Arizona Elk Pronghorn Mule Deer Turkey

Unit 3B

Arizona Hunting Guide — Elk, Pronghorn, Mule Deer, Turkey

Unit 03B is an Arizona elk unit managed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD). Permits are allocated through AZGFD's weighted-random bonus-point draw, where bonus points function as additional chances in the random selection rather than as guaranteed preference. Hunters applying for this unit should consult AZGFD's Hunt Guidelines, current regulations, and historical draw results to build a realistic point-building plan.

View Draw Odds Arizona Hunting Guide

⛰️

5,764–7,785 ft

Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 3B

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Access roads, campgrounds, elevation, monthly weather, stock tanks, cell coverage, and nearest-town services for Unit 3B.

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Elk Hunting in Unit 3B

Where the Elk Are in 3B: Southern Timber, Timber Mesa and the Woolhouse

Timbered country south of Hwy 60, above 6,500 feet

Start here for an early bull. AZGFD's own unit guide says rutting bulls sit above 6,500 feet in the timbered southern part of the unit. They use open parks and meadows close to escape cover as breeding grounds. The unit tops out at 7,785 feet and averages 6,445, so "above 6,500" covers a lot of the ground that matters.

The guide says early season elk will primarily be at higher elevations south of the highway. Plan on scouting before your hunt. The agency suggests it for every season, and we agree.

Timber Mesa to Vernon, including the Woolhouse Habitat Area

For late hunts, this is the strongest country on paper. The guide places the large herds from the Timber Mesa area to Vernon, Woolhouse Habitat Area included. Bulls come out of the Woolhouse and Timber Mesa areas too, so it works in the early season as well. Timber Mesa itself is listed at 7,123 feet.

Antlerless elk can spread across the southern two-thirds of the unit in late hunts, depending on snowpack. Deep snow at higher elevations pushes wintering elk north. If it's snowing hard up high, don't hunt where the elk were last week.

The Woolhouse is closed to all motor vehicles. That includes retrieving game. You'll be on foot or horseback, so plan your pack-out before you pull the trigger.

North of Hwy 60: Silver Creek, White Mountain Lake and Taylor

The guide says elk numbers have been slightly increasing north of the highway, specifically near Silver Creek and the communities of White Mountain Lake and Taylor. It also says November hunters may find small groups on Forest Service land both north and south of Hwy 60. Bulls are taken north of the highway only "to a lesser degree" during the early season.

Be careful here. Private land and structures make up a lot of this country, and only 60 percent of the unit is National Forest. State Trust is 8 percent, and the other 32 percent is private or other. The guide reminds hunters to stay outside a quarter mile of occupied buildings and to get permission before hunting private ground.

3BN late bull country: Flint Knoll, Mesa Redonda, Ortega Mountain

The guide names Flint Knoll, Mesa Redonda and Ortega Mountain as places where late-season bull hunters in 3BN can have success. Ortega Mountain is listed at 7,000 feet. Elk numbers are lower there, but so are hunter numbers. The guide says the late bull hunt averages 50 percent success, and nearly a third of those bulls are spikes.

The guide doesn't give road numbers for any of these spots. Of the named roads we have, FR 283 (10.6 miles) is rated high-clearance. CR 3140, Cottontail Road and Concho Highway are graded gravel that a 2WD rig can handle. AZ 61 and AZ 77 are paved. We can't tell you from this data where each road meets the areas above, so lay them over a current map.

Skip the rest of the early-season unit north of the highway unless you're after an unusual bull. That's where the bulls aren't.

Unit 3B terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

The lay of it

5,764–7,785 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,445 ft ; peaks can run higher.
579 sq mi inside the boundary.

Who owns the ground

National Forest — 60%
State Trust — 8%
Private / Other — 32%

Roughly 68% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

644 tanks
42 springs
72 stream segments
33 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: Lake Mountain (8,483 ft), Wolf Mountain (8,281 ft), Brushy Mountain (8,058 ft), Ecks Mountain (7,852 ft)

Holding ground: Elk Springs Draw (7,123 ft), Ortega Draw (6,636 ft), Upper White Lakes Draw (6,276 ft)

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 3B: Bugles, Snow and the Quarter-Mile Rule

Early season: find the bugle, then glass the parks

AZGFD says early season hunters can locate elk by listening for bugling bulls, and that pre-season scouting makes early bull hunts "very successful." So listen. Cover ground at first and last light in the timber south of Hwy 60. Then pick a spot that overlooks open parks and meadows near thick cover. Bulls use that edge, and you can glass it.

The packet's weapon-level success rates are 18 percent for archery, 22 for muzzleloader and 25 for rifle. They're close enough that we wouldn't pick a tactic from them. What they do tell you is that most hunters in this unit won't tag out. Scouting is what changes that.

