New for 2021

State Information

Source: United States Drought Monitor

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Source: United States Drought Monitor

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The Draw System

Arizona's 2021 mule Deer Breakdown

Arizona's 2021 coues Deer Breakdown

Arizona's 2021 bighorn Sheep Breakdown

Arizona's 2021 bison Breakdown

Arizona's 2021 Deer, Bighorn Sheep and Bison Application Overview

The Arizona deer and bighorn sheep draw is one of the most exciting draws of the year. Each year, you will have a number of hunters who beat the odds and are not just going on a nice deer or bighorn sheep hunt, but, instead, are arguably going to some of the very best destinations in the world for the respective species. Whether you are looking for the biggest mule deer, Coues deer or desert bighorns in the country, Arizona has a track record that is as good or better than any other state. Arizona also has ample opportunity for hunters who would like to just get out and hunt. Between hidden gems, the draw process and the number of hunts to choose from, there are plenty of above average opportunities available. Filtering was built for draws like this. After you spent a little time filtering through all of the different options in Arizona, you are bound to find something that gets you excited. And whether you decide to hunt sooner rather than later or try your luck with some of the harder to draw areas, Arizona is a state that should be a part of every serious western hunter’s annual application strategy.

Note: The online application deadline for Arizona deer, bighorn sheep and bison is June 8, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. ARIZONA time. You can apply online here.

View important information and an overview of Arizona’s rules/regulations, the draw system, permit and license fees and an interactive boundary line map on our State Profile.

Important Dates and Information

Drought in Arizona

We are currently sitting nearly in a worst case scenario in Arizona, at least when it comes to the drought. There is not a county in the state that is not in some level of drought and all of the most notable units are in the worst shape. There isn’t much to hope for other than possibly a strong monsoon season this summer that would at least help get the herds healthy again. As it sits now, fawn survival is expected to be quite low and antler growth is likely to be less than ideal as well.

2021

Source: United States Drought Monitor

2020

Source: United States Drought Monitor

Border Activity

The truth is that there are illegal immigrants crossing the US/Mexico border. Unfortunately, there seems to be as much traffic now as there has ever been. The good news is that if you are hunting north of Interstate 10 there is little to worry about in this regard as most illegal immigrants will be picked up on the interstate and head to different parts of the country.

If you choose to hunt south of Interstate 10, the odds of having any type of interaction with illegal immigrants is quite low. Those who are south of the border are very aware of the hunting seasons, the influx of hunters in the mountains at these times and do what they can to curb the number of potential interactions they have with civilians of any kind.

One piece of advice since I love hunting in these mountains is that the bulk of the movement happens at night. In the daytime, these groups of people are often in the bottom of a canyon or cut during the day sleeping. They will travel all night, sleep all day. The most common time to have interaction is right at sun up or right at sundown. However, it is a good idea to stay out of the bottom of these canyons and cuts during the day. If you are traveling, stay on the ridgebacks and, if you cross a canyon, don’t travel down it. Again, the odds of having an interaction are low, but this will help curb your odds of interaction even further.

Understanding the Draw

Arizona offers a modified bonus point draw for deer, bighorn sheep and bison where 20% of the permits will be given to maximum point holders and the other 80% will be randomly allocated. They reserve 20% of the permits for each deer hunt code for maximum point applicants. For bighorn sheep and bison, 20% of the total number of permits statewide are reserved for maximum point applicants. In the random portion of the draw, weight is given to the number of points applicants have. For example, an applicant with five bonus points will have five chances — plus one for that year's application — to draw a random permit.

If you apply for a species and are unsuccessful in the draw, you will receive a bonus point for that species. You may also apply for bonus points only. We highly encourage applicants to apply for a hunt as your first and second choice. Remember that there is a random portion of the draw; you never know when you might draw a great tag.

Resident/nonresident Quotas

Nonresidents are limited to no more than 10% of the total permits for each hunt code for antlered deer. Out of that 10%, up to 5% can be allocated to hunters in the bonus pass. [Bonus pass is the process that awards permits to maximum point holders.] After that, the remaining 5% can be allocated to nonresidents in the random pass (second pass).

Nonresidents are issued up to 10% of the total statewide bighorn sheep and bison permits. No more than 50% of the permits per hunt code can be allocated to nonresidents. One nonresident permit can be allocated when a hunt offers between two and four permits. Two nonresident permits can be allocated for hunts that offer five or more permits total. If a hunt only has one permit, a nonresident cannot apply for and draw that permit.

