Big Game by StateThe public record of western draws

Arizona · Elk · Hunt 3030

Arizona elk hunt 3030

23. 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 210 hunt permit-tags on hunt 3030 in 2026, of which at most 21 could go to nonresidents. Across first and second choice, 5,479 applications named it, and 210 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 26.

Arizona's own two reports disagree about this hunt. Summing the permits the Bonus Point Report gives at each level does not reproduce the total its own Draw Report states for the same hunt in 2025 midwinter. Both published figures are shown — the level rows below come from the Bonus Point Report, the authorized and issued totals above from the Draw Report. We have not resolved the difference in either direction, because the department has not.

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 midwinter0363252615300.49%
2026 midwinter1359304663400.60%
2026 midwinter23853577422403.23%
2026 midwinter33743607342102.86%
2026 midwinter42572284851002.06%
2026 midwinter52462224682204.70%
2026 midwinter62471894361703.90%
2026 midwinter71631523151705.40%
2026 midwinter81361332691505.58%
2026 midwinter998871851105.95%
2026 midwinter1076721481208.11%
2026 midwinter116549114907.89%
2026 midwinter124030709812.86%
2026 midwinter133217498816.33%
2026 midwinter14232548101020.83%
2026 midwinter151813315416.13%
2026 midwinter1662026000.00%
2026 midwinter1781422000.00%
2026 midwinter18178000.00%
2026 midwinter1951015000.00%
2026 midwinter20279000.00%
2026 midwinter21369000.00%
2026 midwinter221672128.57%
2026 midwinter2314555100.00%
2026 midwinter2430333100.00%
2026 midwinter2630333100.00%
2025 midwinter0337228565701.24%
2025 midwinter13493166651101.65%
2025 midwinter24513708211802.19%
2025 midwinter33913257162403.35%
2025 midwinter42732905631302.31%
2025 midwinter51961903861303.37%
2025 midwinter61741693431805.25%
2025 midwinter71781233011203.99%
2025 midwinter8113982111004.74%
2025 midwinter9877416117010.56%
2025 midwinter104654100808.00%
2025 midwinter11553994707.45%
2025 midwinter12333770181725.71%
2025 midwinter132323468717.39%
2025 midwinter14201232216.25%
2025 midwinter15102131339.68%
2025 midwinter1691019115.26%
2025 midwinter172681112.50%
2025 midwinter182461016.67%
2025 midwinter1921012000.00%
2025 midwinter20459000.00%
2025 midwinter212572228.57%
2025 midwinter2223555100.00%
2025 midwinter2330333100.00%

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 midwinterNov 27 - Dec 3, 202623Bull elk21021210
2025 midwinterNov 28 - Dec 4, 202523Bull elk21021210

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

Nearby hunt numbers