Arizona Hunting Club & Outdoor Adventure Group

Arizona Hunting Club Announces Arizona's Top 10 Best Places to Hunt Bull Elk in Arizona for 2007

Gilbert, AZ, May 12, 2007 - The Arizona Hunting Club & Outdoor Adventure Group today announced the Top 10 Best Places to Rifle Hunt Bull Elk in Arizona.

The top 10 list is compiled by sorting and weighting several categories of historical hunting figures from the previous year including:

• The number of bull elk tags issued for each hunt unit
• The number of hunters that put in for each hunt unit as a first or second choice
• The success rate of a hunter drawing a tag in each hunt unit
• The success rate of a hunter actually harvesting a bull elk in that hunt unit
• The increase/decrease of hunting tags vs. previous year

"Each year, we like to simplify the drawing process for hunters that do not have time to sit down and manually crunch the numbers to determine where they think they will have the best chance of drawing a bull elk tag in 2007," said Robert Hoskins, the Arizona Hunting Club's President. "Most of our members do this on their own, but we like to put together a top 10 list that makes the process as easy as possible for hunters who just do not have time to do it on their own or get caught in a time crunch when they forget about the draw until the last minute and need a quick resource to help them pick their hunt units for the coming year."

Each year, the Arizona Game & Fish does a post hunt survey to assess the hunter harvest success rate for the bull elk population. In the spring, they also conduct a survey to see how many new elk were born.

Based on both surveys, they allocate the proper number of bull hunting tags each year necessary to humanely manage the elk population so that there will be sufficient food and water available to maintain a healthy herd.

The Arizona Hunting Club analyzes this information, which is published in every year's Arizona Game & Fish's Hunting Regulations.

The first variable that the Arizona Hunting Club evaluates is the top 10 best hunting units for bull based on the total number of elk tags available for each hunting unit. They assign a value of one to ten, with 10 being the best hunt unit with the most elk tags available. Knowing where the most bull elk tags are issued is an easy way to learn where the most bull elk are available to be harvested.

Next, the club looks to see how many people selected each unit as their first or second choice. This allows them to calculate the top 10 best places to actually put in for and successfully draw a bull elk hunting tag. They sort all the units and assign weights to the top 10 hunting units based on the best percentage of drawing a hunting tag. For example, if a hunt unit has a 100% success draw rate, then a hunter is almost guaranteed a tag by putting in for that hunt unit.

Thus far, the club has established where the most elk live and what hunt unit provides the best chance of drawing an elk tag to hunt. The third index the club examines is the hunter success rate that bull elk hunters had in that hunt unit last season. While the bull elk draw rate might have been 100% successful, if the success rate of harvesting bull elk in that unit was only 10%, they assign a negative value to discount the hunt unit's value.

Last, but not least, the club likes to look at whether there was increase/decrease in the number of tags issued this year versus last year. More tags significantly increases the chance of getting drawn over last year's reported draw rates. It is surprising to see how much the drawing odds change with only 50-100 extra tags. Same goes for a decrease in tags. If the same number of hunters put in for a bull elk tag and there is a decrease in the number of tags, the chances of successfully drawing a bull elk tag will be extremely difficult.

Based on these categories of information, the club sorts all of the elk hunts, assigns them a value then selects the overall top 10 hunt units where they think hunters will have the best chance of drawing a bull elk hunting tag and having the best chance of successfully having a bull elk.

The Arizona Hunting Club's Top 10 Best Places to Hunt Bull Elk in Arizona is available online by clicking this link or by visiting Arizona Hunting Club's website at: www.arizonahuntingclub.com.

Elk Hunting Tactics, Techniques and Strategies Workshop

In addition to providing hunters with a list of the best places to hunt, the Arizona Hunting Club & Outdoor Adventure Group also offers a two-part elk hunting education workshop that teaches students how to successfully locate and harvest an elk:

1. Part 1 is a Elk Hunting Workshop that teaches students how to hunt on paper by locating potential watering holes, feeding areas and bedding areas using topographic maps and a GPS unit in an online webinar format. The workshop will help each student learn how to develop a hunting plan that will be executed during part two of the course.
2. Part 2 is a Elk Scouting Field Trip that takes students on a campout and teaches them how to use the information and hunting plan they prepared in class to conduct a real-world scouting trip to look for fresh tracks, fresh game trails, scrapes/rubs, droppings, beds and signs of heavy grazing. Students also learn how to setup elk bait, install game cameras, setup tree stands and learn other important hunting techniques.

The Arizona Hunting Club's Elk Hunting Workshop is open to all new and experienced hunters that want to learn how to hunt or simply improve their existing hunting skills. The workshop signup form is located at http://www.arizonahuntingclub.com/huntingworkshopsignup.asp.

About the Arizona Hunting Club & Outdoor Adventure Group

The Arizona Hunting Club & Outdoor Adventure Group, based in Gilbert, Arizona, is a non-profit hunting organization dedicated to teaching its members the joy of camping, hunting and fishing within Arizona's national forests and deserts. The group provides numerous hunter's education courses, hunting research studies, hunting planning resources as well as guidance on how and where to hunt in Arizona. Interested hunters can call 602-326-0940 with questions or visit the club's website at www.arizonahuntingclub.com for more information.

Our members are located in Ahwatukee, Apache Junction, Avondale, Bisbee, Buckeye, Bullhead City, Casa Grande, Cave Creek, Chandler, Chino Valley, Coolidge, Cornville, Cottonwood, El Mirage, Flagstaff, Florence, Fort Huachuca, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Glendale, Golden Valley, Goodyear, Green Valley, Higley, Kingman, Lake Havasu City, Laveen, Litchfield Park, Marana, Maricopa, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Payson, Peoria, Phoenix, Prescott, Prescott Valley, Queen Creek, Safford, Sahuarita, Scottsdale, Sedona, Sierra Vista, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, Tempe, Tolleson, Tucson, Vail, Yuma, and many other cities and towns through out Arizona.