Mesa region (AZGFD Region 6): hunting units, land and hunts
AZGFD's Region 6, run from Mesa, covers central Arizona: 8 game management units, plus parts of Unit 37B, Unit 39, Unit 41 and Unit 42, 65% of it public land open to hunting (USGS PAD-US). AZGFD's 2026 booklets list 2,160 elk permits and 4,800 deer permits on hunts that include its units.
Data updated October 2026. Hunts: AZGFD's 2026 booklets. Land: USGS PAD-US 4.1. Units: AZGFD.
The Mesa region is central Arizona around Phoenix: the Tonto National Forest from the Mogollon Rim country around Payson (Units 22 and 23) south to the Superstition Mountains, and the desert units west and south of the city.
Which units are in Region 6?
All 8 units AZGFD's boundary layer puts first in Region 6, with their public land and the number of 2026 draw hunts that include each. The most public land: Unit 23 (98.1%), Unit 21 (97.1%) and Unit 22 (95.5%). The most elk hunts: Unit 22 (13), Unit 23 (10) and Unit 21 (4).
| Unit | Square miles | Public land | Largest manager | Elk hunts | Deer hunts | Pronghorn hunts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 20B | 755 | 83.4% | BLM | 3 | ||
| Unit 21 | 1,052 | 97.1% | National forest | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Unit 22 | 1,574 | 95.5% | National forest | 13 | 6 | |
| Unit 23 | 1,185 | 98.1% | National forest | 10 | 5 | |
| Unit 24A | 812 | 82.7% | National forest | 2 | 5 | |
| Unit 24B | 779 | 94.3% | National forest | 5 | ||
| Unit 25M | 1,285 | 8.4% | State trust land | |||
| Unit 26M | 2,103 | 17.7% | State trust land |
Hunts: AZGFD's 2026 booklets; a hunt that covers several units counts in each. Land measured by FilledTag inside AZGFD's unit boundaries from USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee managers).
How much public land is in Region 6?
| Manager | Acres | Share of the region |
|---|---|---|
| National forest | 3,045,236 | 49.9% |
| State trust land | 523,655 | 8.6% |
| Tribal land (tribal permit) | 482,615 | 7.9% |
| BLM | 388,611 | 6.4% |
| City, county and other | 128,705 | 2.1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 8,713 | 0.1% |
| Military (closed or by permit) | 5,186 | 0.1% |
| AZGFD land | 3,009 | under 0.1% |
| National park or monument (no hunting) | 1,594 | under 0.1% |
| National wildlife refuge | 601 | under 0.1% |
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.
AZGFD wildlife areas in Region 6
- Arlington Wildlife Area: 2,575 acres
- Base and Meridian Wildlife Area: 622 acres
- Powers Butte (Mumme Farm) Wildlife Area: 1,947 acres
- Robbins Butte Wildlife Area: 5,677 acres
- Roosevelt Lake Wildlife Area: 21,438 acres
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Sources: AZGFD's 2026 Pronghorn and Elk booklet and 2026-27 regulations; USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee managers); AZGFD game management unit boundaries; AZGFD wildlife areas. FilledTag is not part of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
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