AZGFD aims to meet management objectives beginning January 2026

The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) is seeking to bolster its pool of hunters who apply to be randomly selected throughout the year for specific population management hunts.

Population management hunts enhance the department’s ability to meet population and habitat management objectives when traditional harvest strategies are not meeting these objectives.

Only those hunters who have submitted a Hunter Pool Application for population management hunts will have a chance to be drawn. Applicants should note that if they choose to participate in a population management hunt, and fill their annual bag limit for that species, they cannot take part in a general season for that species even if selected through the standard draw process.

AZGFD encourages all interested hunters to complete a “Hunter Pool Application,” which can be found — along with detailed information about population management hunts — on Page 49 of the “2025-2026 Arizona Hunting Regulations.”

Applicants should mail their completed application and nonrefundable application fee of $13 for residents or $15 for nonresidents, per species, to: Arizona Game and Fish Department, Attn.: Drawer FAB, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, Ariz., 85086-5000. Do not send cash.

A few points about population management hunts:

• AZGFD will purge the Hunter Pool Application list Dec. 31 each year. An application may be submitted at any time during the year (do not include the Hunter Pool Application with a hunt permit-tag application. Each application must be sent separately.).
• If selected during a random drawing for a population management hunt, the department will attempt to contact the applicant within a 24-hour period. If that applicant cannot be contacted, their application will be returned to the pool for inclusion in future population management hunts that year.
• If a successful applicant agrees to participate in a population management hunt, it is likely that person will be asked to arrive in the field to hunt within a few days of being contacted. The purchase of a restricted nonpermit-tag and applicable hunting license prior to hunting is required.
• An applicant will not gain or lose bonus points when applying for, or participating in, a population management hunt.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department receives no general fund tax dollars. The majority of funding to manage more than 800 native wildlife species comes from Arizona's hunters and anglers.