This Friday Arizona’s Game and Fish Commission may direct the agency to consider alternatives to its controversial system of auctioning coveted hunting opportunities that raise millions of dollars for trophy big-game animals and their habitat.
It’s a surprisingly fraught decision for a state agency that has been among the most active brokers of auction tags, or selling to the highest bidder exclusive opportunities to hunt big-game animals that many resident hunters wait their entire lives to pursue.
In Friday’s meeting, Arizona’s wildlife manager will update the commission on the department’s evaluation of raffle and non-raffle tag distribution of the state’s Special Big Game License Tags. These tags raise millions of dollars that are earmarked for management of specific big-game species, both in Arizona and also in most other Western states.
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