Have you ever dreamed about one of those special year-long commissioner-tag hunts in Arizona?

Well, there are multiple opportunities to make your hunt dreams come true in Arizona.

The Arizona Game and Fish Commission awarded those Special Big Game License Tags, sometimes called Commissioners’ tags, to selected 501(c)(3) wildlife conservation organizations to raise funds for wildlife, so you should soon see information coming from those organizations on how you can participate.

The selected organizations will be marketing and selling the tags – some may already have started doing so.  Here’s the neat thing about this program -- all revenues are returned to the Arizona Game and Fish Department to be directly used to benefit those species through wildlife and habitat management in coordination with the Arizona Habitat Partnership Committee. Administrative and marketing costs must be covered by the wildlife conservation organization.

As usual, it is you, the hunter conservationist, who generates the most revenue for wildlife conservation and management.

Tags are typically made available to the public through auctions or raffles. The uniqueness of these special tags is that the hunting season is year-round, but with the same wildlife conservation restrictions applied to other permit holders. These allow tag winners the time to pursue a trophy animal, many of which can only be found in the southwest and some only in Arizona – particularly, the Gould’s wild turkey, desert and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, Coues white-tailed deer, and the world-famous Kaibab mule deer.

The tags awarded in June are valid from Aug. 15, 2010 to Aug. 14, 2011.

Three tags for each of the following 10 Arizona big game species were allocated: pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, black bear, buffalo, elk, javelina, mountain lion, mule deer, Coues white-tailed deer and turkey. If you are interested in pursuing one of these tags, the following is a list of the organizations selected and how they will be making the tag(s) available to the public:

• Arizona Antelope Foundation (AAF) – Awarded three tags: two pronghorn antelope tags and one bear tag. One antelope and the bear tag are to be auctioned at the AAF banquet (date pending). One antelope tag is to be auctioned at the Arizona Elk Society Banquet in March 2010. Contact: www.azantelope.org .
  
• Arizona Bowhunter’s Association (ABA) – Awarded three tags: one each for bear, buffalo and javelina. All tags to be auctioned at the ABA 2010 annual banquet. Contact: www.arizonabowhunters.org.
  
• Arizona Big Game Super Raffle (AZBGSR) – Awarded 10 tags, one tag for each species. Raffle tickets sold all year, drawing to be held in summer 2010. Contact: www.arizonabiggamesuperraffle.com.
  
• Arizona Deer Association (ADA) – Awarded three tags, one each for mule deer, Coues white-tailed deer, and mountain lion. All tags to be auctioned at the ADA annual fundraiser. Contact: www.azdeer.org.
  
• Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society (ADBSS) – Awarded three tags, two bighorn sheep tags and one mountain lion tag. The Mexicana subspecies tag to be auctioned at the Wild Sheep Foundation (formally FNAWS) convention in Reno, Nev. in February 2010, the Rocky Mountain subspecies tag and the mountain lion tag will be auctioned at the ADBSS banquet in March 2010. Contact: www.adbss.org.
  
• Arizona Elk Society (AES) – Awarded two tags, one elk tag and one buffalo tag. Both tags to be auctioned at the AES fundraising banquet in March 2010. Contact: www.arizonaelksociety.org.
  
• Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) – Awarded three tags, one each for mule deer, Coues white-tailed deer and javelina. Both deer tags to be auctioned at the MDF 2010 National Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah in February 2010. The javelina tag is to be raffled at the Arizona chapter’s fundraiser and banquet (date pending). Contact: www.muledeer.org.
• National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF)  – A
  warded two turkey tags. One turkey tag to be auctioned at the NWTF 2010 Annual National Convention in Nashville, Tenn. in February 2010. One turkey tag to be raffled or auctioned by the Arizona Chapter of the NWTF (date pending). Contact: www.nwtf.org.
  
• Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) – Awarded one elk tag. Tag to be auctioned at the 26th Anniversary Elk Camp Convention in Reno, NV, March 2010. Contact: www.rmef.org.

And while nothing may match the excitement of having one of these coveted tags and the adventure they bring, the hunts pale in comparison to the projects put on the ground through the dollars raised.

Every dollar raised from each species tag goes directly to the management of that species and allows for a multitude of wildlife conservation projects. Management of the dollars and projects are in coordination with the Arizona Habitat Partnership Committee.

Projects range from water improvements, wildlife friendly fencing, wildlife studies, game surveys, translocations, habitat restorations, land acquisitions and more. Many of these projects are matched and further leveraged with other funding sources, labor, or supplied materials, stretching every dollar spent even further.

In the end, the real winners of the Special Big Game License Tag Program are the citizens of Arizona. Through the dedication of concerned hunters and sportsmen, Arizonans can continue to enjoy the state’s full complement of diverse wildlife for generations to come.

To learn more about the programs put on the ground by the Habitat Partnership Committee as a direct result of the Commission’s Special Big Game License Tag program, visit www.azgfd.gov/w_c/hpc.shtml.