Arizona Elk Mule Deer Pronghorn Turkey Bighorn Sheep

Unit 4A (Mogollon Rim)

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

Unit 4A straddles the Mogollon Rim along the Apache-Sitgreaves and Coconino National Forest boundary, encompassing the East Clear Creek drainage and surrounding rim country. The unit spans ponderosa pine, mixed conifer, and pinyon-juniper from 6,000 to 8,000 feet, providing diverse elk habitat along one of Arizona's most dramatic terrain features. Bull quality is above average with consistent 280-320 class bulls available to hunters who put in the work.

View Draw Odds Arizona Hunting Guide

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5,273–7,613 ft

Sampled elevation

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Access roads, campgrounds, elevation, monthly weather, stock tanks, cell coverage, and nearest-town services for Unit 4A.

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Elk Hunting in Unit 4A

Where the Elk Are in 4A: Rim Timber, Ranch Grass and the Little Colorado

The southern forest and FR 300

AZGFD's own unit guide says most 4A elk live on National Forest ground in the southern part of the unit. That's where most hunters go, too, working the higher country near FR 300, the Rim Road. The packet rates FR 300 high-clearance, and the road net is thin. Expect company.

The guide also says elk are found throughout the unit on the early hunts and that no one spot beats another. We take that as an honest answer. You can hunt mixed conifer or open juniper grassland and find elk in both. Scout before you commit.

Beaver Park, Hole-in-Ground and the canyon heads

The agency guide doesn't name individual spots, so we're working from the terrain data. It tags several features as holding country: Hole-in-Ground (7,564 feet), East Fork Woods Canyon (7,510), Beaver Park (7,468), South Fork Deer Lake Canyon (7,357), Middle Fork Palomino Canyon (7,352) and Open Draw (7,252). Treat these as places to start looking, not guarantees.

The same data lists ridges for glassing: Bear Beaver, Beaver Turkey, Rattlesnake, Willow and Porcupine, all topping 7,800 feet. Rim points like Alcatraz Point, Sand Point and Leonard Point are also listed. Elk summer high, so these upper features make sense early. Overall, the unit averages about 6,400 feet.

North of the forest: O'Haco and Hopi 3 Canyon Aja ranches

Want fewer hunters? Go north. The guide says elk densities and hunter numbers both drop as you leave the Rim, and elk numbers have climbed in the grassland north of Forest Service land. They live on the O'Haco Cattle Company and the Hopi 3 Canyon Aja Ranch. Both welcome hunters, with sign-in required.

The O'Haco west side is open August 15 through December 1. The east side is open year-round. The guide calls this a good area for both bull and antlerless hunts. Private and other land makes up about 32 percent of the unit, so access rules matter here.

The Little Colorado near Winslow

Over-the-counter elk hunting is limited to two pieces of 4A: east of AZ 99 and north of Territorial Road, and north of I-40. The guide's best OTC bet is the Little Colorado River from Chevelon Creek to Winslow, where a large group of elk lives. There's an archery-only area next to Winslow. Verify its boundary before you hunt.

Where to skip

The low desert-edge summits in the terrain data, like Twentymile Hill (5,735 feet) and Red Hills (5,391), sit well below the elk's summer range. The guide doesn't point to them. We wouldn't start there.

Unit 4A terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,273–7,613 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,396 ft ; peaks can run higher.
751.1 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

286 tanks
19 springs
625 stream segments
16 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: Bear Beaver Ridge (7,918 ft), Beaver Turkey Ridge (7,903 ft), Willow Ridge (7,841 ft), Gentry Ridge (7,718 ft)

Holding ground: Hole-in-Ground (7,564 ft), Beaver Park (7,468 ft), South Fork Deer Lake Canyon (7,357 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 4A: Glass the Grass, Beat the FR 300 Crowd, Plan for Snow

Glass first on the ranches

The guide's advice for O'Haco is blunt. Use binoculars from high points, find elk, then stalk. The country is open, and elk see and hear vehicles coming and move off. Park out of sight and walk.

Vehicle rules are strict. Hunting with the aid of a vehicle is unlawful. Stay on existing roads, and leave them only to retrieve game. On the Hopi 3 Canyon Aja Ranch, camp at least a quarter mile from water holes and water developments. Don't litter.

Sign in at one of the three access points on each ranch, and sign out on the Aja. Break ranch rules and you'll be trespassed immediately. That isn't a risk worth taking over one bull.

Working the Rim near FR 300

This is where the crowd is, so use the terrain. The data flags holding features like Beaver Park, Hole-in-Ground and the Woods Canyon and Deer Lake canyon forks. Sit the ridges above them at first and last light, and let the timber tell you where elk are before you move.

With 286 tanks and 19 springs in the unit, water is another way to find elk. The packet doesn't name any, so you'll need your forest map. The guide recommends the Apache-Sitgreaves map for working out access. Get it.

Choosing your season

The guide lists September archery bull and antlerless hunts, an October juniors-only antlerless hunt, an October antlerless hunt, a November archery bull hunt and a November general firearms bull hunt. Check the current regulation booklet for specifics.

The packet's success figures are 25 percent for rifle and 18 for archery. That fits what the guide describes. Open grass punishes a bowhunter's stalk. If you're carrying a bow, we'd lean on the timber of the southern forest, or on the OTC ground along the Little Colorado.

