New for 2022

State Information

The Arizona Draw System

Arizona's 2022 Elk Breakdown

2022 Arizona drought monitor status as of January 11. Source: United States Drought Monitor

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The Points System for Elk

Arizona's 2022 Elk Application Overview

Note: The online application deadline for Arizona elk is Feb. 8, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. Arizona time. You can apply online here.

Your GOHUNT INSIDER account also has the NEW Point Tracker feature. This allows you to enter the number of points you have for each state and species and, as you research through Filtering and Draw Odds, your point total will automatically be highlighted.

How to Apply

To apply, visit www.azgfd.com/hunting/draw and login to your AZGFD portal account. If you have not created a portal you will need to take the necessary steps to do so. Once inside your portal click on “Apply For A Draw.”

Now is the time to check your portal and review your bonus point totals. Last year, AZGFD transitioned into a new system and, as such, many applicants reported login issues as well as issues with their bonus points not matching their personal records. Check your points to ensure that you have the proper number of points. If something seems amiss, call AZGFD at 602-942-3000 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Do not wait to call if there is an issue. Take care of it well in advance of the application deadline.

Applicants must possess a valid Arizona hunting license to apply for a hunting tag. That license must be valid on the last day of the application period (Feb. 8, 2022). Check your AZGFD portal account.

Below you can find important information and an overview of Arizona’s rules/regulations, the draw system, bonus points, tag and license fees and an interactive boundary line map on our State Profile. Once at the State Profile, you can find even more information on applying in Arizona. You can also view the Arizona Elk Profile to access historical and statistical data to help you find trophy units.

Important Dates and Information

Note: The cost of the permit will only be charged if you are successful in the draw. If you are successful, AZGFD will attempt to charge the card used when you applied. If the card is declined, they will NOT attempt to contact you. They will move past your application to the next applicant in the queue. Make sure the card you use is current and has the room to accommodate the permit(s) you applied for!

Bonus Points: Understanding the Draw

Arizona has a modified bonus point system where a portion of the permits are allocated to applicants with the most bonus points who apply for any given hunt and the rest are randomly allocated. In Arizona, they refer to stages of the draw as “passes.” Bonus point permits are awarded in the first pass of the draw. The second pass is when random permits are awarded. Within the second pass (aka random draw), bonus points are taken into consideration. This means that your odds of drawing get better in the random draw with every bonus point you acquire. An applicant with no points still has a chance in the random draw.

Here are more details of the bonus point system. The system grants an applicant one random number for each bonus point that has been accumulated going into the drawing for that species. Each bonus point random number is in addition to the application random number entry itself. For example, someone with five bonus points would have six random numbers generated for their application. The lowest generated number becomes the application number. When they begin to allocate permits, they start with the applicant who has the lowest number. This system provides applicants with an added chance of receiving a low random number in the draw; hence, improving draw odds.

Bonus points are species specific. Applicants obtain a bonus point each time they apply and are unsuccessful in the draw. Applicants can apply for “point only” as their first choice, but we only advise that if an applicant cannot afford the time or the cost of the permit if they were to draw it. Remember that Arizona offers a portion of the permits in a random draw and you will automatically get a bonus point if you are unsuccessful in the draw, so it makes sense to apply for hunts and not just a bonus point. Bonus points will be purged if you successfully draw a permit. Bonus points will also be purged if an applicant has failed to apply in the draw for five consecutive years.

There are two other ways an applicant can gain an additional bonus point. If an applicant has applied for five consecutive years and has completed the hunter’s education course, they could go into a draw with two points already even if they drew a permit the previous year. More information below.

Pointguard

Arizona offers a safeguard for applicants who draw a permit and may want to return it in order to have their points restored. This program is called PointGuard. The fee is $5 per species and can be purchased at the same time you apply. If you purchased PointGuard for a permit you drew and decided to return it, it must be done at least one day prior to opening day. You’ll also need to complete the surrender application form. If you use PointGuard, you will have your bonus points restored plus one for that year. You will forfeit the permit and application fees. Also, be aware that PointGuard can only be used one time per species, meaning you cannot draw a permit and return it year after year (retaining your points) until you are ready to hunt.

Permit Splits and Allocation

Arizona allocates 20% of the elk and antelope permits in the bonus point pass and 80% in the random pass. Within the 80% (random pass), up to 5% of those can be allocated to nonresidents. Within the 20% (bonus pass), up to 5% can be allocated to nonresidents. Thus, up to 10% of the total permits can be allocated to nonresidents; however, it is not guaranteed.

Hunt Choices

Applicants can apply for up to five hunt choices on their application. Only your first and second choice are considered before moving to the next application. What that means is an applicant's third, fourth and fifth choice will only be considered if there are leftover permits. Be aware that if you draw any of your choices, your points will be purged. For that reason, we advise applicants to only include first and second choices unless they are willing to burn points on the types of hunts that make it to the leftover list.

