For those who wish to submit a paper application, it can be sent either by U.S. mail to Arizona Game and Fish Department, P.O. Box 74020, Phoenix, AZ 85087-1052, or hand-delivered to any Game and Fish office. For those mailing their application, please mail it early enough in advance so it is received by the department by the deadline. Postmarks do not count.
Apply early to take advantage of the “correction period.” If your application has an error and is received before 5 p.m. on Jan. 20, 2012, you will receive up to three phone calls from Game and Fish in a 24-hour period to help get the application corrected. After that date, mistakes can cause your application to be rejected.
A 2012 hunting license is required to apply in the draw. If you don’t already have your license, you can purchase it through the draw application process. Please keep in mind that if you purchase your license online, you must have a working printer handy and print your license out at the time of purchase. The department does not mail out any licenses purchased online.
Copies of the 2012 Pronghorn Antelope and Elk Hunt Draw Information Booklet are now available at all Game and Fish offices and should be available at all hunting license dealers throughout the state by the first or second week of January. An electronic version of the regulation booklet is also available here.
2012 Spring Hunt Information: Spring Turkey, Javelina, Buffalo and Bear
Leftover tags still available for spring 2012 hunts
Want to go hunting this spring but didn’t get drawn? There are still leftover tags available for purchase for javelina, turkey and bear.
There are two primary methods to obtain a leftover hunt tag.
Beginning Nov. 28, 2011, first-come applications will be accepted by U.S. mail (U.S. Postal Service) by mailing your application to: Arizona Game and Fish Department, Attn: Draw/First Come, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086.
Beginning Dec. 5, 2011, hunters can also purchase remaining leftover hunt tags in person at any of the seven Arizona Game and Fish Department offices. A list of office locations is available at www.azgfd.gov/offices.
Want to try javelina or turkey hunting but not sure where to start? Try one of the mentored hunting camps for kids, families and/or new hunters hosted by experienced hunters who will show you how to get started and provide the mentoring you need to learn at www.azgfd.gov/outdoorskills. Find the event meets your schedule and the area of the state you want to hunt in and give the contact a call to learn more.
View the updated list of leftover permits for 2012 spring hunts.
The deadline to apply for spring hunts issued through the drawing process WAS Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011 by 7 p.m. (MST). Seasons for 2013 hunts will be set during the August Arizona Game and Fish Commission meeting. The regulations are typically online by late August which opens the application process.
2011 Fall Draw Information
AMENDED! (Dec. 2-3, 2011) -- Changes to state laws transferred the authority to regulate discharging a firearm while lawfully taking wildlife within the limits of any municipality, park, or preserve during an open
season to the Arizona Game and Fish Commission.
Implementing this change responsibly required amending the 2011-12 Arizona Hunting and Trapping regulations, as well as the
2011 Pronghorn Antelope and elk hunt regulations after they were
published.
Find out about all the details and increased open areas for hunting at www.azgfd.gov/rules.
The deadline to apply for fall hunts issued through the drawing process WAS Tuesday, June 14, 2011 by 7 p.m. (MST). Seasons for 2012-13 hunts will be set during the April Arizona Game and Fish Commission meeting. The regulations are typically online by late April which opens the application process.
Draw Cycles and Hunt Permit Application Deadline Days
The Arizona Game and Fish Department conducts three separate application and draw cycles for big game hunt permit-tags. Beginning in 2007, the Department for the first time held a separate draw for antelope and elk. This change was made to let hunters know earlier if they have been drawn for these two popular big game animals. The three draw cycles are:
Species
Draw Deadline
Pronghorn antelope, elk
Second Tuesday in February (pending Commission approval)
Deer, fall turkey, fall javelina, bighorn sheep fall buffalo, pheasant
Second Tuesday in June (pending Commission approval)
Spring javelina, spring bear, spring turkey, spring buffalo
Second Tuesday in October (pending Commission approval)
View
Draw Results, Accumulated Bonus Points
Use the link below to
review past draw results and to view the
number of bonus points you've accumulated
for deer, antelope, elk, turkey, javelina,
bighorn sheep, buffalo and bear. To view
results, you'll need to provide your department
identification number (for most people,
this is their Social Security Number) and
your date of birth.
