Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Sorted by date Results 1001 - 1025 of 1087
Recently, the Arizona Game and Fish Department temporarily closed to all public entry the Raymond Wildlife Area, located 30 miles east of Flagstaff. The closure will be in effect until March 7. Game and Fish decided on the closure to assist wildlife managers with efforts to maintain the local bison herd on the department-owned property. The closure is necessary to protect ranching operations and property of nearby neighbors, as well as the safety of the public visiting the wildlife area. The... Full story
Make plans to honor your fellow wildlife conservationists by reserving your spot at the 21st annual Arizona Game and Fish Commission Awards Banquet. The banquet will be held on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013, at the Carefree Resort & Conference Center, 37220 Mule Train Road, Carefree, AZ 85377. The event honors recipients of the 2012 Commission Awards selected during the commission’s Sept. 7-8, 2012 meeting (see list of recipients, below). The awards recognize Arizonans who have contributed s... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Department has been receiving inquiries from outdoor enthusiasts who are uncertain about new Forest Service Travel Management Rules and whether the rules apply to them and their favorite recreational areas. Many hunters, anglers, campers and wildlife watchers are especially concerned about how the new travel management rules are being enforced, especially in national forests located in Arizona. In response to these questions and concerns, Arizona Game and Fish has... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Department wants to continue to improve and expand public shooting ranges across the state by providing grant funding to qualified applicants involved in the development, improvement or maintenance of public shooting and archery ranges. The department is accepting grant applications now through Jan. 15, 2013. Shooting clubs, sportsmen’s groups and government agencies operating public shooting ranges are encouraged to apply. Privately owned for-profit ranges are not e... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is proud to announce that its latest book, An Introduction to Hunting Arizona’s Small Game, is now available. The 198-page book is a fantastic resource that provides expert tips for hunting Arizona's small game birds and mammals, from quail and doves to squirrels and rabbits. Extensively illustrated with color photos, it includes detailed descriptions of small game animals and specialized information about their behavior and habits. It will help new and e... Full story
Get Out For Trout This is the time of year when the Arizona Game and Fish Department really kicks in its winter trout stockings in the lower-elevation lakes. You can’t beat the recent weather, so now is a great time to get out and fish for trout. Fishing Updates Anglers sent in the following reports this week: Brand reported that he caught some rainbow trout at Desert Breeze Lake (an Urban Fishing Program water in Chandler) using spring green Power Bait, small panther martins, mealworms, and n... Full story
Enjoy a wildlife-viewing experience and help wildlife conservation at the same time by volunteering to help out in one or more annual Arizona Christmas Bird Counts this month. The count program is a bird population survey that has been coordinated annually by the National Audubon Society since 1900. For each count, volunteers (including those from the Arizona Game and Fish Department) will take to the field for one calendar day between Dec. 14, 2012, and Jan. 5, 2013, to record every bird... Full story
Each year as part of its highly successful program to manage and conserve bald eagles in the state, the Arizona Game and Fish Department asks outdoor recreationists to help protect important eagle breeding areas by honoring the closure of 21 areas across the state. Various land and wildlife management agencies close the breeding areas for part of the year, beginning in December, to protect the state’s 55 breeding pairs of bald eagles. Some of the closure areas are located near popular r... Full story
Roosevelt Lake is the upper most and largest in a series of four reservoirs on the Salt River. The Bureau of Reclamation constructed Roosevelt Dam in 1911 forming Roosevelt Lake. At full capacity it is approximately 22 miles long with 91 miles of shoreline; its maximum depth is over 300 feet and it can store 1,653,043 acre feet of water. Roosevelt Lake is also home to a variety of game fish including largemouth and smallmouth bass, black crappie, yellow bass, bluegill, channel and flathead catfish and carp. Threadfin shad, gizzard shad, and blu... Full story
The City of Tempe and the Arizona Game and Fish Department will host the annual Welcome Back the Trout celebration from 3-5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 20, at the SRP Tempe Town Lake Marina. The public is invited to come down and watch as thousands of rainbow trout are released into the lake. Arizona Game and Fish will conduct a free fishing clinic starting at 3 p.m. About 100 free loaner rods, reels and bait will be available during the event, along with instruction and tips from seasoned anglers. Pe... Full story
Arizona Game and Fish Department officials have confirmed the presence of largemouth bass virus in Lake Pleasant. Lab tests on largemouth bass tissue samples collected during a routine survey in October by Arizona Game and Fish and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel showed presence of the disease in some samples. While the virus can affect largemouth bass, it doesn’t pose a risk to people and pets, and the water is safe for drinking water supply and recreation. “Largemouth bass virus is... Full story
PAYSON, Ariz. — The Arizona Game and Fish Department and the Arizona Elk Society are seeking the public’s help in finding the person(s) responsible for the illegal shooting of four elk in the Payson area in Game Management Unit 22. Game and Fish officers investigating the case said that two young bull elk and one cow elk, all illegally shot and left to waste, were found in close proximity to each other in the Chaparral Pines community and were most likely poached between the evening of Oct. 24 a... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Department has hosted a series of public meetings statewide to discuss proposed legislation to allow the Arizona Game and Fish Commission to establish hunting and fishing license structure directly through a streamlined, customer-focused process. At press time there remains one meeting: Monday, Nov. 19, 6-8 p.m.: Phoenix, Arizona Game and Fish Department headquarters, 5000 W. Carefree Highway (also webcast at www.azgfd.gov/webcast). The proposal being considered would... Full story
