OTC AZ Archery Units closed

[Pedropistola]

I'm sure a lot of you know that AZGFD has closed or reduced seasons for a significant amount of units for the OTC archery hunt this year, after paying "celebrity" hunters to go down there and promote the OTC archery hunt recently. I'm waiting to hear all the details from AZGFD, it's been a few weeks since I sent in my questions.

Does anyone know who got paid to go down there and promote it? I have my guesses but would like to be sure.

Anyone know how much was spent on promoting those hunts total? Seems like the hunt had plenty of attention already and that money could have gone to access, water sources, etc. to support the hunt, not get it cancelled.

I can understand the guys/groups who went down there getting paid to promote public land hunting, and their own brands, it'd be hard to say no to that, but I wonder what they think of it now that it has negatively impacted a lot of resident and non-resident hunters who were hunting that public land before, the effects on the deer herd, etc.

I guess for me it's brought into the spotlight this issue of social media attention blowing up spots, or entire hunts in general even more, and made me think about why I support these companies that contribute to it. I know I'm getting salty in my 30's now but it sure seems like the wildlife, habitat, tactics and comradere that was once highlighted has sure taken a back seat to gear advertisements, bag dumps, reviews, unit overviews and a lot of talk about getting tags. I know I've started watching & listening to a lot less lately because of it. Curious if I'm just being an A-hole or if others have picked up on it too.

 

[Pedropistola]

This was AZGFD's response to my email asking who was paid, when, how much and what the effects on the hunt/deer herd after the promotion that I received while trying to make this post

 

[madtom]

Well this is awkward.

 

[TheTone]

“An influencer” I believe is an understatement, judging by Instagram pics from multiple people it was a camp full of folks more than one year. The only one I’ve ever seen admit to it was Brian Call, kinda seems like they don’t want to talk about it much

 

[LuketheDog]

I'm sure a lot of you know that AZGFD has closed or reduced seasons for a significant amount of units for the OTC archery hunt this year, after paying "celebrity" hunters to go down there and promote the OTC archery hunt recently. I'm waiting to hear all the details from AZGFD, it's been a few weeks since I sent in my questions.

Does anyone know who got paid to go down there and promote it? I have my guesses but would like to be sure.

Anyone know how much was spent on promoting those hunts total? Seems like the hunt had plenty of attention already and that money could have gone to access, water sources, etc. to support the hunt, not get it cancelled.

I can understand the guys/groups who went down there getting paid to promote public land hunting, and their own brands, it'd be hard to say no to that, but I wonder what they think of it now that it has negatively impacted a lot of resident and non-resident hunters who were hunting that public land before, the effects on the deer herd, etc.

I guess for me it's brought into the spotlight this issue of social media attention blowing up spots, or entire hunts in general even more, and made me think about why I support these companies that contribute to it. I know I'm getting salty in my 30's now but it sure seems like the wildlife, habitat, tactics and comradere that was once highlighted has sure taken a back seat to gear advertisements, bag dumps, reviews, unit overviews and a lot of talk about getting tags. I know I've started watching & listening to a lot less lately because of it. Curious if I'm just being an A-hole or if others have picked up on it too.

You should talk to @mtnprst, you'd like him...

 

[Falcon75]

Well this is awkward.

I know on a forum that had Arizona game and fish in advertising banner. Looks like "influencers" aren't having that big of an impact with people taking advantage of this awesome opportunity as much as people are getting better at harvesting animals. I guess you could argue that influencers are doing that to. I worry that this will snow ball and as units get closed more people will hunt in fewer areas and drive the total %harvest number up even though harvest success% will probably go down because of increased numbers/pressure. I would prefer the shorter seasons across all units to keep pressure spread out. But Arizona is one of the best in the business of managing game so I am for what ever they do. I guess they could stop using "influencers" unless one was me

 

[Pedropistola]

I know on a forum that had Arizona game and fish in advertising banner. Looks like "influencers" aren't having that big of an impact with people taking advantage of this awesome opportunity as much as people are getting better at harvesting animals. I guess you could argue that influencers are doing that to. I worry that this will snow ball and as units get closed more people will hunt in fewer areas and drive the total %harvest number up even though harvest success% will probably go down because of increased numbers/pressure. I would prefer the shorter seasons across all units to keep pressure spread out. But Arizona is one of the best in the business of managing game so I am for what ever they do. I guess they could stop using "influencers" unless one was me

From what I can see it looks like the NR tag numbers went from about 6% in 2016 (year they say they started paying for the influencer promotions) to about 10.5% in 2020, and that resident tag numbers followed a somewhat similar trajectory.

No doubt the success % is pretty interesting. Folks are putting themselves out of business haha

Just wondering if there might be some lessons to be learned here to avoid similar situations in other places, or if it's just coincidence in this case. Im curious about what happens in the other units now too. Guess we'll see

 

[Gr8bawana]

I'm sure a lot of you know that AZGFD has closed or reduced seasons for a significant amount of units for the OTC archery hunt this year, after paying "celebrity" hunters to go down there and promote the OTC archery hunt recently. I'm waiting to hear all the details from AZGFD, it's been a few weeks since I sent in my questions.

Does anyone know who got paid to go down there and promote it? I have my guesses but would like to be sure.