When snow closes the Rim

Elk summer high and drift north to lower country as snow deepens. The guide warns that November and December hunts can be affected by snow. If the Rim fills in, access shifts to SR 99 from Winslow. FR 300 is the other way in, reached from the Woods Canyon Lake turnoff on Hwy 260. You can also reach it from Unit 5A. FR 504 connects from Unit 4B.

A late-season plan should already include the northern grassland. Elk will be coming to you.

Getting in and staying out: unit 4A

Named routes and what they need

I 40;US 180 — 17.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
AZ 99 — 10.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
FR 300 — 4.2 mi · High-clearance
North Park Drive — 3.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
FR 115T — 2.6 mi · High-clearance
N6910 — 2.2 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

Winslow — 20.7 mi · groceries, lodging
Joseph City — 32.1 mi · fuel, groceries
Beaver Valley Estates — 38.6 mi · no services listed
Bird Springs — 38.7 mi · no services listed
Holbrook — 40.2 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging

Developed camps

Bear Canyon Lake and Camping Area
Unnamed camp site
Spillway Group Campground
Spillway Campground · Fee
Forest Road 84 Camping Area

Season weather and signal

Jan47° / 21° · 1.3" precip
Aug87° / 59° · 2.2" precip
Sep81° / 52° · 1.5" precip
Oct70° / 39° · 0.9" precip
Nov57° / 28° · 0.8" precip
Dec47° / 21° · 1.1" 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

Unit 4A elk success rates typically range from 25-40% for rifle and 10-18% for archery. The unit produces consistent results thanks to healthy herd numbers and moderate tag allocation. Bull quality does not reach the heights of Unit 1 but remains above the statewide average.

Elk Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — Late Rifle Dec bull/buck only (combined pool)	169	650	16.3%	—
Rifle — General Rifle Oct antlerless (combined pool)	3	1	100.0%	—
Rifle — General Rifle Oct antlerless (combined pool)	97	310	23.9%	—
Rifle — Late Rifle Nov bull/buck only (combined pool)	170	831	11.2%	—
Rifle — Early Rifle bull/buck only (combined pool)	3	4	50.0%	—
Rifle — Early Rifle antlerless (combined pool)	3	1	100.0%	—
Early Archery — bull/buck only (combined pool)	97	1,237	5.7%	—
Late Archery Nov — bull/buck only (combined pool)	29	38	34.2%	—
Early Archery — antlerless (combined pool)	97	91	36.3%	—

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

Unit 4A elk tags require 10-18 bonus points for most weapon types. A long-term application commitment but the Mogollon Rim habitat and above-average bull quality justify the investment. The loyalty bonus rewards consistent annual applications.

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 4A

Unit 4A's Mogollon Rim terrain supports a healthy mule deer herd across the Apache-Sitgreaves and Coconino NF boundary. The diverse habitat from Rim-top ponderosa down through PJ and oak brush along East Clear Creek provides excellent multi-zone deer range. Draw odds are more attainable than neighboring premium units, making this an excellent mid-range application target.

Where the Mule Deer Live in 4A: South-Side Forest, Thinned Ground and the Canyon Heads

The southern National Forest is the unit

AZGFD's own unit guide is blunt: most of the mule deer in 4A live on National Forest land in the southern part of the unit. The population is low, and the guide tells hunters to put their time into pre-season scouting. We'd take that at face value. National Forest is 60 percent of the unit, State Trust is 8 percent, and the remaining 32 percent is private or other. The deer are on the 60.

The way in is the Woods Canyon Lake turnoff on Hwy 260, then FR 300, the Rim Road. Our road data rates FR 300 as high-clearance, so bring the right rig. The guide calls access within the unit excellent and says to carry an Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests map. Buy one.

The Nagel thinning between FR 34, 100, 169 and 300

If we had to pick one starting spot, it's here. The guide says forest thinning has improved deer habitat in the Nagel Analysis Area. The projects sit between Forest Roads 34, 100, 169 and 300. Deer have keyed in on those thinned areas. That note comes from a guide dated June 2022, so go look at the ground yourself before you trust it.

The box formed by those four roads is easy to scout. Drive the edges, then walk the interior.

Canyon heads and basins on the Rim

The guide also says to check old burns and the areas along canyons and major drainages. It doesn't name specific burns, so you'll have to find them on your forest map. Our landform data does name holding country on public land, all up high:

Hole-in-Ground, a basin at 7,564 feet
East Fork Woods Canyon, 7,510 feet
Beaver Park, a flat at 7,468 feet
South Fork Deer Lake Canyon, 7,357 feet
Middle Fork Palomino Canyon, 7,352 feet
Open Draw, 7,252 feet

Those are our picks for a first-day look. The packet doesn't say which roads reach each one, so you'll sort that out on the map. The unit also has 286 mapped tanks, 19 springs and 16 lakes, though the packet doesn't pin them to deer use. Mark the ones near your holding areas.

The country to skip

North of the Forest it's a checkerboard of private and State Trust ground. The O'Haco Cattle Company ranch is mostly juniper grassland with sparse deer and limited road density. Next door, the Hopi Tribe's Three Canyon Aja Ranch also has a very low deer population. Neither is a place to build a hunt around. Deer do exist north of the Forest, but the guide calls them sparse.

The lowest ground in the unit, around 5,200 feet, is also off our list. Everything the packet says points uphill.

