Arizona Elk · Unit 22
Arizona Unit 22 spans 1,011,948 acres, centered 17 miles south-west of Payson. 96% of it is public land, mostly national forest (96%). In 2025, 213 people hunted elk here and took 157, a 74% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 3147, put up 4 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 111 nonresident first-choice applicants, 2 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 12 points.
4 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
96% Forest Service
1,011,948 acres
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 22
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3071 · youth | Youth-Only (General) Elk (Arizona Hunter Education course required for youth ages 10–13)… | 9% | — | |
| 3099 | Champ | 9% | — | |
| 3147 | Archery-Only Elk | <1% (small sample) | 12 ▼9 | |
| 3186 | Archery-Only Elk · Antlerless elk | 11% | — |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: 3197, 3205.
Draw results: AZGFD 2026 M Draw Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): $825 ($175 to apply). Open Jan 13 – Feb 3, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 (summed) | 213 | 157 | 74% |
| 2024 (summed) | 168 | 140 | 83% |
| 2023 (summed) | 274 | 190 | 69% |
| 2022 (summed) | 285 | 163 | 57% |
| 2021 (summed) | 295 | 154 | 52% |
| 2020 (summed) | 304 | 215 | 71% |
| 2019 (summed) | 319 | 196 | 61% |
| 2018 (summed) | 350 | 277 | 79% |
| 2017 (summed) | 253 | 121 | 48% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archery-only bull, early | 50 | 30 | 60% |
| Archery-only antlerless | 45 | 24 | 53% |
| Youth-only (general) | 118 | 103 | 87% |
2025 split: archery 54 (34%) from 95 hunters, 57%, firearm 103 (66%) from 118 hunters, 87%
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. 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; AZGFD 2023 AZ Elk Harvest Summary.
The Ground
| National Forest | 966,803 ac | 96% |
| Private | 29,772 ac | 3% |
| Tribal | 15,193 ac | 2% |
| State land | 161 ac | <1% |
| State trust land | 13 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 3 ac | <1% |
What the Agency Says About the Area
Unit 22 – Beginning at the junction of the Salt and Verde Rivers; north along the Verde River to the confluence with Fossil Creek; northeasterly along Fossil Creek to Fossil Springs; southeasterly on FS trail 18 (Fossil Spring Trail) to the top of the rim; northeasterly on the rim to Nash Point on the Tonto-Coconino National Forest boundary along the Mogollon Rim; easterly along this boundary to Tonto Creek;…
▸ Sources 14
- AZGFD 2026 M Draw Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- AZGFD 2026 Pronghorn and Elk Hunt Draw Information fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- AZGFD 2026 Game and Fish Laws and Rules Book fees, area description, 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. 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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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