Arizona Bighorn Sheep Pronghorn

Unit 31/32

Arizona Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep, Pronghorn

The 31/32 bighorn sheep hunt area is a premier once-in-a-lifetime desert sheep opportunity in southeast Arizona, managed under AZGFD hunt guidelines. Tag quotas are extremely limited and set annually based on population surveys and harvest objectives. Draws use Arizona's weighted random bonus point system.

View Draw Odds Arizona Hunting Guide

⛰️

3,156–8,082 ft

Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 31/32

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Arizona Unit 31/32 guide around your hunt: three ranked spots with morning, afternoon and evening plays, a day-by-day plan, topo maps with every pin numbered, a camp and access plan, the legal and retrieval rules for this unit, shot discipline, a meat-care and pack-out plan, and a pre-trip checklist. Every coordinate sits on land recorded as public.

Bighorn Sheep guide Pronghorn guide

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Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit 31/32

Where the sheep live: Aravaipa's rims and the west Galiuros

AZGFD's unit guide is specific about this one, which is rare for sheep. Desert bighorn live in two places in this hunt area, and both are in the Unit 32 half: the northern end of the district in Aravaipa Canyon, and the southwestern end of the Galiuro Mountains. The Unit 31 guide in our packet has no sheep section, so don't go looking for a third area. The agency didn't name one.

North rim of Aravaipa Canyon

We'd start here. The guide says desert sheep are most often found on the north rim, and it names the spots: Brandenberg Mountain, Painted Cave Canyon, Horse Camp, and Deer Creek or Hell Hole. That's four or five distinct pieces of country to work, so you can move between them if one is empty.

Hell Hole has a quirk worth planning around. Its east side can be reached without asking the Dry Camp Ranch for permission. For a hunter who's still waiting on a landowner's call, that's your first boots-on-ground option.

South rim: Turkey Creek and the pinnacles

Across the canyon, sheep are often found in Turkey Creek. The guide points to the confluence of Oak Grove and Turkey Creek, and to upper Turkey Creek around the pinnacles. Two spots, both drainage-based. Glass the confluence first, then climb toward the pinnacles if it's quiet.

West Galiuros around Redfield Canyon

The guide's best bet here is the confluence of Redfield Canyon and Swamp Springs Canyon. From there, work up Redfield toward Kielberg Canyon. South of Redfield, sheep show up from Cherry Springs Canyon along the Wildcat Hills, and along the escarpment on the Mule Shoe Ranch.

Which side you hunt is mostly an access decision. The north side of Redfield needs permission through the Car Link Ranch. The south side is open through State Trust land.

The big picture and what to skip

The hunt area covers 1,532 square miles, with elevations from 3,385 to 6,765 feet and a mean of 4,539. Ownership runs 60 percent National Forest, 15 percent BLM, 8 percent State Trust and 17 percent private or other. That private slice matters more than its size suggests, because the guide says access into much of the desert sheep country is limited or restricted.

The guide doesn't split sheep use by early or late season, so we won't pretend to. What we can say is to skip everything the agency didn't name. A lot of this unit is forest and mountain country with no sheep listed. Your tag is for the canyons and escarpments above.

Unit 31/32 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 31

The lay of it

3,156–8,082 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,813 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
1,214.5 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

Who owns the ground

National Forest — 60%
BLM — 15%
State Trust — 8%
Private / Other — 17%

Roughly 83% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

440 tanks
178 springs
330 stream segments
9 lakes

Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Pinaleno Mountains (10,693 ft), Webb Peak (10,015 ft), Heliograph Peak (10,012 ft), Grant Hill (9,466 ft)

Holding ground: Highwater Cienega (10,293 ft), Peters Flat (9,553 ft), Hospital Flat (9,016 ft), Anderson Spring, Apache Tank

Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.

How to hunt it: access first, then glass the rims

Most hunters draw this tag and think about sheep. Think about gates first. AZGFD's own guide says that if you're drawn, you should start securing access across private property as soon as possible. We'd do it the week you get the result.

