I just got this email and after reading it I thought, "This is well thought out."

Comments?

Have you ever played chess? Do you know anything about it?

For the record, sportsmen and women, hunters, anglers, shooters and outdoor recreationists are in a chess game, even though some of you may not realize it.

Chess is a game of strategy and thinking ahead. You don't want to lose your King or Queen if at all possible, but you may lose some chess pieces in the process.

We have to minimize our losses. We must be knights and bishops protecting the "Royalty"; the Kings and Queens (hunting, angling, shooting, wildlife management, etc.)

The anti-hunters, anti-anglers, animal rightists and enviro-litigants despise all we do. Yes, as some among us suggest, they are chipping away at our passions, no argument there.

But what is our end game?

Predator contests are on the table right now. Predator hunters are not happy. I don't blame them. For the record, I can't personally defend the contests, however I can defend predator management and predator hunting.

Yes there is a social component at play here, but folks, if we aren't playing the wildlife management chess game smart and strategically, we're going to be done in a few moves. Whether we like it or not, the social piece has become a major component of the "game".


A couple of years ago, many of us suggested the non-hunting public made up approximately 60-70% of the voters. If "we" made up 20% of the voting populace, and by some miracle all our like minded friends voted, we would still need 30-40% of the non-hunting public to vote with us.

Maricopa County was once again named the fastest growing county in the United States, and I would venture to say the majority of those new residents do not hunt or fish. So do you think we have some education hurdles ahead of us?

Back to the contests - who will buck up the money to defend them, or fight them? National groups? Most of them were AWOL when we were dealing with the wildcat ballot initiative last year. The list of organizations that ponied up funds to fight HSUS on that issue was pretty small.

I am not advocating that we cast off portions of our outdoor passions, but I am suggesting we be smart about what we like to do, what we can do and what's important that we need to save.

The AZ Game & Fish Commission has proposed a rule change that would eliminate contests, which it defines as a "competition among participants where participants must register or record entry and pay a fee and prizes or cash are awarded to winning or successful participants".

By doing this, they are maintaining their authority over all wildlife management, are continuing to manage predators, and are continuing to afford hunters the opportunity to hunt predators.

In my opinion, the elimination of contests as proposed by the Commission is a much more palatable solution than losing predator management and predator hunting altogether by some other means.

I'll suggest a legislative solution, which we've heard was imminent if the Commission didn't act, is not an option we would want to see, like in NM, NV and OR.

I'll also suggest we do not want an anti hunting group to come up with a ballot initiative that might not only eliminate contests, but might take predator management and predator hunting with it at the same time. The non-hunting public might fail to recognize any differences!

You still have time to let the Commission know what you think. Here is the proposed Rule, (page 6, item 4 i), Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. You can also find it here: www.azgfd.gov/rulemaking. You can email your comments to rulemaking@azgfd.gov or mail them to AZGFD, Attn: Rules Section, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086. The deadline to comment is May 12th.

We all need to begin looking strategically at the big picture here. And like the game of chess, we need to be thinking ahead with our next moves.

We can no longer afford to simply react to the anti's next target, we have to mitigate and eliminate their perceived opportunities.

That's the view from here.

Yours in Conservation,
Jim Unmacht Executive Director

Much as I would like to draw a line in the sand and say 'not another inch' , I think this is a valid suggestion, and I hunt coyotes, a lot.

Here in Colorado, we lost spring bear hunting and leg hold trapping at the same time (mid-90's) when it was put to a vote of The People.

I was speaking with a DOW Rep at the time, and he told me, point-blank, we are going to lose spring bear and trapping. He said that less than 30% of the licensed hunters in Colorado were registered to vote.

Like it or not, the 'Good People of Denver/Boulder' outnumber all the hunters in Colorado, and by a large margin, plus, they vote.

I agree. We are in a quandary and this will take some thinking and then some serious strategy to have an acceptable outcome.

I too want to draw the line in the sand but I can see where the "contests" for money and sport killing might be a bitter pill the general public to swallow but where proper predator control might be acceptable, with some education, of course.

I don't like the "contests" personally because they pressure the critters that I hunt, which is selfish of me so I'd never vote against a contest. I think there are plenty who would do that already.

Times are a changin' and NOT for the better if you're a hunter/angler/shooter/sportsman!

It's obvious from my reply that I don't have an answers but if I were king......

Zeke

For me, predator contests fall in with big buck contests. We treat our hunting as competition and not a sport. I don’t like it.

I have a friend that is an avid (fanatic) coyote caller. He has entered numerous contests all across the western USA. He asked me to participate with him in a couple contests last year. I did it. Actually we placed third in one.
Glad I did it, but I’d rather just go call coyotes and forget the contest part of th e event.

In Las Vegas the news is reporting coyotes are walking in residential neighborhoods in broad day light showing no fear of humans and so far 11 dogs and cats have been gobbled up. I wonder how these people would vote?