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Built from the 2026-27 AZGFD booklets, rule book, harvest summaries and maps
Arizona Hunting
106 public hunting places from the Kaibab Plateau to the sky islands, a page for each of the 76 Game Management Units, 15 counties and 80 base towns, all 721 season rows and 874 drawn and unnumbered hunts, and every one of the 73 AZGFD fee rows. Each date, fee and acreage is traced to AZGFD or a federal land agency and was checked on November 7, 2026. The photo shows a saguaro forest in Sonoran Desert National Monument.
Photo: Bureau of Land Management (CC BY 2.0)
Forest, BLM, trust land and wildlife areas, the Arizona way
Measured on the map layers, the 15 counties hold about 34,938,826 acres open to state-licensed hunters: some 12,146,733 acres of BLM land, 11,164,802 of national forest, 9,180,343 of State Trust Land, 1,656,302 of national wildlife refuges and 315,763 of AZGFD wildlife areas. Another 20,471,588 GIS acres are tribal land, closed unless the tribe says otherwise.
| Land hub | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Wildlife areas | 38 AZGFD wildlife areas |
| National forests | 6 forests, 25 districts |
| BLM land | 8 field offices, 6 monuments |
| Wildlife refuges | 9 refuges |
| Federal land | NRAs, Reclamation, military |
| State Trust Land | Open to license holders |
| Landowner Compact | Private ranch access |
| Access programs | Trust land, ranch passes |
| Tribal lands | 28 tribal places, closed |
| Land map | 102 pins |
Licensed hunters lawfully taking wildlife are permittees for trespass purposes on state trust land, so "State Land – No Trespassing" signs do not bar them. No one may lock gates, fence or block existing roads that give legal access to state land; state land within 1/4 mile of an occupied building or of livestock corrals, feed lots or holding pens may be posted closed, and other closures need a Commission permit. The rule does not allow crossing private land to reach state land. A further 50 places on the lists allow no state-licensed hunting: 28 tribal lands, the national parks and monuments run by the Park Service, and two closed wildlife areas. The public land hub names each one with its reason.
Tile acres are the figure on each land record; county acres are measured from GIS polygons and are not official totals. Sources: 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF p. 20; 18 U.S.C. 1165. Checked: each link reopened November 7, 2026.
Arizona hunting land, pinned
102 places carry a map point, from wildlife areas along the lower Colorado River to ranger districts on the Mogollon Rim. Places of 100,000 acres and up get the bigger dots.
Game units, hunt numbers and season tools: the Arizona rules
874 drawn and unnumbered hunts sit behind the 721 season rows, each one tied to the units where it is valid. Every elk and pronghorn row is a 2026 hunt until the 2027 booklet comes out in January.
| Season tool | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Game units | A page per unit (76) |
| Season dates | 721 season rows |
| Hunt numbers | 874 hunts by number |
| Nonpermit-tags | 198 nonpermit-tag rows |
| Archery deer limits | 74 unit limits |
| Bear limits | 2026 and 2027 quotas |
| Lion zones | 18 zone thresholds |
| Crane zones | 3 draw zones |
| Metro units | 4 metro units |
| CWD testing | 16 priority units |
| Trapping rules | 4 units closed |
| Big game draw | Three draws a year |
| Species | AZGFD bag and dates |
|---|---|
| Deer | Two deer per calendar year, provided one is taken with a population management restricted nonpermit-tag (R12-4-115). |
| Elk (2026 hunts) | Draw hunts by hunt number (archery July 31, 2026 to November 26, 2026; general September 11, 2026 to December 31, 2026; muzzleloader September 25, 2026 to December 31, 2026; limited opportunity, HAM, youth and CHAMP hunts) and nonpermit-tag elk in hunt areas and Units 12A-13B; one elk per calendar year. |
| Pronghorn (2026 hunts) | Draw only – archery August 21, 2026 to September 10, 2026, muzzleloader August 28, 2026 to September 13, 2026, general September 4, 2026 to October 11, 2026; one per calendar year. |
| Javelina | Two per calendar year, no more than one per open area; fall youth hunts, spring 2027 draw hunts (archery Jan., youth Jan.-Feb., HAM February 5-15, general February 19-28) and nonpermit-tag units. |
| Bighorn sheep | One desert and one Rocky Mountain bighorn per lifetime; draw only (October 1-December 31, 2026 hunts) plus Pioneer one-horned ram hunts. |
| Bison | One bison per lifetime: Raymond (5A/5B) and House Rock herds (designated animals) and the Kaibab Plateau herd (12A, 12B, 13A). |
| Black bear | Nonpermit-tags; two per year if one is a population management tag; fall 2026 August 7-December 31 by unit, spring 2027 from March 19; units close at their female harvest limit. |
| Mountain lion | Nonpermit-tag; one per calendar year; August 21, 2026-May 31, 2027 with zone harvest thresholds; pursuit-only season with a permit. |
| Wild turkey | One per calendar year; fall October 2-8, 2026 draw (shotgun) and archery August 21-September 10 OTC; spring 2027 April 16-May 27 draw, youth and archery OTC. |
Units, not counties, carry Arizona big game seasons. Start from a unit for its hunt numbers, archery deer limit, bear quota and lion zone, then use the county and town pages to find the public land and the roads in.
