Big Game by StateThe public record of western draws

Arizona · Elk · Hunt 3178

Arizona elk hunt 3178

6A. 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 25 hunt permit-tags on hunt 3178 in 2026, of which at most 25 could go to nonresidents. Across first and second choice, 324 applications named it, and 25 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 14.

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 midwinter0173451101.96%
2026 midwinter1213859203.39%
2026 midwinter2166177607.79%
2026 midwinter3123648408.33%
2026 midwinter452429103.45%
2026 midwinter541923208.70%
2026 midwinter641014000.00%
2026 midwinter738113027.27%
2026 midwinter81673242.86%
2026 midwinter1110111100.00%
2026 midwinter12022000.00%
2026 midwinter1402222100.00%
2025 midwinter0173855000.00%
2025 midwinter1345690202.22%
2025 midwinter2205070405.71%
2025 midwinter31955748010.81%
2025 midwinter4919283010.71%
2025 midwinter5412162012.50%
2025 midwinter60991011.11%
2025 midwinter72131133.33%
2025 midwinter80554480.00%
2025 midwinter9011000.00%
2025 midwinter11011000.00%

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, 20266AAntlerless elk252525
2025 midwinterSep 12 - Sep 25, 20256AAntlerless elk252525

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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