AZ non-res draw help

Trogon

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It looks like I may be inhabiting southern arizona this coming winter (non-resident status). After about 2hrs on the AZGFD website and a skim through the 2022 regulations, its not immediately clear to me how to put in for the draw for coues (june 8). The website has a link to apply for the draw, but when I click on it it says the draw is closed for elk and pronghorn which is not what I am looking for anyway.

I wont have any points. Will put in as a first choice. Its also not clear to me how many PPs it would take to draw the unit and seasons Im looking at. Colorado has a draw stats pdf that will tell you how many points to draw a certain tag and I dont see that yet on AZGFD. Any pointers would be appreciated.
 
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There aren't any "guaranteed draw" points in Arizona. The way the system works is that the more points you have, the higher the odds that you MIGHT draw. Just select the units and dates you want and hope for the best. You might and could draw the first year you apply. I've been drawing rifle Coues rifle tags pretty much every year as a nonresident.
 

Rooster46

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Let me know if I can help. I live down here and know 3 southern units very well. Like Myk said, you can draw tags pretty easily with units that will produce for a guy that gets off the road.
 

Weldor

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The early hunts are easier to draw December are a little tougher. Contact me if you neeed any help. The grass was really high last season, hard to glass the little buggers.
 
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Trogon

Trogon

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I could not find any stats on AZ website that state how many preference points are likely required for res & non-res draw. I couldn't find any useful stats at all in fact. Draw Odds and Harvest Summary are too general. So I just put in for a tag that was as late as possible and looked like there was still decent draw odds.

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RoJo

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You could download the trial version of goHunt. Or if you are good at math and statistical analysis, you can figure it all out yourself using the data here:

 
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Trogon

Trogon

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You could download the trial version of goHunt. Or if you are good at math and statistical analysis, you can figure it all out yourself using the data here:



I've looked at all that data. There is not enough information there to figure out the required preference points to draw a tag. Just seems like the AZGFD site is a poor resource for hunt stats. Im used to CO that publishes detailed reports on how many applications and draws there were for a given number of points by res and non-res.

Honest question for residents: When you put in for an elk tag in AZ, how do you estimate how many years/points it will take you to draw?
 

Weldor

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I don't think you can, the point system here has no gaurantee for how many points to draw a tag. They do say they give tags to the top ten percent, but nobody knows how many tags that is. There are guys here running around with the maximum amount but usually they are looking at premium early bull hunts. So if there are 300 tags state wide and 5000 applicants for those hunts no gaurantee you'll draw with max points. It is as clear as mud. If your not picky the overloaded late hunts probably produce the most NR tags, but they are crowded.
 

RoJo

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Ok, sorry, I thought that they had all the data in one place. There is more here, scroll to the bottom for the reports: https://www.azgfd.com/Hunting/Draw/BonusPointProcess/

Arizona does NOT have a PREFERENCE point system. It is a BONUS point system, there is a difference. There is no number of points that guarantees a tag for a particular hunt...UNLESS you have max points and even then it depends on things like how many other people have max points and which hunt(s) you apply for. And it is possible to see what max points is for a species if you know how to read the data. I was one of ten people who had max points for elk one year many years ago and at that time I was guaranteed a tag if I applied for the right hunt, and in fact I drew tag number 1 for the early rifle bull hunt in unit 27.
 
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Trogon

Trogon

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Ok, sorry, I thought that they had all the data in one place. There is more here, scroll to the bottom for the reports: https://www.azgfd.com/Hunting/Draw/BonusPointProcess/

Arizona does NOT have a PREFERENCE point system. It is a BONUS point system, there is a difference. There is no number of points that guarantees a tag for a particular hunt...UNLESS you have max points and even then it depends on things like how many other people have max points and which hunt(s) you apply for. And it is possible to see what max points is for a species if you know how to read the data. I was one of ten people who had max points for elk one year many years ago and at that time I was guaranteed a tag if I applied for the right hunt, and in fact I drew tag number 1 for the early rifle bull hunt in unit 27.


Ahhhh. Got it. Similar to our weighted point system for moose/goat/sheep in CO. Thanks. That was what i needed.
 
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Max points doesn't guarantee you a tag in Arizona. It only means that you have a better than average chance, as opposed to some with say, 10 points. Bottom line is that you could draw a big game tag the first time you ever apply, or you might never draw a big game tag no matter how many points you have. Of course, a lot depends on specie. Javelina and Coues deer are easy to draw without any points at all.
 

wapitibob

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Max points doesn't guarantee you a tag in Arizona. It only means that you have a better than average chance, as opposed to some with say, 10 points. Bottom line is that you could draw a big game tag the first time you ever apply, or you might never draw a big game tag no matter how many points you have. Of course, a lot depends on specie. Javelina and Coues deer are easy to draw without any points at all.

If you're the one guy with max points it guarantees a tag.
 

aznoob

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Dec 14, 2020
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It looks like I may be inhabiting southern arizona this coming winter (non-resident status). After about 2hrs on the AZGFD website and a skim through the 2022 regulations, its not immediately clear to me how to put in for the draw for coues (june 8). The website has a link to apply for the draw, but when I click on it it says the draw is closed for elk and pronghorn which is not what I am looking for anyway.

I wont have any points. Will put in as a first choice. Its also not clear to me how many PPs it would take to draw the unit and seasons Im looking at. Colorado has a draw stats pdf that will tell you how many points to draw a certain tag and I dont see that yet on AZGFD. Any pointers would be appreciated.
Gohunt is really useful, but alas my input may be a tad late.
 

lonedave

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Well, I put in for sheep and deer this year for the first time and obviously didn’t draw sheep. I did draw th Nov 4 - 10th hunt for Coues in 24B. I guess first timers can draw! Now I need to look for a better way into the Superstition Wilderness. I went into, or lore specifically, tried to go into the Roger’s Trough trailhead last winter in my son-in-law’s Tundra. About 3-4 of the way in, I holed a tire and didn’t want to chance the rest of the way on a spare. I’ll be going down in my RAV4 for the hunt, but I’m hesitant to try that road again. Anyone with some intel on other access points to the wilderness or maybe what my chances may be outside the wilderness? My son-in-law has expressed interest in tagging along and he’s probably not interested in packing in, so I may have to investigate other options.
 
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There's great trophy bucks outside of the designated wilderness area. But, there's tons of access pounts into the wilderness area, besides Rogers. The outfitter I use down there kills some really great bucks outside of the wilderness, though.
 

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