Unit 4A terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,273–7,613 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,396 ft ; peaks can run higher.
751.1 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

286 tanks
19 springs
625 stream segments
16 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: Bear Beaver Ridge (7,918 ft), Beaver Turkey Ridge (7,903 ft), Willow Ridge (7,841 ft), Gentry Ridge (7,718 ft)

Holding ground: Hole-in-Ground (7,564 ft), Beaver Park (7,468 ft), South Fork Deer Lake Canyon (7,357 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 4A: Scout Hard, Glass the Rim Ridges, Mind the Ranch Rules

With a rifle success rate of 22 percent in the packet and a deer population the agency calls low, 4A won't hand you a buck. You earn it.

Scout before the season, not during it

AZGFD says to focus on pre-season scouting, and we agree. Spend your trips learning where deer are using the Nagel thinning and the canyon heads. Put your time into the Hole-in-Ground basin, East Fork Woods Canyon, Beaver Park and the Deer Lake and Palomino canyon forks. Find a feeding area, then find the cover close to it. Note where the old burns sit relative to both.

The general firearms season is combined with 4B, so expect company coming in on FR 504 from the east. Hunters who show up without scouting will drive the Rim Road, see nothing and leave. Your edge is knowing where to park and walk.

Glass from the ridges

The landform data lists a string of glassing ridges on public land, mostly in the 7,000s: Bear Beaver, Beaver Turkey, Rattlesnake, Willow, Porcupine, Gentry and Chevelon among them. Alcatraz Point and Sand Point are cliff edges worth a look. The guide doesn't tie any of them to a road, so check access on your map before committing a morning.

Glass at first light and again in the last hour. Work the edges where thinned timber meets denser forest, then pick apart the heads of the canyons. Deer in broken pine country sit tight and show only an ear or a back. Be patient. Slow glassing beats fast walking here.

Know what you're shooting

Unit 4A is an any antlered deer hunt area, so whitetails are legal along with mule deer. The guide says so directly. That helps if you're the kind of hunter who wants a second option, but confirm the animal before you pull the trigger. Archery deer hunting is also offered here. The packet gives no archery-specific numbers, so we can't say how it compares. Archers will want to use that scouting to find close, quiet spots near the thinned areas and tanks.

If you cross onto the ranches

O'Haco Cattle Company lands have three hunter sign-in boxes. The west part is open to hunters August 15 through December 1, and the east portion is open year-round. Break a ranch rule and you'll be trespassed immediately, and possibly under the Landowner Compact as well. The Hopi ranch also runs on sign in and out boxes. Hunter access is allowed now, but the guide says that could change at any time. Check before you go.

A realistic day is a dark start on FR 300, a ridge glass, a slow walk through thinned ground and a midday check of a canyon head. Expect to go home empty some days.

Getting in and staying out: unit 4A

Named routes and what they need

I 40;US 180 — 17.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
AZ 99 — 10.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
FR 300 — 4.2 mi · High-clearance
North Park Drive — 3.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
FR 115T — 2.6 mi · High-clearance
N6910 — 2.2 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

Winslow — 20.7 mi · groceries, lodging
Joseph City — 32.1 mi · fuel, groceries
Beaver Valley Estates — 38.6 mi · no services listed
Bird Springs — 38.7 mi · no services listed
Holbrook — 40.2 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging

Developed camps

Bear Canyon Lake and Camping Area
Unnamed camp site
Spillway Group Campground
Spillway Campground · Fee
Forest Road 84 Camping Area

Season weather and signal

Jan47° / 21° · 1.3" precip
Aug87° / 59° · 2.2" precip
Sep81° / 52° · 1.5" precip
Oct70° / 39° · 0.9" precip
Nov57° / 28° · 0.8" precip
Dec47° / 21° · 1.1" 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

Rifle success for mule deer in Unit 4A averages 35-50%. The accessible terrain and healthy deer numbers contribute to solid results. Buck quality is above the Arizona average, though a step below Unit 1's trophy potential.

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — General Rifle Oct bull/buck only (combined pool)	10	11	81.8%	—
Rifle — Late Rifle Dec bull/buck only (combined pool)	9	344	1.7%	—
Rifle — General Rifle Oct either sex (combined pool)	280	1,003	17.2%	—
Rifle — Late Rifle Dec either sex (combined pool)	9	344	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

Unit 4A mule deer tags are competitive but more attainable than some premium units. Expect to need 8-14 bonus points for rifle tags. Archery tags may draw with fewer points. This unit hits a sweet spot between trophy quality and draw accessibility along the Mogollon Rim.

Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 4A

Unit 04A is an Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) pronghorn unit. Tags are awarded through AZGFD's weighted-random bonus-point draw, with quotas set annually based on survey data and habitat conditions. Review AZGFD hunt guidelines, regulations, and the draw results page to confirm season dates, legal weapons, and historical odds before applying.

Where the pronghorn live in 4A: the northern checkerboard off AZ 99

Start north, not on the Rim

The unit's name says Mogollon Rim, but that's not where your goat is. AZGFD's own unit guide puts pronghorn in the northern part of 4A, on a "checkerboard" of Hopi Tribal Trust and State Trust ground. Access is by AZ 99, which is paved for about 10.6 miles inside the unit and takes any rig.

The unit runs from 5,273 feet at the bottom to a 6,396-foot average. We'd concentrate on the lower, open end of that range and skip the high timbered ridges.

