Arizona Deer · Unit 5A

Arizona Unit 5A covers 442,912 acres and lies 24 miles south-west of Winslow and 41 miles north-east of Payson. 69% of it is public land, mostly national forest (41%) and state trust land (28%). A further 14% is tribal land rather than public land. In 2025, hunters took 64 mule deer here (sum of published weapon rows); hunter counts not published. Its most applied-for hunt, 1152, put up 4 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 38 nonresident first-choice applicants, 4 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 5 points.

Tags, 2026
47

3 licenses · NR capped at 10%

Applicants
68

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
—

not published

Public Land
69%

41% Forest Service

Size
692 mi²

442,912 acres

Winslow Payson Sedona Flagstaff Camp Verde 5A

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Best Bets at 0 Points

Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2025. Nonresident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.

Every License in Unit 5A

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
1006 5% 5 ▼1
1152 · youth 3% (small sample) 5
1803 50% (small sample) —

First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file.

Draw results: AZGFD 2026 F Draw Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.

If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): $475 ($175 to apply). Closes Jun 2, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Harvest

All deer

Year Hunters Deer Success
2025 (summed) 560 69 12%
2024 (summed) 403 44 11%
2023 (summed) 318 42 13%
2022 (summed) 318 12 4%
2021 (summed) 646 78 12%
2020 (summed) 805 71 9%
2019 (summed) 505 65 13%
2018 (summed) 391 20 5%

Mule Deer

Year Hunters Deer Success
2025 (summed) — 64 —
2024 (summed) — 34 —
2023 (summed) — 39 —
2022 (summed) — 12 —
2021 (summed) — 63 —
2020 (summed) — 49 —
2019 (summed) — 60 —
2018 (summed) — 20 —

White-tailed Deer

Year Hunters Deer Success
2025 (summed) — 5 —
2024 (summed) — 10 —
2023 (summed) — 3 —
2021 (summed) — 15 —
2020 (summed) — 22 —
2019 (summed) — 5 —

A dash under Hunters: hunter counts not published for that year or sub-species.

2025 by LicenseHuntersDeerSuccess
General (unit share) 213 50 23%
Mule deer (hunt 1 of 2) — 50 —
General (hopi) (unit share) 9 0 0%
Otc archery 338 19 8%
Mule deer (hunt 2 of 2) — 14 —
White-tailed deer — 5 —

2025 split: archery 64 (100%)

What Arizona Game & Fish Department publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Arizona Game & Fish Department publishes no whole-unit line for 2025; a year's total is the sum of published weapon rows, added only where the lines do not overlap. Hunter counts not published for 2025. 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. Source: AZGFD 2025 AZ Over-the-Counter Archery Deer…; AZGFD 2025 AZ Deer Harvest Summary; AZGFD 2024 AZ Deer Harvest Summary.

The Ground

National Forest 179,795 ac 41%
State trust land 124,027 ac 28%
Private 75,053 ac 17%
Tribal 63,942 ac 14%
BLM 93 ac <1%

Source: Bureau of Land Management Arizona State Office with the Arizona State Land Department (Arizona Land Resources Information System, ALRIS) and Premier Data Services 2026 BLM AZ Surface Management Agency.

What the Agency Says About the Area

Unit 5A – Beginning at the junction of the Sitgreaves National Forest boundary with the Coconino National Forest boundary at the Mogollon Rim; northerly along this boundary (Leonard Canyon) to East Clear Creek; northeasterly along East Clear Creek to AZ Hwy 99; north on AZ Hwy 99 to AZ Hwy 87; north on AZ Hwy 87 to Business I-40 (3rd St.); west on Business I-40 (3rd St.) to Hipkoe Dr.; north on Hipkoe Dr. to I-40;…

Source: AZGFD 2026 Game and Fish Laws and Rules Book.

▸ Sources 19
  1. AZGFD 2026 F Draw Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. AZGFD 2026 Pronghorn and Elk Hunt Draw Information fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. AZGFD 2026 Game and Fish Laws and Rules Book fees, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. AZGFD 2025 AZ Over-the-Counter Archery Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  5. AZGFD 2025 AZ Deer Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  6. AZGFD 2024 AZ Deer Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  7. AZGFD 2024 AZ Over-the-Counter Archery Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  8. AZGFD 2023 AZ Deer Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  9. AZGFD 2023 AZ Over-the-Counter Archery Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  10. AZGFD 2022 AZ Over-the-Counter Archery Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  11. AZGFD 2021 AZ Over-the-Counter Archery Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  12. AZGFD 2021 AZ Deer Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  13. AZGFD 2020 AZ Deer Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  14. AZGFD 2020 AZ Over-the-Counter Archery Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  15. AZGFD 2019 AZ Over-the-Counter Archery Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  16. AZGFD 2019 AZ Deer Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  17. AZGFD 2018 AZ Over-the-Counter Archery Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  18. AZGFD 2026 AZ Game and Fish Hunt Units boundary, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  19. Bureau of Land Management Arizona State Office with the Arizona State Land Department (Arizona Land Resources Information System, ALRIS) and Premier Data Services 2026 BLM AZ Surface Management Agency land ownership, retrieved Sep 1, 2026

About These Numbers

Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from Arizona Game & Fish Department's published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.

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Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

We don't take applications: check Arizona Game & Fish Department's site and apply there.

Prior-draw odds from Arizona Game & Fish Department's results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Arizona deer hunts