Anyone know how much was spent on promoting those hunts total? Seems like the hunt had plenty of attention already and that money could have gone to access, water sources, etc. to support the hunt, not get it cancelled.

I can understand the guys/groups who went down there getting paid to promote public land hunting, and their own brands, it'd be hard to say no to that, but I wonder what they think of it now that it has negatively impacted a lot of resident and non-resident hunters who were hunting that public land before, the effects on the deer herd, etc.

I guess for me it's brought into the spotlight this issue of social media attention blowing up spots, or entire hunts in general even more, and made me think about why I support these companies that contribute to it. I know I'm getting salty in my 30's now but it sure seems like the wildlife, habitat, tactics and comradere that was once highlighted has sure taken a back seat to gear advertisements, bag dumps, reviews, unit overviews and a lot of talk about getting tags. I know I've started watching & listening to a lot less lately because of it. Curious if I'm just being an A-hole or if others have picked up on it too.

 

[RobertD]

If they paid said influencer to do it, you should be able to put in a FOIA request and find out who and how much.

 

[Pedropistola]

Meant no disrespect, just looking for info. I'm pretty sure most people had good intentions, maybe just didn't foresee the outcome. The exchange of money for promotion, of an already admittedly increasingly popular hunt, in a delicate landscape, when the $5-60k a year could have gone to other wildlife management projects just seems odd to me, so I figured I'd ask about it. Especially when it's going to "influencers" who don't seem to be hurting for money or sponsorships, and who are likely big proponents of public land use, conservation, and sound management and would have been down there doing that anyway.

Not living in AZ anymore it's really not much of my business, I'm sure some are much more well informed on the matter than me and I have a relatively narrow scope on wildlife management compared to AZGFD, which I do think does a good job. Honestly I was just looking for some clarification on the matter and what those directly involved with it had to say

 

[Pedropistola]

If they paid said influencer to do it, you should be able to put in a FOIA request and find out who and how much.

I guess that's true, I was hoping AZGFD might have given a couple names & amounts in their response but I'm sure it will come out sooner or later.

 

[rustednuts]

The issue isn’t an increase in hunters or influencers. The success rates of archery hunts have sky rocketed. AZGFD is required to keep archery harvest to 20% of the harvest for a unit. It is too dry to increase rifle tags so they have to cut OTC hunts. We need to change the archery ratio for the next hunt guidelines.

 

[Pedropistola]

The issue isn’t an increase in hunters or influencers. The success rates of archery hunts have sky rocketed. AZGFD is required to keep archery harvest to 20% of the harvest for a unit. It is too dry to increase rifle tags so they have to cut OTC hunts. We need to change the archery ratio for the next hunt guidelines.

Yeah, I think there is no doubt the success rate played a big part in the cuts. That credit goes to the guys getting it done.

Did they implement mandatory reporting down there yet? Seems like a no brainier, I don't know why states don't do it more. Takes 2 minutes on a cellphone and the data has got to be pretty useful. They have the surveys made up already

 

[Pedropistola]

You should talk to @mtnprst, you'd like him...

Don't know who that is, but about as much as I'd like you I guess.

 

[rustednuts]

Yeah, I think there is no doubt the success rate played a big part in the cuts. That credit goes to the guys getting it done.

Did they implement mandatory reporting down there yet? Seems like a no brainier, I don't know why states don't do it more. Takes 2 minutes on a cellphone and the data has got to be pretty useful. They have the surveys made up already

They have not implemented mandatory reporting, they say they are worried about bad data and the burden on hunters.

 

[rogerthat]

Come on people...name names...reminder this is an internet hunting forum....they were created to stir the pot and spread hate and discontent...wreck hunting spots...anyway seriously I would like to know who these "social media" influencers are? They must be dang good if they got hunts closed. Someone spill the beans

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Definitely struggling to summon any moral outrage over this one, since all game.departments spend money on advertising and promotion. A couple years ago, Colorado Parks and Wildlife had an ad in the Oregon hunting regulations.

QQ

 

[vanish]

How money is allocated isn't as simple as "do we spend this on marketing or habitat" ? Many agencies have specific balances for specific activities written into law.

 

[FlatlanderAZ]

This one has bothered me. I have known that agencies advertise for many years, that's a no-brainer. I understand and appreciate that many throughout the West advocate for wildlife issues in AZ, that's good for all states when we need help combating antihunting or public land contingents.

On the other hand, the intense promotion of AZ OTC archery deer has seriously restricted opportunity to AZ residents which ruffles my feathers. AZ has very limited access to big game tags and the hyper-promotion of this opportunity has reduced one of the very few big game opportunities that we could count on each year.

Where I am not conflicted is in the "influencer" making his/her audience aware of the relationship between AZGFD and their platform. I will just say it, as it is the elephant in the room, @Big Fin is one of the largest promoters of hunting opportunity in our state and has touched on many, if not most of the topics listed in Amber Munig's email above. This often occurred with department staff directly participating. I, as a consumer of content and a resident of AZ, would feel better knowing if AZGFD was funding the shows, podcasts, videos and other content promoting these opportunities.

I can't fault a man for operating a business and taking the opportunities he is presented with, but I do feel its fair to ask for some transparency in doing so.

 

[timmy]

The people promoting otc diy public land adventures are slowly ending them. They don’t worry about it because they are going to find hunts every year to go on but it sucks for the people that can’t.