Two ranches hold the animals

The guide says two ranches are the major landholders in the habitat where antelope are found. Learn them both before you leave home, because your hunt happens on one or the other.

O'Haco Cattle Company sits in the southern part of the antelope range. Access is controlled across the whole ranch, with three access points. The west part is open to hunters August 15 through December 1. The east portion is open year-round.
Hopi 3 Canyon Aja Ranch covers the northern portion of the range. It also has three sign-in stations and a sign in/out access agreement.

The guide doesn't say which ranch holds more animals, and it doesn't name individual pastures, tanks or flats. We won't pretend otherwise. Call AZGFD or the ranches, and look at the ownership lines on your mapping software.

Skip the Rim ridges

Terrain data lists a long string of glassing ridges: Bear Beaver, Beaver Turkey, Rattlesnake, Willow, Porcupine and Gentry, all up near 7,700 to 7,900 feet. Holding country such as Hole-in-Ground, Beaver Park and Open Draw sits above 7,200 feet. That's the forested Rim, in the south. The agency puts pronghorn up north, so we'd leave those for elk and deer hunters.

Lower summits are listed in the data too: Twentymile Hill (5,735 feet) and Red Hills (5,391) in Navajo County, plus Tucker Mesa (5,182), Relic Point (5,495) and Leonard Point (6,259) in Coconino County. The packet doesn't say these sit inside the antelope range. But they're low, and low is the right elevation band. Check each against the ranch boundaries on a map before you plan around it.

Ownership and roads

The unit is 60% National Forest, 8% State Trust and 32% private or other. The forest piece is mostly Rim country, so your pronghorn ground is largely in that private and other slice plus the trust checkerboard. That's why the sign-ins matter so much.

Listed secondary roads include FR 300 (4.2 miles, high-clearance), FR 115T (2.6 miles, high-clearance), North Park Drive (3.2 miles, graded gravel) and N6910 (2.2 miles, graded gravel). We can't tell you which of these reaches antelope country, so confirm that before you drive them. Winslow and Joseph City are your nearest towns for fuel and supplies.

Unit 4A terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,273–7,613 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,396 ft ; peaks can run higher.
751.1 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

286 tanks
19 springs
625 stream segments
16 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: Bear Beaver Ridge (7,918 ft), Beaver Turkey Ridge (7,903 ft), Willow Ridge (7,841 ft), Gentry Ridge (7,718 ft)

Holding ground: Hole-in-Ground (7,564 ft), Beaver Park (7,468 ft), South Fork Deer Lake Canyon (7,357 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 4A pronghorn: sign in, glass the open ground, stay on the roads

Sign in first, every time

Access is the first job. Both ranches require you to sign in and out at an access point, and you must obey every rule that comes with that permission. O'Haco's warning is blunt: violators are immediately trespassed and can also be trespassed under the Landowner Compact. Both ranches say they welcome hunters who sign in, so don't give them a reason to change that.

If you plan to scout, mind the O'Haco calendar. The west part is closed to hunter access before August 15 and after December 1. The east portion is open all year, so it's the place for an early look.

Vehicles, camp and water rules

On the Hopi 3 Canyon Aja Ranch, all vehicles must stay on established roads. The only exception is picking up game. That means no driving a pasture to close the distance on a buck. Plan your stalk on foot, and plan your pack-out too, since you can leave the road only once the animal is down.

Camp at least ¼ mile from water holes and water developments.
Don't litter.
Obey every posted rule at the sign-in stations.

Keep that ¼-mile camping rule in mind when you pick a spot. It also keeps you from spooking the animals you came to hunt.

Glass from the road, then make a plan

With roads restricted, we'd run the hunt as a drive-and-glass. Move slowly along established roads, stop at high points and pick apart the country with optics. Pronghorn are easy to spot and hard to approach, so let the glass do the work and save your legs for the stalk.

Use the low summits and cliffs on the map as lookouts only after you've confirmed they sit on ground you can legally reach. The 7,000-foot-plus Rim ridges aren't where we'd spend time.

Water is a real tool here. The unit data shows 286 tanks, 19 springs and 16 lakes, though that's the whole unit, not just the antelope end. Once you've found stock tanks or developments in the range, watch them. Then set up well outside that ¼-mile camp buffer.

Rifle versus bow

The success numbers tell the story: 82% for rifle hunters, 48% for archers. Every bow hunter can expect to work harder. We'd put an archer on a water source from a blind and treat a roadside stalk as a bonus. A rifle hunter's job is simpler. Find a good buck, make a stalk that gets you inside your range, and take a steady shot.

A realistic day: sign in at dawn, glass from the road, make one good stalk and sign out at dark.

Getting in and staying out: unit 4A

Named routes and what they need

I 40;US 180 — 17.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
AZ 99 — 10.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
FR 300 — 4.2 mi · High-clearance
North Park Drive — 3.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
FR 115T — 2.6 mi · High-clearance
N6910 — 2.2 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

Winslow — 20.7 mi · groceries, lodging
Joseph City — 32.1 mi · fuel, groceries
Beaver Valley Estates — 38.6 mi · no services listed
Bird Springs — 38.7 mi · no services listed
Holbrook — 40.2 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging

Developed camps

Bear Canyon Lake and Camping Area
Unnamed camp site
Spillway Group Campground
Spillway Campground · Fee
Forest Road 84 Camping Area

Season weather and signal

Jan47° / 21° · 1.3" precip
Aug87° / 59° · 2.2" precip
Sep81° / 52° · 1.5" precip
Oct70° / 39° · 0.9" precip
Nov57° / 28° · 0.8" precip
Dec47° / 21° · 1.1" 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.

