Arizona Deer — Unit 23
Arizona Unit 23 covers 758,159 acres and lies 26 miles south-east of Payson and 43 miles north of Globe. 98% of it is public land, mostly national forest (98%). In 2025, 1,863 people hunted deer here and took 280 — 15% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 25 tags here for 33 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 6 points.
Your chance of drawing here
Every deer license type on offer in Unit 23, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.
Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.
Simple view Odds at every point level-
5% Point builder 3% as 2nd choice
-
15% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
-
9% Point builder 14% as 2nd choice
-
<1% Point builder <1% as 2nd choice
-
9% Point builder 7% as 2nd choice
| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | As 2nd choice | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1038 ↗ GENERAL DEER | Antlered mule deer | 23 | 5% Point builder | 3% | 6 steady since 2024 | 25 / 33 | Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2026 |
| 1085 ↗ GENERAL DEER | Antlered whitetail deer | 23 | 15% Long shot | 0% | 6 +1 since 2025 | 17 / 31 | Oct 23–29, 2026 |
| 1086 ↗ GENERAL DEER | Antlered whitetail deer | 23 | 9% Point builder | 14% | 5 +1 since 2023 | 17 / 53 | Nov 6–12, 2026 |
| 1087 ↗ GENERAL DEER | Antlered whitetail deer | 23 | <1% Point builder | <1% | 17 +12 since 2024 | 7 / 181 | Dec 11–31, 2026 |
| 1161 ↗ YOUTH-ONLY (GENERAL) DEER | Any antlered deer | 23 | 9% Point builder | 7% | 4 −1 since 2023 | 12 / 23 | Oct 9–15, 2026 |
What these columns mean
- Your odds —
- the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
- The badge —
- plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
- As 2nd choice —
- Arizona lets you name more than one hunt on the application. Miss on your first choice and you go into the pot for whatever tags are left, alongside everyone else's second choices. Points never help a lower choice, so this number is the same whatever you have banked — it is usually worth naming a hunt that goes undersubscribed.
- Points needed —
- the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
- Tags / applicants —
- tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.
What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)
| License | Up front | Gone if you miss | If you draw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per application | $175 | $175 | $475 |
Application window: closes Jun 2, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
The country
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
How the hunting has gone
What Arizona Game & Fish Department publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. Arizona Game & Fish Department publishes these per hunt rather than per unit; the rows below add its own figures together, since a hunter holds one tag for the species in a season. Arizona's figures come from AZGFD's post-season hunter questionnaire - survey estimates carrying a 90% confidence interval and a return count, not a census of animals checked in.
All deer
| Season | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,863 | 280 | 15% |
| 2024 | 1,686 | 401 | 24% |
| 2023 | 1,641 | 422 | 26% |
| 2022 | 2,049 | 336 | 16% |
| 2021 | 2,793 | 379 | 14% |
| 2020 | 2,906 | 579 | 20% |
| 2019 | 2,521 | 561 | 22% |
| 2018 | 3,426 | 829 | 24% |
Mule Deer
| Season | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 154 | — |
| 2024 | — | 191 | — |
| 2023 | — | 186 | — |
| 2022 | — | 147 | — |
| 2021 | — | 147 | — |
| 2020 | — | 287 | — |
| 2019 | — | 226 | — |
| 2018 | — | 373 | — |
White-tailed Deer
| Season | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 122 | — |
| 2024 | — | 209 | — |
| 2023 | — | 236 | — |
| 2022 | — | 181 | — |
| 2021 | — | 234 | — |
| 2020 | — | 292 | — |
| 2019 | — | 335 | — |
| 2018 | — | 456 | — |
What people carried (2025 harvest)
- Firearm 448 · 81% · 733 hunters, 61% success
- Archery 108 · 19% · 1,130 hunters, 10% success
What the agency says about the area
Unit 23 – Beginning at the confluence of Tonto Creek and the Salt River; northerly along Tonto Creek to the spring box, north of the Tonto Creek Hatchery, on Tonto Creek; northeasterly along the east fork of Tonto Creek to the Tonto-Sitgreaves National Forest boundary along the Mogollon Rim; east along this boundary to the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation boundary; southerly along the reservation boundary to…
Boundary: AZ Game and Fish Hunt Units (AZGFD ArcGIS feature service, layer 0)
Harvest: 2025 AZ Deer Harvest Summary (draw hunts only)
Harvest: 2025 AZ Over-the-Counter Archery Deer Harvest Summary