Arizona Elk · Unit 23S
Arizona Unit 23S covers 758,159 acres and lies 26 miles south-east of Payson and 43 miles north of Globe. 98% of it is public land, mostly national forest (98%). In 2025, 19 people hunted elk here and took 11, a 58% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 3009, put up 1 tag (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 436 nonresident first-choice applicants, 1 of whom drew.
2 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
98% Forest Service
758,159 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Every License in Unit 23S
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3009 | General Elk | <1% (small sample) | — | |
| 3149 | Archery-Only Elk | <1% (small sample) | — |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file.
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) | 19 | 11 | 58% |
| 2024 (summed) | 20 | 13 | 65% |
| 2023 (summed) | 24 | 15 | 63% |
| 2022 (summed) | 23 | 11 | 48% |
| 2021 (summed) | 10 | 5 | 50% |
| 2020 (summed) | 20 | 12 | 60% |
| 2019 (summed) | 18 | 9 | 50% |
| 2018 (summed) | — | 7 | — |
| 2017 (summed) | 20 | 15 | 75% |
A dash under Hunters: hunter counts not published for that year.
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archery-only bull, early | 11 | 5 | 45% |
| General bull | 8 | 6 | 75% |
2025 split: archery 5 (45%) from 11 hunters, 45%, firearm 6 (55%)
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 | 743,793 ac | 98% |
| Private | 13,763 ac | 2% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 484 ac | <1% |
| Tribal | 118 ac | <1% |
What the Agency Says About the Area
AZGFD publishes no separate boundary for this hunt unit: the map, acreage and land ownership shown are for the whole of Unit 23, of which this unit is a part. 23 South Hunt Unit - That portion of Unit 23 located south of the following: Beginning at the junction of Tonto Creek and Spring Creek; easterly along Spring Creek to FR 134; easterly on FR 134 to FR 129; easterly on FR 129 to AZ Hwy 288; easterly on AZ Hwy…
▸ Sources 14
- AZGFD 2026 M Draw Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- AZGFD 2026 Pronghorn and Elk Hunt Draw Information fees, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- AZGFD 2026 Game and Fish Laws and Rules Book fees, 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