Lock down the ranches

Access on both ends of Aravaipa is restricted by private land. On the east end you'll need to go through the Dry Camp Ranch. On the west end it's Langdon's Ranch. For Redfield Canyon, the Car Link Ranch controls the north side. The south side is open through State Trust land, so you've got a fallback there. Have a plan B on the map before you make the first phone call.

Aravaipa: split your days between the rims

Sheep use the north rim most, so that's where you spend the bulk of your time. Pick a vantage on Brandenberg Mountain or around Painted Cave Canyon and glass the broken ground slowly, one slope at a time. Desert rams bed in rock and blend in. Don't expect them to stand out.

If the north rim is empty, cross to Turkey Creek on the south side. Start at the Oak Grove confluence, then work up toward the pinnacles. Short sit, long look, then move.

Redfield Canyon: pick a side and commit

The confluence with Swamp Springs Canyon is the anchor. From there, glass up toward Kielberg Canyon. South of Redfield, check the Wildcat Hills and the Mule Shoe Ranch escarpment if you've got permission. With elevations this low, expect heat. Plan water for yourself and glass hard at first and last light.

The packet shows 480 tanks, 220 springs and 245 streams across the hunt area. It doesn't say which ones hold sheep, so don't build a plan around a specific water source. Use the guide's named canyons.

Tags, collars and a realistic day

AZGFD is monitoring habitat use here. You may see sheep with red or purple ear tags, and some with GPS radio collars. The guide doesn't say what that means for a legal ram, so call the department before you go and confirm.

The packet puts rifle success at 75 percent. That's a strong number, but it doesn't mean easy. A realistic day is an early start, a long climb to a glassing point, and hours behind optics. Most of the work happens before you pull the trigger. The rest is getting the ram out of steep country, so scout your pack-out route while you're glassing.

Getting in and staying out: unit 31/32

Figures are for GMU 31

Named routes and what they need

US 191 — 21.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
AZ 266 — 18.5 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Klondyke Road — 12.1 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
Bonita Klondyke Road — 11.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
Fort Grant Road — 9.3 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
US 70 — 7.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)

Ratings come from road data, not from a drive this season. Check current conditions with the managing office before you commit a trailer.

Nearest services

Pima — 16 mi · fuel
Thatcher — 17.2 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging
Safford — 19.1 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging
Bylas / Hago'teele — 28.9 mi · groceries
Willcox — 34.7 mi · fuel, groceries

Developed camps

Arcadia Campground · reservable
Cunningham Campground
Hospital Flat Campground · reservable
Riggs Flat Campground · reservable
Clark Peak Corrals

Season weather and signal

Jan61° / 30° · 0.8" precip
Aug97° / 69° · 1.7" precip
Sep93° / 62° · 1" precip
Oct84° / 49° · 0.7" precip
Nov71° / 37° · 0.5" precip
Dec60° / 30° · 0.8" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 26% of the unit. Plan on being out of contact and tell someone your route.

Arizona rules that decide your day

Summarised from AZGFD regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken only during daylight hours — from sunrise to sunset. Check the sunrise and sunset times for your unit, not for Phoenix.

Motorized retrieval

Arizona permits motorized big-game retrieval only where the unit's travel-management decision allows it, and in several units only for elk. Where it is allowed it means one vehicle, one trip, within one mile of a road shown open on the Motor Vehicle Use Map — never inside a quiet area, a wilderness or a closed area. Pull the MVUM for your ranger district and confirm before you shoot somewhere you cannot carry an animal out of.

Tagging

Sign your tag before you go afield and attach it to the animal immediately after the kill. Hunters aged 10–13 must carry their Hunter Education card with the licence and tag.