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

Arizona pronghorn hunts typically post strong success rates due to animal visibility and controlled permit numbers. Consult AZGFD hunt reports for recent Unit 04A harvest data.

Pronghorn Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — Early Rifle bull/buck only (combined pool)	3	18	16.7%	—
Early Archery — bull/buck only (combined pool)	1	65	1.5%	—
General Archery — bull/buck only (combined pool)	1	1	100.0%	—

Open in Draw Odds Engine

Pronghorn tags in Arizona are drawn through the weighted-random bonus-point system. Applicants with more points have more random entries. Check AZGFD's draw results page for unit-level odds.

Turkey Hunting in Unit 4A

The combined Unit 4A/4B turkey hunt covers the Mogollon Rim country from Happy Jack and Long Valley east toward Blue Ridge, spanning the Coconino and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. This Rim-country block is one of Arizona's most productive Merriam's corridors — dense ponderosa, oak drainages, and seasonal creek bottoms hold strong roost flocks. With ~199 tags across three years against 277 applicants, the combined hunt offers favorable odds and extensive public access. We treat 4A/4B as a big-country hunt where road scouting and drainage-by-drainage listening set up the morning.

Where the Birds Live: Rim Road Pine, Meadows and the Spring Drainages

Start with what AZGFD's own unit guide says: turkeys in 4A are on the forest portion of the unit, and they're generally in the coniferous forest in the southern part. That's about 60 percent of the unit's 751 square miles. State Trust is 8 percent. The other 32 percent is private or other, and we'd leave it alone.

Rim Road (FR 300) and the Four-to-Five-Mile Belt

For fall, the guide puts the best hunting along the Rim Road (FR 300) area and throughout the forest within four to five miles north of the Rim. That's your strongest ground. FR 300 reaches the unit from the southeast at the Woods Canyon Lake area. The packet rates it high-clearance, and only about 4.2 miles of it are mapped inside the unit. Birds work the meadows and open pine, eating insects, acorns, pine seeds and grass seed. Fall access is good on graveled Forest Service roads, so a belt that wide is easy to cover.

Beaver Park, Hole-in-Ground and Open Draw

The agency guide names no meadows, so we're working from landforms here. The terrain data lists several holding spots: Beaver Park, a flat at 7,468 feet. Hole-in-Ground, a basin at 7,564 feet. Open Draw, a valley at 7,252 feet. They fit the guide's description of meadows and open pine well, and they're where we'd spend our first scouting days. The packet doesn't say which road reaches which, so check them against the Apache-Sitgreaves map the guide tells you to carry.

Spring Drainages: East Fork Woods Canyon and the Deer Lake and Palomino Forks

Spring bearded-bird hunters, per the guide, usually do best along the larger drainages. The biggest named candidates are East Fork Woods Canyon (7,510 feet), South Fork Deer Lake Canyon (7,357 feet) and Middle Fork Palomino Canyon (7,352 feet). All three sit in the same elevation band as the pine belt, so you can move between drainage and meadow without a big climb.

Snow matters early. The guide says FR 300 is closed by snow for the first few weeks of the season most years. You'll come in from the north on State Hwy 99 (about 10.6 paved miles in the unit) or from the east on FR 504. Plan your first drainage around that.

Water, Ridges and What to Skip

The packet counts 286 tanks, 19 springs and 16 lakes. The guide specifically tells you to look for sign at dirt stock tanks. Those are good places to confirm birds before you commit to a drainage.

Ridges like Beaver Turkey Ridge (7,903 feet), Bear Beaver Ridge (7,918) and Porcupine Ridge (7,821) are listed as glassing spots, and they're useful for reading the country. We wouldn't expect to find birds on top of them, though. The guide doesn't point you there.

The low end of the unit drops to about 5,273 feet. Tucker Mesa, Red Hills and Twentymile Hill all sit down there. The guide sends you to the conifer, not the low country, so we'd skip it.

Unit 4A terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,273–7,613 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,396 ft ; peaks can run higher.
751.1 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

286 tanks
19 springs
625 stream segments
16 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: Bear Beaver Ridge (7,918 ft), Beaver Turkey Ridge (7,903 ft), Willow Ridge (7,841 ft), Gentry Ridge (7,718 ft)

Holding ground: Hole-in-Ground (7,564 ft), Beaver Park (7,468 ft), South Fork Deer Lake Canyon (7,357 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 4A Turkeys: Scout the Tanks, Work the Meadows, Plan Around Snow

Know the rules first. Turkey hunting in 4A is by permit only for both fall and spring, and both hunts are limited to weapon-shotgun, shooting shot only. The exception is the fall archery hunt, which is an over-the-counter permit. The guide we're working from is dated June 2022, so check the current hunt booklet before you go. The packet lists a 35 percent success rate for shotgun hunters. Bring your scouting, because a third of the shots going home with a bird isn't a gift.