November and December: follow the snow line

November elk may be in small groups on Forest Service land on both sides of Hwy 60. By December, the guide says, they'll be at various elevations depending on weather. Inclement weather moves bulls north to lower elevations.

So check the forecast before you pick a basin. Deep snow up high sends wintering elk north. When it's clear and mild, the southern timber still holds them.

Branch-antlered bulls are common but unpredictable. The guide ties them to dense vegetation on north slopes. Smaller bulls hang near antlerless herds. If you want a mature bull, glass the north-facing timber. If you want a bull and don't care about size, find the herd.

Woolhouse Habitat Area: big herds, strict rules

Large herds can be here during late hunts, which makes it tempting. Don't shoot into a herd. The guide says that's how hunters exceed the bag limit by mistake. Pick one animal, confirm it, and make the shot clean.

No motors, including retrieval. Foot and horseback only. Call the USFS Lakeside Ranger District before you go. Bring a pack frame, game bags and a plan for the carry. The guide also warns of severe weather during late hunts, with heavy snow and freezing temperatures, and recommends hunter orange, especially while retrieving and packing game.

Population management hunts near White Mountain Lake and Taylor

These are run north of Hwy 60 throughout the year. The problem elk stay near the golf course and lake for the feed and water. They bed in juniper cover during the day, and that's where most hunters have been successful.

Know where you are at all times. The guide calls this country "very adverse" with private land and structures. Stay a quarter mile from occupied buildings, and ask permission before crossing or hunting private ground. Not knowing is no defense.

A realistic day

Early season: be in the southern timber before light. Listen first, then glass the parks.
Late season: check the snow, then decide north or south. Glass north slopes for bigger bulls.
Water is plentiful (644 tanks, 42 springs, 72 streams and 33 lakes in the data), so
Getting in and staying out: unit 3B
Named routes and what they need
FR 283 — 10.6 mi · High-clearance
AZ 61 — 10.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CR 3140 — 5.4 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
AZ 77 — 5.3 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Cottontail Road — 4.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
Concho Highway — 4.6 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
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
Show Low — 10.8 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging
Wagon Wheel — 13.5 mi · fuel
Taylor — 14.6 mi · fuel, groceries
Pinetop-Lakeside — 14.7 mi · fuel, groceries
Lake of the Woods — 14.9 mi · fuel, groceries
Developed camps
Brown Creek Campground
Scott Reservoir Campground
Ranchero RV and Mobile Home Park
Lakeside Campground
Los Burros Campground
Season weather and signal
Jan47° / 22° · 1.4" precip
Aug83° / 56° · 3" precip
Sep79° / 50° · 1.5" precip
Oct69° / 38° · 1.3" precip
Nov57° / 29° · 1.2" precip
Dec46° / 22° · 1.5" precip
Best signal is Verizon at about 21% 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.
Elk: 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. That is lungs, and on a quartering-away angle it picks up the far shoulder.
Shots to refuse
No straight-on and no straight-away shots. An elk's chest is deep and the margin is small.
Nothing standing behind or overlapping the animal you picked. A pass-through kills the elk behind it too.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have put three shots in a paper plate off the sticks you are actually carrying. Not the farthest you have ever hit anything.
Scope on 3–4x. A herd fills a 12x field of view and you lose the animal you picked.
Identification:On an antlerless tag, legal means no antler of any kind through the skin. A spike looks exactly like a cow until it turns its head. If you can't see the head, don't shoot.
Plan the carry: roughly 150– 220 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two to four large coolers, plus bagged ice from town. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Elk Success Rates

AZGFD publishes harvest and success-rate data by hunt code. Expect variation across archery, muzzleloader, and rifle seasons. Multi-year averages are a more reliable planning anchor than a single year for Unit 03B elk.

Elk Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Muzzleloader — Early Muzzleloader bull/buck only (combined pool)	30	929	1.7%	—
Muzzleloader — Late Muzzleloader Dec bull/buck only (combined pool)	200	216	43.1%	—
Muzzleloader — General Muzzleloader Oct antlerless (combined pool)	100	256	21.5%	—
Muzzleloader — Late Muzzleloader Dec antlerless (combined pool)	250	346	41.9%	—
Muzzleloader — Late Muzzleloader Nov bull/buck only (combined pool)	200	265	30.9%	—
Early Archery — bull/buck only (combined pool)	75	537	7.4%	—
Early Archery — antlerless (combined pool)	25	42	28.6%	—
Rifle — Early Rifle bull/buck only (combined pool)	75	537	7.4%	—
Rifle — Late Rifle Nov bull/buck only (combined pool)	200	265	30.9%	—
Rifle — General Rifle Oct antlerless (combined pool)	100	256	21.5%	—
Rifle — Late Rifle Dec antlerless (combined pool)	250	346	41.9%	—

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

Arizona's weighted-random bonus-point system rewards persistence without guaranteeing a tag. Apply every year and use AZGFD's published draw results to model realistic point ranges for your Unit 03B elk hunt code.

Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 3B

Unit 3B covers the grassland plains between Concho and Springerville in Apache County, east-central Arizona. Terrain is rolling short-grass prairie and juniper savanna at 5,500–6,500 feet elevation, broken by shallow drainages and occasional volcanic outcrops. The unit is a patchwork of state trust land, BLM, Apache-Sitgreaves NF, and private ranches. Pronghorn favor the open grassland flats and hay meadow edges along US-60 and SR 61.

Taylor Country, the Woolhouse Knolls and the Long Lake Flats

Taylor area and northwest 3BN

This is the strongest country in the unit. AZGFD's own unit guide puts the highest buck-to-doe ratios and the highest overall numbers in the Taylor area of 3BN. It sends hunters to the ground east of the Snowflake-Taylor community, out to Black Mesa, then south toward Flint Knoll and Love Lake. The guide says housing expansion and habitat fragmentation may be why the ratios run high, because they make the animals harder to hunt. Plan around that.

About 32 percent of 3B is private or other land. A good share of this northern country is part of that. The agency says outright that landowner contacts may be needed here, and that they can greatly improve your odds at a bigger buck. Start knocking on doors well before the season.

Woolhouse Habitat Area, 3BS

Woolhouse holds the best numbers in 3BS, south of Hwy 60. The guide calls it a popular archery area, and says antelope can be glassed with ease from the many knolls and mountains. It adds that plenty of hunters fill their tags on opening morning.

One catch. The USFS Woolhouse Habitat Area is closed to all motor vehicles. The Lakeside Ranger Station, (928) 368-2100, can answer questions about the closure. Call before you load the truck.

Long Lake, Allen Severson and Ortega Mountain

North of Hwy 60, national forest land holds herds near Allen Severson Wildlife Area, Long Lake and Ortega Mountain. These spots sit just outside Show Low. The terrain is mostly flat, with big irregular openings ringed by juniper. The agency says pre-scouting shows these herds to be quite predictable. Ortega Mountain tops out at about 7,000 feet, so it's a modest rise, not a big climb.

Windsor Valley, Critchlow Flat and Mormon Hill

In the northeast, the guide points to Windsor Valley, Critchlow Flat, and the stretch from Mesa Redonda east to Mormon Hill outside Concho. Expect gently rolling hills, flat dry grassland and a few mesas. It's open country with long sight lines.

The guide doesn't split the season into early and late movements, and it doesn't name any country to skip. We'd read that as antelope being spread out across the unit. Overall numbers are steady, but habitat quality is only moderate. Unit-wide, elevation runs from 5,764 to 7,785 feet, and national forest makes up 60 percent of the ground. State trust adds another 8 percent.

Unit 3B terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

The lay of it

5,764–7,785 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,445 ft ; peaks can run higher.
579 sq mi inside the boundary.

Who owns the ground

National Forest — 60%
State Trust — 8%
Private / Other — 32%

Roughly 68% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

644 tanks
42 springs
72 stream segments
33 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: Lake Mountain (8,483 ft), Wolf Mountain (8,281 ft), Brushy Mountain (8,058 ft), Ecks Mountain (7,852 ft)

Holding ground: Elk Springs Draw (7,123 ft), Ortega Draw (6,636 ft), Upper White Lakes Draw (6,276 ft)

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

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Glassing the Knolls, Pre-Scouting the Flats and Working the Landowners

Opening morning on the Woolhouse knolls

If you drew a 3B South archery tag, the agency's advice is simple. Get on a knoll and glass. Woolhouse is closed to motor vehicles, so you'll be on foot, and that cuts down the competition that can roll up and spook animals. Plan to be set up before light. Many hunters here fill on opening morning, so don't count on a slow first day.

Archery success in the packet is 48 percent, against 60 percent for muzzleloader and 82 percent for rifle. The packet doesn't give a year or hunt breakdown for those numbers. Treat them as a rough measure of how much the weapon matters. Antelope will make you work for a bow shot.

Scouting the Long Lake herds

The flat, juniper-edged openings near Long Lake and Allen Severson reward the scouting trip. The agency says the herds are predictable before opening day. Find where they feed, where they bed and where they cross, then set up on that pattern. In flat country, glass from the edges and don't walk into the middle of an opening.

The unit has 644 mapped tanks, 42 springs and 33 lakes. The packet doesn't name individual tanks or springs, so we won't point you to any. Use the maps to find water near the herds you've located.