All 76 units by AZGFD region
Unit and county overlaps are measured on the AZGFD Game Management Unit layer and Census county lines. Sources: 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF p. 28; 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF p. 13; 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF p. 25; 2026 pronghorn and elk booklet, PDF p. 12; AZGFD GIS layer. Checked: each link reopened November 7, 2026.
Arizona by the figures
AZGFD keeps no trophy records book, but its 2025 summaries count the take hunt by hunt: 10,623 deer from 30,134 draw deer hunters, 1,552 more on over-the-counter archery tags, 8,233 elk in the preliminary elk summary, and 143 bighorn rams from 149 sheep hunters.
Draw hunt figures are sums of the hunt rows in each summary (deer draw plus OTC archery in the chart; spring and fall javelina and turkey added together). Bear and lion are the printed report totals of the mandatory check-in. Elk 2025 is preliminary. Sources: 2025 AZGFD deer harvest summary; 2025 AZGFD OTC archery deer summary; 2025 AZGFD elk harvest summary (preliminary); 2025 AZGFD pronghorn harvest summary; 2025 AZGFD spring javelina summary; 2025 AZGFD bighorn sheep harvest summary; 2025 AZGFD black bear summary; 2025 AZGFD mountain lion summary. Checked: each link reopened November 7, 2026.
Arizona rows in season today
These counts come from all 721 AZGFD season rows. A species can have many rows open at once because each set of units, tag type and weapon gets its own line; quail, ducks and doves run statewide on one row each.
In season on November 7, 2026: 35 species, 371 rows
| Game | Rows open | First close | Last close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deer | 110 | Nov 8, 2026 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Black bear | 73 | Dec 31, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Elk | 52 | Nov 12, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Javelina | 44 | Dec 31, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Cottontail rabbit | 8 | Feb 7, 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 |
| Coyote | 8 | Feb 7, 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 |
| Foxes | 8 | Feb 7, 2027 | Mar 31, 2027 |
| Bobcat | 6 | Feb 25, 2027 | Mar 31, 2027 |
| Raccoon | 5 | Feb 25, 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 |
| Badger | 4 | Feb 25, 2027 | Mar 31, 2027 |
| Ringtail | 4 | Feb 25, 2027 | Mar 31, 2027 |
| Skunks | 4 | Feb 25, 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 |
| Tree squirrels | 4 | Jan 31, 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 |
| Bison | 3 | Dec 31, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Coati | 3 | Feb 25, 2027 | Mar 31, 2027 |
| Desert bighorn | 3 | Dec 31, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Jackrabbits | 3 | Feb 25, 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 |
| Mountain lion | 3 | May 31, 2027 | May 31, 2027 |
| Ducks and mergansers | 2 | Jan 31, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| European starling | 2 | Jun 30, 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 |
| Gunnison's prairie dog | 2 | Mar 31, 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 |
| House (English) sparrow | 2 | Jun 30, 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 |
| Nongame mammals | 2 | Jun 30, 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 |
| Northern bobwhite | 2 | Jun 30, 2027 | Jun 30, 2027 |
| Gambel's, scaled and California quail | 2 | Feb 7, 2027 | Feb 7, 2027 |
| Rocky Mountain bighorn | 2 | Nov 30, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Weasel | 2 | Mar 31, 2027 | Mar 31, 2027 |
| Chukar partridge | 1 | Feb 7, 2027 | Feb 7, 2027 |
| Common snipe | 1 | Jan 31, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Coots and gallinules | 1 | Jan 31, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Crow | 1 | Dec 31, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Dusky (blue) grouse | 1 | Nov 8, 2026 | Nov 8, 2026 |
| Eurasian collared-dove | 1 | Aug 31, 2027 | Aug 31, 2027 |
| Geese | 1 | Jan 31, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Pheasant | 1 | Feb 7, 2027 | Feb 7, 2027 |
Arizona openers still ahead
| Game | Season | Opens | Closes | Today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bison | General bison – Designated cow bison | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 17, 2026 | |
| Deer | General deer – antlered deer | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 22, 2026 | |
| Desert bighorn | General bighorn sheep – Any ram | Nov 13, 2026 | Dec 3, 2026 | |
| Elk | General elk – Antlerless elk | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 29, 2026 | |
| Rocky Mountain bighorn | General bighorn sheep – Any ram | Nov 13, 2026 | Dec 3, 2026 | |
| Sandhill crane | Archery-only sandhill crane – Any sandhill crane | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 15, 2026 | |
| Bison | General bison – Designated cow bison | Nov 20, 2026 | Nov 24, 2026 | |
| Deer | General deer – antlered deer | Nov 20, 2026 | Nov 29, 2026 | |
| Desert bighorn | General bighorn sheep – Any ram | Nov 20, 2026 | Dec 10, 2026 | |
| Elk | Archery-only elk – Bull elk | Nov 20, 2026 | Nov 26, 2026 |
Population management rows count among the open rows but are left out of the next openers; falconry and trapping rows stay on the species pages. Sources: 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations; 2027 spring hunt booklet; 2026 pronghorn and elk booklet; 2026-27 waterfowl leaflet; 2026-27 dove leaflet. Checked: each link reopened November 7, 2026.
