Arizona Elk · Unit 5A
Arizona Unit 5A covers 442,912 acres and lies 24 miles south-west of Winslow and 41 miles north-east of Payson. 69% of it is public land, mostly national forest (41%) and state trust land (28%). A further 14% is tribal land rather than public land. In 2025, 869 people hunted elk here and took 369, a 42% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 3015, put up 33 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 185 nonresident first-choice applicants, 25 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 8 points.
14 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
41% Forest Service
442,912 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.
- Success
- 42%
- Season
- Nov 27 – Dec 3
- Tags / Apps
- 33 / 185
- If Drawn
- $825
- Success
- 42%
- Season
- Sep 11–24
- Tags / Apps
- 14 / 182
- If Drawn
- $825
- Success
- 42%
- Season
- Sep 11–24
- Tags / Apps
- 48 / 7
- If Drawn
- $825
- Success
- 42%
- Season
- Oct 17–23
- Tags / Apps
- 25 / —
- If Drawn
- $825
Every License in Unit 5A
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3015 | General Elk | 3% | 8 ▲1 | |
| 3039 | General Elk · Antlerless elk | 6% | 7 | |
| 3066 · youth | Youth-Only (General) Elk (Arizona Hunter Education course required for youth ages 10–13)… | 21% | — | |
| 3102 | Muzzleloader Elk | <1% (small sample) | 28 | |
| 3131 | Archery-Only Elk | <1% | 16 ▲1 | |
| 3153 | Archery-Only Elk | 12% (small sample) | 6 ▲6 | |
| 3175 | Archery-Only Elk · Antlerless elk | 22% | — | |
| 3802 | General | 42% (small sample) | — | |
| 3807 · youth | Youth-Only (General) · Antlerless elk | 60% (small sample) | — | |
| 3809 | Limited Opportunity (General) · Antlerless elk | 100% | — | |
| 3810 | Limited Opportunity (General) · Antlerless elk | — | — | |
| 3814 | Archery-Only | not open | — | |
| 3817 | Archery-Only | 39% (small sample) | — | |
| 3820 | Archery-Only · Antlerless elk | 100% (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) | 869 | 369 | 42% |
| 2024 (summed) | 657 | 308 | 47% |
| 2023 (summed) | — | 292 | — |
| 2022 (summed) | 758 | 329 | 43% |
| 2021 (summed) | 622 | 275 | 44% |
| 2020 (summed) | — | 343 | — |
| 2019 (summed) | — | 255 | — |
| 2018 (summed) | — | 383 | — |
| 2017 (summed) | 813 | 335 | 41% |
A dash under Hunters: hunter counts not published for that year.
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archery-only bull, early | 135 | 30 | 22% |
| Archery-only bull, early (hopi) | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Archery-only bull, late | 37 | 5 | 14% |
| Archery-only bull, late (hopi) | — | — | — |
| Archery-only antlerless | 44 | 19 | 43% |
| Archery-only antlerless (hopi) | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| General bull | 276 | 89 | 32% |
| General bull (hopi) | 11 | 5 | 45% |
| General antlerless | 174 | 105 | 60% |
| Youth-only (general) | 116 | 89 | 77% |
| Youth-only (general) (hopi) | 7 | 0 | 0% |
| Limited opportunity antlerless (east and west sunset hunt areas) · 24 licenses | 21 | 16 | 76% |
| Limited opportunity antlerless (east and west sunset hunt areas) · 25 licenses | 18 | 7 | 39% |
| Limited opportunity antlerless (hopi: east and west sunset hunt areas) · 3 licenses | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Limited opportunity antlerless (hopi: east and west sunset hunt areas) · 25 licenses | 21 | 4 | 19% |
2025 split: archery 54 (15%) from 222 hunters, 24%, firearm 315 (85%) from 647 hunters, 49%
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 | 179,795 ac | 41% |
| State trust land | 124,027 ac | 28% |
| Private | 75,053 ac | 17% |
| Tribal | 63,942 ac | 14% |
| BLM | 93 ac | <1% |
What the Agency Says About the Area
Unit 5A – Beginning at the junction of the Sitgreaves National Forest boundary with the Coconino National Forest boundary at the Mogollon Rim; northerly along this boundary (Leonard Canyon) to East Clear Creek; northeasterly along East Clear Creek to AZ Hwy 99; north on AZ Hwy 99 to AZ Hwy 87; north on AZ Hwy 87 to Business I-40 (3rd St.); west on Business I-40 (3rd St.) to Hipkoe Dr.; north on Hipkoe Dr. to I-40;…
▸ 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