Leaving meat

Leaving edible meat in the field is illegal. Edible meat means the four quarters and the loins at a minimum.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No shooting within a quarter mile of an occupied farmhouse, cabin, lodge or building without the owner's permission. That rules out shooting toward most lakeside cabin tracts.
Campsites and developed areas — Forest Service rules prohibit discharging a firearm within 150 yards of a residence, building, campsite, developed recreation site or occupied area.
Roads and water — No shooting from a vehicle, and no shooting on, across or into a road. No shooting across a body of water adjacent to a Forest road.

Bighorn Sheep: where to put the shot

Broadside or quartering away, on the back edge of the front leg about a third of the way up the body.

Shots to refuse

Nothing behind or overlapping the animal you picked.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have shot a three-shot group into a paper plate from the rest you are carrying.
Pass the shot you are talking yourself into.

Plan the carry: roughly 40– 120 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two large coolers. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Bighorn Sheep Success Rates

Rifle75%

Arizona desert bighorn hunts typically produce very high success with good rams taken each year. Review the current AZGFD annual hunt arizona report for unit-specific harvest statistics.

Bighorn Sheep Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — General Rifle bull/buck only (combined pool)	3	1,225	0.1%	—
Rifle — Late Rifle Dec bull/buck only (combined pool)	2	786	0.1%	—

Data from 2023 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number. This agency publishes no point thresholds, so the Pts column stays blank and these are pool odds, not what a point total draws.

Open in Draw Odds Engine

Sheep tags in 31/32 are among the hardest draws in Arizona. The weighted random bonus point system gives more points more random numbers, but plan on many years of point building. Residents receive 90 percent of sheep tags.

Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 31/32

The combined GMU 31/32 pronghorn hunt covers the Altar Valley and Baboquivari Plains of southwestern Arizona — one of the driest and most remote pronghorn ranges in the state. AZGFD manages pronghorn here through a limited-draw tag allocation; tag numbers are typically very small, reflecting the open-desert pronghorn population that depends heavily on summer monsoon rainfall. The Tohono O'odham Nation occupies a significant portion of this region, requiring hunters to verify land ownership before accessing any areas.

Bonita grasslands first, then Allen Flat and Steele Hills

AZGFD's unit guide for 32 says pronghorn live in two major areas, and that's the whole list. The unit 31 guide has nothing on pronghorn. The guide also doesn't split the herd by early or late season, so we won't pretend to. What it does give us is a short list of places, a population count, and some hard warnings about access.

Bonita: our pick to start

The guide says drought hit Allen Flat and Steele Hills harder than the rest of the unit. That points us to Bonita first. It's our read of the guide, not a survey number. Bonita is also where AZGFD, the State Land Department, NRCS and local landowners have been grubbing mesquite to bring back native grassland for pronghorn and scaled quail. If you see freshly cleared ground, glass it.

Reach Bonita by Fort Grant Road out of Willcox. The packet rates Fort Grant Road as graded gravel, fine for 2WD and a small trailer. The other way in is SR 266 off SR 199, south of Safford.

Here's the catch. A good chunk of Bonita is private land mixed in with State Trust, and the guide says many owners don't allow hunting. Get permission in advance, during preseason trips. Citations are issued for trespassing on posted private land.

Allen Flat and Steele Hills

Two different looks here. Steele Hills is fairly open, rolling country dotted with mesquite and yucca. Allen Flat is open grassland. Both are easy to glass, but you'll see fewer animals than elsewhere in the unit.

Access is along Three-Links Road. Pick it up off Pomerene Road from the San Pedro River, or take Airport Road out of Willcox.

Closures to know: Johnson Road off I-10 is closed on private property. That cuts off the Little Dragoon Mountains and Tres Alamos Wash from that side. The guide also says the north side of the Little Dragoons can't be reached from Three Links Road anymore. Don't plan a route that depends on either one.

Country to skip

The unit runs from 3,385 to 6,765 feet, with a mean of 4,539. The big Pinaleno summits in the landform data, such as Mount Graham at 10,693 feet, sit well above that range. The guide doesn't name them as pronghorn habitat, so don't spend scouting days up there.

