This Tuesday, June 14, is the deadline to apply in Arizona’s second draw cycle of 2022. Participants in this draw cycle can apply for controlled deer, bighorn sheep, fall turkey and bison hunts. This is also the only time that bonus points for these species may be purchased. Fortunately for all the procrastinators out there we have everything you need to know listed below:
Who: Both residents and non-residents must apply by June 14 to participate in any of the hunts listed above.
What You Will Need: AZ hunting license valid as of 6/14, Social Security Number, AZGFD Customer ID (if you login through your AZGFD portal this is auto populated) and a method of payment for the application fee ($13 Resident / $15 Non-resident).
When: The deadline for applications is 11:59 PM on Tuesday June 14th.
Where: Apply via the AZGFD website – https://draw.azgfd.com/
Why: Arizona is a top-notch destination for trophy mule deer and offers more desert bighorn sheep and Coues’ deer tags than any other state. Mix in one of the only free-range bison hunts in the world and what more could you possibly ask for?
Arizona offers a compelling, but complicated draw process. Here are the basics:
The first part of the draw is basically a preference point system. For every hunt 20% of the tags are offered to the applicants with the most points. The second part of the draw allocates the remaining 80% of the tags via random draw. This means that anyone, even non-residents, regardless of bonus points, can draw nearly any tag. There is a 10% non-resident cap on all antlered deer, bighorn and bison hunts. Only 5% of these may be allocated via each of the draw phases listed above. Arizona’s system allows each applicant to list 5 choices for each species. The first and second choice of each application are reviewed before moving to the next application. A good strategy is to apply for the most desirable hunts as a first choice and a more modest hunt as a second choice. If an applicant draws any of the hunts listed in choices 1-5, all bonus points are forfeited.For a video tutorial on how to apply, checkout the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgJGD4MuPXo
For more information about the AZGFD Draw process read here:
https://www.azgfd.com/hunting/draw/process/
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