Hunt Choices

You can apply with a first and second choice. An applicant’s first and second choices are considered before moving onto the next applicant. This means that once your application is pulled, they will try to allocate you your first choice and, if there are no permits remaining or the quota has been met, they will consider your second choice and do the same thing. If you do not draw your second choice, they will move to the next applicant. Your third, fourth and fifth choices will only be considered if there are leftover permits after every application's first and second choices have been considered.

If you draw any choice — one through five — your points will be purged. If you fail to apply for five consecutive years, your points will be purged. Bonus points will not be impacted if you obtain a leftover deer permit in the first come, first served process.

What Are Draw Passes?

People commonly talk about draw passes in Arizona because the draw happens in three different passes. The first pass is the bonus pass where they allocate maximum point holders’ permits up until the quotas are met. The second pass is random and the state looks at each applicant’s first and second choices and awards permits until the quotas have been met. If you are unsuccessful in the second pass for your first and second choice, then the third and final pass looks at third through fifth choices and awards hunts that were leftover in the second pass. Apply with caution on your third through fifth choices. If you are not willing to burn your points on those hunts, do not include hunts for your third, fourth and fifth choices.

More information can be found on the Arizona State Profile about the specifics of the Arizona draw system.

Current Mule Deer Herd Condition

Like most western states Arizona has seen a steady decline in the number of mule deer found within its borders. Currently, there are roughly 110,000+ mule deer in the Grand Canyon State. However, once you are south of “the ditch,” meaning the Grand Canyon, Arizona mainly manages these units more for an opportunity to go hunting than age class of deer. There are big bucks that come out of many units each year in Arizona, but they only come out of the far northern units year after year. This is not always the case, but most of the time, you don’t see big bucks come from the same place in back to back years once you are south of the Grand Canyon.

If you are looking for a chance to hunt often and for the best bucks an area has to offer, then the OTC December and January archery hunts are typically your best bet to have a big buck crawl out of whatever hole he’s been living in.

Other than simply wanting a tag to go hunting, plan on Arizona being a long term goal kind of state as the Kaibab and the Arizona Strip are going to take some serious luck to draw early and, other than the archery hunt on 12 east and west, it will take close or over to two decades to currently be in a maximum point situation for these hunts.

The GOHUNT Hit List Units for Arizona Mule Deer

How to Uncover Hidden Gem Deer Units

A hidden gem can come in a number of different ways in Arizona. The first and most glaring are the archery hunts because of the reasonable number of points required to hunt the Kaibab or the 50+ units available to hunt OTC during the rut. Folks who do it year in and year out have taken some above-average bucks out of many different units. All this being said, and unfortunately so, a hidden gem may still take a decade or more to draw; however, given your odds on a late Kaibab or an Arizona strip tag, if you are looking to hunt with a rifle, keep your eyes peeled for the late December rifle tags in the units between Interstate 40 and the south rim of the Grand Canyon. These hunts are offered in different units each year, but with prime rut dates. Even a unit that may not have the strongest track record can produce a giant that time of year, especially with a rifle.

Use Filtering so you can search for exactly the type of hunt you are looking for. Sort success rates, percentage of public land and trophy quality to find a quality hunt that most hunters may not be keying into.

To Get Started with Filtering 2.0

The Points System

Managing Points and Expectations

Coues deer and mule deer use the same bonus points pool.

2021 maximum bonus points for deer: 24

Find your draw odds

I Have 0 to 3 Mule Deer Bonus Points. What Can I Expect?

Resident

There are many ways to go about things as a resident in Arizona who is just getting started. If your goal is to hunt mule deer with a rifle or muzzleloader, there are currently six muzzleloader hunts available with 100% drawing odds at zero points and one rifle hunt. If you were to wait until you had three points to draw, you would have 33 rifle hunts available at 100% odds of drawing as well as 15 muzzleloader hunts. The stand out would be Unit 45C because it has a 44% success rate and a 180”+ trophy potential; however, be aware that while this hunt can have some amazing results, the bulk of the big deer are killed during the January archery season. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in the desert to locate and hunt one of these big bucks outside of the rut.

Nonresident

If you are looking to hunt mule deer sooner rather than later with a rifle or a muzzleloader, there are a few options with zero points even for nonresidents. Currently, there are six muzzleloader hunts available in the northwest corner of the state near Kingman as well as Unit 30B available for a rifle deer hunt at 100% chance of drawing. If you choose to apply for one of these hunts, at least do it on your second if not third choice and swing for the fence on an elite tag like the late hunts in the Kaibab or the Arizona Strip. If you come out early, at least you won't miss your chance at being lucky.