Opening doors in the north

Both archery and muzzleloader hunts run north and south of Hwy 60. The guide says there are more opportunities north of it, thanks to the higher population and buck-to-doe ratio. To hunt the Taylor, Black Mesa and Flint Knoll country, you may need landowner permission. Make calls early, and be honest about what you're asking for. Scout the same ground you hope to hunt, because the guide says it may reward you with an above-average harvest.

The guide also notes that on USFS land immediately north and south of Hwy 60, home ranges are more contained and movement is more predictable. If permission doesn't come through, that's your fallback.

Roads and a realistic day

AZ 61 and AZ 77 are paved. CR 3140, Cottontail Road and Concho Highway are graded gravel, fine for 2WD or a small trailer. FR 283 runs 10.6 miles and needs high clearance. The packet doesn't say where each road leads, so check your map against the hunt area before you commit to one.

A realistic day is simple. Glass at first light, find a herd, and make a plan that keeps you out of sight. Don't push through open flats. Be ready to sit all morning, or to walk away from a herd you can't reach legally.

Getting in and staying out: unit 3B

Named routes and what they need

FR 283 — 10.6 mi · High-clearance
AZ 61 — 10.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CR 3140 — 5.4 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
AZ 77 — 5.3 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Cottontail Road — 4.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
Concho Highway — 4.6 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)

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

Show Low — 10.8 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging
Wagon Wheel — 13.5 mi · fuel
Taylor — 14.6 mi · fuel, groceries
Pinetop-Lakeside — 14.7 mi · fuel, groceries
Lake of the Woods — 14.9 mi · fuel, groceries

Developed camps

Brown Creek Campground
Scott Reservoir Campground
Ranchero RV and Mobile Home Park
Lakeside Campground
Los Burros Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan47° / 22° · 1.4" precip
Aug83° / 56° · 3" precip
Sep79° / 50° · 1.5" precip
Oct69° / 38° · 1.3" precip
Nov57° / 29° · 1.2" precip
Dec46° / 22° · 1.5" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 21% 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.

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

Unit 3B is one of AZ's better pronghorn draws for tag availability (~21 tags across three recent years against ~728 applicants). Success rates on AZ pronghorn hunts run 70–90%. Trophy quality in 3B is solid.

Pronghorn Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Muzzleloader — Early Muzzleloader bull/buck only (combined pool)	3	272	1.1%	—
Early Archery — bull/buck only (combined pool)	7	138	1.4%	—
Rifle — Early Rifle bull/buck only (combined pool)	3	272	1.1%	—

Open in Draw Odds Engine

3B pronghorn is a middle-tier AZ pronghorn draw — roughly 35:1 applicant-to-tag ratio. Arizona's weighted bonus-point system routes 20% to max-point holders first and 80% via random weighted draw. Expect to need 5–12 bonus points for realistic competitiveness. A hunter-ed bonus point is available to applicants who complete AZGFD-recognized hunter education.

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 3B

Unit 3B sits on the Apache-Sitgreaves and private ranch country between Concho and Springerville in northeast Arizona. The unit is a mid-opportunity mule deer hunt with ~225 tags against ~328 recent 3-year applicants — roughly 70% odds average for the primary hunt code. Habitat runs from pinyon-juniper plateau country into ponderosa stringers on the unit's southeast edge. Per AZGFD, 3B deer shift between summer high country and winter PJ-sage benches, with buck quality steady in the 130-150 class range and occasional 160+ animals.

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 3B: Mesa Redonda, Black Mesa and the Timber South of Hwy 60

Mesa Redonda and Black Mesa, north of Hwy 60

Start here. AZGFD's own unit guide calls the country around Mesa Redonda and along Black Mesa the most predictable deer hunting north of Hwy 60. It also names these areas as the best bet in the unit for a big buck, with occasional bucks approaching 30-inch main beam spreads. That's a real target, but don't count on it. The guide says these areas only produce moderate numbers of deer in good, consecutive rainfall years, and the unit has been through an extended drought.

The deer sit on slopes below the upper ridges where browse is thick. Early in the morning, some are down on the lower, open flats. Note them, but don't plan a stalk there. The guide says archers and muzzleloader hunters have little cover on those flats.

The checkerboard problem

Private land is scattered across this northern country. About 32 percent of the unit is private or other, 60 percent is National Forest, and 8 percent is State Trust. The guide strongly recommends land status maps for anything north of Hwy 60. It also says you'll need pre-season scouting and landowner permission. Plan on both.

South of Hwy 60: knolls, timber sales and drainages

South of the highway, hunting is almost entirely on Forest Service ground, so access isn't the issue. Deer numbers are. The guide says success here comes from individual knolls and mountains where browse grows on the upper third of the slope. Two other spots hold deer:

Recently harvested timber sale areas, where forb growth runs above average.
Riparian travel corridors, where a mix of perennial plants gives both cover and feed.

