BIG changes proposed for 2019 AZ mountain lion season.

[Grzyadms4x4]

Here we go folks. AZGFD has proposed some big changes to the 2019 mountain lion season. Multiple bag limit units are gone, night hunting is gone(in the few units where it was allowed), no hunting from May through August. Speak up and let the AZGFD know how you feel. Here are the proposed changes and the number to call to voice your opinion.





I'll withhold my opinion until I think about this in it's entirety but my initial reaction what a crock of shit. Boots, meet slippery slope.

The Department recommends removing all mountain lion seasons with multiple bag limits. The annual bag limit statewide is recommended at 1 mountain lion per licensed hunter per calendar year. The Department recommends that regulated mountain lion harvest be managed through the use of 15 management zones which will consist of one or more biologically similar game management units. The total number of mountain lions that may be harvested (harvest thresholds) will be established by management zone. When a harvest threshold is reached in a management zone that zone will close to mountain lion hunting for the remainder of the season. The mountain lion season will run from August 24, 2018 through May 31, 2019.

Harvest thresholds for each zone are based on the results from research conducted in several
western states that evaluated or modeled mountain lion population dynamics in response to
harvest management. The range of harvest rates associated with population stability varied
across the mountain lion’s range, even between regions within a single state, but most studies suggested that harvest rates of 14% or less of independent mountain lions results in a stable population and age structure. We, therefore, estimated mountain lion abundance for each zone and then applied a 14% harvest rate to determine the harvest threshold. These thresholds are not objectives we wish to meet but rather a maximum not to exceed if a stable population is to be maintained. Mountain lion population size was estimated for each zone, when sample size allowed, using age-at- statewide mountain lion population. Sample sizes at the statewide scale are robust and the statewide estimate is considered reliable. When those data are distributed and used at smaller
scales, sample sizes for each zone are lower and estimates have wider confidence intervals.
Therefore, there is less certainty around the estimates generated for each zone. Although we view the zone estimates with caution, we believe that those estimates are in line with our knowledge
of regional mountain lion populations.
Six zones (Zones 1, 3, 8, 9, 12, and 14) had sample sizes too low to estimate population size. In those zones, we used historical harvest data along with knowledge of mountain lion and prey populations to inform harvest thresholds. In Zones 13 and 15, the 14% harvest rate yielded thresholds that were much higher than historical harvest levels. We chose to use the lower historical harvest numbers since these zones experience higher levels of livestock depredation removals.
The mountain lion population and harvest management matrix below shows how we arrived at
the proposed harvest thresholds.
When the number of mountain lions equaling the harvest threshold for a particular mountain lion management zone has been reached, that zone will close at sundown the Wednesday
immediately following for the remainder of the mountain lion hunting season. Hunters are
responsible for calling 1-877-438-0447 before hunting to determine if any mountain
management zones are closed. Only hunter harvested mountains will count towards the harvest thresholds.
The adoption of smaller mountain lion management zones, harvest thresholds by zone, a
shortened hunting season, and the reduction of the allowable percentage of adult females in the harvest (to no more than 25%) are all measures that have been put in place to further protect and ensure sustainable mountain lion populations across the state.