out of reach and all I will have is guiding.
If I had my way, I would tell the AZGFD that hunting is for everyone not just the rich. I would go as far as to say everyone has the right to a trophy not just the rich. I think trophy units/hunts are a bunch of bull they should not cost more so everyone could have a chance. Right now I have a few hunts given away to youth that drew prime tags. They are being conducted at no cost and some of my guides are pitching in to the effort. I do this as a way to give back and hook the young ones to the outdoors. I am also open to giving up a few slots for people looking to try hunting for the first time. Just my way of not forgetting why I outfit. I do it because of my love of the outdoors not the money. I just wish there were more out there. Trust me if I was in it just for the paycheck my prices would be a lot higher. Currently I am below most other outfits, but my clientel is different. Not all my clients are rich. Most have 9 to 5's and most only do guided hunts once in a long time. I am not Biased, I accommodate anyone interested in a hunt as long as I am not out anything most of the time.

Thanks again for the info, and I hope the aboves gives you an idea what I and my outfit are about. And how I run my business and why I do it that way.

From the heart,
Kique

I think it would be a fine idea for here in Arizona, Enrique. I live in the Valley of the Sun and have watched the housing explosion the past few years. Areas I used to deer and javelina hunt just a couple of years ago not far from home are now rooftops and asphalt.

What most folks don't know is that although this is a large state, 1/3 of it is Indian reservation, another large segment is military basing/gunnery ranges, national monuments, etc. This leaves about 1/3 of the state as Federal/State lands. Another sizeable portion is privately owned and municapilities. Of that amount, maybe a 1/4 of the state is suitable for big game hunting. Even though the seasons and areas are staggered for hunting, the public lands are are crowded not only with hunters, but others wanting to recreate by hiking, horseback riding, dirt back riding and pleasure cruising. The woods get awfully crowded.

I'd be more than willing to pony up a small fee to help with additional land purchases for G&F if they had it open to hunting/fishing. As you know, a portion of the $10 million the G&F gets from the state lottery is to go toward such purchases, anyway.