Arizona Deer — Unit 42
Arizona Unit 42 covers 951,843 acres and lies 18 miles south of Wickenburg. 70% of it is public land, mostly BLM (40%) and state trust land (27%). In 2025, 671 people hunted deer here and took 72 — 11% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 27 tags here for 23 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 3 points.
Your chance of drawing here
Every deer license type on offer in Unit 42, 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-
1070 GENERAL DEER | Any antlered deer | 42 (excluding Skyline and White Tank Mountain Regional Parks) 27 tags · 23 applicants · needed 3 pts66% Real chance 6% as 2nd choice
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1177 YOUTH-ONLY (GENERAL) DEER | Any antlered deer | 42 (excluding Skyline and White Tank Mountain Regional Parks) 7 tags · 7 applicants · needed 2 pts100% Likely draw 40% 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
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1192 MUZZLELOADER DEER | Any antlered deer | 39, 40A, 40B, 41, and 42 (excluding Buckeye Hills, Skyline, Estrella Mountain and White Tank Mountain Regional Parks) (Special Restrictions Apply - See Notes 6 and 7) 5 tags · 50 applicants · needed 13 pts2% Point builder 8% as 2nd choice
| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | As 2nd choice | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1070 ↗ GENERAL DEER | Any antlered deer | 42 (excluding Skyline and White Tank Mountain Regional Parks) Rifle | 66% Real chance | 6% | 3 −2 since 2023 | 27 / 23 | Nov 6–15, 2026 |
| 1177 ↗ YOUTH-ONLY (GENERAL) DEER | Any antlered deer | 42 (excluding Skyline and White Tank Mountain Regional Parks) Rifle | 100% Likely draw | 40% | 2 | 7 / 7 | Nov 20–29, 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 |
| 1192 ↗ MUZZLELOADER DEER | Any antlered deer | 39, 40A, 40B, 41, and 42 (excluding Buckeye Hills, Skyline, Estrella Mountain and White Tank Mountain Regional Parks) (Special Restrictions Apply - See Notes 6 and 7) Muzzleloader | 2% Point builder | 8% | 13 | 5 / 50 | 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
- BLM 383,824 ac · 40%
- Private 282,071 ac · 30%
- State trust land 253,067 ac · 27%
- Other public 29,189 ac · 3%
- Department of Defense 1,878 ac · 0%
- Bureau of Reclamation 1,771 ac · 0%
- County or city land 39 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 | 671 | 72 | 11% |
| 2024 | 608 | 138 | 23% |
| 2023 | 563 | 114 | 20% |
| 2022 | 698 | 117 | 17% |
| 2021 | 836 | 113 | 14% |
| 2020 | 719 | 137 | 19% |
| 2019 | 606 | 66 | 11% |
| 2018 | 724 | 53 | 7% |
Mule Deer
| Season | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | 72 | — |
| 2024 | — | 125 | — |
| 2023 | — | 114 | — |
| 2022 | — | 111 | — |
| 2021 | — | 113 | — |
| 2020 | — | 137 | — |
| 2019 | — | 63 | — |
| 2018 | — | 53 | — |
White-tailed Deer
| Season | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | — | 14 | — |
| 2022 | — | 6 | — |
| 2019 | — | 3 | — |
What people carried (2025 harvest)
- Firearm 118 · 82% · 282 hunters, 42% success
- Archery 26 · 18% · 389 hunters, 7% success
What the agency says about the area
Unit 42 – Beginning at the junction of the Beardsley Canal and U.S. Hwy 93 (AZ 89, U.S. 60); northwesterly on U.S. Hwy 93 to AZ Hwy 71; southwesterly on AZ Hwy 71 to U.S. Hwy 60; westerly on U.S. Hwy 60 to Aguila; south on the Eagle Eye Rd. to the Salome-Hassayampa Rd.; southeasterly on the Salome-Hassayampa Rd. to I-10 (Exit 81); easterly on I-10 to Jackrabbit Trail (Exit 121); north along Jackrabbit Trail to the…
Boundary: AZ Game and Fish Hunt Units (AZGFD ArcGIS feature service, layer 0)
Harvest: 2025 AZ Over-the-Counter Archery Deer Harvest Summary
Harvest: 2025 AZ Deer Harvest Summary (draw hunts only)