Arizona Deer — Unit 35A
Arizona Unit 35A covers 413,628 acres and lies 5 miles south-west of Sierra Vista and 26 miles west of Bisbee. 66% of it is public land, mostly national forest (31%) and military (19%). In 2025, 1,469 people hunted deer here and took 365 — 25% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 30 tags here for 28 first-choice applicants.
Your chance of drawing here
Every deer license type on offer in Unit 35A, 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-
75% Real chance 18% as 2nd choice
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1133 GENERAL DEER | Antlered whitetail deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) 30 tags · 33 applicants · needed 2 pts83% Likely draw 26% as 2nd choice
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1134 GENERAL DEER | Antlered whitetail deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) 30 tags · 26 applicants · needed 2 pts100% Likely draw 18% as 2nd choice
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1135 GENERAL DEER | Antlered whitetail deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) 6 tags · 43 applicants · needed 9 pts2% Point builder 4% as 2nd choice
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1171 YOUTH-ONLY (GENERAL) DEER | Any antlered deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) 7 tags · 4 applicants42% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
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1190 MUZZLELOADER DEER | Any antlered deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) and 35B 4 tags · 0 applicants100% No first-choice applicants 0% as 2nd choice
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1191 MUZZLELOADER DEER | Any antlered deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) and 35B 39, 40A, 40B, 41, and 42 (excluding Buckeye Hills, Skyline, Estrella 1 tags · 5 applicants3% Point builder 5% as 2nd choice
| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | As 2nd choice | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1132 ↗ GENERAL DEER | Antlered whitetail deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) Rifle | 75% Real chance | 18% | — steady since 2023 | 30 / 28 | Oct 23–29, 2026 |
| 1133 ↗ GENERAL DEER | Antlered whitetail deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) Rifle | 83% Likely draw | 26% | 2 steady since 2023 | 30 / 33 | Nov 6–12, 2026 |
| 1134 ↗ GENERAL DEER | Antlered whitetail deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) Rifle | 100% Likely draw | 18% | 2 steady since 2023 | 30 / 26 | Nov 27 – Dec 6, 2026 |
| 1135 ↗ GENERAL DEER | Antlered whitetail deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) Rifle | 2% Point builder | 4% | 9 +2 since 2023 | 6 / 43 | Dec 11–31, 2026 |
| 1171 ↗ YOUTH-ONLY (GENERAL) DEER | Any antlered deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) Rifle | 42% Real chance | 0% | — | 7 / 4 | Oct 9–15, 2026 |
| 1190 ↗ MUZZLELOADER DEER | Any antlered deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) and 35B Muzzleloader | 100% No first-choice applicants | 0% | — | 4 / 0 | Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2026 |
| 1191 ↗ MUZZLELOADER DEER | Any antlered deer | 35A (excluding Fort Huachuca) and 35B 39, 40A, 40B, 41, and 42 (excluding Buckeye Hills, Skyline, Estrella Muzzleloader | 3% Point builder | 5% | — | 1 / 5 | Dec 11–31, 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.
Who owns the ground
- Private 139,449 ac · 34%
- National Forest 127,568 ac · 31%
- Department of Defense 79,655 ac · 19%
- BLM 30,449 ac · 7%
- State trust land 29,170 ac · 7%
- National Park Service 4,189 ac · 1%
- State land 2,929 ac · 1%
- Other public 102 ac · 0%
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 | 1,469 | 365 | 25% |
| 2024 | 1,320 | 409 | 31% |
| 2023 | 1,255 | 429 | 34% |
| 2022 | 1,525 | 406 | 27% |
| 2021 | 1,769 | 355 | 20% |
| 2020 | 1,713 | 482 | 28% |
| 2019 | 1,695 | 395 | 23% |
| 2018 | 1,634 | 690 | 42% |
White-tailed Deer
| Season | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 325 | — |
| 2024 | — | 396 | — |
| 2023 | — | 418 | — |
| 2022 | — | 384 | — |
| 2021 | — | 334 | — |
| 2020 | — | 453 | — |
| 2019 | — | 369 | — |
| 2018 | — | 675 | — |
Mule Deer
| Season | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 39 | — |
| 2024 | — | 11 | — |
| 2023 | — | 11 | — |
| 2022 | — | 22 | — |
| 2021 | — | 21 | — |
| 2020 | — | 29 | — |
| 2019 | — | 26 | — |
| 2018 | — | 15 | — |
What people carried (2025 harvest)
- Firearm 659 · 90% · 1,023 hunters, 64% success
- Archery 70 · 10% · 446 hunters, 16% success
What the agency says about the area
Unit 35A – Beginning on the U.S.-Mexico border at the San Pedro River; west along the border to Lochiel Rd.; north on Lochiel Rd. to Patagonia San Rafael Rd.; north on the Patagonia San Rafael Rd. to San Rafael Valley-FS 58 Rd.; north on the San Rafael Valley-FS 58 Rd. to Christian Ln.; north on the Christian Ln. to Ranch Rd.; east and north on the Ranch Rd. to FR 799-Canelo Pass Rd.; northeasterly on the FR…
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