I just relocated to Arizona from Texas and am planning on getting in the draw next season. I have read a bunch of old posts about the draw and there is a lot of talk about good and bad units. Is there a resource out there which lists the success rates per unit?

Thanks.

Go out and get a copy of the AZ Hunting regs.

Last years percentages on all the hunts are all in the back.

They are listed hunt by hunt in each unit, and species by species.

Lhook7,

Congratulations! You are in sportsman's paradise! If I ever move west, Arizona will be at the top of my list for potential residence.
You did not mention what you wanted to hunt, Elk, mulie, coues, sheep, pronghorns, bear, bison and the list goes on. I have a good firend that could get more specific with you call:
Eric Jantze (480)-832-8757 (Mesa, AZ)
Eric is an elk guide, he mostly works private ranch hunts in New Mexico, but he knows all the best areas in AZ. The great thing about AZ is anywhere you go in the elk areas is better than most places in most western states! Good luck on the draws.

Thanks for the replies guys, I appreciate the information and am looking forward to hunting here in AZ. I figure I'll put in for sheep every year, and then choose among which of the other game to apply for. I am thinking next year will be Elk, and either pronghorn or bear.

Be ready to pay some money, In Arizona you have to pay for tags up front of course if you are not drawn your money will be refunded. This year for three deer tags and hunting license it cost me 150 dollars I had to buy hunting license and deer tags at the same time. If not drawn you will be refunded the money sent in for the tags. There are some guys who have been putting in for 3 or 4 years and haven't been drawn for a tag. So if you decide to put in for Bighorn, Elk and Antelope it is going to be expensive. They are talking about raising next years tags prices. For Couse deer hunting if you are retired military or GS civilian or Active Army or Dependent. Ft Huachuca is the place to hunt. Bear tags can be bought over the counter. So no need to put in for the draw.

John

323,

Thanks for the info. Since I won't have to put in for bear, I'll put in for bighorn and probably either elk or pronghorn.

I wouldn't qualify to hunt Ft. Huachuca, I spent 4.5 years active army, and just under 5 years in the National Guard while I was in college.

I used to live in AZ and can tell you that drawing an Elk tag in some of those units is gonna definitely be worth you trouble...if you live long enough to see the day you actaully draw. Beautiful bulls up there.

Best,

John

Isn't that the truth.
I hear every year here how guys have been putting in for elk tags for the last 6 year if not longer and still not get drawn. I don't put in for the draw down here cause I can't bring myself to pay almost 80 bucks for a tag when I can get a tag in Oregon for half that.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnTheGreek:
I used to live in the cabin 9 miles south of Flagstaff and can tell you that drawing an Elk tag in some of those units is gonna definitely be worth you trouble...if you live long enough to see the day you actaully draw. Beautiful bulls up there.

Best,

John

A couple of weeks ago, when I first got here, I had to fly to our Albaquerque (sp?) office to get my company vehicle. I came back through Flagstaff just to see it; it is beautiful. I'll definately do a lot of Harley riding up there this spring.

LHOOK7, welcome to the west! Growing up TX myself, I can understand your desire to whack all of there cool critters out here. I,ve been here in NM for 15 years now and I love it. As far as AZ tags go, dont get to "pumped" about going soon unless you're one of those real lucky sob's. AZ is probably one of the hardest states to draw a tag. I'll have 7 bonus points for elk this year and i'm still waiting. I also have lots of points for antelope and sheep.
So the good news is that NM is right next door and we have land owner permits available if you've got the $$$. If you need any help, drop me an e-mail at wapiti@sisna.com
Good luck.............wapiti7

wapiti7,

Thanks for the information. My plan is to stay on my lease in Texas where we have mule deer and whitetail; if I am not drwan for elk in a couple of years here in AZ, I'm going to look at a land owner permit in NM.

I have never been elk hunting, but from what I've read and seen on tv, NM has some great elk.

It is a LUCKY hunter's paradise.