Scouting Tanks and Meadows in Fall

AZGFD's guide gives a clear routine. Check meadows in the mornings and late afternoons for hens and poults. Look for sign at dirt stock tanks while you scout. Those two things tell you where the flock is living. Start along FR 300 and the first four to five miles north of the Rim. Then work toward the meadow candidates in the data, such as Beaver Park and Open Draw. Once you find a flock, plan to be there at first and last light. Birds will be feeding on grass seed, acorns, pine seeds and insects.

Fall roads are graveled and good, so you can cover a lot of ground. Don't rush the glassing. A ridge like Beaver Turkey Ridge can help you read the country, but you'll find the birds themselves in the meadows and pine below.

Spring Drainages and the Snow Problem

For spring, the guide says to focus on the larger drainages. East Fork Woods Canyon, South Fork Deer Lake Canyon and Middle Fork Palomino Canyon are the ones to start with. Get on one before daylight, listen from the road or the rim of the drainage, and move in from there. The packet gives no calling or decoy advice, so those choices are yours.

Snow decides your approach. Most years, FR 300 is closed for the first few weeks of the season. Come in from the north on Hwy 99 or the east on FR 504 instead. Don't plan a first-weekend hunt that depends on the Rim Road.

Beating the Crowd and Staying Legal

Roads are the pressure points, and crowds follow them. FR 300 is high-clearance, and so is FR 115T. North Park Drive and N6910 are graded gravel. We'd put in the effort to find a spot reached by one of the rougher roads, or walk a drainage past where most people stop. We can't tell you that's where birds are, only that it's where fewer hunters will be.

Stay off private ground. About a third of the unit is private or other, so carry the Apache-Sitgreaves map and check boundaries before you set up.

A Realistic Day

Be in position before first light and hunt the drainage or meadow you scouted. Midday, move to a tank and check for sign. Be back on a meadow edge for the late-afternoon feed. Bring water if you're tank-hopping. A good day is one flock located and one setup done right.

Getting in and staying out: unit 4A

Named routes and what they need

I 40;US 180 — 17.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
AZ 99 — 10.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
FR 300 — 4.2 mi · High-clearance
North Park Drive — 3.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
FR 115T — 2.6 mi · High-clearance
N6910 — 2.2 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

Winslow — 20.7 mi · groceries, lodging
Joseph City — 32.1 mi · fuel, groceries
Beaver Valley Estates — 38.6 mi · no services listed
Bird Springs — 38.7 mi · no services listed
Holbrook — 40.2 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging

Developed camps

Bear Canyon Lake and Camping Area
Unnamed camp site
Spillway Group Campground
Spillway Campground · Fee
Forest Road 84 Camping Area

Season weather and signal

Jan47° / 21° · 1.3" precip
Aug87° / 59° · 2.2" precip
Sep81° / 52° · 1.5" precip
Oct70° / 39° · 0.9" precip
Nov57° / 28° · 0.8" precip
Dec47° / 21° · 1.1" 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

Combined 4A/4B spring Merriam's success runs 40–55% — among the best in the state thanks to dense roost habitat, extensive road access, and high bird density. Fall hunts (when offered) post 20–30% as flocks break up and birds grow quieter.

Turkey Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Shotgun — Spring bearded turkey (combined pool)	100	120	28.3%	—
Shotgun — Fall either sex (combined pool)	300	618	41.6%	—
Rifle — Fall either sex (combined pool)	325	741	36.2%	—
Rifle — Spring either sex (combined pool)	100	809	10.8%	—

Open in Draw Odds Engine

Unit 4A/4B turkey is a favorable mid-odds draw. Arizona uses a weighted bonus-point system with Hunter Education bonus — 20% of tags go to max-point holders, 80% to a random weighted draw. With ~199 tags against 277 applicants over three years, residents frequently draw with 0–1 bonus points. Nonresidents face a 10% cap but still see reasonable odds.

Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit 4A

The combined Unit 4A/5A bighorn hunt targets a small reintroduced Rocky Mountain bighorn herd along the Mogollon Rim and Bill Williams Mountain country in north-central Arizona. Translocated from Wyoming and Colorado source herds, this population uses the cliff bands and volcanic formations along the Rim edge and Bill Williams Mountain. With only ~1 tag over three years against 218 applicants, it's one of Arizona's rarest Rocky Mountain bighorn opportunities — a genuine once-in-a-lifetime draw. We treat any 4A/5A tag as a full-scale expedition.

Where to Find Bighorn Sheep in Unit 4A: Rim Cliffs, High Ridges and Holding Basins

Straight talk first. The agency guide for 4A (AZGFD, dated June 2022) comes through with no unit breakdown and no species block for sheep. It doesn't tell us where sheep sit, so we won't pretend to. What follows comes from the terrain, ownership and access data for the unit. Treat it as a scouting map, not a sighting report.

Start with the rim cliffs: Alcatraz, Sand, Leonard and Relic Points

Four named points are mapped as cliff country: Alcatraz Point at 7,362 feet, Sand Point at 7,007, Leonard Point at 6,259 and Relic Point at 5,495. All are public land in Coconino County. Broken rock and steep edges are what we'd look at first for sheep. Alcatraz and Sand give you the most elevation to glass from. Leonard and Relic drop you toward the lower end of the unit.

