Arizona Elk 3016
Antlered elk in Unit 5B, rifle only, Nov 27 – Dec 3, 2026. 84% public land, mostly National Forest.
Your odds at 0 points · 2026 draw
about 1 in 37
You're 8 points below the 2026 cut of 8, which has risen from 7 to 8 points since 2023.
Years to draw on points: 11 yrs (8–16)
- NR Tags
- 77
- Applicants
- 466
- Success
- 46%
First-choice nonresidents; nonresidents capped at 10%. Success: General bull hunters, 2025.
Points Needed to Draw, 2023–2026
The cut has risen from 7 to 8 points since 2023. Applicants per tag: 6.3:1 in 2023, 6.1:1 in 2026.
Point creep: drew out at 7 → 8 → 8 points (2023–2026), +0.2 points/yr (range +0.0 to +0.5). Years to draw project that pace (the median of the last five draws, capped at 2 points/yr); the agency sets quotas and demand sets the cut.
What It Costs · 2026 NR Fees
Closes Feb 3 · 108 daysThe $15 nonresident hunt permit-tag application fee (per applicant, per species) is not refunded. The $160 nonresident Combination Hunt and Fish license (only NR license valid for the draw; valid 1 year from purchase) is not refunded. A bonus point only (application fee; no tag fee) is $15, bought separately. Drawing adds the $650 nonresident elk hunt permit-tag (charged only if drawn; booklet price $665 includes the $15 application fee).
Optional, not counted above: PointGuard (optional tag-surrender insurance, per species per applicant) $10 and PointGuard Plus (optional; all eligible species for three consecutive draw cycles) $25.
- Opens
- Jan 13, 2027
- Closes
- Feb 3, 2027
- Results
- about Feb 23
- Point Only
- $15, Jan 13 – Feb 3
Next application window: Open Jan 13 – Feb 3, 2027 (expected). Dates are last cycle's, rolled forward until Arizona Game & Fish Department publishes 2027.
▸ Every Fee, With Sources
- Nonresident hunt permit-tag application fee (per applicant, per species) · paid at application $15 AZGFD 2026 Pronghorn and Elk Hunt Draw Information
- Nonresident Combination Hunt and Fish license (only NR license valid for the draw; valid 1 year from purchase) · paid at application $160 AZGFD 2026 Pronghorn and Elk Hunt Draw Information
- Bonus point only (application fee; no tag fee) · only for a point bought without applying — an unsuccessful applicant gets the point free $15 AZGFD 2026 Pronghorn and Elk Hunt Draw Information
- Nonresident elk hunt permit-tag (charged only if drawn; booklet price $665 includes the $15 application fee) · paid if drawn $650 AZGFD 2026 Game and Fish Laws and Rules Book
Details
Odds by Point Level · 2026 Draw
| Points | Chance | Applied | Drew |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 ← you | 3% | 90 | 4 |
| 1 | 5% | 91 | 6 |
| 2 | 8% | 51 | 2 |
| 3 | 10% | 50 | 5 |
| 4 | 13% | 44 | 3 |
| 5 | 15% | 47 | 6 |
| 6 | 17% | 33 | 7 |
| 7 | 23% | 23 | 4 |
| 8–21 | 100% same at every level | — | — |
Expected weighted draw over the common pool, scaled to the nonresident cap. A dash means Arizona Game & Fish Department did not publish a count for that level.
Draw results: AZGFD 2026 M Draw Report, p. 20, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
As a Lower Choice
Tags issued to lower choices ÷ lower-choice applicants, as published. Arizona draws lower choices with your points too, so this is an average across everyone who listed it lower: an applicant with more points than most does better.
How It Hunted, 2025
| Who | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| General bull | 619 | 284 | 46% |
| General bull (hopi) | 23 | 14 | 61% |
| All of Unit 5B | 642 | 298 | 46% |
Adding up Arizona Game & Fish Department's published lines for Unit 5B gives 642 hunters and 298 elk taken in 2025, and 46% of them took an elk (sum of published weapon rows). The first rows are hunters holding this license type; the rest of the area's hunters held something else. 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 Elk Harvest Summary; AZGFD 2024 AZ Elk Harvest Summary.
▸ Year-by-Year Numbers 3 draws
The standard draw for nonresidents, one row per year.
| Year | Tags | Applicants | Per Tag | Points Needed | Published Odds | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 77 | 466 | 6.1 | 8 | 6% | AZGFD 2026 M Draw Report, p. 20 |
| 2025 | 77 | 462 | 6 | 8 | 5% | AZGFD 2025 M Draw Report, p. 20 |
| 2023 | 67 | 425 | 6.3 | 7 | 4% | AZGFD 2023 M Draw Report, p. 12 |
Earlier Years, When This Number Was a Different Hunt
Arizona reassigns hunt numbers between years. In these years 3016 stood for another unit or weapon, so they are listed here rather than counted as this hunt's history or in its point-creep trend.
| Year · What It Was | Tags | Applicants | Per Tag | Points Needed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 · Unit 5A | 33 | 195 | 5.9 | 7 | AZGFD 2024 M Draw Report, p. 16 |
Other Licenses Valid in Unit 5B
- 3003 General Elk Sep 25 – Oct 1 · 2 tags · cut 30 <1% (small sample)
- 3803 General Nov 28 – Dec 4 · 1 tag · 0 applied 85% (small sample)
Odds at your points, nonresident. * fewer than 5 tags.
▸ Legal Cartridges 23 on file for Arizona elk
23 cartridges on file are legal for elk with a rifle in Arizona. Rules and sources: Arizona hunting laws.
▸ Sources 16
- AZGFD 2026 M Draw Report, p. 20 · draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- AZGFD 2025 M Draw Report, p. 20 · earlier draws, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- AZGFD 2023 M Draw Report, p. 12 · earlier draws, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- AZGFD 2026 Game and Fish Laws and Rules Book draw rules, fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- AZGFD 2026 Pronghorn and Elk Hunt Draw Information fees, seasons, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- AZGFD 2025 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- AZGFD 2024 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- AZGFD 2023 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- AZGFD 2022 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- AZGFD 2021 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- AZGFD 2020 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- AZGFD 2019 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- AZGFD 2018 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- AZGFD 2017 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- AZGFD 2026 AZ Game and Fish Hunt Units boundary, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- 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 (expected weighted draw over the common pool, scaled to the nonresident cap). 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.
Report an error on this page
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 elk hunts