Roughly 60 percent of the unit is National Forest and 15 percent is BLM. Only 8 percent is State Trust, and 17 percent is private or other. Much of the public ground is forest, not pronghorn grassland. The guide asks you to carry a Safford Ranger District map from Coronado National Forest or a BLM map. Use it to sort out land status around Bonita before you commit to a stalk.

Unit 31/32 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 31

The lay of it

3,156–8,082 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,813 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
1,214.5 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

Who owns the ground

National Forest — 60%
BLM — 15%
State Trust — 8%
Private / Other — 17%

Roughly 83% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

440 tanks
178 springs
330 stream segments
9 lakes

Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Pinaleno Mountains (10,693 ft), Webb Peak (10,015 ft), Heliograph Peak (10,012 ft), Grant Hill (9,466 ft)

Holding ground: Highwater Cienega (10,293 ft), Peters Flat (9,553 ft), Hospital Flat (9,016 ft), Anderson Spring, Apache Tank

Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.

Glassing open grass and staying on the right side of the fence

This is a small, drought-stressed herd. AZGFD says annual surveys turn up about 125 to 150 animals. In 2018 the department released 30 pronghorn to improve genetics, all ear-tagged and a few with GPS collars. Don't be surprised if you see a tagged animal.

Scout like the guide says

The guide calls binoculars and a spotting scope "a must." It also says the time you spend comparing bucks is what gets you a good one. Bucks in 32 have averaged 13 to 14 inches in recent years. That's your yardstick. Spend preseason days learning what a 14-inch buck looks like next to the does around him, so you can judge quickly when the tag is in your pocket.

Allen Flat and Steele Hills: cover ground, then sit

Both areas are open, so you can glass from a long way off. Drive Three-Links Road slowly, stop often, and scan before you step out. With fewer animals here, expect long empty stretches. Steele Hills has mesquite and yucca scattered through the rolling ground. Check the folds in the hills before you decide the country is empty. Allen Flat has no cover, so get your stalk planned from the glass and use whatever swell in the ground you can find.

Bonita: the work is permission

Most of your day here is planning, not stalking. Private land is mixed with State Trust. A buck feeding on State Trust can walk onto a posted ranch in minutes, and the guide says citations get written. Knock on doors during preseason, and map the boundaries before opening day. Watch the grubbed grassland as well. It's habitat the agencies are working on for pronghorn.

Rifle versus bow

The packet shows an 82 percent rifle success rate and 48 percent for archery. That's a big gap, and it matches the country. Open ground gives a rifle hunter room to shoot from a distance. A bowhunter has to get close on animals that see everything. If you're carrying a bow, put in the most scouting time and think about ambush spots rather than long stalks.

A realistic day

Glass early, find a buck, and judge him against your 13-to-14-inch benchmark. Confirm the land status on your map. Then decide whether the stalk is legal and worth it. If the animal is on private ground, move on. Don't push a stalk across a line you can't see.

Getting in and staying out: unit 31/32

Figures are for GMU 31

Named routes and what they need

US 191 — 21.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
AZ 266 — 18.5 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Klondyke Road — 12.1 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
Bonita Klondyke Road — 11.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
Fort Grant Road — 9.3 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
US 70 — 7.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)

Ratings come from road data, not from a drive this season. Check current conditions with the managing office before you commit a trailer.

Nearest services

Pima — 16 mi · fuel
Thatcher — 17.2 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging
Safford — 19.1 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging
Bylas / Hago'teele — 28.9 mi · groceries
Willcox — 34.7 mi · fuel, groceries

Developed camps

Arcadia Campground · reservable
Cunningham Campground
Hospital Flat Campground · reservable
Riggs Flat Campground · reservable
Clark Peak Corrals

Season weather and signal

Jan61° / 30° · 0.8" precip
Aug97° / 69° · 1.7" precip
Sep93° / 62° · 1" precip
Oct84° / 49° · 0.7" precip
Nov71° / 37° · 0.5" precip
Dec60° / 30° · 0.8" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 26% of the unit. Plan on being out of contact and tell someone your route.

