Units 7/9 deer hunting: 2026 hunts, harvest and draw
AZGFD's 2026 regulations list 3 deer hunts open in Units 7 and 9, with 1,250 permits in all. The largest is hunt 1009, any antlered deer, October 30 to November 8, with 1,200 permits. On the 2 hunts held only in Units 7 and 9 in 2025, AZGFD's harvest survey counts 971 hunters and 523 deer taken; AZGFD lists 514 as mule deer and 7 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 7 and Unit 9 shaded; the units around them outlined. Tribal land in tan.
| Units | Unit 7, Unit 9 |
|---|---|
| AZGFD region | Region 2, Flagstaff |
| Deer hunts, 2026 | 3 (1,250 permits) |
| Hunt types | general and CHAMP (challenged hunters) |
| Earliest season | October 23 to October 29 (hunt 1180) |
| Deer taken on their own hunts, 2025 | 523 by 971 hunters |
| 2025 draw, first-choice applicants | 3,346 for 1,160 permits issued |
| Public land open to hunting | 75.9%, mostly national forest |
What deer hunts do Units 7 and 9 have in 2026?
3 hunts: 2 general and 1 CHAMP (challenged hunters). 3 are held only in Units 7 and 9. Permits are AZGFD's numbers for the whole hunt.
| Hunt | Type | Season, 2026 | Legal animal | Permits | Open area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1009 | General | Oct 30 to Nov 8 | Any antlered deer | 1,200 | 7 and 9 |
| 1010 | General | Dec 11 to Dec 31 | Any antlered deer | 20 | 7 and 9 |
| 1180 | CHAMP (challenged hunters) | Oct 23 to Oct 29 | Any deer | 30 | 7 and 9 |
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 Units 7 and 9?
Year by year, the hunts held only in Units 7 and 9. 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 | 971 | 4,106 | 514 | 7 | 523 | 54 |
| 2024 | 3 | 971 | 4,581 | 435 | 21 | 460 | 47 |
| 2023 | 2 | 980 | 4,781 | 394 | 6 | 400 | 41 |
| 2022 | 3 | 965 | 4,563 | 334 | 2 | 336 | 35 |
| 2021 | 5 | 1,304 | 6,247 | 268 | 12 | 280 | 21 |
Deer per 100 hunters is worked out from AZGFD's own hunter and harvest figures for the same hunts.
Every hunt that included Units 7 and 9, 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1011 | General | 7 and 9 | 1,130 | 963 | 4,078 | 509 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 518 | 54% |
| 1178 | CHAMP (challenged hunters) | 7 and 9 | 9 | 8 | 28 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 63% |
| Hunt | Type | Area | Permits issued | Hunters | Hunter days | Mule deer bucks | Mule deer antlerless | Whitetail bucks | Whitetail antlerless | Harvest | Success (AZGFD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1010 | General | 7 & 9 | 1,089 | 915 | 4,416 | 392 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 417 | 46% |
| 1151 | Youth only | 7 & 9 | 49 | 49 | 125 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 82% |
| 1178 | CHAMP (challenged hunters) | 7 & 9 | 10 | 7 | 40 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 43% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1010 | General | 7 and 9 | 1,099 | 974 | 4,771 | 390 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 396 | 41% |
| 1175 | CHAMP (challenged hunters) | 7 and 9 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 67% |
| Hunt | Type | Area | Permits issued | Hunters | Hunter days | Mule deer bucks | Mule deer antlerless | Whitetail bucks | Whitetail antlerless | Harvest | Success (AZGFD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1009 | General | 7 and 9 | 1,090 | 951 | 4,497 | 327 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 329 | 35% |
| 1010 | General | 7 and 9 | 9 | 6 | 48 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 33% |
| 1175 | CHAMP (challenged hunters) | 7 and 9 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 63% |
| Hunt | Type | Area | Permits issued | Hunters | Hunter days | Mule deer bucks | Mule deer antlerless | Whitetail bucks | Whitetail antlerless | Harvest | Success (AZGFD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1009 | General | 7 | 1,014 | 866 | 4,150 | 185 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 199 | 23% |
| 1012 | General | 9 | 417 | 371 | 1,635 | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 17% |
| 1176 | CHAMP (challenged hunters) | 7 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 60% |
| 1181 | Muzzleloader | 9 | 23 | 20 | 78 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 23% |
| 1199 | Archery only | 7 | 47 | 41 | 373 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 21% |
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 7 and 9: 3,346 first-choice applications for 1,160 permits issued. These are 2025 counts, not a forecast.
| Hunt, 2025 | Area | Hunt type | Season | First-choice applicants | Second-choice applicants | Permits issued |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1011 | 7/9 | Any antlered deer | 10/31 to 11/9 | 3,297 | 2,333 | 1,150 |
| 1178 | 7/9 | Any antlered deer | 10/24 to 10/30 | 49 | 45 | 10 |
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 7 and 9?
75.9% of Units 7 and 9 is public land open to hunting: 1,192,679 of 1,571,475 acres, the largest share national forest (835,415 acres). Each unit's page has its own land table: Unit 7, Unit 9.
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 7 and 9 have in 2026?
1,250 permits across 3 hunts in AZGFD's 2026 regulations. The largest is hunt 1009 (any antlered deer).
When is deer season in Units 7 and 9 in 2026?
The first deer hunt open here starts October 23 (hunt 1180, CHAMP (challenged hunters)) and the last ends December 31. Each hunt's dates are in the table on this page.
How many deer were harvested in Units 7 and 9 in 2025?
AZGFD's 2025 harvest survey counts 523 deer taken by 971 hunters on the 2 hunts held only in Units 7 and 9, against 460 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 7 and 9 deer in 2025?
AZGFD's 2025 draw report counts 3,346 first-choice applications for the 2 deer hunts that included Units 7 and 9, and 1,160 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.