Big Game by StateThe public record of western draws

Arizona · Elk · Hunt 3126

Arizona elk hunt 3126

1, 2B, and 2C. 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 225 hunt permit-tags on hunt 3126 in 2026, of which at most 22 could go to nonresidents. Across first and second choice, 8,821 applications named it, and 225 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 24.

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 midwinter0348170518100.19%
2026 midwinter1449220669400.60%
2026 midwinter26433109531601.68%
2026 midwinter3601308909900.99%
2026 midwinter44692136821201.76%
2026 midwinter55543108642102.43%
2026 midwinter65372938301501.81%
2026 midwinter74082906982503.58%
2026 midwinter83862426281702.71%
2026 midwinter93081945021302.59%
2026 midwinter102351854201102.62%
2026 midwinter111791493281705.18%
2026 midwinter12121118239502.09%
2026 midwinter1310072172301.74%
2026 midwinter146662128826.25%
2026 midwinter15474491282530.77%
2026 midwinter161423376616.22%
2026 midwinter17161834112.94%
2026 midwinter1851318000.00%
2026 midwinter19141731103.23%
2026 midwinter2091322000.00%
2026 midwinter21101424000.00%
2026 midwinter22412165431.25%
2026 midwinter232354480.00%
2026 midwinter2403333100.00%
2025 midwinter0423181604300.50%
2025 midwinter1564272836901.08%
2025 midwinter26893461,035600.58%
2025 midwinter37123961,1082602.35%
2025 midwinter46713571,0281701.65%
2025 midwinter54812487291502.06%
2025 midwinter65022887901301.65%
2025 midwinter74443007441802.42%
2025 midwinter83642155791202.07%
2025 midwinter92872155021102.19%
2025 midwinter102591714301403.26%
2025 midwinter11146124270903.33%
2025 midwinter12117982151205.58%
2025 midwinter137467141704.96%
2025 midwinter146357120131210.83%
2025 midwinter15322557131222.81%
2025 midwinter162019394410.26%
2025 midwinter172019396515.38%
2025 midwinter18151833000.00%
2025 midwinter19211940000.00%
2025 midwinter2062228000.00%
2025 midwinter2171825000.00%
2025 midwinter2251015101066.67%
2025 midwinter23011000.00%

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 midwinterSep 11 - Sep 24, 20261, 2B, and 2CBull elk22522225
2025 midwinterSep 12 - Sep 25, 20251, 2B and 2CBull elk22522225

The ground under this hunt number has changed. Arizona has printed more than one open-areas description for hunt 3126 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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