Big Game by StateThe public record of western draws

Arizona · Elk · Hunt 3131

Arizona elk hunt 3131

5A. 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 145 hunt permit-tags on hunt 3131 in 2026, of which at most 14 could go to nonresidents. Across first and second choice, 2,172 applications named it, and 145 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 17.

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 midwinter06186147000.00%
2026 midwinter19098188301.60%
2026 midwinter21751833581002.79%
2026 midwinter3150139289602.08%
2026 midwinter41267620221010.40%
2026 midwinter51031302332008.58%
2026 midwinter6941232171707.83%
2026 midwinter77092162804.94%
2026 midwinter8446911317015.04%
2026 midwinter9366197808.25%
2026 midwinter10174663619.52%
2026 midwinter11172744181840.91%
2026 midwinter1221113117.69%
2026 midwinter1348122216.67%
2026 midwinter1441115000.00%
2026 midwinter153581012.50%
2026 midwinter162574457.14%
2026 midwinter170443375.00%
2025 midwinter06499163201.23%
2025 midwinter1112121233200.86%
2025 midwinter21811593401705.00%
2025 midwinter31791653441504.36%
2025 midwinter41611623231504.64%
2025 midwinter5114112226803.54%
2025 midwinter67810318124013.26%
2025 midwinter75777134805.97%
2025 midwinter858571151008.70%
2025 midwinter9414687303.45%
2025 midwinter10494594161017.02%
2025 midwinter11137205425.00%
2025 midwinter12919288728.57%
2025 midwinter13310133123.08%
2025 midwinter14325000.00%
2025 midwinter154264466.67%
2025 midwinter1701111100.00%
2025 midwinter18011000.00%
2025 midwinter1920222100.00%

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, 20265ABull elk14514145
2025 midwinterSep 12 - Sep 25, 20255ABull elk14514145

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