Big Game by StateThe public record of western draws

Arizona · Elk · Hunt 3161

Arizona elk hunt 3161

9. 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 40 hunt permit-tags on hunt 3161 in 2026, of which at most 4 could go to nonresidents. Across first and second choice, 249 applications named it, and 40 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 25.

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 midwinter0191938102.63%
2026 midwinter11317303010.00%
2026 midwinter21626426014.29%
2026 midwinter31719366016.67%
2026 midwinter4919289032.14%
2026 midwinter551621000.00%
2026 midwinter6128204020.00%
2026 midwinter748124333.33%
2026 midwinter8404000.00%
2026 midwinter91231133.33%
2026 midwinter101342250.00%
2026 midwinter11022000.00%
2026 midwinter132241025.00%
2026 midwinter14011000.00%
2026 midwinter171121050.00%
2026 midwinter2210111100.00%
2026 midwinter2510111100.00%
2025 midwinter0141731103.23%
2025 midwinter1415194021.05%
2025 midwinter21616324012.50%
2025 midwinter31419335015.15%
2025 midwinter411233411032.35%
2025 midwinter557127258.33%
2025 midwinter648122216.67%
2025 midwinter7123000.00%
2025 midwinter81231133.33%
2025 midwinter9224000.00%
2025 midwinter10033000.00%
2025 midwinter11101000.00%
2025 midwinter13101000.00%
2025 midwinter1501111100.00%
2025 midwinter1610111100.00%
2025 midwinter2201111100.00%

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 13 - Nov 26, 20269Bull elk40440
2025 midwinterNov 14 - Nov 27, 20259Bull elk40440

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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