Arizona rules that decide your day

Summarised from AZGFD regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken only during daylight hours — from sunrise to sunset. Check the sunrise and sunset times for your unit, not for Phoenix.

Motorized retrieval

Tagging

Sign your tag before you go afield and attach it to the animal immediately after the kill. Hunters aged 10–13 must carry their Hunter Education card with the licence and tag.

Leaving meat

Leaving edible meat in the field is illegal. Edible meat means the four quarters and the loins at a minimum.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No shooting within a quarter mile of an occupied farmhouse, cabin, lodge or building without the owner's permission. That rules out shooting toward most lakeside cabin tracts.
Campsites and developed areas — Forest Service rules prohibit discharging a firearm within 150 yards of a residence, building, campsite, developed recreation site or occupied area.
Roads and water — No shooting from a vehicle, and no shooting on, across or into a road. No shooting across a body of water adjacent to a Forest road.

Pronghorn: where to put the shot

Broadside, straight up the front leg, a third of the way into the body. Pronghorn are shallow-chested and the lungs sit forward.

Shots to refuse

Range it, then range it again. Open country makes 400 yards look like 250.
Wait for the buck to stop. Nobody kills a running pronghorn cleanly on purpose.
Mind the backdrop. A miss carries a long way across a flat.

Plan the carry: roughly 30– 45 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — one large cooler with ice already in it. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Pronghorn Success Rates

Rifle82%

Archery48%

Harvest success in GMU 31/32 reflects the challenging desert terrain and limited tag allocation. Check AZGFD's harvest reporting portal for the most current success rates. Desert pronghorn populations in southern Arizona can fluctuate with monsoon rainfall quality, affecting herd size and huntable buck numbers year to year.

Pronghorn Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — Early Rifle bull/buck only (combined pool)	4	716	0.3%	—
Early Archery — bull/buck only (combined pool)	4	116	1.7%	—

Data from 2025 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number. This agency publishes no point thresholds, so the Pts column stays blank and these are pool odds, not what a point total draws.

Open in Draw Odds Engine

GMU 31/32 pronghorn tags are among the most limited in the state, with very few tags issued annually against a competitive applicant pool interested in southern Arizona desert pronghorn. Bonus points are critical — check draw.azgfd.com for current applicant and tag data each year.

Unit Logistics & Expectations

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Frequently Asked Questions

How hard is the 31/32 bighorn sheep draw in Arizona?

This is one of the harder sheep draws in the state. Plan on building bonus points for many years before expecting a realistic chance under the weighted random system.

Can I hunt bighorn sheep in 31/32 more than once?

Arizona desert bighorn sheep is a once-in-a-lifetime tag for residents and nonresidents. Check current AZGFD rules for any exceptions.

How do I apply for a pronghorn tag in the GMU 31/32 combined unit?

Apply through the Arizona Game and Fish Department draw portal at draw.azgfd.com during the application period (typically January–February). Tags are extremely limited. Accumulate bonus points each year to improve draw odds. Always verify land ownership before hunting — portions of this area overlap with private and tribal lands.

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Sources & Verification

Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-04-17.

AZGFD Hunt Guidelines — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Hunt structure, Sheep tag allocations · accessed 2026-04-17
AZGFD Hunt Regulations — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Season dates, Unit boundaries · accessed 2026-04-17
AZGFD Draw Results & Bonus Points — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Bonus point balances, Sheep draw outcomes · accessed 2026-04-17
AZGFD Draw Portal — Hunt Drawing Information — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Draw odds, Bonus point system, Historical applicant data · accessed 2026-04-17
BLM Tucson Field Office — Public Lands in Southern Arizona — Bureau of Land Management · supports: BLM public land access in Altar Valley, Road conditions, Land ownership boundary information · accessed 2026-04-17