The high ridge line

The ridges run long and tall. Bear Beaver Ridge (7,918), Beaver Turkey (7,903), Rattlesnake (7,888), Willow (7,841), Porcupine (7,821) and Bear Willow (7,817) all top 7,800 feet. Gentry (7,718), Chevelon (7,650) and Dye (7,525) step down from there, then Telephone (7,315), Middle (7,138), Grama (7,112) and Barney (7,058). Every one is public and flagged as a glassing position. One catch: the unit's stated maximum is 7,613 feet, so some of these tops sit on or just past the boundary. Check the line on your map before you plan a stalk off one.

Holding country: Hole-in-Ground and the forks

The terrain data marks several features as holding ground. Hole-in-Ground is a basin at 7,564 feet. East Fork Woods Canyon sits at 7,510, Beaver Park (a flat) at 7,468, South Fork Deer Lake Canyon at 7,357, Middle Fork Palomino Canyon at 7,352 and Open Draw at 7,252. That label comes from terrain, not from animal counts. Still, it gives you a short list of drainages to glass into from the ridges above.

Lower country and what to skip

The unit bottoms out at 5,273 feet and averages 6,396. Twentymile Hill (5,735) and Red Hills (5,391) are in Navajo County, and Tucker Mesa (5,182) is in Coconino. They're low glassing summits for working the south end.

About 60 percent of 4A's 751 square miles is National Forest and 8 percent is State Trust. The other 32 percent is private or other. We'd skip anything you can't confirm as public, especially near the towns the packet lists (Winslow, Joseph City, Beaver Valley Estates, Bird Springs).

The packet doesn't say where sheep move between early and late season. Spend your scouting time on that question.

Unit 4A terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,273–7,613 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,396 ft ; peaks can run higher.
751.1 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

286 tanks
19 springs
625 stream segments
16 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: Bear Beaver Ridge (7,918 ft), Beaver Turkey Ridge (7,903 ft), Willow Ridge (7,841 ft), Gentry Ridge (7,718 ft)

Holding ground: Hole-in-Ground (7,564 ft), Beaver Park (7,468 ft), South Fork Deer Lake Canyon (7,357 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 Sheep in 4A: Glass the Points, Work the Roads, Check the Regs

The packet shows a 75 percent rifle success rate for 4A. It gives no sample size, no year and no numbers for other weapons. We'd take it as encouraging and nothing more. You still have to find the sheep.

Glass from the points, then drop in

The map gives you plenty of glassing positions. Pick a cliff point like Alcatraz or Sand and get there before first light. Sit and glass the basins and canyon heads below: Hole-in-Ground, East Fork Woods Canyon, Open Draw. Work one slope at a time. Then move. If a point shows you nothing in a morning, try a ridge next. Rattlesnake, Porcupine and Willow Ridge all give you high, open vantage. Plan on a long day of sitting, with the real work starting once you spot an animal.

Roads and access

Paved access is easy: I-40/US 180 runs about 17.6 miles through the unit and AZ 99 another 10.6. For dirt, FR 300 (4.2 miles) and FR 115T (2.6 miles) are rated high-clearance. North Park Drive (3.2 miles) and N6910 (2.2 miles) are graded gravel that a 2WD rig or small trailer can handle. The packet doesn't tie any of these roads to a specific point or ridge, so match them to your map yourself. Most of your hunting will be on foot anyway.

Water and feed

The packet counts 286 tanks, 19 springs and 16 lakes in the unit, plus a lot of stream mileage. It doesn't name or locate any spring, so we can't send you to one. Use the terrain: look for water near the drainage heads and basins listed above, and glass it from above.

Rules we can't give you

The agency guide in our packet has no text on wrong-species shooting, motorized retrieval limits, quiet areas or access sign-in. We won't guess at them. Read the current AZGFD regulations and the unit page before you go, and check the forest travel management map for FR 300 and FR 115T. We also can't tell you how weapons differ in 4A. Bring the optics you'd want for a long shot or a long stalk, and decide once you see where the sheep live.

Getting in and staying out: unit 4A

Named routes and what they need

I 40;US 180 — 17.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
AZ 99 — 10.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
FR 300 — 4.2 mi · High-clearance
North Park Drive — 3.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
FR 115T — 2.6 mi · High-clearance
N6910 — 2.2 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

Winslow — 20.7 mi · groceries, lodging
Joseph City — 32.1 mi · fuel, groceries
Beaver Valley Estates — 38.6 mi · no services listed
Bird Springs — 38.7 mi · no services listed
Holbrook — 40.2 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging

Developed camps

Bear Canyon Lake and Camping Area
Unnamed camp site
Spillway Group Campground
Spillway Campground · Fee
Forest Road 84 Camping Area

Season weather and signal

Jan47° / 21° · 1.3" precip
Aug87° / 59° · 2.2" precip
Sep81° / 52° · 1.5" precip
Oct70° / 39° · 0.9" precip
Nov57° / 28° · 0.8" precip
Dec47° / 21° · 1.1" 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.

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

Sample size is tiny with ~1 tag per three years. Recent harvest rates have been near 100% thanks to the hunter commitment required and AZGFD biologist coordination. Ram quality is good for a reintroduced Rocky Mountain herd — 155–170 B&C range.

Bighorn Sheep Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — General Rifle Oct bull/buck only (combined pool)	2	477	0.4%	—

Open in Draw Odds Engine

Unit 4A/5A bighorn is one of Arizona's rarest Rocky Mountain bighorn draws. With only ~1 tag over three years against 218 applicants, odds run well under 1% per application. Arizona uses a weighted bonus-point system with Hunter Education bonus — 20% to max-point holders, 80% to a random weighted draw. Plan on 20+ bonus points before expecting competitiveness. Arizona residents who harvest any bighorn lose eligibility for future bighorn applications.

