PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) is asking all elk hunters to submit data from their upcoming hunts to assist the department in managing the state’s herds.

AZGFD’s goal is to receive a completed questionnaire from each hunter who was issued a hunt permit-tag, whether or not that hunter harvested an elk or participated in a hunt. AZGFD will use that data to estimate harvest and hunter participation, along with population surveys, to set hunt permit-tag numbers.

A questionnaire will be mailed (or emailed) to each elk hunter, to be completed and returned to the department after the hunt. Other options include using a link or scanning a QR code, which are located on the back of the questionnaire. A questionnaire and link also can be found on the reverse side of the hunt permit-tag.

Meanwhile, hunters who are successful harvesting a bull elk in Game Management Units 1, 9, 10 or 23 are being asked to submit a tooth from the animal. These units are managed under alternative management guidelines to provide higher hunt success and more abundant, older, age-class elk.

In order to manage herds in accordance with these guidelines, it’s important to collect additional data on the age of harvested elk. All successful applicants who received hunt permit-tags in these units will receive a mailing that includes a return envelope in which to send back a tooth.

For more information, email AZGFD’s big game management supervisor, Amber Munig, at amunig@azgfd.gov.