On average the bigger deer live north of the highway, but the guide still calls the southern timber bucks worthy quarry. It also reports that southern deer sightings have risen over the past two years, possibly from better fawn survival on Forest Service land.

Reading the summit list

The agency guide doesn't tie deer to any named peak, so treat these as glassing candidates, not hotspots. The unit's elevation runs from 5,764 to 7,785 feet, averaging 6,445. Several mapped summits fit inside that range: Mud Spring Knoll (7,760 feet), Little Brushy (7,746), Ziegler Mountain (7,696) and Timber Mesa (7,123). Others on the list, like Lake Mountain at 8,483 feet, top the unit's high point, so they likely sit on or past the boundary. Check each against a map before you plan around it.

Getting there

AZ 77 and AZ 61 are paved. CR 3140, Cottontail Road and Concho Highway are graded gravel that a 2WD rig can handle. FR 283 runs about 10.6 miles and needs high clearance. The packet doesn't say where these roads lead, so match them to your map. Show Low, Taylor and Pinetop-Lakeside are the nearest towns. The unit has 644 mapped tanks and 42 springs, which gives you plenty of water to check for sign.

Unit 3B terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

The lay of it

5,764–7,785 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,445 ft ; peaks can run higher.
579 sq mi inside the boundary.

Who owns the ground

National Forest — 60%
State Trust — 8%
Private / Other — 32%

Roughly 68% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

644 tanks
42 springs
72 stream segments
33 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: Lake Mountain (8,483 ft), Wolf Mountain (8,281 ft), Brushy Mountain (8,058 ft), Ecks Mountain (7,852 ft)

Holding ground: Elk Springs Draw (7,123 ft), Ortega Draw (6,636 ft), Upper White Lakes Draw (6,276 ft)

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 Unit 3B Mule Deer: Browse Slopes, Quiet Stalks and Landowner Contacts

Glass the browse slopes below the ridges

The packet lays out one pattern for the northern country. Park yourself where you can see slopes below the upper ridges with plenty of browse. Glass those slopes in the early light, then plan the stalk. AZGFD says most stalking there is uphill, in brush cover that favors the hunter. We'd pick a stalk that keeps brush between you and the deer and keeps you below them. Skip the open flats where deer feed early. No cover means a long crawl for a short shot.

Weapons: archery and muzzleloader only

The guide says Unit 3B deer hunts are limited to archery and muzzleloader. The packet lists an 18 percent success rate for muzzleloader, and the guide puts the overall average at about 20 percent. Expect to work hard for a buck. Both weapons ask you to close the distance, and that's why cover matters more than anything else on this hunt.

Timber bucks south of the highway

South of Hwy 60 the stalking cover is more than adequate. Finding the deer is the hard part. AZGFD says numbers are lower there, so don't expect to spot a buck from a ridge and walk to him. Use the timber to hunt slowly. Work the upper third of knolls, where browse grows. Then check the timber sale cuts with their extra forbs, and the riparian corridors. Plan to cover a lot of ground to find a handful of deer.

Get permission before the season

North of the highway, the guide says local contacts and pre-season scouting for fresh sign will improve both quality and success. We read that as the single best use of your time before opening day. Carry a land status map and know where the private parcels start. The checkerboard layout makes it easy to cross a line without noticing.

Whitetails and wrong-species shots

The guide says whitetails are occasionally reported in the unit, though the herd is mostly mule deer. The packet doesn't say whether a whitetail is legal on your tag, so read your regulations before you pull the trigger.

A realistic day

Be glassing at first light, ideally above a browse slope under a ridge. If you see a deer, plan an uphill stalk through brush. If you don't, move on and don't sit all day. Then switch to timber or cuts south of the highway if the northern ground is quiet or closed to you. Expect to see few deer. The unit's overall numbers are down after drought, though buck-to-doe ratios have held steady. That's a reason to be patient, scout hard, and take a good stalk when you get one.

Getting in and staying out: unit 3B

Named routes and what they need

FR 283 — 10.6 mi · High-clearance
AZ 61 — 10.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CR 3140 — 5.4 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
AZ 77 — 5.3 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Cottontail Road — 4.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
Concho Highway — 4.6 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)

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

Show Low — 10.8 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging
Wagon Wheel — 13.5 mi · fuel
Taylor — 14.6 mi · fuel, groceries
Pinetop-Lakeside — 14.7 mi · fuel, groceries
Lake of the Woods — 14.9 mi · fuel, groceries

Developed camps

Brown Creek Campground
Scott Reservoir Campground
Ranchero RV and Mobile Home Park
Lakeside Campground
Los Burros Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan47° / 22° · 1.4" precip
Aug83° / 56° · 3" precip
Sep79° / 50° · 1.5" precip
Oct69° / 38° · 1.3" precip
Nov57° / 29° · 1.2" precip
Dec46° / 22° · 1.5" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 21% 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.