Pronghorn: 2% chance (I was drawn for a unit that had 7 tags last season)
Sheep: .01% chance
Bison: about the same
Bull Elk rut hunt: 2-3%
Bull elk later season: still slim - I have a buddy with 11 points now (I pulled one my second draw though)
Coues deer: there are units with 95-100% draw and units w/20% draw
Archery Coues deer: over the counter
Bear, spring: OK odds
Bear, fall: over the counter
Mountain Lion: over the counter
Javelina: I haven't been drawn for the last two years
Turkey, fall: great odds
Turkey, spring: a tough draw
Mulies, the strip: Oh my God, good luck
Mulies, other areas: good odds- just check the unit percentages

AZ will be back to the online draw next year and (unfortunately for us) just asking a $5 applicaation fee with full payment upon drawing.

We had problems with Anti hunting groups getting their members to go online and apply for tags to screw up the draw for the last few years.

I was hoping they would reqire payment in full at time of application this time but I guess they didn't learn their lesson.

It was mail-in apps for 1 year only to test it.

Good Luck with the draw and when all else fails, we are overrun with Coyotes!!!

LHook7,
I have to agree with most on this subject,,,,,,don't get too excited! It's tough to get drawn for anything. And in my case, the best units are several miles from the house.
As far as which units, it depends on whatcha wanna shoot. The Kaibab is the "Holy Grail" for AZ mule deer hunters. But, your chances of being drawn are slim. But if you by some miracle do get a tag, you're in for the best mulie hunt you can get out here. Just above you, (East of 17) I am told is a good area. I'm told it has the most variety of critters. Prescott is the place to go for pronghorn, but it's tough to find a place to hunt. I saw what I'm sure was a record book pronghorn up there this summer. But, no tag, no gun, driving down the highway, no chance of bagging him.

The key to hunting AZ is to hunt close to a water tank. There is a book availible that maps out 90% of the tanks out there. I say 90% because I don't think it has been updated in a couple of years. Any good sporting good store should have one. I prefer "Sportsmans Warehouse" on Dysart Rd. (West Pheonix).

Other than that, just get into coyote hunting. Gives you an excuse to go out scouting for other critters. Remember, if it's not posted, you can hunt there.

One last thing, don't consider Yuma as an option. In three years of hunting and fishing, I've only seen 2 does and a fawn, in three years of looking!!!! I'm told there are a few here, but I ain't seen'um.

Go to the San Carlos Indian Reservation website. They offer hunting on the rez. You don't have to draw, just but the tag from them. They are located Northeast of you.

Good Luck!

Lhook,

About seven or eight miles south of Flag on I-17 is the Mountainaire/Kachina exit. Take it and turn east toward Mountainaire. Follow the road for about two miles and on your right you will find the Mountainaire Tavern. Park that Hog, have a burger with some Jack Daniels, and give that damn friendly bunch my best wishes from Cairo. One of the best years of my life was spent in those woods and at that bar. If you visit the place in the fall, be careful of the elk on the road and don't slip on the elk sh*t in the parking lot.

Riodot,

I understand that Bison herd up there is almost entirely in Grand Canyon National Park now. So rare are these critters in legal areas now that the state offered every deer tag holder for the Kaibab the option of buying a Bison tag. Should make for some interesting wranglings between the state and the feds once the bison start tearing up the GC.

Best,

John

Call me, I can point you in the right direction. I would highly recommend joining the ADA, lots of great guys and they are a wealth of information.

PM me if you need my number

Drummond

Guys,

Don't get too hung up on the published success rates for AZ hunts because they can be misleading, especially in units with few permits for a certain game species. The only ones that are truely accurate are for those critters such as sheep where reporting is mandatory.

Oh, and Lhook....I've been applying for a sheep permit for over 35 years now. A desert bighorn and a bison are all I need left for the original "AZ Ten." Good luck.

