QUICKER DRAW RESULTS IN ARIZONA – Draw systems across the western United States have changed drastically over the years. For those that have been around for a few decades, we’ve seen major changes. Depending on the state, the process for applying to a hunt draw has had different forms. Some states went from paper applications many years ago, to now using an online service. Others took a little more time to come around. In fact, there is a state that just switched last year to online applications for its sheep draw.
Arizona Fulfills Promise
Arizona has been working extremely hard to provide a great service to its “customers”. With the large number of applicants that the state receives every year, this has been a large task. The Arizona Game and Fish made a commitment in 2012 that they would improve the experience for its applicants, and they would move to an online system. The goal of the system was to return draw results to the consumer as soon as possible.
Historically, hunters have had to wait months to get their results. Again, in other states, this is still the case. But even in Arizona, in recent years, applicants had to wait 50 or 60 days to get their results. They are happy to announce that this year, they were able to send results out in less than 25 days!
Arizona isn’t stopping there. They also released a statement that they had recently concluded the draw application period for turkey, javelina, bison, and bear. In that draw application period, they returned results in an amazing 22 days!
“The department has worked long and hard to reduce the amount of time it takes for hunters to get draw results,” said Jennifer Stewart, customer service branch chief. “That was so important to us from a customer service standpoint. We understood the anxiety that comes with having to wait, often for weeks, to get results.”
The Arizona Fish and Game are already prepping for the elk and pronghorn application period that will open in January. This is their largest application period as far as applicant numbers. They are hoping to produce similar results to that of the recent application periods.
Hunters get impatient waiting for their draw results to be released. For a lot of them, it’s how they schedule their entire year. With Arizona stepping up their game, hunters can in turn hope that other states are able to do the same.
Does your state return application results in a timely matter? What ideas would you recommend to improve the turn around time?