Mule Deer: 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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Mule Deer Success Rates

Unit 3B rifle hunters average 22-32% success. Archery runs 10-15%. Buck quality is steady in the 130-150 class with occasional 160+ animals. A reliable mid-tier Arizona mule deer unit for mid-point applicants.

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Muzzleloader — General Muzzleloader Oct bull/buck only (combined pool)	125	151	47.7%	—
Muzzleloader — General Muzzleloader Oct either sex (combined pool)	125	203	38.9%	—
Rifle — General Rifle Oct bull/buck only (combined pool)	125	203	38.9%	—

Data from 2024 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

3B draws via Arizona's weighted bonus-point system with Hunter Education bonus. With ~225 tags against ~328 recent 3-year applicants, this is a relatively shallow draw — low-to-mid-point applicants (1-4 bonus points) regularly pull tags for the main rifle code. HAM and archery draw with fewer points.

Turkey Hunting in Unit 3B

Unit 3B turkey hunting covers the western White Mountain country of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests between Show Low and Pinetop-Lakeside. The unit holds strong Merriam's turkey populations in the mixed ponderosa-oak-juniper transition zones and meadow systems of the Mogollon Rim country. AZGFD issued 150 tags over three years against 153 applicants, making Unit 3B one of Arizona's most accessible turkey draws and a reliable bet for resident hunters wanting quality White Mountains spring gobbler action.

Where to find Merriam's turkeys in 3B: Lake Mountain, south of FR 45, and the oak-timber fall country

Lake Mountain: the spring draw

AZGFD's own unit guide is blunt about it. Spring birds live on almost all the mountains south and east of Forest Service road (FR) 45, and Lake Mountain holds the most turkeys. It also holds the most hunters. We'd still scout it, but plan on company and have a fallback ridge picked out before the season opens.

The guide doesn't name other specific spots. So for backups, use the summits the unit mapping lists: Wolf Mountain, Brushy Mountain, Turkey Mountain, Timber Mesa, Ecks Mountain, Mud Spring Knoll and Ziegler Mountain. Treat these as scouting candidates, not agency recommendations. Some of those summits are listed higher than the unit's stated 7,785-foot maximum, so they likely sit on or past the boundary. Check the line on your map before you commit.

South of FR 45 in the fall

Fall is archery-only here, and the agency's advice is simple: hunt the predominantly timbered country in the southern part of the unit, south of FR 45. Few turkeys are found north of it. You want cooler timber with an oak component, available water, and small clearings or open meadows. That's the transition country birds use in fall.

Be careful in August and September. Hot weather keeps most flocks up at higher, cooler elevations in adjacent Unit 1, so 3B can look empty early. The fall non-permit tag is valid in multiple units, which lets you follow the birds. Read the regulations for the open areas.

Water, roads and land status

The unit runs 579 square miles, with elevations from 5,764 to 7,785 feet and a mean near 6,445. Only 60 percent is National Forest. State Trust is 8 percent, and 32 percent is private or other. Don't assume a likely-looking flat is open to you.

The packet counts 644 tanks, 42 springs, 33 lakes and 72 streams. That's plenty of water to key on in oak-timber country, but it doesn't say which ones hold birds.

For access, AZ 77 and AZ 61 are paved. CR 3140, Cottontail Road and Concho Highway are graded gravel, fine for 2WD. FR 283 is 10.6 miles of high-clearance road. Show Low, Pinetop-Lakeside, Taylor and Wagon Wheel are the nearest towns.

Country to skip

Skip the open, warm ground north of FR 45 in fall. The agency says few turkeys are there.

Unit 3B terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

The lay of it

5,764–7,785 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,445 ft ; peaks can run higher.
579 sq mi inside the boundary.

Who owns the ground

National Forest — 60%
State Trust — 8%
Private / Other — 32%

Roughly 68% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

644 tanks
42 springs
72 stream segments
33 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: Lake Mountain (8,483 ft), Wolf Mountain (8,281 ft), Brushy Mountain (8,058 ft), Ecks Mountain (7,852 ft)

Holding ground: Elk Springs Draw (7,123 ft), Ortega Draw (6,636 ft), Upper White Lakes Draw (6,276 ft)

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 3B turkeys: evening roost location, dawn setups and a long scouting window

Know your season and legal gear

Fall is archery-only, any turkey, with an over-the-counter tag. Spring requires a drawn permit and is limited to bearded turkeys. Spring legal gear is a shotgun shooting shot, a crossbow, or a bow and arrow. Rifled firearms aren't legal for turkeys at all. Bag limit is one turkey per calendar year. The packet puts shotgun success at 35 percent. That's a fair number, but AZGFD still calls this hunt a challenge.

