Arizona Elk — Unit 3C
Arizona Unit 3C covers 355,065 acres and lies 19 miles south-west of Snowflake and 39 miles south of Holbrook. 83% of it is public land, mostly national forest (81%) and state trust land (2%). In 2025, 525 people hunted elk here and took 220 — 42% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 175 tags here for 17 first-choice applicants.
Your chance of drawing here
Every elk license type on offer in Unit 3C, 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-
<1% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
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4% Point builder 4% as 2nd choice
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4% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
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3064 YOUTH-ONLY (GENERAL) ELK (Arizona Hunter Education course required for youth ages 10–13) | Antlerless elk | 3A and 3C 125 tags · 22 applicants · needed 4 pts11% Point builder 2% as 2nd choice
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<1% Point builder <1% as 2nd choice
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23% Undersubscribed 24% as 2nd choice
| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | As 2nd choice | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3001 ↗ GENERAL ELK | Bull elk | 3A and 3C Rifle | <1% Point builder | 0% | 30 +1 since 2024 | 2 / 1,067 | Sep 25 – Oct 1, 2026 |
| 3012 ↗ GENERAL ELK | Bull elk | 3A and 3C Rifle | 4% Point builder | 4% | 10 +1 since 2023 | 22 / 95 | Nov 27 – Dec 3, 2026 |
| 3036 ↗ GENERAL ELK | Antlerless elk | 3A and 3C Rifle | 4% Point builder | 0% | — | 175 / 17 | Nov 6–12, 2026 |
| 3064 ↗ YOUTH-ONLY (GENERAL) ELK (Arizona Hunter Education course required for youth ages 10–13) | Antlerless elk | 3A and 3C Rifle | 11% Point builder | 2% | 4 −1 since 2023 | 125 / 22 | Oct 9–15, 2026 |
| 3127 ↗ ARCHERY-ONLY ELK | Bull elk | 3A and 3C Archery | <1% Point builder | <1% | 24 +1 since 2025 | 7 / 562 | Sep 11–24, 2026 |
| 3171 ↗ ARCHERY-ONLY ELK | Antlerless elk | 3A and 3C Archery | 23% Undersubscribed | 24% | 6 −10 since 2025 | 35 / 1 undersubscribed | 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.
The country
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
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 | 525 | 220 | 42% |
| 2023 | 795 | 338 | 43% |
| 2022 | 800 | 345 | 43% |
| 2021 | 698 | 283 | 41% |
| 2020 | 753 | 344 | 46% |
| 2019 | 977 | 416 | 43% |
| 2018 | 50 | 25 | 50% |
What people carried (2025 harvest)
- Archery 220 · 100% · 525 hunters, 42% success
What the agency says about the area
Unit 3C – Beginning at Snowflake; westerly on AZ Hwy 277 to AZ Hwy 260; westerly on AZ Hwy 260 to the Sitgreaves National Forest boundary with the Tonto National Forest; easterly along the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest boundary to U.S. Hwy 60 (AZ Hwy 77); northeasterly on U.S. Hwy 60 (AZ Hwy 77) to Showlow; northerly along AZ Hwy 77 to Snowflake.
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