Group Applications

Arizona will allow up to four individuals to apply on a group application for elk and antelope. The group application is treated as one application where, if selected, all members of the group would receive a permit. If there are not enough permits to meet the number of applicants on a group application, the application has no chance of being successful. Arizona will not over-allocate the permit quota to accommodate a group application. A group application will have their bonus points averaged and rounded to the nearest whole number (.5 and up would round up to the nearest whole number, .4 and down would round down).

Youth and Mentoring Opportunities

Youth can apply for and hunt big game in Arizona at 10 years old. They must have completed a hunter’s education course and purchased an Arizona hunting license. That license is only $5 for youth (10 to 17). We highly recommend that you begin to apply and build points for your youth beginning at age 10. Arizona does offer some “youth only” elk permits, but those are all antlerless hunts. For nonresidents, we recommend applying for antlered permits and building points for your kids. There are better opportunities to hunt cow elk in other states.

Arizona has a unique program that will allow a parent, grandparent or legal guardian to transfer a permit they have drawn to their youth (10 to 17). The youth must have a valid hunting license and completed hunter’s education if they are younger than 14.

Arizona is still one of the top-tier trophy elk hunting destinations in the world. It’s a state where applicants need to do some research and consider their goals before deciding on whether or not to apply. The cost of applying is relatively expensive. It will cost approximately $175 for an adult nonresident to apply for elk. If you decide to apply, you should also apply for any and all species for the additional $15 per species.

Arizona elk permits have the reputation of being notoriously tough to draw. There is some truth to that: the best units and the early archery, rifle and/or muzzleloader hunts have long odds. The reason they are so hard to draw is that the hunting and trophy potential is very good for the lucky permit holders. Whether or not you should apply depends on your goals. If you are relatively new to applying in Arizona and only want to hunt the best of the best, it may not be worth it to continue. Be honest with your objectives and review the Draw Odds to evaluate your Arizona elk strategy. We love Arizona elk hunting and believe it’s worth the money to apply, but be realistic in your expectations if you go down the road with Arizona.

Arizona’s elk hunting structure offers an early archery and rifle hunt as well as a late archery and late rifle hunt in most units. They also offer some muzzleloader hunts. The early hunts often have higher harvest success and the trophy potential is better early. The late hunts can be tough, especially the late archery hunts. Those hunts are spot and stalk — often in rough, remote terrain — and big bulls can be hard to locate consistently that time of year. Many of the better bulls are often broken up by the time the late hunts roll around. The trade off for applicants is that late season hunts are indeed easier to draw. Most of the late archery hunts can be drawn with fewer than 10 points and a few with as little as three to six points. They can be fun hunts, but review the harvest success trends and realize that there is a good likelihood that you will go home with your permit still intact. The late rifle hunts are good options for applicants without a lot of points. Many of the late rifle hunts are available with seven or more bonus points.

Not every unit in the state produces big bulls, but there are 10 or so that often do offer hunters a chance at a 330” plus bull. Out of those, there are maybe five that offer the chance at an even better bull. Arizona’s antler growth is heavily dependent on the moisture it receives and 2020 was one of the driest on record. This past year was better, with substantial summer monsoonal rains, which certainly helped late antler growth and improved body condition as bulls and cows went into the rut. The past four months have been dry, but with some luck, winter storms will ramp up and hopefully the spring and summer rains will continue in 2022. Overall, the elk herds and antler conditions could be better than they were from 2020 going into 2021. Arizona needs those spring and summer storms, but currently, body conditions appear to be good. We are hopeful that 2022 could still be a good year for antler growth.

The Current Drought Status in Arizona

2022

2022 Arizona drought monitor status as of January 11. Source: United States Drought Monitor

2021

2021 Arizona drought monitor status from January 19. Source: United States Drought Monitor

Use the Detailed Draw Odds view to look at draw trends and see where you can expect to draw in the maximum points pool and random draw.

How to Uncover Hidden Gem Arizona Elk Areas

The hunts in the table above are well known to produce great bulls and the odds of drawing those reflect that. There are many units that most hunters know very little about with far better odds of drawing. There are also late season rifle and late season archery permits in almost every unit. Even the units listed above with great trophy potential have late season hunts that can be drawn with far fewer points. Within those parameters (lesser known units with slightly less trophy potential and late season hunts) are where the hidden gems are.

Use Filtering to filter through these different parameters and find hunts that may be outside the box of what other hunters are focusing on.

To get started with Filtering 2.0:

In the table below we break out some of the best hunt options in the three to six point range and then the seven to 12 point range.

2022 maximum resident bonus points for elk: 292022 maximum nonresident bonus points for elk: 32

Managing points and expectations

Yes, you are seeing that correctly. Arizona’s bonus point system is more than 30 years old and, unfortunately, there are a lot of applicants in the system with a substantial number of points. Realistically, the odds of drawing the top tier early season hunts with less than a couple decades’ worth of points is less than 1%. If you have relatively few points in Arizona, you should really consider looking towards hunts that are outside of the box — otherwise, you may never draw.

Below are the number of applicants at each bonus point level going into the 2022 draw. These can and will change some as many applicants will complete the hunter’s education course online and add an additional point to their total.

Find your draw odds