Find the roost the evening before

This is the agency's main tactic, and we agree with it. Locate over-mature ponderosa pine roost sites by calling in the evening. Spring birds are vulnerable to "shock" gobbles from locator-type calls, including owl hoots and gobbles. Work Lake Mountain or your backup ridge at dusk, mark where birds answer, and be back before first light.

Set up 100 to 150 yards out at dawn

Don't try to stalk the roost. AZGFD says it generally fails, and many spring hunters consider it unethical. Instead, find an open area within 100 to 150 yards of the roost and call from there in the very early morning.

Morning hunts are the most successful. The guide says they're usually over by 6:00 a.m. if you haven't located birds, so the evening work matters. Don't spend money on calls. AZGFD says practice matters more than the call itself.

Scout longer than you think you need to

Peak gobbling depends on weather and can shift by as much as three weeks from year to year. The guide says you may need to scout and hunt through the whole season. Plan several days of scouting. A realistic day is a dusk locating session, a short night, a setup in the dark, and a hunt that's mostly decided in the first hour or two.

Fall archery: oak, water and timber

In fall, skip the glassing-first mindset. Walk the cooler timber south of FR 45 and look for oaks, water and small meadows. If 3B is quiet in the August and September heat, remember the birds may still be up in Unit 1. Check the regulations for other units your fall tag covers before you burn days on empty ground.

Respect the private ground. With 32 percent of the unit private or other, a good flock can easily be on land you can't hunt.

Getting in and staying out: unit 3B

Named routes and what they need

FR 283 — 10.6 mi · High-clearance
AZ 61 — 10.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CR 3140 — 5.4 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
AZ 77 — 5.3 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Cottontail Road — 4.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
Concho Highway — 4.6 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)

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

Show Low — 10.8 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging
Wagon Wheel — 13.5 mi · fuel
Taylor — 14.6 mi · fuel, groceries
Pinetop-Lakeside — 14.7 mi · fuel, groceries
Lake of the Woods — 14.9 mi · fuel, groceries

Developed camps

Brown Creek Campground
Scott Reservoir Campground
Ranchero RV and Mobile Home Park
Lakeside Campground
Los Burros Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan47° / 22° · 1.4" precip
Aug83° / 56° · 3" precip
Sep79° / 50° · 1.5" precip
Oct69° / 38° · 1.3" precip
Nov57° / 29° · 1.2" precip
Dec46° / 22° · 1.5" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 21% 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.

Turkey: where to put the shot

Head and neck with shot, at 40 yards or less. On an archery bird, the wing butt broadside or the base of the neck.

Shots to refuse

Know the limit of your pattern. Pattern the gun on paper at 40 yards with the load you are carrying.
Never shoot at movement or sound in cover. Spring woods are full of other hunters stalking the same gobble.
In spring, legal is a bearded bird. Look for the beard, not the gobble.

Plan the carry: roughly 5– 9 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — a small cooler is enough. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Turkey Success Rates

Unit 3B Merriam's success typically runs 45–65% for spring hunters given the strong bird numbers and reasonable hunter density. Mature toms in the 18–22 lb range are common. Check AZGFD turkey harvest reports for current data.

Turkey Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Shotgun — Spring bearded turkey (combined pool)	100	73	43.8%	—
Rifle — Spring either sex (combined pool)	125	399	23.6%	—

Open in Draw Odds Engine

Unit 3B is one of Arizona's most accessible turkey draws. With 150 tags issued against 153 applicants over three years, odds essentially approach 100% per application for residents. Arizona uses a weighted bonus-point system with Hunter Education bonus — 20% of tags to max-point holders, 80% to a random weighted draw. Expect leftover tags available after the main draw in most years.

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

🛣️

Road Conditions

Mix of paved highways, maintained gravel, and unmaintained forest/BLM roads. High-clearance recommended; 4WD useful after rain or snow.

👥

Hunting Pressure

Tag-limited, so pressure is defined by permit counts. Opening weekends tend to be busiest.

🌦️

Weather

Hot dry early-season days give way to freezing mornings and possible snow in late seasons.

📱

Cell Service

Coverage is patchy to nonexistent in the backcountry. Plan on a satellite communicator.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I apply for an Arizona Unit 03B elk tag?

Apply through AZGFD's online draw portal during the published application window. Arizona uses a weighted-random bonus-point system, so applying every year — even in years you don't expect to draw — keeps your point total growing.

Do low-point applicants have any realistic chance in Unit 03B?