Hunt Guidelines and Hunt Recommendations Process
The Arizona Game and Fish Department follows a multi-tiered process for setting hunting season structures, hunting season dates, hunt permit allocations, and other controlling elements for regulating hunting of game animals. Learn more about this process and how you can participate.
Learn
About the Hunter Questionnaire Survey The
Arizona Game and Fish Department currently
uses a business-reply postcard questionnaire
to survey hunters about harvest, methods,
and effort. This technique has been used
by the Department for over 45 years. The
process was reviewed in 2008 see the report
below for details.
The department in October 2011 reimplemented the online application service to apply for big game hunt permit-tags. The date of availability of applying via the online service will be announced during each draw cycle. For the current draw cycle for 2012 pronghorn antelope and elk hunts, we anticipate the online application service will be available in early to mid January 2012. Applicants can also submit paper applications by mail or dropped off at a department office. Application forms can be found at all license dealers, at department offices, or by downloading a copy from the link found on the right-hand column of this web page.
Licenses can now
be purchased online here and from more than 300 license
dealers statewide.
For
a list of license dealers and to learn more
about buying a license, click here.
Hunt Arizona 2011 Edition Survey, Harvest and Hunt Data for Big and Small Game
Improve your odds of drawing a hunting tag
Do you want to find the hunts with the best chances of putting a tag in your pocket?
Or, are you more interested in which hunts have the best harvest success? You can find that information and much more in the annual Hunt Arizona resource guide.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department’s annual collection of survey, harvest and hunt data for big and small game has the latest 5-year data as well as historical data that you are bound to find of interest, some of it dating back to 1930s.
Arizona offers some of the best trophy and or unique hunting opportunities in North America for each of these species: Black bear, buffalo, coues whitetail, desert bighorn sheep, elk, javelina, mountain lion, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and turkey (goulds or merriam).
Each year, in June, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission awards Special Big Game License Tags, sometimes called Commissioners’ tags, to selected 501(c)(3) wildlife conservation organizations who are charged to market and sell those tags to raise funds for Arizona's wildlife.
Up to three tags for each of the following 10 Arizona big game species are typically allocated: pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, black bear, buffalo, elk, javelina, mountain lion, mule deer, Coues white-tailed deer and turkey.
All of the revenues raised are then returned to the Arizona Game and Fish Department to be directly used to benefit those species through wildlife and habitat management in coordination with the Arizona Habitat Partnership Committee.
Tags are typically made available to the public through auctions or raffles, including the Big Game Super Raffle.
The uniqueness of these special tags is that the hunting season is year-round allowing winning tag holders the time to pursue a trophy animal, many of which can only be found in the southwest and some only in Arizona – particularly, the Gould’s wild turkey, desert and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, Coues white-tailed deer, and the world-famous Kaibab mule deer.
One winner for each of ten big game Arizona hunt-permit tags will be drawn in this raffle. Winners will be able to hunt for 365 days almost anywhere in the state of Arizona during the 2011-12 hunting season. And the price is right, with tickets ranging from $5-$25 each.
Arizona offers some of the best trophy and or unique hunting opportunities in North America for each of these species: Black bear, buffalo, coues whitetail, desert bighorn sheep, elk, javelina, mountain lion, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and turkey (goulds or merriam).
The 2010 raffle sold 21,390 raffle tickets, raising $369,465 for Arizona's wildlife from the ten big game tags awarded to the AZBGSR by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. Every dollar raised through ticket sales of each species goes directly toward management projects that benefit that species in Arizona.
See how the dollars raised from this raffle and the other Commission-issued Special Big Game Permit-tags are benefiting Arizona's wildlife and habitat through the Habitat Partnership Committee.
Check back here for details about the upcoming 2012 raffle.
Want to go hunting this spring but didn’t get drawn? There are still leftover tags available for purchase for javelina, turkey and bear.
