Unit 12B deer hunting: 2026 hunts, harvest and draw
AZGFD's 2026 regulations list 6 deer hunts open in Unit 12B, with 535 permits in all (one of them shared with other units). The largest is hunt 1204, any antlered deer, August 21 to September 10, with 300 permits. On the 5 hunts held only in Unit 12B in 2025, AZGFD's harvest survey counts 170 hunters and 143 deer taken; AZGFD lists 139 as mule deer and 0 as whitetail.
Data updated October 2026. Hunts: AZGFD's 2026 2026-27 regulations. Harvest: AZGFD harvest summaries, 2021 to 2025. Draw: AZGFD's 2025 report.
National forestBLMState trust landNational recreation areaNational park or monument (no hunting)Tribal land (tribal permit)Unit 12BNeighboring unitsLake or riverHighway
| Unit | Unit 12B |
|---|---|
| AZGFD region | Region 2, Flagstaff |
| Deer hunts, 2026 | 6 (535 permits) |
| Hunt types | general, muzzleloader and archery only |
| Earliest season | August 21 to September 10 (hunt 1204) |
| Deer taken on its own hunts, 2025 | 143 by 170 hunters |
| 2025 draw, first-choice applicants | 5,045 for 485 permits issued |
| Public land open to hunting | 95.7%, mostly BLM |
What deer hunts does Unit 12B have in 2026?
6 hunts: 4 general, 1 muzzleloader and 1 archery only. 5 are held only in Unit 12B. Permits are AZGFD's numbers for the whole hunt.
| Hunt | Type | Season, 2026 | Legal animal | Permits | Open area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1017 | General | Oct 23 to Nov 1 | Any antlered deer | 15 | 12B |
| 1018 | General | Nov 20 to Nov 29 | Any antlered deer | 20 | 12B |
| 1019 | General | Oct 23 to Nov 1 | Any antlered deer | 110 | 12B West |
| 1020 | General | Nov 20 to Nov 29 | Any antlered deer | 75 | 12B West |
| 1186 | Muzzleloader | Nov 6 to Nov 12 | Any antlered deer | 15 | 12B West |
| 1204 | Archery only | Aug 21 to Sep 10 | Any antlered deer | 300 | 12A (excluding Grand Canyon National Park) and 12B |
Source: AZGFD 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF pages 29 and 32. Note numbers refer to AZGFD's printed notes, which set boundaries and restrictions; read them before you apply.
How many deer are harvested in Unit 12B?
Year by year, the hunts held only in Unit 12B. Hunter and harvest totals are sums of AZGFD's figures for those hunts.
| Year | Hunts | Hunters | Hunter days | Mule deer | Whitetail | Deer taken | Deer per 100 hunters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | 170 | 732 | 139 | 0 | 143 | 84 |
| 2024 | 5 | 165 | 995 | 85 | 21 | 105 | 64 |
| 2023 | 5 | 193 | 1,080 | 135 | 0 | 135 | 70 |
| 2022 | 5 | 176 | 877 | 114 | 0 | 114 | 65 |
| 2021 | 5 | 171 | 819 | 97 | 0 | 97 | 57 |
Deer per 100 hunters is worked out from AZGFD's own hunter and harvest figures for the same hunts.
Every hunt that included Unit 12B, as AZGFD reported it:
| Hunt | Type | Area | Permits issued | Hunters | Hunter days | Mule deer bucks | Mule deer antlerless | Whitetail bucks | Whitetail antlerless | Harvest | Success (AZGFD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1018 | General | 12B | 14 | 12 | 48 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 92% |
| 1019 | General | 12B | 15 | 13 | 80 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 100% |
| 1020 | General | 12B West | 99 | 87 | 364 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 76% |
| 1021 | General | 12B West | 53 | 43 | 174 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 93% |
| 1184 | Muzzleloader | 12B West | 15 | 15 | 66 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 87% |
| 1203 | Archery only | 12A and 12B | 217 | 179 | 1,078 | 67 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 40% |
| Hunt | Type | Area | Permits issued | Hunters | Hunter days | Mule deer bucks | Mule deer antlerless | Whitetail bucks | Whitetail antlerless | Harvest | Success (AZGFD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1017 | General | 12B | 12 | 9 | 46 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 44% |
| 1018 | General | 12B | 15 | 15 | 99 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 100% |
| 1019 | General | 12B West | 101 | 77 | 467 | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 53% |
| 1020 | General | 12B West | 55 | 50 | 315 | 23 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 36 | 72% |
| 1184 | Muzzleloader | 12B West | 15 | 14 | 68 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 64% |
| 1201 | Archery only | 12A & 12B | 261 | 233 | 1,785 | 146 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 146 | 63% |
Earlier years: 2023, 2022, 2021
| Hunt | Type | Area | Permits issued | Hunters | Hunter days | Mule deer bucks | Mule deer antlerless | Whitetail bucks | Whitetail antlerless | Harvest | Success (AZGFD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1018 | General | 12B | 15 | 10 | 80 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 70% |
| 1019 | General | 12B | 15 | 15 | 110 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 80% |
| 1020 | General | 12B West | 110 | 99 | 524 | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 62% |
| 1021 | General | 12B West | 55 | 54 | 268 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 87% |
| 1181 | Muzzleloader | 12B West | 15 | 15 | 98 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 53% |
| Hunt | Type | Area | Permits issued | Hunters | Hunter days | Mule deer bucks | Mule deer antlerless | Whitetail bucks | Whitetail antlerless | Harvest | Success (AZGFD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1018 | General | 12B | 15 | 15 | 56 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 40% |
