Big Game by StateThe public record of western draws

Arizona · Elk · Hunt 3003

Arizona elk hunt 3003

5B. What each bonus point level actually did in Arizona's midwinter draw — how many applications sat at that level, and how many of them drew a tag. Every figure comes from an Arizona Game and Fish report linked at the foot of this page.

What the 2026 draw did

Arizona authorized 24 hunt permit-tags on hunt 3003 in 2026, of which at most 2 could go to nonresidents. Across first and second choice, 6,701 applications named it, and 24 drew it through the first two passes. The hunt filled.

Arizona grants no guarantee for holding points. Before each pass the department generates one random number for your application plus one more for every bonus point on it, and uses the lowest. Only the bonus pass — 20 per cent of the permits above, and closed to anyone holding no points — goes out in point order. So the table below is a record of what happened at each level, not a ladder you climb.

The highest bonus point level with an application on this hunt in 2026 was 30.

By bonus point level

Cycle
Residency
The draw rate is permits drawn divided by applications at that level — a share of the people there, not a share of a quota. Arizona publishes no permits-available figure per point level. "Bonus pass" is the subset of the drawn column issued in the 20 per cent first pass; it is already included, and adding the two together counts those permits twice. Applications are first and second choice only.
CyclePoints1st choice2nd choiceApplicationsDrawnof which bonus passDraw rate
2026 midwinter0454275729300.41%
2026 midwinter1572330902000.00%
2026 midwinter27123871,099000.00%
2026 midwinter3546283829200.24%
2026 midwinter4420206626200.32%
2026 midwinter5345183528100.19%
2026 midwinter6278146424400.94%
2026 midwinter7227144371100.27%
2026 midwinter8162113275000.00%
2026 midwinter913496230100.43%
2026 midwinter1012158179100.56%
2026 midwinter117845123201.63%
2026 midwinter12454287000.00%
2026 midwinter13352358101.72%
2026 midwinter14352055000.00%
2026 midwinter15192746102.17%
2026 midwinter16161430000.00%
2026 midwinter17161834000.00%
2026 midwinter1810919105.26%
2026 midwinter196713000.00%
2026 midwinter203710000.00%
2026 midwinter214913000.00%
2026 midwinter22134000.00%
2026 midwinter232462233.33%
2026 midwinter24224000.00%
2026 midwinter2510111100.00%
2026 midwinter26134000.00%
2026 midwinter28101000.00%
2026 midwinter3001111100.00%
2025 midwinter0158197355000.00%
2025 midwinter1232190422100.24%
2025 midwinter2230174404100.25%
2025 midwinter3159120279100.36%
2025 midwinter413198229000.00%
2025 midwinter59395188201.06%
2025 midwinter66064124100.81%
2025 midwinter76063123100.81%
2025 midwinter8395998202.04%
2025 midwinter9365389000.00%
2025 midwinter10273259101.69%
2025 midwinter11251944102.27%
2025 midwinter1271320000.00%
2025 midwinter1391524000.00%
2025 midwinter1471017105.88%
2025 midwinter156814000.00%
2025 midwinter163912000.00%
2025 midwinter176410000.00%
2025 midwinter184610000.00%
2025 midwinter19235000.00%
2025 midwinter201231133.33%
2025 midwinter2101111100.00%
2025 midwinter221231133.33%

A dash in the rate column means nobody applied at that level in that pool, which is absent rather than nought — the draw answered nothing there.

The hunt, cycle by cycle

Season, unit and permit count as the regulations booklet for that cycle prints them. The nonresident figure is a cap, not a share — it is the most that may go to nonresidents, and it does not add to a resident number.
CycleSeasonOpen areasLegal wildlifeAuthorizedNR capIssued
2026 midwinterSep 25 - Oct 1, 20265BBull elk24224
2025 midwinterSep 26 - Oct 2, 20254BBull elk15115

The ground under this hunt number has changed. Arizona has printed more than one open-areas description for hunt 3003 across the cycles above, so comparing its rates across years is comparing hunts that may not cover the same country. The department publishes nothing that settles how much of the change is real, so this page shows each cycle's own description and claims nothing beyond it.

How to read these numbers

The applications column is not the whole field. Arizona draws in three passes and the bonus point report covers the first two — the bonus pass and the first-and-second-choice pass. Hunters who named this hunt as a third, fourth or fifth choice are drawn in a pass the department publishes no point-level breakdown for, so they are not counted above and no total here should be read as everyone who wanted the tag.

A bonus point level is a property of the application, not of a person.Two to four hunters may apply on one application, and Arizona averages their points and rounds to the nearest whole number. So a row at level 6 can hold a group whose members individually hold anything from 4 to 8.

Comparing a rate here with one from another state will mislead you.Utah's and Idaho's rates are permits against a published quota. Arizona's are permits against the applicants at one point level, because that is the only denominator the department gives.

Every source read for this page

  • 2026 M Bonus Point Report — 2026-M-Bonus-Point-Report.pdf, fetched 2026-09-04
  • 2025 M Bonus Point Report — 2025-Bonus-Point-Report.pdf, fetched 2026-09-04
  • 2026-Pronghorn-and-Elk-Regulations_251223.pdf — the regulations booklet this cycle's species, unit and permit count were read from
  • 2025-Pronghorn-and-Elk-Regulations_250106.pdf — the regulations booklet this cycle's species, unit and permit count were read from

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