SouthWestern Outdoorsman
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Effects of The OTC Deer Changes in Arizona After Week 1
Earlier in the year I wrote about how Arizona changed their OTC Archery regulations. Now there are harvest limits in each unit. As uncertainty weighed in on these hunts. How would Hunting in Arizona be impacted.
Hunters took social media and message boards by storm. Speculation was that the anti hunting community would come out in full force. What would that look like? What units would be open after week 1? Would the anti hunting community false report due to there being no harvest check.
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The Results Of Week 1
We now have the answer! As the sunsets today it marks the first closures of the units that hit or exceeded the quota limits (as rules state the units are open until the following Wednesday at sundown). After opening weekend Only one unit that has been closed and that is Unit 1 with a 45 out 38 deer harvested it has exceeded the quota limit. It will be interesting to see how this effects next years quota for the unit.
Fortunately I was wrong when it came to my prediction ( I know it doesn’t happen often). Almost all Units through out the state are still open! Unit 1 historically has been a draw unit and there is no surprise that it has closed first. I would guess unit 27 will be the next too close.
As week 1 of Archery season kicked off. monsoons raged in every part of the state and hunters where in for wet hunting conditions. Did this have any impact on the harvest numbers? Would there be a difference if the weather was “better”, that is to speculate but only time will tell. The fact only one unit is closed, and the majority of units still below the 50% quota threshold this is a good sign that there will be plenty of hunting in Arizona for the rest of the season.
You can see the unit quotas and how close they are to getting closed by clicking HERE.