| 1019 | General | 12B | 12 | 10 | 36 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 70% |
| 1020 | General | 12BW | 103 | 88 | 528 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 52% |
| 1021 | General | 12BW | 52 | 48 | 189 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 90% |
| 1181 | Muzzleloader | 12BW | 15 | 15 | 68 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 80% |
| 1198 | Archery only | 12A and 12B | 285 | 254 | 1,974 | 67 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 26% |
| Hunt | Type | Area | Permits issued | Hunters | Hunter days | Mule deer bucks | Mule deer antlerless | Whitetail bucks | Whitetail antlerless | Harvest | Success (AZGFD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1018 | General | 12B | 15 | 15 | 85 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 50% |
| 1019 | General | 12B | 14 | 7 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 50% |
| 1020 | General | 12BW | 118 | 84 | 403 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 38% |
| 1021 | General | 12BW | 61 | 52 | 254 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 80% |
| 1183 | Muzzleloader | 12BW | 13 | 13 | 59 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 86% |
| 1204 | Archery only | 12A/12B | 362 | 315 | 2,486 | 68 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 22% |
Source: AZGFD 2025 Deer Harvest Summary, AZGFD 2024 Deer Harvest Summary, AZGFD 2023 Deer Harvest Summary, AZGFD 2022 Deer Harvest Summary, AZGFD 2021 Deer Harvest Summary. Success is AZGFD's printed figure, and AZGFD's parts (bulls, cows, species) do not always add up to its harvest total; both are shown as printed. Hunt numbers change from year to year; the area column says where each hunt was. Rows AZGFD printed with a blank middle cell are left out rather than guessed.
How many hunters applied in the 2025 draw?
AZGFD's 2025 draw report lists 6 deer hunts that included Unit 12B: 5,045 first-choice applications for 485 permits issued. These are 2025 counts, not a forecast.
| Hunt, 2025 | Area | Hunt type | Season | First-choice applicants | Second-choice applicants | Permits issued |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1018 | 12B | Any antlered deer | 10/24 to 11/2 | 333 | 333 | 15 |
| 1019 | 12B | Any antlered deer | 11/21 to 11/30 | 944 | 1,194 | 15 |
| 1020 | 12BW | Any antlered deer | 10/24 to 11/2 | 373 | 600 | 110 |
| 1021 | 12BW | Any antlered deer | 11/21 to 11/30 | 1,769 | 2,283 | 55 |
| 1184 | 12BW | Any antlered deer | 11/7 to 11/13 | 188 | 261 | 15 |
| 1203 | 12A/12B | Any antlered deer | 8/22 to 9/11 | 1,438 | 999 | 275 |
Source: AZGFD 2025 Deer draw report. AZGFD's report also prints a percentage column whose basis it does not state, so it is not copied here.
What did AZGFD's 2025 survey count?
In Unit 12B, AZGFD's 2025 mule deer survey classified 435 animals in 61 groups: 35 bucks and 83 young per 100 does.
Source: AZGFD 2025 Mule Deer Survey Summary.
How much public land is in Unit 12B?
95.7% of Unit 12B is public land open to hunting: 675,691 of 706,181 acres, the largest share BLM (601,559 acres). The Unit 12B page has the full land table, towns and roads.
Measured by FilledTag inside AZGFD's unit boundaries from USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee managers). Public land open to hunting here means national forest, BLM, state trust land, AZGFD land, national wildlife refuges, national recreation areas and Bureau of Reclamation land. Tribal land, military land and national parks are counted on their own rows and left out of that figure.
Questions hunters ask
How many deer permits does Unit 12B have in 2026?
535 permits across 6 hunts in AZGFD's 2026 regulations. The largest is hunt 1204 (any antlered deer). One of these hunts also covers Unit 12A.
When is deer season in Unit 12B in 2026?
The first deer hunt open here starts August 21 (hunt 1204, archery only) and the last ends November 29. Each hunt's dates are in the table on this page.
How many deer were harvested in Unit 12B in 2025?
AZGFD's 2025 harvest survey counts 143 deer taken by 170 hunters on the 5 hunts held only in Unit 12B, against 105 in 2024. Hunts shared with other units are counted in AZGFD's table for each hunt, not added here.
How many hunters applied for Unit 12B deer in 2025?
AZGFD's 2025 draw report counts 5,045 first-choice applications for the 6 deer hunts that included Unit 12B, and 485 permits issued. AZGFD publishes no forecast for 2026; these are 2025 counts.
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Where these numbers come from
- Hunts, seasons, legal animals and permits: AZGFD 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations.
- Harvest, hunters and days: AZGFD 2025 Deer Harvest Summary, AZGFD 2024 Deer Harvest Summary, AZGFD 2023 Deer Harvest Summary, AZGFD 2022 Deer Harvest Summary, AZGFD 2021 Deer Harvest Summary.
- Draw applicants and permits: AZGFD 2025 Deer draw report.
- Unit boundaries: AZGFD game management unit boundaries. Public land: USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee managers).
FilledTag is not part of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Numbers are copied from AZGFD's published reports or measured from AZGFD and USGS maps; nothing here is estimated by FilledTag. AZGFD's regulations are the final word on every rule.