Arizona's draw has a random component, so low-point applicants occasionally pull tags. Hunt code matters a lot — check AZGFD's published draw results for specifics.

How's 3B compare to 3C for pronghorn?

3B has substantially more tags (~21 vs ~2 recent 3-year totals) and better draw odds. 3C has slightly better trophy potential historically. Both are classic Arizona grassland pronghorn hunts.

Do I need a state trust permit for 3B?

Yes. 3B has extensive state trust checkerboard. Buy an Arizona State Land Department recreation permit online and carry proof.

What's the best base town for 3B?

Springerville for east-side access (closer to US-60 corridor), or St. Johns for central access. Show Low has the best full-service options within 45 minutes.

What bonus points do I need for Unit 3B mule deer?

Low-to-mid-point applicants (1-4 bonus points) draw the main 3B rifle code in most years. HAM and archery codes often draw with 0-2 points. Arizona's weighted bonus-point system with Hunter Education bonus rewards annual applications.

Is private land a problem in Unit 3B?

Yes, 3B has significant private ranch acreage interspersed with public. Run onX Hunt with Arizona state trust and BLM layers for every stalk. A State Trust Land Recreational Permit is required if you cross trust land.

Can I get a leftover Unit 3B turkey tag?

Often yes. With 150 tags issued against 153 applicants over three years, Unit 3B frequently has leftover tags available after the main draw. Check the AZGFD leftover tag list each spring.

Free Hunt Planning Tools

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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, Permit allocation framework · accessed 2026-04-17
AZGFD Hunt Regulations — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Season dates, Unit boundaries, Legal methods · accessed 2026-04-17
AZGFD Draw Results & Bonus Points — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Bonus-point draw mechanics, Historical draw results · accessed 2026-04-17
GMU 3B — Unit Landing Page — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Unit 3B boundaries, Land ownership mix, Pronghorn distribution · accessed 2026-04-17
2026 Arizona Pronghorn and Elk Regulations — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Pronghorn season structure, Unit 3B tag allocation, Hunt area boundaries · accessed 2026-04-17
Arizona State Land Recreation Permits — Arizona State Land Department · supports: State trust land recreation permit required, Access rules, Closure notices · accessed 2026-04-17
AZGFD Draw Portal — Hunt Drawing Information — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Weighted bonus point draw, 3B pronghorn historical odds · accessed 2026-04-17
2026 Arizona Hunting Regulations — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Deer season structure, Hunt codes, Tag allocations · accessed 2026-04-17
Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests — USDA Forest Service · supports: Road status, MVUM, Dispersed camping · accessed 2026-04-17
AZGFD Turkey Hunting — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Merriam's turkey management, Unit 3B distribution, Season structure · accessed 2026-04-17

Unit 3B

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 3B

Elk Hunting in Unit 3B

Where the Elk Are in 3B: Southern Timber, Timber Mesa and the Woolhouse

Timbered country south of Hwy 60, above 6,500 feet

Timber Mesa to Vernon, including the Woolhouse Habitat Area

North of Hwy 60: Silver Creek, White Mountain Lake and Taylor

3BN late bull country: Flint Knoll, Mesa Redonda, Ortega Mountain

Unit 3B terrain and land status

The lay of it

Who owns the ground

Water on the ground

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt 3B: Bugles, Snow and the Quarter-Mile Rule

Elk Success Rates

Elk Draw Odds

Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 3B

Taylor Country, the Woolhouse Knolls and the Long Lake Flats

Glassing the Knolls, Pre-Scouting the Flats and Working the Landowners

Pronghorn Success Rates

Pronghorn Draw Odds

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 3B

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 3B: Mesa Redonda, Black Mesa and the Timber South of Hwy 60

Mesa Redonda and Black Mesa, north of Hwy 60

The checkerboard problem

South of Hwy 60: knolls, timber sales and drainages

Reading the summit list

Getting there

Unit 3B terrain and land status

The lay of it

Who owns the ground

Water on the ground

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Unit 3B Mule Deer: Browse Slopes, Quiet Stalks and Landowner Contacts

Mule Deer Success Rates

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Turkey Hunting in Unit 3B

Where to find Merriam's turkeys in 3B: Lake Mountain, south of FR 45, and the oak-timber fall country

Lake Mountain: the spring draw

South of FR 45 in the fall

Water, roads and land status

Country to skip

Unit 3B terrain and land status

The lay of it

Who owns the ground

Water on the ground

Named features inside the unit

How to hunt 3B turkeys: evening roost location, dawn setups and a long scouting window

Turkey Success Rates

Turkey Draw Odds

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Explore Related Units

Unit 3A — Mule Deer

Unit 4A — Mule Deer

Frequently Asked Questions

Free Hunt Planning Tools

Plan Your Hunt with ProHunt Pro

Sources & Verification