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18A Habitat Restoration Project

Arizona Deer Association President Don McDowell was honored to present the Arizona Game and Fish Department with a check for $10,000 to jump start the 18A Habitat Restoration Project.  


The ADA Board of Directors voted to adopt the 18A Habitat Restoration Project as an ADA Premier Wildlife Enhancement Project. This project fits the ADA board’s criteria of benefiting all species of wildlife, not just focusing on a single species.  


This project involves enhancing water catchments, increasing browse and forage opportunities along with appropriate predator control measure within the project boundaries. 

Visit our 18A Project Page

Potential Water Catchment Project in 6A

This effort came about while pursing elk during a hunt in Verde Valley area, east of the Verde River and the Town of Camp Verde west of the FR 618 road.


This video has been forwarded to the AZGFD Habitat Partnership Committee to see what can be arranged to address one or both of these tanks in HPC partnership with the V Bar V Ranch, U of A and US Forest Service to create viable permanent water storage for wildlife and livestock.

Support of Expanded Hunting Opportunities

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Arizona Deer Association Supports Expanded Hunting on National Wildlife Refuges in Arizona

We at the Arizona Deer Association, located in the State of Arizona, founded in 1995 as Arizona’s premiere wildlife conservation organization, are writing to applaud the efforts of President Donald J. Trump and Secretary of the Department of the Interior David L. Bernhardt to open the Cabeza Prieta, Buenos Aires, Cibola and Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuges located in southern Arizona to recreational hunting opportunities.


We feel the opening of the noted NWR’s is important to sportsmen-women and families plus the economic impact to Arizona, to have the ability to hunt big game species, other than Big Horn Sheep, to include but not limited to antelope, mule and white tailed deer, mountain lion, coyote, bobcat, badger, ringtail cat, kit and gray fox, spotted skunk, cottontail rabbit, black-tailed jack rabbit, Gambel’s and Mearns quail, mourning, white-winged and Eurasian collared dove, as well as, other various species as identified by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Cabeza Prieta Video

ADA President Don McDowell talks about the importance of supporting the expanded hunting opportunities on th Cabeza Prieta and other US Fish and Wildlife properties in Arizona.

18A Project Receives $2.8 Million in Federal Funding

  

The Arizona Deer Association is proud to have partnered with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to help secure $2.8 million from the USDA’s National Resources Conservation Service. These funds will be put on the ground to restore grassland and woodland habitat connectivity as part of the 18A Project in northern Arizona.


“The Arizona Deer Association has adopted the 18A Project in northern Arizona as a Premier Wildlife Project,” said ADA President Don McDowell. “Our members have been huge proponents of this project because of the benefits it will have not only for the mule deer and pronghorn antelope, but the entire ecosystem of the area. We donated $10,000 to kick off the effort and look forward to raising more funds and putting volunteer hours on the ground for this project.”


The Arizona Deer Association thanks the USDA for their commitment to our nation’s wildlife. This $2.8 million in funding to Arizona is part of $206 million in funding to 48 partner-driven projects across 29 states. For more information on the program and its projects, visit their website.


U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar’s support of this project is greatly appreciated.


The Arizona Deer Association also thanks the Arizona Game and Fish Department for its partnership and congratulates them for the work done to secure this funding. 


Click here for ways you can support the Arizona Deer Association.


18A Project Update-Spring 2020

Arizona Deer Association President Don McDowell visits an area within the 18A Habitat Enhancement Project with AZGFD's Wade Zarlingo. 

Southern AZ Habitat Enhancement Project

Arizona Deer Association President Don McDowell talks with Arizona Game and Fish Department's Brad Faulk about a brush treatment project.

Southern Arizona Water Catchment

Arizona Deer Association President Don McDowell met up with AZGFD Wildlife Manager Brian Aragon to tour a vital water catchment that is scheduled for an improvement project in 2021. 

REWARD!

REWARD OFFERED-VANDALIZED WATER CATCHMENT IN NORTHERN ARIZONA

  

The Arizona Deer Association (ADA) is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for contaminating a water catchment that was used to provide water to wildlife northeast of Flagstaff. 


According to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, sometime around Sunday, September 15, 2019, diesel fuel was deliberately poured into Young’s Canyon Trick Tank, a water catchment in Game Management Unit 7E near U.S. Forest Service Road 775 and east of the high-tension powerlines. The catchment is approximately two miles east of the Winona exit (211) along Interstate 40.
 

Evidence at the scene indicates the suspects may have taken down fencing to gain access to and pour the fuel into the catchment.
 

“It’s our hope that someone may have observed suspicious behavior or may have had a game camera in the area that may provide crucial evidence,” said AZGFD Wildlife Manager Erin Brown. “This incident is incredibly disappointing because these catchments provide water for all wildlife when natural water sources are not available — especially given this year’s limited monsoon rainfall. Sportsmen, along with the department, have spent so much labor, money and time improving water availability for wildlife and it's tragic that someone chose to vandalize this water catchment.”


To report information on this heinous act of environmental terrorism, please call 1-800-VANDALS or follow this link for more reporting options: https://www.azgfd.com/ogt/

REWARD

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Arizona Deer Association Contributes $2,500 Reward for Information on Bull Elk Poached Near Heber

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is investigating the poaching of a bull elk that was killed in late August north of Heber in Game Management Unit 4B. 


The elk was located west of Forest Road 153 near Point and Javelina water catchments.  The poacher left the meat to waste.


“Someone may have information about this case,” said Arizona Game and Fish Department Wildlife Manager Ken Clay. “We need assistance from the public to find the individual(s) responsible. This is the action of a criminal — it’s theft of wildlife resources from the people of Arizona.” 


At the time the poaching occurred, many hunters were scouting for upcoming hunts and other outdoor recreationists were in the area, meaning they may have seen something or have valuable information about this crime.

 

Anyone with information about this case can call the AZGFD’s Operation Game Thief hotline at (800) 352-0700 or visit www.azgfd.gov/thief and refer to case #19-003199. 


Callers may remain anonymous upon request and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,500 in this case upon arrest. An additional $2,500 reward is being offered by the Arizona Elk Society and $2,500 by the Arizona Deer Association upon arrest and conviction of the poachers.