Big game draw rules by state: preference, bonus or no points
Of the 16 state big game draws on file, 4 use preference points (California, Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming), 4 use bonus points (Arizona, North Dakota, Utah and Washington), 2 square bonus points (Montana and Nevada), Oregon splits tags between points and a random draw, and 5 use no points (Alaska, Idaho, Kentucky, New Mexico and Tennessee), by each agency's own rules.
Data updated October 2026. From each state agency's latest draw report on file, with their point rules.
How does each state's draw use points?
| State | Points | Draw on file | Animals in the file | How the agency uses points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | Preference points | 2026, Big Game Drawing | deer, elk, pronghorn, sheep | CDFW awards most tags to the applicants with the most preference points and the rest by draw-by-choice in random-number order: 90% of premium deer tags, 50% of apprentice deer tags and, for elk, pronghorn and bighorn sheep, 75% of a quota of four or more go by preference points (Title 14, Section 708.15, as CDFW's Big Game Drawing page summarizes it). California Department of Fish and Wildlife |
| Colorado | Preference points | 2026, primary | deer, elk, moose, pronghorn | Colorado gives first-choice priority to applicants with the most preference points, and an applicant who misses a first choice gains a point. Drawing a first choice uses all points for that species. CPW also runs a hybrid draw, so a few applicants below a code's drawn-out level can draw. For moose, applicants with three or more preference points go into a random draw in which each extra moose point improves the applicant's number. Colorado Parks and Wildlife |
| South Dakota | Preference points | 2025, first drawing | deer, pronghorn | GFP uses preference points in its first drawings; its harvest reports print first-choice applicants and licenses by unit, not by point level. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks |
| Wyoming | Preference points | 2026, initial | deer, elk, moose, pronghorn | WGFD gives a preference point drawing advantage for nonresident antelope, deer and elk and for resident and nonresident moose; Chapter 44 allocates not less than 75% of nonresident special and regular licenses to a preference point drawing and up to 25% to a random drawing, applicants with the most points are selected first, and residents draw antelope, deer and elk by random drawing with no points. Wyoming Game and Fish Department |
| Arizona | Bonus points | 2025, big game draw (2025 hunts) | deer, elk, pronghorn, sheep | AZGFD issues hunt permit-tags by computerized random drawing; valid applicants who are not drawn are awarded bonus points, and a bonus-point-only hunt number lets an applicant collect one point per genus without entering the draw (2026 Pronghorn and Elk booklet, Draw Information). Arizona Game and Fish Department |
| North Dakota | Bonus points | 2026, lottery | deer, elk, pronghorn | An applicant who does not draw a first-choice license earns a bonus point for the next year's lottery; the department enters each application more times as points build up (points doubled in years 2 to 4, cubed from year 5). North Dakota Game and Fish Department |
| Utah | Bonus points | 2025, Draw 5 (big game); Draw 7 (antlerless) | bison, deer, elk, goat, moose, pronghorn, sheep | For limited-entry and once-in-a-lifetime hunts, 'Fifty percent of the permits for each hunt unit will be reserved for applicants with the greatest number of bonus points' and the rest are drawn at random, where each applicant receives a random drawing number for the species and for each bonus point (R657-62-8); general-season buck deer, antlerless deer, antlerless elk and doe pronghorn use preference points instead, which give unsuccessful applicants 'first preference in the next year's drawing' (R657-62-9). Utah Division of Wildlife Resources |
| Washington | Bonus points | 2025, special permit | deer, elk, goat, moose, sheep | WDFW: each special permit application earns one point in its species category, applicants not drawn before have a better chance, and a hunter's points in a category reset to zero when drawn (2026 pamphlet, pages 18 to 19). Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife |
| Montana | Squared bonus points | 2026, 2026 special drawings (permits, B licenses, antelope, moose, sheep, goat) | deer, elk, goat, moose, pronghorn, sheep | FWP squares each applicant's bonus points before a first-choice drawing: three points give ten chances in all, nine plus the application itself (FWP 2026 Deer, Elk & Antelope Regulations, page 17). Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks |
| Nevada | Squared bonus points | 2025, Big Game Main Draw | bear, deer, elk, goat, moose, pronghorn, sheep | NDOW: 'Bonus points are squared by species category to determine how many random numbers from 1 to 99 million will be drawn'; an applicant gets their points squared plus one random numbers and the lowest becomes their draw number (NDOW, Bonus Point Program). Nevada Department of Wildlife |
| Oregon | Hybrid: preference and random | 2026, controlled hunt | deer, elk, pronghorn | ODFW fills 75% of each controlled hunt's tags by preference points, highest points first, and draws the other 25% at random from the first-choice applicants left, whatever their points. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife |
| Alaska | No points | 2025, drawing permit hunts | bison, black bear, brown bear, caribou, elk, goat, moose, muskox, sheep | Alaska's drawing has no points: each application is one chance, and a hunter may send up to six applications per species, the same hunt more than once if they like. Alaska Department of Fish and Game |
| Idaho | No points | 2026, first controlled hunt drawing | bear, deer, elk, goat, moose, pronghorn, sheep | Idaho uses no preference or bonus points. Each application gets a random number, and tags go to first choices in that order, then to second choices (IDFG). Idaho Department of Fish and Game |
| Kentucky | No points | 2025, elk quota hunt drawing | elk | Kentucky has no points: every applicant has the same chance, and a hunter drawn for a quota elk permit may not apply again for three years. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources |
| New Mexico | No points | 2026, big game public draw | barbary sheep, deer, elk, ibex, javelina, oryx, pronghorn, sheep | New Mexico has no preference or bonus points: each application gets a random sequence number and the draw tries its first, second, then third choice subject to the residency quotas; NMDOW says it does not grant preference to applicants who were unsuccessful in previous drawings. New Mexico Department of Wildlife |
| Tennessee | No points | 2027, elk quota hunt drawing | elk | Tennessee's elk quota hunt has no priority points; an applicant drawn may not apply again for ten years. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency |
Which states draw each animal?
- Elk draws by state: 15 states, most first-choice applications in Arizona (148,257, 2025)
- Deer draws by state: 13 states, most first-choice applications in Utah (175,881, 2025)
- Pronghorn draws by state: 12 states, most first-choice applications in Wyoming (111,927, 2026)
- Moose draws by state: 8 states, most first-choice applications in Alaska (123,853, 2025)
- Bighorn and Dall sheep draws by state: 9 states, most first-choice applications in Utah (44,057, 2025)
- Mountain goat draws by state: 6 states, most first-choice applications in Alaska (38,419, 2025)
Questions about draws and points
What is the difference between preference points and bonus points?
With preference points, the applicants holding the most points draw first, in order, as in California, Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming. With bonus points, every applicant still goes into a random draw, but each point adds chances, as in Arizona, North Dakota, Utah and Washington; Montana and Nevada square the points first, so chances grow faster with each year.
Which states have no points in their big game draw?
Alaska, Idaho, Kentucky, New Mexico and Tennessee. In those draws no applicant gains an edge from earlier years, by the agencies' rules quoted in the table; residency quotas and the number of applications allowed still differ by state.
Which state draws the most applications for each animal?
Elk: Arizona, 148,257 first-choice applications in 2025. Deer: Utah, 175,881 first-choice applications in 2025. Pronghorn: Wyoming, 111,927 first-choice applications in 2026. Moose: Alaska, 123,853 first-choice applications in 2025. Bighorn and Dall sheep: Utah, 44,057 first-choice applications in 2025. Mountain goat: Alaska, 38,419 first-choice applications in 2025. The species pages listed above give every state.
Plan an application with the tag draw planner, or open a state's own draw page from the table. All 16 files come from the agencies' public reports and rules; FilledTag adds no numbers of its own.