Draw Deadline
Applications due by…………………February 12, 2013 (Jan. 20th for correction period)
Online application services are available early to mid-January. Paper applications also can be submitted by mail or at any Department office and must be received by 5PM on the due date.
(http://www.azgfd.gov/eservices/draw.shtml)
Results available…………………April 20, 2013
Fees
Fees required at application
Hunt permit tag fee*………..$121.50 (resident)/$595 (non-resident)
General Hunting License fee**………..$32.25 (resident)/$151.25 (non-resident)
*Hunt permit tag fee includes a non-refundable application fee of $7.50. Unsuccessful applicants will receive hunt permit tag fee refunds (less the non-refundable application fee).
**General Hunting License is required to apply and is non-refundable.
Additional Fees After Successful Drawing
None
Points Only Fees
A bonus point purchase costs you only the General Hunting License fee (if needed) and the $7.50 application fee per applicant.
Points
Unsuccessful, valid applications will be awarded bonus points. Arizona’s bonus point system grants an applicant one random number entry for each bonus point that has been accumulated into the drawing for that species. Each bonus point random number entry is in addition to the application random number entry itself. This system provides applicants with an added chance of receiving a low random number in the draw, hence improving their draw odds, while still providing a chance (no matter how small) for any applicant to get drawn. Additionally, a loyalty bonus point can also be earned per species, if an applicant submits a valid application at least once a year for a hunt permit-tag or bonus point for that species consecutively for a 5-year period. An applicant retains the loyalty bonus point once accrued as long as the applicant continues to submit a valid application for that species at least once a year.
Purchasing A Bonus Point Only
In the event you do not wish to participate in the big game drawing, but still wish to accumulate bonus points, you may “obtain a bonus point.” To obtain a bonus point, you must have previously purchased a hunting license or apply for a hunting license through the draw for the year in which the hunt will take place. You must also include the application fee per applicant. If applying for a bonus point, you will not receive a refund on the license fee or the application fee. A bonus point costs you only the license fee (if needed) and the $7.50 application fee per applicant.
Non-Resident Permit Allocations
Non-residents may receive up to 10% of available tags in the draw.
Hunt Choices
There are 3 phases to the Big Game Drawing – the Bonus Point Pass, the First-Second Choice Pass, and the Third-Fourth-Fifth Choice Pass. Before each of the three passes in the drawing, each application is processed through a random number generator program. One random number for the application plus an additional random number for each group bonus point (which includes the Hunter Education and Loyalty bonus points) is generated for that application. The lowest random number generated for an application is used in the drawing process. An application receives a new random number for each Pass of the Big Game Draw.
When an application is read and the hunt choices are checked for available permits, there must be enough permits available in a hunt choice for all applicants on the application, including non¬resident caps; if not, the application is passed and the next one is read.
The Big Game Drawing, including the 20% bonus point pass, will be processed as follows:
First Pass (20% Bonus Point)
Twenty percent of authorized hunt permit-tags in each hunt number may be issued in this pass. Although 20 percent are available, the 10% nonresident caps are still in effect. In the Bonus Pass, the first and second hunt choices for all applications with maximum bonus points are looked at first. If permits are still available from the 20% allocation, then the next lower bonus point category is looked at; and so on, until all of the 20% allocation is issued or until all applications with 1 or more bonus points are read. Applications with zero bonus points will not be included in the 20% Bonus Pass of the Draw.
As each application is read, the first and then second hunt choices are checked to see if there are any permits available as part of the 20% bonus point allocation. If there are enough permits available for each applicant on the application without exceeding the 20% allocation or the nonresident cap, the permits are issued to that application. If not, the next application is read and the first and second hunt choices are checked until the entire application file is read. Any un¬issued permits from the “bonus point pass” will be returned to the available permits for each hunt. The Drawing will then continue to the next two passes.
Second Pass (1st and 2nd Hunt Choices)
For all valid applications which were unsuccessful in the bonus point pass, new random numbers are generated for each application with the lowest random number being assigned to the application. The same random number process as described above is used.
The first valid application (with the lowest random number) is read, checking the first and then the second hunt choices for available hunt permit-tags. If there are enough hunt permit-tags available for either of the choices and for each applicant on the application, without exceeding the nonresident cap when applicable, then the hunt permit-tags are issued. The next valid application in random number sequence is then checked for available hunt permit-tags until the entire file is read.
Third Pass (3rd, 4th, and 5th Hunt Choices)
For all applications which were unsuccessful with their first and second choices, new random numbers are generated for each valid application with the lowest random number being assigned to the application. The same random number process as described above is used.
Each valid application is then read checking the third, then fourth, and then fifth hunt choices for available hunt permit-tags for all applicants on each application (without exceeding the nonresident cap). When hunt permit-tags are available for one of the three choices, they are issued to the application.
After the entire file has been read in the third pass, the hunt permit-tag issuance portion of the drawing has been completed. Applicants are then awarded an additional bonus point for each species for which they were unsuccessful with a valid application. The species bonus points for each successful applicant are then zeroed out for the species for which they were issued a hunt permit-tag.
Hunter Education Requirements
Young hunters ages 10-13 looking to take to the field on a big game hunt will need to pass an Arizona certified hunter education course before his or her hunt. Additionally, non-residents who travel to Arizona and pass an Arizona certified non-resident hunter education course will earn 1 permanent bonus point.
Group Applications
Up to 4 applicants can apply together for elk. Group Bonus Points occur in the Big Game Draw when 2 to 4 applicants apply on 1 hunt application. Group bonus points are calculated by adding the species bonus points, loyalty bonus point, and hunter education bonus point for each applicant on an application and dividing that total by the number of applicants. The Department shall use the average number of bonus points accumulated by the individuals in the group, rounded to the nearest whole number. If the average has decimal digits equal to or greater than .5, the total will be rounded to the next higher number otherwise it is rounded down.