Spring Hunting Seasons Set, You Can Start Applying

FLAGSTAFF — If you have been waiting to apply for the spring 2002 big game hunts, you can start doing so any time.

The Arizona Game and Fish Commission on Aug. 11 set the spring hunts for javelina, turkey, buffalo and bear. Those regulations will be posted on the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Internet Home Page (www.azgfd.com) this week. Hunters can start applying as soon as they have the information to do so. The 2002 hunting licenses are also available via the Internet, or over the counter at Game and Fish offices throughout the state.

Printed spring hunt regulations and 2002 hunting licenses will be shipped to the various license dealers in the state on Sept. 6. The deadline for applying is 7 p.m. Oct. 16. Hunt-permit tags will be mailed out by Nov. 23.

The 2002 spring javelina hunt-permit level is down slightly from last year, primarily due to low reproduction-recruitment rates, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission increased the hunt-permit level for spring turkey.   

Big Game Supervisor Brian Wakeling said surveys in January this year showed javelina reproduction and survival rates (called recruitment) were down due to prolonged drought. “Based on the habitat response to good winter and spring precipitation, we suspect that javelina reproduction this spring could be on the upswing, but it is not something we have scientifically documented at this point.”

            The commission reduced the general firearms javelina permits by 380 to 11,705, allowed archery permits to remain unchanged at 9,665, and decreased the Handgun, Archery and Muzzleloader permits by 175 to 6,600. The Juniors-Only Javelina Season  was given a 90-permit decrease to 440 permits. Twenty-one Juniors-Only Permits were not issued last year because the hunt in Unit 24B was under subscribed.

            Spring turkey is a different story. A series of mild winters in the high country has resulted in good turkey survival rates, and the use of  turkey management guidelines has resulted in an increased harvest the past four consecutive years. The turkey management guidelines help wildlife managers determine permit levels, and whether a unit should have a stratified hunt or not. Stratified hunts can actually help put more hunters afield while keeping hunter densities down, thus retaining a high hunt quality.

            Since the guidelines have been in place, the spring turkey harvest has increased steadily each year from 631, to 660, to 671, to 760, to 950, and now to 1,036. “The 2001 harvest represents a new record, exceeding the old record by more than 9 percent,” Wakeling said.

            Another bright spot on the turkey scene is the Juniors-Only Turkey Season. Last year was the third consecutive season for a Juniors-Only Turkey hunt. There were 180 permits offered in six hunt areas. The young hunters harvested 31 birds, which equates to a 20 percent hunter success.