Note: for hunters who aspire to hunt the Arizona Strip, consider that one archery tag is typically allocated to a nonresident in 13A and two are allocated in 13B. The odds for those archery hunts are less than 1% from zero to 21 points. The rifle odds are worse. If you want to try to draw the Strip and are just starting, realize you may never actually draw those hunts.

Find your resident mule deer draw odds with 0 points here

Find your nonresident mule deer draw odds with 0 points here

What Can I Do with 4 to 10 Mule Deer Bonus Points?

Residents

If you have waited for 10 years to draw a tag in your home state, chances are that you are looking for a chance at an above average deer in a unit with a track record for some older age class bucks. Currently, you have enough to draw the archery hunts in Unit 12 as well as Unit 3A/3C. You also have enough to draw the early rifle in Unit 12A West, 12A East, 12B West and 3A/3C. You also have enough to draw the muzzleloader hunt in 12A East and the rifle hunt in 45C. Both of these units have 180”+ potential, but none of these hunts are typically when the majority of these kinds of bucks are taken as they are well outside of the rut. If you choose to roll the dice in any of these, plan on some serious time scouting to get the most out of these opportunities

Nonresidents

If you have waited around for 10 years to draw your Arizona permit, chances are that you are likely not looking for just a chance to go hunting. However, if you are ready to get out there, the few options available in units with a 180”+ trophy potential are the Unit 12 archery hunt that covers all of 12AE, 12AW and 12B. The other option would be the rifle hunt in Unit 45C, but you do have way more points to draw this hunt than it requires if you have waited a decade and the season dates that are available in November are well outside of the rut that far south as those deer won’t start until the first week of January during a normal year.

Find your resident mule deer draw odds with 10 points here

Find your nonresident mule deer draw odds with 10 points here

What Can I Expect with 11 or More Mule Deer Bonus Points?

Residents

Last year, residents were able to draw the archery hunts in the maximum point pool in Unit 13A with 14 points and Unit 13B with 16 points. If you are waiting it out for the late Kaibab or Strip rifle hunts you will need to wait a bit longer. Currently, the number of points that it took last year to draw these permits were:

Nonresidents

Even though you have waited a long time already, unfortunately, if your goal is to wait it out for one of the elite tags in the state, it's going to be a while. Currently, your odds in the hardest hunts in the state are as follows.

Find your resident mule deer draw odds with 15 points here

Find your nonresident mule deer draw odds with 15 points here

Leftover and OTC Deer Tags

The majority of the state has OTC archery hunts so there is a chance that the unit you are looking to hunt is available to hunt every year as long as you are willing to pick up your bow and head out. Season dates are either in August or closer to the new year as the rut activity picks up.

Any leftover permits after the main draw will become available on a first come, first served basis. The list will be available on the AZGFD website under “Big Game Draw.” We will also publish those in an article. Applications for the leftover permits will be accepted by mail at 8:00 a.m on July 19.

Find your Arizona MULE DEER OTC opportunities here

Find your Arizona COUES DEER OTC opportunities here

Coues deer hunting in Arizona is the best you can find north of the Mexico border. There are units in Arizona managed for quality while others are managed for an opportunity to go hunting. There are options to hunt with a rifle that you can draw with zero points as well as others that take north of a decade to draw in a maximum point situation. Whether you are looking to check the box on this species and a first time applicant in Arizona or you are tired of waiting on some near impossible mule deer hunt in northern Arizona, there are options for everyone that will give you equivalent value for your current investment. There are typically three or four rifle seasons available per year, depending on what part of the state you are researching.

As a general rule, the first two or three seasons are relatively easy to draw compared to the late December hunts, which are considered rut rifle hunts and are typically the hardest hunt to draw in each unit. Coues deer hunting is truly the poor man's mountain hunt. If you like lots of glassing, lots of hiking and long-range shooting, these amazing deer will give you everything you are looking for and more.

Current Coues Deer Herd Condition

I was once told that everything likes to eat Coues deer and it is the reason they are so stealthy. Whether it be coyotes, lions, humans or eagles, these small deer are quite vulnerable to just about any predator found in the Southwest. This is likely why their ranges are so diverse. From the thick conifer forests that stretch all the way towards Interstate 40 to the sparse grass and oak covered ridges of the far south, these deer thrive in just about any environment the Southwest has to offer. They can be found in pockets on a plateau as well as the steep canyon walls along the different river systems. The further south you go, the stronger the population seems to get, but with the increase in deer comes the increase in hunters. Although a big buck can come from just about any unit in the state, the further north you are in their range, the more likely you will find an older age class buck.

