AmmoSight

Arizona Elk — Unit 17A

Arizona Unit 17A covers 195,954 acres and lies 31 miles north-west of Chino Valley and 41 miles north-west of Prescott Valley. 72% of it is public land, mostly national forest (71%) and state trust land (1%). In 2025, 278 people hunted elk here and took 35 — 13% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 300 tags here for 10 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 2 points.

Tags (2026):656 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:306 Hunter success (2025):13% Public land:72% Size:195,954 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Unit 17A, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

6 licenses on offer · 656 tags · 306 applicants in the 2026 draw

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
  • 3073 LIMITED OPPORTUNITY (GENERAL) ELK | Bull elk | 17A, 17B, 18B, 19B, 20A, and 20C Antelope Mountain Hunt Area (Special Restrictions Apply - See 3 tags · 129 applicants · needed 25 pts
    <1% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • 3085 LIMITED OPPORTUNITY (GENERAL) ELK | Antlerless elk | 17A, 17B, 18B, 19B, 20A, and 20C 150 tags · 13 applicants · needed 3 pts
    100% Undersubscribed 21% as 2nd choice
  • 3086 LIMITED OPPORTUNITY (GENERAL) ELK | Antlerless elk | 17A, 17B, 18B, 19B, 20A, and 20C Black Mountain Hunt Area (Special Restrictions Apply - See Note 300 tags · 10 applicants · needed 2 pts
    100% Undersubscribed 41% as 2nd choice
  • 3092 LIMITED OPPORTUNITY (GENERAL) ELK | Any elk | Apply - See Notes 156 and 158) 17A, 17B, 18B, 19B, 20A, and 20C 150 tags · 96 applicants · needed 7 pts
    18% Long shot 14% as 2nd choice
  • 3190 LIMITED OPPORTUNITY (ARCHERY-ONLY) ELK | Bull elk | 17A, 17B, 18B, 19B, 20A, and 20C 3 tags · 55 applicants · needed 23 pts
    <1% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • 3191 LIMITED OPPORTUNITY (ARCHERY-ONLY) ELK | Antlerless elk | 17A, 17B, 18B, 19B, 20A, and 20C 50 tags · 3 applicants · needed 6 pts
    100% Undersubscribed 50% as 2nd choice
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.
4 hunts not offered in 2026 are hidden — show discontinued hunts.

What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Per application $175 $175 $825

Application window: opens Jan 13, closes Feb 3, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Other licenses valid in Unit 17A

Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2026 draw.

3201 — Limited Opportunity (Archery-Only) | Bull Elk | 17A/17B/18B/19B/20A/20C Standard 3202 — Limited Opportunity (Archery-Only) | Antlerless elk | 17A/17B/18B/19B/20A/20C Standard 3210 — (ARCHERY) | BULL ELK | 20C/17A/19B/18B/17B/20A 3211 — (ARCHERY) | ANTLERLESS ELK | 20C/17A/17B/18B/19B/20A

The country

Chino Valley Wickenburg Kingman Flagstaff Lake Havasu City
Unit 17A within Arizona
17B 18A 18B 19A 19B 8 Chino Valley Prescott
Unit 17A and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

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

Who owns the ground

  • National Forest 139,232 ac · 71%
  • Private 53,924 ac · 28%
  • State trust land 2,797 ac · 1%

Source: BLM AZ Surface Management Agency (Polygon)

Nearby areas

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.

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 278 35 13%
2023 335 44 13%
2022 355 85 24%
2021 358 65 18%
2020 317 85 27%
2019 325 76 23%

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Archery 35 · 100% · 278 hunters, 13% success

What the agency says about the area

Unit 17A – Beginning at the junction of the Williamson Valley Rd. (County Road 5) and the Camp Wood Rd. (FR 21); westerly on the Camp Wood Rd. to the west boundary of the Prescott National Forest; north along the forest boundary to the Baca Grant; east, north and west around the grant to the west boundary of the Prescott National Forest; north and east along the forest boundary to the Williamson Valley Rd. (County…

Source: Arizona Game and Fish Laws and Rules Book (July 23, 2026 edition; A.R.S. Title 17 + A.A.C. Title 12, Chapter 4)

Boundary: AZ Game and Fish Hunt Units (AZGFD ArcGIS feature service, layer 0)

Harvest: 2025 AZ Elk Harvest Summary

Harvest: 2023 AZ Elk Harvest Summary

Harvest: 2022 AZ Elk Harvest Summary

How we compute draw odds · All Arizona elk hunts