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%). Its most applied-for hunt, 3095, put up 10 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 10 nonresident first-choice applicants.
2 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
not published
35% State
776,481 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 31
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3095 | Limited Opportunity (General) Elk | 8% | — | |
| 3192 | Limited Opportunity (Archery-Only) Elk | 31% | 8 |
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: 3203, 3212.
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) | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| 2023 (summed) | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| 2022 (summed) | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2021 (summed) | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limited opportunity any elk (unit share) | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Limited opportunity (archery-only) any elk (unit share) | 0 | 0 | 0% |
2025 split: archery 0
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 2023 AZ Elk Harvest Summary; AZGFD 2022 AZ Elk Harvest Summary.
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 | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 557 ac | <1% |
| Tribal | 461 ac | <1% |
| Department of Defense | 398 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 11 ac | <1% |
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…
▸ Sources 9
- 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 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 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