Arizona Elk 3149 — Unit 23S

ARCHERY-ONLY ELK | Bull elk | 23 South

Unit 23S within Arizona

What you may take: ARCHERY-ONLY ELK | Bull elk | 23 South (antlered)
Weapon: Archery; Archery gear only — no rifle season on this license.
Where: Unit 23S; 98% public of 758,159 acres
Season (2026): Sep 11–24, 2026
Tags (2026): 1; for 221 first-choice applicants · nonresidents capped at 10%
Hunter success here (2025): 58%; of everyone who hunted the area

Showing nonresident results. Switch to resident

Odds by point level — 2026 draw

Prior-draw probability for a first-choice nonresident applicant. 1 tags, 221 first-choice applicants. Source: 2026 M Draw Report · p. 49.

Points	Your chance	Applicants	Drawn
0	<1% (<1%–<1%)	20	0
1	<1% (<1%–<1%)	19	0
2	<1% (<1%–<1%)	17	0
3	<1% (<1%–<1%)	13	0
4	<1% (<1%–<1%)	9	0
5	<1% (<1%–<1%)	5	0
6	<1% (<1%–<1%)	18	1
7	<1% (<1%–<1%)	15	0
8	<1% (<1%–<1%)	14	0
9	<1% (<1%–<1%)	9	0
10	<1% (<1%–<1%)	13	0
11	<1% (<1%–<1%)	9	0
12	<1% (<1%–<1%)	7	0
13	<1% (<1%–<1%)	3	0
14	<1% (<1%–1%)	1	0
15	<1% (<1%–<1%)	11	0
16	<1% (<1%–1%)	2	0
17	<1% (<1%–<1%)	6	0
18	1% (<1%–1%)	4	0
19	<1% (<1%–1%)	5	0
20	<1% (<1%–1%)	6	0
21	1% (<1%–1%)	6	0
22	1% (<1%–1%)	1	0
23	1% (1%–1%)	7	0
24	1% (<1%–1%)	1	0
25	1%	0	0
26	1%	—	—
27	1%	0	0

Monte Carlo over the common pool, scaled to the nonresident cap. A dash means Arizona Game & Fish Department did not publish a count for that level. How we compute these.

What it costs (2026 nonresident fees)

Cash to apply

$175

Out of pocket if unsuccessful

$175

Total if drawn

$825

Refunded if unsuccessful

At the 2026 odds, expected cost per hunt-year ranges from $14,570.93 (enough points to draw) to $389,538.89 (lowest published odds).

Nonresident hunt permit-tag application fee (per applicant, per species) · paid at application $15 source

Nonresident Combination Hunt and Fish license (only NR license valid for the draw; valid 1 year from purchase) · paid at application $160 source

Bonus point only (application fee; no tag fee) · only for a point bought without applying — an unsuccessful applicant gets the point free $15 source

Nonresident elk hunt permit-tag (charged only if drawn; booklet price $665 includes the $15 application fee) · paid if drawn $650 source

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.

Not applying this year? A point-only purchase costs $15 (Jan 13 – Feb 3, expected) and adds a point for next year's draw.

Next application window: opens Jan 13, closes Feb 3, 2027 (expected) · results ~February 23. Last cycle's schedule rolled forward — confirm when the agency publishes.

Point creep & years to draw

Insufficient history (0 of 3 draws) — a creep trend needs at least three draw years with a published drew-out level.

Seasons (2026)

Split 1: Sep 11–24, 2026 p. 18

How this tag has hunted

Across every license type in Unit 23S, Arizona Game & Fish Department counted 19 hunters and 11 elk taken in 2025 — 58% of them killed something. Full Unit 23S profile: maps, public land, five years of harvest →

Hunters holding this license type (2025) — the rest of the area's hunters held something else:

What they hunted	Hunters	Harvest	Success	Days per animal
Type Archery-Only Bull, Early	11	5	45%	—
Type General Bull	8	6	75%	—

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: 2025 AZ Elk Harvest Summary 2024 AZ Elk Harvest Summary

As a lower choice

2nd choice

<1%

Tags issued to lower choices ÷ lower-choice applicants, as published. Points do not help a lower choice.

Year by year

The standard draw for nonresidents, one row per year.

Year	Tags	Applicants	Applicants per tag	Points needed	Published odds	Source
2026	1	221	221.0	—	0.00%	2026 M Draw Report · p. 49
2025	1	254	254.0	—	<1%	2025 M Draw Report · p. 50

Earlier years, when this number was a different hunt

Arizona reassigns hunt numbers between years. In these years 3149 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	Applicants per tag	Points needed	Source
2024 · Unit 27	25	724	29.0	19	2024 M Draw Report · p. 39
2023 · Unit 7E	13	124	9.5	10	2023 M Draw Report · p. 29

Other licenses valid in Unit 23S

3009 — GENERAL ELK | Bull elk | 23 South Rifle

Spot a data error on this page? Tell us.

How to read these numbers

Every percentage on this page is a prior-draw probability: the chance an applicant with that many points would have drawn in the draw year shown, computed from the agency's published results. It is not a forecast — quotas, applicant numbers, and point creep change every year. Every figure links to the agency document it came from. Where a state does not publish a number, we show a dash, never a zero. Hunts with fewer than five tags show counts instead of percentages. Fees show the fee year used. Read the methodology for the engine details.

Not an application service

This page is informational only. Draw rules, quotas, fees, and deadlines are set by the state agency and change by commission action — confirm everything on the agency's own site before you apply, and apply through the agency, not here. We disclaim all liability for reliance on this page.