Big Game by StateThe public record of western draws

Arizona · Elk · Hunt 3031

Arizona elk hunt 3031

27. 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 250 hunt permit-tags on hunt 3031 in 2026, of which at most 25 could go to nonresidents. Across first and second choice, 6,264 applications named it, and 250 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 20.

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 midwinter0243418661100.15%
2026 midwinter13534778301501.81%
2026 midwinter24085609682102.17%
2026 midwinter33444708142703.32%
2026 midwinter42593315902203.73%
2026 midwinter52363285641903.37%
2026 midwinter62083235312905.46%
2026 midwinter71752284033608.93%
2026 midwinter81421873291003.04%
2026 midwinter9761342101004.76%
2026 midwinter105274126806.35%
2026 midwinter1128517911913.92%
2026 midwinter12143953141426.42%
2026 midwinter13122840101025.00%
2026 midwinter14913223313.64%
2026 midwinter1551217115.88%
2026 midwinter164610000.00%
2026 midwinter1792118872.73%
2026 midwinter1802222100.00%
2026 midwinter190332266.67%
2026 midwinter2001111100.00%
2025 midwinter0372423795400.50%
2025 midwinter14375299662002.07%
2025 midwinter25015221,0232402.35%
2025 midwinter34446091,0533102.94%
2025 midwinter43314467772503.22%
2025 midwinter52332695022805.58%
2025 midwinter62112764871603.29%
2025 midwinter71692634321303.01%
2025 midwinter81341993331705.11%
2025 midwinter975126201502.49%
2025 midwinter104774121634.96%
2025 midwinter11264874212128.38%
2025 midwinter1218345210919.23%
2025 midwinter13919285417.86%
2025 midwinter14131528113.57%
2025 midwinter1531114000.00%
2025 midwinter164593333.33%
2025 midwinter1761777100.00%
2025 midwinter1801111100.00%
2025 midwinter20022000.00%
2025 midwinter2110111100.00%

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, 202627Bull elk25025250
2025 midwinterNov 28 - Dec 4, 202527Bull elk25025250

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