How to Uncover Hidden Gem Units

Hunting south of Interstate 10, there are many different units that have multiple seasons both in October and November that have been undersubscribed for many years. Most of these units have above average deer densities and have incredible glassing potential versus units further north in the dense ponderosa forest. The main reason is that many hunters are avoiding these areas because of interactions with illegal immigrants and drug traffic that is happening in these remote areas of the state. The hunting in these units can be very good and picking up a permit is not that hard. Use caution when hunting these areas.

Using Filtering and Draw Odds, you will be able to study additional information like trophy potential and success rates to narrow down where you would like to hunt. If you want to hunt Coues deer every year, you can. In the table below, we offer hunts that were drawn with no points and have harvest success rates greater than 30%. In addition, there are many hunts that can be drawn that have slightly lower harvest success rates.

The Point System

Coues deer and mule deer use the same bonus points pool.

2021 maximum bonus points for deer: 24

(Points are not species-specific. Deer points are deer points whether you apply them to mule deer or Coues deer.)

Currently, the two hardest tags to draw in the state for Coues Deer are the late rifle hunts in Unit 22 and 23. They took 16 points to have a 100% chance of drawing in 2020.

Find your draw odds

Managing Points and Expectations

I Have 0 Coues Deer Bonus Points. What Can I Expect?

Whether you are just getting started in Arizona or possibly you have just burned your deer points last year on another hunt, there are a number of options to consider if you are looking for a rifle Coues deer hunt this coming fall. The bulk of these options are the earlier season hunts south of Interstate 10 and in some of the highest deer densities in the state. A couple of ideas with this few points to consider are: first apply with your first choice in a top shelf unit. Because you have two selections that are considered before they move to the next applicant, you might as well swing for the fence and see if you get lucky. If you choose to back up your first choice with a hunt you will likely draw, at least you didn’t miss a year trying for a top tier hunt.

Another idea would be to use both choices to apply for a harder to draw hunt, then use your third through fifth choice to apply for a hunt that typically goes under subscribed so you don’t miss out on a lightning strike, but, instead, hedge your bets by avoiding the uncertainty of picking up a tag when they are sold as leftovers. The last way to go about getting a deer tag this year would be to try for an elite tag with your first two selections. Leave your third through fifth choices blank. Wait it out to see what's available on the leftover list and move quickly to secure the hunt you want. This is the only way to have a rifle deer hunt in Arizona without burning your points.

Find your resident Coues deer draw odds with 0 points here

Find your nonresident Coues deer draw odds with 0 points here

What Can I Do with 5 to 10 Coues Deer Bonus Points?

Residents

With five points, resident applicants have 49 hunts they could draw. All of these hunts are early season hunts except for one late hunt in Unit 30B.

With seven points, hunters might consider the December hunt in 24A, 24B, 29 and 33. Applicants with eight points should consider the December hunt in Unit 6A and 6B/8. Finally, with nine and 10 points, the best options are the December hunts in Unit 21, 22, 27/28. Every hunt should be available to residents with 10 points going into this draw.

Nonresidents

With five points, nonresident applicants have 52 hunts they could have drawn. Intriguing options include rifle hunts in 6A (November), 8 (October), 23 (November), 30B (December) and 31 (November). With six points, the December rifle hunts in 30A and 34B were great options. The December hunts in Unit 32, 34A, 36A, 36B and 36C were good hunts for applicants with seven points.

With eight points, applicants should consider the December hunt in Unit 35A. Moving to nine and 10 points, applicants should research the December hunts in 6A and 6B/8. The best hunts in the state require more points. The December hunts in Unit 21 required 11 points, 27/28 and 29 required 14, Unit 22 required 17 points and 23 required 16 points.

Find your resident Coues deer draw odds with 8 points here

Find your nonresident Coues deer draw odds with 8 points here

Arizona offers hunts for both desert bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. Your points are simply for bighorn sheep so the decision to hunt Rockies or deserts happens each year when you apply. Truth be told: you could apply for both species using one of your two selections for desert bighorn sheep while using the other for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. This strategy doesn’t make a lot of sense, but you could do it. Because there are so many desert bighorn sheep options to choose from and this fact spreads out the applicants much better unless you are hard up for a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep specifically, your sights should really be set on a desert bighorn sheep. However, if you luck into a desert bighorn sheep in another state, it's nice to know that all your bighorn sheep points are still in play in Arizona and you can simply shift over to applying for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep moving forward and take advantage of whatever points you have built leading up to that point.

