Cochise County Hunting Guide

Cochise County hunting ground, acre by acre

About 56% of Cochise County is mapped as public hunting ground, 2,209,083 acres on the GIS count. State Trust Land leads the list with roughly 1,339,298 acres.

State Trust Land is hunted on the Arizona license: the rule treats a lawful hunter as a permittee for trespass, and existing roads stay open to that hunter, but read the parcel signs. National park units (Chiricahua National Monument, Coronado National Memorial and Fort Bowie National Historic Site) are closed to hunting under 36 CFR 2.2. Military reservations (78,636 acres) are handled separately: each installation sets who may enter to hunt.

Hunting land inside Cochise County

Further places: San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, Fort Huachuca (U.S. Army).

Statewide guides for this ground: Arizona State Trust Land, Bureau of Land Management Arizona public lands.

Cochise County places with no hunting

• Clarence May and C.H.M. May Memorial Wildlife AreaClosed (R12-4-802)
• Fort Bowie National Historic SiteClosed (36 CFR 2.2)
• Chiricahua National MonumentClosed (36 CFR 2.2)
• Coronado National MemorialClosed (36 CFR 2.2)

Acres are GIS measures of polygons (not official acreage): AZGFD wildlife area and land ownership layers, PAD-US 4.1 for forest, BLM, refuge, park, Reclamation and military land; tribal land from the AZGFD-hosted ownership layer. Rules from the 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, R12-4-110 and 18 U.S.C. 1165. Checked November 7, 2026.

Cochise County openers and closing days

Archery deer, bear and lion nonpermit-tag hunts close unit by unit when a harvest limit is met, so a row can end before its printed closing day.

Refuge and metro unit rows carry their own limits. * Scaup not legal in this row.

From the 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, the 2027 spring booklet, the 2026 pronghorn and elk booklet and the waterfowl and dove leaflets (Arizona Game and Fish Department). Checked November 7, 2026.

No-draw tags for Cochise County

The archery deer limits that apply in Cochise County start with Unit 28 (antlered mule deer, 35), Unit 28 (antlered whitetail deer, 5), Unit 29 (antlered mule deer, 5) and Unit 29 (antlered whitetail deer, 65). Check the harvest report before each trip: a unit that hits its limit closes at sundown the next Wednesday, and kills go online within 48 hours. Sales opened November 2, 2026 at AZGFD offices for residents and November 23 at license dealers; nonresident tags are sold online only.

Season windows: Aug 21–Jan 31 (2026-27).

The bear season runs on OTC tags with female quotas; these are the Cochise County unit groups and their limits. After a kill: online report within 48 hours, then the skull and hide to the department within 10 days.

Female bear caps for Cochise County

Bear dates: Aug 21–Oct 1, 2026; Oct 2–Oct 29, 2026; Oct 2–Dec 31, 2026; Oct 30–Dec 31, 2026; Mar 19–Apr 22, 2027.

Lion hunters in Cochise County track Zone M (46) and Zone P (61), since a zone ends early once its count is reached.

Lion caps in Cochise County

Other OTC big game rows in the county's units: 1 row for elk, javelina or turkey, listed below.

No-draw hunts in Cochise County

OTC tag fees, 2026

OTC rows and limits from the 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations (archery deer limits page, bear limits page, lion zones page); reporting rules from the reporting page; fees from the fee table. Checked November 7, 2026.

Cochise County department offices and outfitters

Hunters in Cochise County can reach AZGFD through these offices, starting with Tucson. Use Operation Game Thief to report a violation.

Cochise County town guides

• BisbeeSeat of government
• Sierra Vista44,710 people
• Douglas15,819 people
• McNealCensus place
• Sierra Vista SoutheastCensus place

Further Census places: Benson, Willcox, Huachuca City, Tombstone, Bowie, Dragoon, Elfrida, Mescal, Miracle Valley, Naco.

Our directory lists 14 hunting businesss inside Cochise County; where a category is empty, the nearest ones in neighbouring counties fill in. Guides are not verified as licensed; ask to see the AZGFD guide license.

Cochise County mount makers

Cochise County ammunition counters

Cochise County guide services

Offices from the AZGFD contact page; towns and places from the 2024 Census gazetteer; services from store locators and Yellow Pages listings (not verified). Checked November 7, 2026.

When shooting light opens in Cochise County

Big game, quail and predator hunters near Cochise County work from sunrise to sunset; migratory bird hunters may start thirty minutes earlier.

Commission Orders can set other hours.

Hours rules from the 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations (A.R.S. 17-301); sunrise and sunset worked out for this location with the NOAA solar formula (Mountain Standard Time); the AZGFD Phoenix sunrise-sunset chart; checked November 7, 2026. Legal hours for every county.

Neighbour guides for Cochise County

Four neighbouring county guides ranked by centroid distance, and three statewide pages after them.

Cochise County before opening day

Seasons here are for 2026-27, and AZGFD prints new booklets every year, with the 2027 elk and pronghorn hunts due in January.

Sources: 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, AZGFD hunting, Census and the sources in each section. Checked November 7, 2026.