Units 5A/5B deer hunting: 2026 hunts, harvest and draw
AZGFD's 2026 regulations list 2 deer hunts open in Units 5A and 5B, with 470 permits in all. The largest is hunt 1006, any antlered deer, October 30 to November 8, with 423 permits. On the 2 hunts held only in Units 5A and 5B in 2025, AZGFD's harvest survey counts 385 hunters and 146 deer taken; AZGFD lists 143 as mule deer and 4 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.
Unit 5A and Unit 5B shaded; the units around them outlined. Tribal land in tan.
| Units | Unit 5A, Unit 5B |
|---|---|
| AZGFD region | Region 2, Flagstaff |
| Deer hunts, 2026 | 2 (470 permits) |
| Hunt types | general and youth only |
| Earliest season | October 9 to October 15 (hunt 1152) |
| Deer taken on their own hunts, 2025 | 146 by 385 hunters |
| 2025 draw, first-choice applicants | 2,295 for 450 permits issued |
| Public land open to hunting | 76.7%, mostly national forest |
What deer hunts do Units 5A and 5B have in 2026?
2 hunts: 1 general and 1 youth only. 2 are held only in Units 5A and 5B. Permits are AZGFD's numbers for the whole hunt.
| Hunt | Type | Season, 2026 | Legal animal | Permits | Open area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1006 | General | Oct 30 to Nov 8 | Any antlered deer | 423 | 5A and 5B |
| 1152 | Youth only | Oct 9 to Oct 15 | Any antlered deer | 47 | 5A and 5B |
Source: AZGFD 2026-27 Arizona Hunting Regulations, PDF pages 29 and 31. Note numbers refer to AZGFD's printed notes, which set boundaries and restrictions; read them before you apply.
How many deer are harvested in Units 5A and 5B?
Year by year, the hunts held only in Units 5A and 5B. 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 | 2 | 385 | 1,921 | 143 | 4 | 146 | 38 |
| 2024 | 2 | 348 | 1,791 | 146 | 8 | 155 | 45 |
| 2023 | 4 | 398 | 1,762 | 157 | 9 | 166 | 42 |
| 2022 | 2 | 359 | 1,688 | 97 | 4 | 99 | 28 |
| 2021 | 4 | 450 | 2,223 | 94 | 12 | 106 | 24 |
Deer per 100 hunters is worked out from AZGFD's own hunter and harvest figures for the same hunts.
Every hunt that included Units 5A and 5B, 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1007 | General | 5A and 5B | 417 | 360 | 1,813 | 127 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 130 | 36% |
| 1803 | General | 5A and 5B (Hopi) | 27 | 25 | 108 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 64% |
| Hunt | Type | Area | Permits issued | Hunters | Hunter days | Mule deer bucks | Mule deer antlerless | Whitetail bucks | Whitetail antlerless | Harvest | Success (AZGFD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1006 | General | 5A & 5B | 418 | 326 | 1,712 | 129 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 135 | 41% |
| 1802 | General | 5A & 5B (Hopi) | 27 | 22 | 79 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 91% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1006 | General | 5A and 5B | 423 | 364 | 1,636 | 136 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 145 | 40% |
| 1007 | General | 5A and 5B | 9 | 8 | 39 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 75% |
| 1802 | General | 5A and 5B (Hopi) | 27 | 25 | 75 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 60% |
| 1803 | General | 5A and 5B (Hopi) | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Hunt | Type | Area | Permits issued | Hunters | Hunter days | Mule deer bucks | Mule deer antlerless | Whitetail bucks | Whitetail antlerless | Harvest | Success (AZGFD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1006 | General | 5A and 5B | 414 | 333 | 1,559 | 81 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 85 | 26% |
| 1802 | General | 5A and 5B (Hopi) | 27 | 26 | 129 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 54% |
| Hunt | Type | Area | Permits issued | Hunters | Hunter days | Mule deer bucks | Mule deer antlerless | Whitetail bucks | Whitetail antlerless | Harvest | Success (AZGFD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1006 | General | 5A/5B | 421 | 376 | 1,950 | 71 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 83 | 22% |
| 1802 | General | 5A/5B (Hopi) | 27 | 24 | 63 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 25% |
| 1153 | Youth only | 5A/5B | 47 | 47 | 201 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 36% |
| 1803 | Youth only | 5A/5B (Hopi) | 3 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
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 2 deer hunts that included Units 5A and 5B: 2,295 first-choice applications for 450 permits issued. These are 2025 counts, not a forecast.
| Hunt, 2025 | Area | Hunt type | Season | First-choice applicants | Second-choice applicants | Permits issued |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1007 | 05A/05B | Any antlered deer | 10/31 to 11/9 | 2,254 | 2,228 | 423 |
| 1803 | 05A/05B | Any antlered deer | 10/31 to 11/9 | 41 | 15 | 27 |
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.
How much public land is in Units 5A and 5B?
76.7% of Units 5A and 5B is public land open to hunting: 736,862 of 961,187 acres, the largest share national forest (527,084 acres). Each unit's page has its own land table: Unit 5A, Unit 5B.
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 do Units 5A and 5B have in 2026?
470 permits across 2 hunts in AZGFD's 2026 regulations. The largest is hunt 1006 (any antlered deer).
When is deer season in Units 5A and 5B in 2026?
The first deer hunt open here starts October 9 (hunt 1152, youth only) and the last ends November 8. Each hunt's dates are in the table on this page.
How many deer were harvested in Units 5A and 5B in 2025?
AZGFD's 2025 harvest survey counts 146 deer taken by 385 hunters on the 2 hunts held only in Units 5A and 5B, against 155 in 2024. Hunts shared with other units are counted in AZGFD's table for each hunt, not added here.
How many hunters applied for Units 5A and 5B deer in 2025?
AZGFD's 2025 draw report counts 2,295 first-choice applications for the 2 deer hunts that included Units 5A and 5B, and 450 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.
Arizona hunting Unit 5A Unit 5B Unit 5A elk Unit 5A pronghorn