The big thing to remember when applying for bighorn sheep in Arizona is if you are a nonresident, it is a wasted selection to apply for any hunt that only has one permit up for grabs as there is no way for a nonresident to draw that one permit. The hunt code must at least have two permits available in order for there to be a nonresident permit issued. This, along with the fact that the maximum point pool pass will happen first, means that if a unit has two permits available and the permit is issued to a nonresident then this selection is out. Applying for a top-shelf unit will mean that you will likely be running a risk of there not being a tag available by the time the random pass happens. There is an up to 10% cap on the number of bighorn sheep permits allotted to nonresidents as well. Although a nonresident random permit can come out of any qualifying unit, you will need to come out early because when the smoke clears, there will only be a total of up to 12 nonresidents selected out of the 122 total tags up for grabs. This includes Rocky Mountain and desert bighorn sheep.

The table below shows the number of desert bighorn sheep permits available for 2021 and it also indicates if there are nonresident permits available. In the fourth column, we indicate whether or not each hunt is the “Best, Good or Worst” option for applicants with fewer than maximum points. Those suggestions are based on odds of drawing a permit in the random pool. The worst options are the best trophy hunts and will most likely be drawn by maximum point holders. Good hunts have good trophy potential and a permit that may slip through to a random applicant. The best options are the better bets for low point applicants. Still, the odds are less than 1%.

The GOHUNT Hit List Units for Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep

As previously noted, the best odds of drawing a permit are in areas where the trophy potential is not quite as good. The top-tier units in the state will produce 170” to 180” class rams most years. Those units are also the ones that will require maximum points or all the luck you can muster.

Managing Bighorn Sheep Points and Expectations

The Bighorn Sheep Point System

Arizona desert bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep use the same bonus points pool.

2021 maximum bonus points for Arizona bighorn sheep: 32

Find your draw odds

I Have Less than the Maximum (31) Bonus Points. What Can I Expect?

If you are more than a year or two behind the maximum number of points possible, your odds are going to be less than 1% for any selection you make. However, double check that there is going to be a nonresident permit potentially available for the hunt you would like to draw, use Filtering to study where the least number of applicants are applying, try and avoid the most glaring of these choices (as usually you will see a sharp increase one year to the next on the hunts that had the absolute least number of applicants) and say a quick prayer before you hit the submit button on your applications. This will take a full on lightning strike in order to be successful, but as we discussed: lightning will strike for potentially 12 nonresidents this year and you can’t win if you don’t play.

Find your resident Rocky bighorn sheep draw odds with 0 points here

Find your nonresident Rocky bighorn sheep draw odds with 0 points here

Find your resident Desert bighorn sheep draw odds with 0 points here

Find your nonresident Desert bighorn sheep draw odds with 0 points here

I Have 31 Bighorn Sheep Bonus Points. What Can I Expect?

If you have waited this long for your chance to hunt bighorn sheep, apply with caution. The less notable units will be a glaring choice as you should be a shoe-in for a maximum point draw. The sad reality is though that physicality is likely to be a major concern as you are not quite as young as you were when you started down this path. All this considered, my guess is your goal is for a giant ram and, if so, consider applying for Unit 22, 24B, 31, 32 or 44B North for desert bighorn sheep and Unit 1/27 (residents only), 1/2B (residents only) 6A, 22 and 27/28 for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep this coming draw.

Find your resident Rocky bighorn sheep draw odds with 25 points here

Find your nonresident Rocky bighorn sheep draw odds with 25 points here

Find your resident Desert bighorn sheep draw odds with 25 points here

Find your nonresident Desert bighorn sheep draw odds with 25 points here

Arizona offers two different application periods for bison each year. The current application period is exclusively for hunters who would like a chance to harvest a cow bison with two hunts and five tag exceptions for yearling bison that are designated to be harvested by the biologist managing the herds. For many hunters, this application period is simple. They simply apply for a point only application, build their point because they can and wait for the fall application period to apply for the hunts that would allow them to harvest a bull next spring and summer.

If you are interested in harvesting a cow, the odds on these hunts are still rough, but exponentially better than the odds of drawing a hunt that would allow you to hunt a bull next year.

Currently, an applicant could have as many as 52 bonus points because of the way this system works. However, there are only seven residents with more than 40 points and two nonresidents.

The Point System

2021 maximum bonus points for bison: 52

Managing Points and Expectations

There is currently not a mature bull bison hunt available in this application period. If you are looking for a chance to hunt a trophy bull, you will need to apply for a point in this application period and wait until the fall application period to submit your application for an actual hunt.

If your goal is to simply draw a bison hunt and a cow or a yearling bull sounds like exactly what you are looking for, then this is the draw period for you. The odds are steep even for the cows, but you don’t want to miss any chance to draw whether it's this deadline or the fall deadline.

Find your resident bison draw odds here

Find your nonresident bison draw odds here