Now, here's a snippet from my HOW TO HUNT COUES DEER book on why the rest aren't. It also applies to other game species.

LOTTERY PERMITS

All firearms hunters must go through a computer lottery to obtain a deer hunting permit for Arizona and for certain units in New Mexico. A bowhunter may purchase a tag over the counter, however.

If you’re a nonresident or not familiar with the hunting units and decide to apply for a draw permit for a do-it-yourself hunt in either of these states, do some research. Try to contact other hunters, guides or even the game departments for information and advice. Also study the hunt statistics from prior years, but consider the success rates and actual harvest with some skepticism because the figures are usually extrapolated from mail-in survey cards. The return rate of these cards for almost every whitetail hunt in Arizona averages between 25 and 45 percent.

A real-time example from the 2002 season shows a harvest of 42 deer and a success rate of 42 percent for the December hunt in unit 36B, where 100 permits were issued. Only 43 hunters returned the cards. That means 18 of the 43 reported a deer kill, but with such a small sampling, the figures could be way off. Perhaps three-quarters of the hunters who didn’t send the cards back were unsuccessful, or it could be the other way around. So just use the stats as reference points to compare one unit with another.

Something else to consider is enlisting the services of an outfitter or guide who will do the paperwork and submit your application for the drawing. This can eliminate a lot of the guesswork. Duwane offers this service for only $25, and dozens of applicants take advantage of it each year. It’s money well spent.

The nuances for drawing an Arizona permit are many. If anyone comes up with a sure-fire system that will guarantee a permit for a specific hunt every year, that person will become a rich man among his peers.

First off, the cut in permits over the last few years has lowered the chances to draw one from the get-go, and the ongoing human population increase hasn’t helped either........

Sooo...if a pronghorn unit has 10 permits and only ONE successful hunter returns the survey card, the AZG&FD extrapolates that into a 100% success rate!

The drawing odds are accurate, however, because they have all the numbers to work with. -TONY

HOLY CRAP!!!! I just want to shoot these critters, not claim them as dependents on my tax return!!

Thanks again for all the help.

Drummond,

I still have your number. I'll give you a call after the first of the year. Between now and then I have to close on a new house, get my stuff shipped here from Texas, move from my apartment in Phoenix to my new house in Cave Creek, make two trips to Texas, and build a project schedule at the office, so anything you told me would probably go in one ear and out the other.

Are you going to DSC?

LHook7,

Do not let some of these nay sayers get you down! As an out of state hunter I got a bow elk tag on my first try (cant remember the unit (right outside of Payson)). Then followed up the very next year with a rifle tag just west of Flagstaff! Yes, I am sure some AZ forum members might be flipping me off through their screen right now. But as Hallie Barry says "Dont hate me cause I am beautiful..... or too lucky." Hugh

Maybe I came off too negative - I love hunting AZ because of the varies terrain.

I've hunting ducks off a pontoon boat in the morning and then fished bass

I've huntind Doves, Ducks & Quail in the same morning

I've hunted Coues deer with a bear tag and a mountain lion tag in my pocket

Ive had a Bull Elk walk into camp (40 yds away)while on a scouting trip for an antelope hunt

I've fly fished for trout on an elk scouting trip.

How's that for variaty....................

Where else but AZ

quote:

Originally posted by Riodot:
Maybe I came off too negative - I love hunting AZ because of the varies terrain.

No, I was just joking.

I am used to TX where I walk in and buy my license and go hunting. Since I always lease private land, the only draw I needed to put in for was for desert bighorn, and there is one tag a year, so I am sure my odds are better here in AZ.

I am really looking forward to hunting here, and am planning on learning to fly fish.

BTW. That's a great Hobbes avatar.

As a hunting state, AZ absolutely sucks. Game & Fish is a political organization, full of gutless bureaucrats and riddled with anti-hunters. Only bows and arrows are politically correct enough for them. The place is overrun with elk and you can't shoot any of them. What a horrible place for a hunter to live.