Arizona Elk 3187

Archery-Only Elk · Antlerless elk in Unit 23, archery only, Nov 13–26, 2026. 98% public land, mostly National Forest.

Your odds at 0 points · 2026 draw

38% Below the cut

1 of 1 applicant at 0 points drew

You're 5 points below the 2026 cut of 5.

Years to draw on points: —

Tags
25
Nonresident Applicants
5
Success
10%

First-choice nonresidents; the tags are shared by every residency; nonresidents capped at 10%. Success: Archery-only bull, late hunters, 2025.

Points Needed to Draw, 2025–2026

points needed applicants per tag
5 you: 0 pts, below the chart ↓
2025
1:1
2026
1:1

Applicants per tag: 1.2:1 in 2025, 1.4:1 in 2026.

Insufficient history (1 of 3 draws) — a creep trend needs at least three draw years.

What It Costs · 2026 NR Fees

Closes Feb 3 · 108 days
Cost to Apply
$175
If You Miss
$175
If You Draw
$825

The $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
Payson Globe Fountain Hills Apache Junction Cave Creek 23
44%hunter success 2025 · 576 hunters, 251 elk
Unit 23 in full →

Details

Odds by Point Level · 2026 Draw

Points Chance Applied Drew
0 ← you 38% 1 1
1 62% 4 2
2 92% 0 0
3–10 100% — —

Monte Carlo over published bonus-point pools. A dash means Arizona Game & Fish Department did not publish a count for that level.

Draw results: AZGFD 2026 M Draw Report, p. 58, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.

As a Lower Choice

2nd Choice
17%

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

WhoHuntersHarvestSuccess
Archery-only bull, late 164 17 10%
Archery-only antlerless 23 2 9%
General bull 149 88 59%
General antlerless · 73 licenses 63 28 44%
General antlerless · 98 licenses 78 52 67%
Youth-only (general) 99 64 65%
All of Unit 23 576 251 44%

Adding up Arizona Game & Fish Department's published lines for Unit 23 gives 576 hunters and 251 elk taken in 2025, and 44% 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 2 draws

The standard draw for nonresidents, one row per year.

Year Tags (All Res.) Nonresident Applicants Per Tag Points Needed Published Odds Source
2026 25 5 1.4 5 20% AZGFD 2026 M Draw Report, p. 58
2025 25 3 1.2 — 33% AZGFD 2025 M Draw Report, p. 58

Earlier Years, When This Number Was a Different Hunt

Arizona reassigns hunt numbers between years. In these years 3187 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 27 25 — 0.1 — AZGFD 2024 M Draw Report, p. 46
2023 · Unit 5BN 24 5 2 6 AZGFD 2023 M Draw Report, p. 35

Other Licenses Valid in Unit 23

  • 3030 General Elk Nov 27 – Dec 3 · 21 tags · cut 22 <1%
  • 3060 General Elk · Antlerless elk Oct 16–22 · 75 tags · 12 applied 4%
  • 3061 General Elk · Antlerless elk Dec 4–10 · 100 tags · 20 applied 14%
  • 3072 Youth-Only (General) Elk (Arizona Hunter Education course required for youth ages 10–13)…Youth only Oct 9–15 · 100 tags · cut 4 16%
  • 3166 Archery-Only Elk Nov 13–26 · 20 tags · cut 8 4%
  • 3198 Archery-Only · Antlerless elk Nov 17–30 · 25 tags · 2 applied 100%
  • 3206 Archery · Antlerless Elk Nov 11–24 · no draw result on file —

Odds at your points, nonresident. * fewer than 5 tags.

▸ Sources 15
  1. AZGFD 2026 M Draw Report, p. 58 · draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. AZGFD 2025 M Draw Report, p. 58 · earlier draws, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. AZGFD 2026 Game and Fish Laws and Rules Book draw rules, fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. AZGFD 2026 Pronghorn and Elk Hunt Draw Information fees, seasons, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. AZGFD 2025 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  6. AZGFD 2024 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  7. AZGFD 2023 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  8. AZGFD 2022 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  9. AZGFD 2021 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  10. AZGFD 2020 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  11. AZGFD 2019 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  12. AZGFD 2018 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  13. AZGFD 2017 AZ Elk Harvest Summary harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  14. AZGFD 2026 AZ Game and Fish Hunt Units boundary, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  15. 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 (monte Carlo over published bonus-point pools). 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

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 elk hunts