Arizona Elk · 5BS
Arizona 5BS covers 180,861 acres and lies 30 miles east of Sedona. 98% of it is public land, mostly national forest (98%). In 2025, 715 people hunted elk here and took 280, a 39% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 3133, put up 20 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 529 nonresident first-choice applicants, 12 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 17 points.
5 licenses · NR capped at 10%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
98% Forest Service
180,861 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
- 39%
- Season
- Oct 16–22
- Tags / Apps
- 325 / 51
- If Drawn
- $825
- Success
- 39%
- Season
- Sep 11–24
- Tags / Apps
- 20 / 529
- If Drawn
- $825
- Success
- 39%
- Season
- Sep 11–24
- Tags / Apps
- 50 / 13
- If Drawn
- $825
Every License in 5BS
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3041 | General Elk · Antlerless elk | 4% | 7 | |
| 3067 · youth | Youth-Only (General) Elk (Arizona Hunter Education course required for youth ages 10–13)… | 7% | 5 ▲1 | |
| 3133 | Archery-Only Elk | <1% | 17 | |
| 3155 | Archery-Only Elk | 18% | 10 ▲2 | |
| 3177 | Archery-Only Elk · Antlerless elk | 28% | — |
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) | 715 | 280 | 39% |
| 2024 (summed) | 560 | 273 | 49% |
| 2023 (summed) | 704 | 392 | 56% |
| 2022 (summed) | 723 | 326 | 45% |
| 2021 (summed) | 710 | 359 | 51% |
| 2020 (summed) | 724 | 394 | 54% |
| 2019 (summed) | 724 | 347 | 48% |
| 2018 (summed) | 554 | 243 | 44% |
| 2017 (summed) | 567 | 228 | 40% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archery-only bull, early | 172 | 38 | 22% |
| Archery-only bull, late | 43 | 8 | 19% |
| Archery-only antlerless | 41 | 9 | 22% |
| General antlerless | 334 | 166 | 50% |
| Youth-only (general) (unit share) | 125 | 59 | 47% |
2025 split: archery 114 (41%) from 381 hunters, 30%, firearm 166 (59%) from 334 hunters, 50%
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 | 177,556 ac | 98% |
| Private | 3,305 ac | 2% |
What the Agency Says About the Area
5B South Hunt Unit - That portion of Unit 5B located south of the following roads: Beginning at the junction of FH 3 (Lake Mary/Clints Well Road) and FR 125; east on FR 125 to FR 82; south on FR 82 to FR 69B; east on FR 69B to FR 69.
▸ 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