For the entire month of March 2013, the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO)/Arizona State Parks (ASP) is coordinating activities throughout the state for the 30th annual celebration of Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month (AAHAM). These events will focus on current efforts to preserve our past by protecting our fragile and non-renewable cultural resources. AAHAM combines education with entertainment to reach both adults and children in an effort to teach responsible stewardship... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Department has launched an exciting new Web-based mapping tool, “Recreational Access Arizona,” that provides hunters, anglers, and other outdoor recreationists with important information about access to and through private lands. The free tool, which utilizes GIS mapping technology, is available at www.azaccessmap.com. Recreational Access Arizona was developed as part of the Game and Fish Department’s efforts to secure, maintain and enhance public recreational acces... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Commission is making the public aware of a looming threat to crucial conservation funding by the federal government’s proposed sequestration of conservation trust funds, an action that could reduce Arizona’s wildlife conservation funding by several million dollars. “The Greatest Story Never Told” is the mantra extolled by the nation’s wildlife conservation community in the 75th anniversary of the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) programs being celebrate... Full story
A snowy egret with enormous white wings outspread, balances precariously on a tiny yellow branch. The image, captured by Bryan Keil of Scottsdale, Ariz., is the grand prize winner in this year’s wildlife photo contest. The contest, sponsored by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, attracted more than 400 entries from across Arizona and beyond. Winning images have been published in a full-size 2013 wildlife calendar in the November–December issue of Arizona Wildlife Views magazine. The oth... Full story
Rory Aikens, who became known to thousands of anglers through his long-time tenure as editor of the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Weekly Fishing Report, retired last week after a 22-year career with the department. It’s been a superb ride, full of exciting assignments in the field, interesting projects to cover, and even challenging controversies to address. The icing on the cake was getting paid to write about fishing, hunting and wildlife, Aikens said. Aikens began his career as a pub... Full story
After more than 22 years and 1,200-plus weeks of producing the weekly fishing report, this is my last one. I am retiring. I am truly blessed for having had such a superb readership. And such an interactive one. I truly appreciated all the e-mails and phone calls with tips and questions. It was also gratifying to meet so many of you on the lakes, at events, or in some cases, even places like the local super market. Being just an old small-town newspaper editor, I have always looked at all of you... Full story
All lakes were stocked again with channel catfish the week of Oct. 1-6. Fishing for catfish is good to excellent now that the fall stockings have resumed. Mornings and evenings are the best times as catfish prefer to feed under dim or dark conditions. While the majority of stocked catfish are caught in the first five days of stocking, anglers are still catching cats one to two weeks later at a slower rate. Top baits for catfish have been stink baits, shrimp and worms fished on the bottom in the... Full story
Hello anglers!As most of you know, long-time Fishing Report Editor Rory Aikens retired last week after 22 years with the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Rory was a great ambassador for the department and to Arizona’s fishing community. Over his career he interacted with thousands of anglers and conveyed his wealth of knowledge about the fishing hot spots in the state, what types of fish are biting, what bait to use, and more. We wish him a happy retirement — he leaves “big waders” to fill. L... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is awarding grant funding to 14 local sportsmen’s groups to support 22 projects geared toward increasing hunter and angler recruitment and retention. The Local Sportsmen’s Group Grant Program was started in 2007 to provide financial assistance to local sportsmen’s organizations in supporting wildlife conservation. The program awards grant funds to eligible projects through a competitive application process each year. Focus On Recruitment, Retention The focus of projects eligible to receive grant funds is det... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is asking for assistance from deer and elk hunters in monitoring efforts for chronic wasting disease (CWD). Hunters can provide assistance by allowing Game and Fish personnel or a cooperating taxidermist or game-meat processor to collect a tissue sample from their harvested deer or elk. CWD is a neurodegenerative wildlife disease that is fatal to cervids, which include deer, elk and moose. Clinical signs include loss of body weight or emaciation, excessive... Full story
Even some places in the Southwest may have ice and cold temps, beginning soon. If you are in one of those locations, as you patiently wait for the ice to thaw or the weather to warm up so you can finally get your boat back on the water again, here’s an idea. Why not use the down time productively and take a boating safety class conducted by your local Coast Guard Auxiliary flotilla? Also, Arizona Game & Fish Department, the Phoenix Power Squadron, and the Lake Pleasant Sailing Club all offer classes that are referenced each month on page t... Full story
Hunters in Arizona continue to prove to the critics that voluntary efforts to conserve endangered wildlife do work, often better than mandated measures. In the last five years, 80 to 90 percent of hunters in Arizona’s condor range have taken measures to reduce the amount of spent lead ammunition that is available to California condors. Arizona’s voluntary lead-reduction program has been well supported by hunters, and they deserve a thank you for continuing sportsmens’ proud tradition of being th... Full story
