Arizona Elk — Unit 31
Arizona Unit 31 covers 776,481 acres and lies 16 miles west of Thatcher and 59 miles north of Benson. 86% of it is public land, mostly state trust land (35%) and national forest (32%). In 2025, 5 people hunted elk here and took 0 — 0% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 10 tags here for 10 first-choice applicants.
Your chance of drawing here
Every elk license type on offer in Unit 31, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.
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-
8% Point builder 4% as 2nd choice
-
3192 LIMITED OPPORTUNITY (ARCHERY-ONLY) ELK | Any elk | 28, 31, and 32 5 tags · 3 applicants · needed 8 pts31% Long shot 14% as 2nd choice
| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | As 2nd choice | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3095 ↗ LIMITED OPPORTUNITY (GENERAL) ELK | Any elk | 28, 31, and 32 Rifle | 8% Point builder | 4% | — | 10 / 10 | Oct 2–29, 2026 |
| 3192 ↗ LIMITED OPPORTUNITY (ARCHERY-ONLY) ELK | Any elk | 28, 31, and 32 Archery | 31% Long shot | 14% | 8 | 5 / 3 | Sep 11–24, 2026 |
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.
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 31
Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2026 draw.
The country
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Who owns the ground
- State trust land 272,785 ac · 35%
- National Forest 247,285 ac · 32%
- BLM 144,229 ac · 19%
- Private 109,967 ac · 14%
- State land 784 ac · 0%
- Bureau of Reclamation 557 ac · 0%
- Tribal 461 ac · 0%
- Department of Defense 398 ac · 0%
- County or city land 11 ac · 0%
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 | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| 2022 | — | 0 | — |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
What people carried (2025 harvest)
- Archery 0 · 5 hunters, 0% success
What the agency says about the area
Unit 31 – Beginning at Willcox Exit 340 on I-10; north on Fort Grant Rd. to Brookerson Rd.; north on Brookerson Rd. to Ash Creek Rd.; west on Ash Creek Rd. to Fort Grant Rd.; north on Fort Grant Rd. to Bonita; northerly on the Bonita-Klondyke Rd. to the junction with Aravaipa Creek; west along Aravaipa Creek to AZ Hwy 77; northerly along AZ Hwy 77 to the Gila River; northeast along the Gila River to the San Carlos…
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