15 Arizona counties in six AZGFD regions
AZGFD runs Arizona from six regional offices, Pinetop, Flagstaff, Kingman, Yuma, Tucson and Mesa, with headquarters in Phoenix. Every county page names its region and nearest office, lists its units with their shares, and sets out the public land, tribal land and State Trust Land inside it.
AZGFD Region II, Flagstaff
AZGFD Region V, Tucson
Cochise · Graham · Pima · Pinal · Santa Cruz
AZGFD Region VI, Mesa
Region lines follow unit boundaries; a county split between regions is listed under the region holding most of it; Maricopa County is listed under Region IV (Yuma) although its Phoenix-area towns sit in Region VI (Mesa). Sources: 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF p. 3; AZGFD Contact Information page. Checked: each link reopened November 7, 2026.
Every Arizona species with a page (54)
Elk on the Mogollon Rim and in the White Mountains, mule deer on the Kaibab Plateau and Arizona Strip, Coues whitetail in the sky islands, javelina and Gambel's quail across the Sonoran Desert, desert bighorn in the western ranges, bison at House Rock and Raymond, and doves, ducks and sandhill cranes. 11 pages (Mexican gray wolf, Mount Graham red squirrel, Masked bobwhite, River otter and Porcupine and others) explain why there is no season.
Badger · Band-tailed pigeon · Beaver · Bison · Black bear · Bobcat · Chukar partridge · Coati · Common snipe · Coots and gallinules · Cottontail rabbit · Coyote · Crow · Ducks and mergansers · Dusky (blue) grouse · Eurasian collared-dove · European starling · Foxes · Geese · Gunnison's prairie dog · House (English) sparrow · Jackrabbits · Mearns' quail · Mountain lion · Mourning and white-winged doves · Muskrat · Other nongame mammals · Northern bobwhite · Pheasant · Quail · Raccoon · Ringtail · Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep · Sandhill crane · Skunks · Tree squirrels · Weasel · Mexican gray wolf · Mount Graham red squirrel · Masked bobwhite · River otter · Porcupine · Black-tailed prairie dog · Jaguar, ocelot and jaguarundi · Black-footed ferret · Bats · Swans · Bald and golden eagles
Before an Arizona hunt: eight rules
Licenses first
A resident general hunting license costs $37 and the combination hunt and fish license $57; nonresidents buy the $160 combination, and youth 10 to 17 pay $5.
Three draws a year
Applications for the fall 2026 hunts closed on June 2, 2026, for spring 2027 on October 6, 2026, and for the 2026 pronghorn and elk hunts on February 3, 2026; the 2027 pronghorn and elk deadline falls in February 2027.
No blaze clothing rule
Neither the 2026-27 regulations, the Commission rules nor A.R.S. Title 17 set any hunter orange or blaze requirement.
Bait and scent
No food or other edible substance to take big game, nothing placed to draw in bears, and no lure or cover scent made with deer or elk urine.
Daylight hours
Most game may be taken in daylight hours, sunrise to sunset on the AZGFD chart; ducks, geese, doves, pigeons and cranes from half an hour before sunrise.
Tribal land is separate
About 28 percent of Arizona is tribal land, closed to state-licensed hunting; each tribe sets its own rules and permits, and entering to hunt without permission is a federal offense (18 U.S.C. 1165).
Hunter education
Required only for youth under 14 who hunt big game; adults are not required to take it, though a first course earns a permanent bonus point in each genus.
State Trust Land
Licensed hunters lawfully taking wildlife count as permittees on State Trust Land, so a no-trespassing sign on state land does not bar them; crossing private land to reach it is a different matter.
Sources: 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF p. 7; 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF p. 24; 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF p. 23; 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF p. 78; 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF p. 20; 18 U.S.C. 1165; 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF p. 111. Checked: each link reopened November 7, 2026.
