Arizona: Anti-Hunting Groups Launch Initiative to Ban Cougar, Bobcat Hunting

Recently, the anti-hunting group “Arizonans for Wildlife” filed paperwork with the Arizona Secretary of State’s office to begin collecting signatures for a ballot initiative to ban the hunting and trapping of mountain lions and bobcats in the state. Arizonans for Wildlife, with the backing of other anti-hunting extremist organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Center for Biological Diversity, and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, will have until July 2018 to gather 150,642 valid signatures to place the initiative on the November 2018 ballot.

Please spread the word to your family, friends, and fellow hunters to oppose this effort by anti-hunting extremists to ban mountain lion and bobcat hunting in Arizona. Help protect Arizona’s rich hunting heritage and science-based wildlife management by declining to sign petitions circulated by “Arizonans for Wildlife.”

Currently in Arizona, the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) manages wildlife populations using a science based, comprehensive game management plan to ensure predator populations, including mountain lions and bobcats, are kept at healthy population levels. Maintaining predator populations at their objective management levels through well-regulated harvests also ensures their prey populations, such as deer, bighorn sheep, and antelope are kept at robust levels. 

Unfortunately, this misguided initiative would bulldoze through Arizona’s comprehensive unit based management plan by applying a radical “one-size fits all” ban to AGFD’s ability to effectively manage these predator populations across the state. Anti-hunting organizations, such as “Arizonans for Wildlife,” ignore the fact that hunting is a necessary tool used by state biologists to ensure healthy wildlife populations, and has long been a part of Arizona’s rich hunting heritage.  Furthermore, hunting in Arizona supports important wildlife and habitat conservation projects with funds generated through the Pittman-Robertson Act, and is a vital contributor to the state’s economy.

Your NRA-ILA will continue to keep you updated on the status of this initiative. In the meantime, please spread the word about this anti-hunting effort by forwarding this email to your friends, family, and fellow hunters.  Stay tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.org for further updates on issues impacting your Second Amendment rights and hunting heritage in Arizona.