Arizona banquets, classes, services and ranges
44 hunting events are dated from November 7, 2026 on, from conservation banquets to hunter education classes and youth hunt camps, and 209 shooting matches are on the calendar. Processors, taxidermists, guides, stores and AZGFD offices add up to 436 directory entries.
| Date | Event | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 7, 2026 | Arizona Hunter Education Field Day | Phoenix, Maricopa County | Class |
| Nov 9, 2026 | Arizona Hunter Education Course | Tucson, Pima County | Class |
| Nov 13, 2026 | Arizona Trapper Education Course | Kingman, Mohave County | Class |
| Nov 13, 2026 | Arizona Trappers Association Fall Family Camp 2026 | Kingman, Mohave County | Class |
| Nov 14, 2026 | Arizona Trapper Education Course | Kingman, Mohave County | Class |
| Nov 14, 2026 | Introductory Falconry Skills – AFA | Camp Verde, Yavapai County | Class |
| Nov 14, 2026 | Wild In The City – AES | Phoenix, Maricopa County | Class |
| Nov 16, 2026 | Arizona Hunter Education Course | Cottonwood, Yavapai County | Class |
Game processors
8 processors and custom meat shops.
Taxidermists
37 shops for a bull elk shoulder mount or a javelina.
Guide services
10 guide and hunt club listings.
Gun and bow stores
374 stores, from desert-town gun counters to chain outlets.
AZGFD offices
7 offices, Phoenix headquarters and six regions.
Shooting ranges
88 ranges on file, 12 of them AZGFD rows.
Arizona hunting questions
When is the Arizona general deer season in 2026?
The general deer hunts run between October 23 and December 31, 2026, with dates set by hunt number; youth general hunts fall between October 2 and November 29, and muzzleloader hunts between October 9 and December 31.
Can a nonresident hunt big game in Arizona without the draw?
Yes for some hunts: archery deer, bear, mountain lion, some javelina and turkey and a few elk areas use nonpermit-tags sold over the counter. Pronghorn, bighorn sheep and bison are draw only, and nonresidents get no more than 10 percent of the tags in any drawn hunt number.
May I hunt Arizona deer or elk over bait?
Unlawful to use edible or ingestible substances to aid in taking big game (placing them or knowingly hunting over them); water, salt and livestock salt or supplements placed in normal livestock operations are allowed (R12-4-303(A)(7)-(8)).
Can Arizona hunters go out on a Sunday?
No Sunday restriction: seasons run every day; neither the regulations, the Commission rules nor A.R.S. Title 17 limit hunting by day of week.
Has CWD shown up in Arizona deer or elk yet?
Chronic wasting disease has not been detected in Arizona deer or elk (surveillance since 1998; over 32,000 samples).
What does an Arizona resident pay for an elk tag?
$148 for a resident elk hunt permit-tag from the draw, application fee included, on top of a hunting or combination license; nonresidents pay $665. Nonpermit-tag elk costs $135 for residents.
How do I find someone to process an Arizona elk or deer?
The processor list holds 8 businesses by AZGFD region and county; AZGFD keeps no list of its own, and several counties have none.
Can I hunt on a reservation with my Arizona license?
Not on the strength of the state license. Tribal governments set hunting and fishing rules for their reservations; hunting there, if allowed, is controlled by the tribe. A state license, permit or tag is not required to hunt or fish on a reservation, and wildlife lawfully taken there may be transported anywhere in Arizona if identifiable as to species and legality (R12-4-117).
Does Arizona set big game seasons by county?
No. Seasons and permits run by Game Management Unit and hunt number; there are 76 units. County pages show which units fall inside each county and how much of each.
How many Arizona public hunting places have their own page here?
This site has pages for 106: 38 AZGFD wildlife areas, 6 national forests with 25 ranger districts, BLM land with 8 field offices, 6 national monuments and 3 conservation areas, 9 refuges, 2 national recreation areas, 5 military areas, State Trust Land, Reclamation land and the Landowner Compact.
Plan an Arizona season
Start from a unit for its hunt numbers, nonpermit-tag limits and 2025 harvest, from a county for its units, land and tribal boundaries, or from a town for the nearest wildlife area, forest district, store and range.
Other photos on this page: Matrixupgrade (CC BY-SA 4.0); U.S. Department of Agriculture (Public domain); Ken Lund (CC BY-SA 2.0); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southwest Region (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Chris M Morris (CC BY 2.0); Bureau of Land Management Arizona (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Bureau of Land Management (CC BY 2.0); Birding for Climate (Public domain); USFWS/Southeast (Public domain); Alabama Extension (CC0 1.0); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Midwest Region (Public domain); Dennis Murphy (CC BY 2.0); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Midwest Region (Public domain); NPS Photo (Public domain); ed ouimette (CC BY-SA 2.0); Andrew_Carter786 (CC BY 2.0); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Southwest Region (Public Domain Mark 1.0); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Midwest Region (Public domain).