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

🚐

RV Sites

Campgrounds along Highway 260 near the Mogollon Rim. Some forest campgrounds with RV-accessible sites.

⛺

Camp Sites

Dispersed camping on Apache-Sitgreaves and Coconino NF land along the Rim. Numerous forest road pulloffs and flat sites.

🛻

Trailer Access

Highway 260 is paved and handles all sizes. Forest roads vary — many are passable for short trailers.

💧

Water

Carry all water. Stock tanks are present but unreliable for human consumption. Nearest towns for resupply are along Highway 260.

🛣️

Road Conditions

Highway 260 provides good paved access. Forest roads along the Rim vary from graded gravel to rough two-track. 4WD recommended off highways.

🥾

Terrain Difficulty

Moderate. Mix of open Rim-top parks, timbered ridges, and steep Rim breaks. East Clear Creek drainage adds rugged canyon terrain.

👥

Hunting Pressure

Moderate. The Rim country sees consistent hunting interest due to quality habitat.

🌦️

Weather

Fall temps 20-55°F. Freezing nights from October on. Snow possible on the Rim top in late season. Be prepared for rapid weather changes at elevation.

📱

Cell Service

Spotty near Highway 260. No service in the backcountry and Rim breaks.

🏘️

Nearest Town

Heber-Overgaard (basic services). Payson (45 min west) or Show Low (45 min east) for fuller services.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How does Unit 4A compare to Unit 1 for Arizona elk?

Unit 4A offers above-average elk hunting along the Mogollon Rim with somewhat easier draw odds than Unit 1. Bull quality is solid, driven by the diverse Rim habitat. It is an excellent option for hunters who want quality Arizona elk without the extreme point requirements of Unit 1.

What is the best season for elk in Unit 4A?

The September archery season during the elk rut is the most exciting option, with bugling bulls across the ponderosa parks. Rifle season in October-November offers higher overall success rates.

Are Unit 4A mule deer tags easier to draw than Unit 1?

Yes. Unit 4A typically requires 8-14 bonus points compared to 15-20+ for Unit 1. The trade-off is slightly lower average trophy quality, but bucks above 170 inches are taken each year along the Mogollon Rim.

What is the terrain like in Unit 4A for deer hunting?

Rolling pinyon-juniper woodland and ponderosa parks on the Rim top with steeper terrain in the Rim breaks and East Clear Creek drainage. Moderate overall difficulty with good forest road access along Highway 260.

How do I apply for a Unit 04A pronghorn tag?

Apply through the AZGFD online draw portal during the posted pronghorn application window. Tags are awarded through Arizona's weighted-random bonus-point draw.

How does Arizona's bonus-point system work?

Each unsuccessful year you apply, you earn a bonus point. Bonus points create additional random entries in the draw, improving your odds over time.

Is the combined 4A/4B turkey hunt a good unit for first-time Merriam's hunters?

Yes — the combination of extensive road access, strong bird populations, and favorable draw odds makes 4A/4B one of Arizona's most approachable Merriam's hunts for newcomers.

How many bonus points for a 4A/4B turkey tag?

Residents routinely draw with 0–1 bonus points. Nonresidents may need 1–2 given the 10% cap. The hunter-education bonus ticket helps first-time applicants.

Where should I base camp for Units 4A/4B?

Dispersed camping along FR 3 or FR 95 near Happy Jack puts you in the middle of prime Rim turkey country. Blue Ridge and Rock Crossing developed campgrounds offer water and toilets.

What bighorn subspecies is in Units 4A/5A?

Rocky Mountain bighorn — translocated from Wyoming and Colorado source herds. Most AZ bighorn hunts target desert bighorn; this is one of the very few Rocky Mountain hunts in the state.

How hard is the Unit 4A/5A bighorn draw?

Extremely — with ~1 tag over three years and 218 applicants, odds are well under 1%. Plan on 20+ bonus points and apply annually for the loyalty bonus.

Do I need a guide for Units 4A/5A bighorn?

Not required, but with rams so dispersed across the combined unit, hiring a guide with current AZGFD coordination or doing heavy personal scouting is almost essential.

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.

GMU 4A — Expanded Hunt Information (June 2022) — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Unit boundaries and land ownership categories, Species present in the unit, Seasonal distribution and hunt areas, Habitat and access notes · accessed 2026-04-16
GMU 4A — Unit Landing Page — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Canonical unit info page · accessed 2026-04-16
2026 Arizona Pronghorn and Elk Regulations — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Season structure, Tag quotas, Hunt area boundaries · accessed 2026-04-16
2025-26 Arizona Hunting Regulations — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Season structure, Bag limits, Legal equipment · accessed 2026-04-16
AZGFD Draw Portal — Hunt Drawing Information — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Bonus point system, Draw application portal, Historical draw data · accessed 2026-04-16
AZGFD Hunt Guidelines — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Hunt guidelines, Pronghorn management objectives, Unit boundaries · accessed 2026-04-17
AZGFD Hunt Regulations — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Season dates, Legal weapons, Bag limits · accessed 2026-04-17
AZGFD Draw Results & Bonus Points — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Draw results, Bonus point totals, Pronghorn draw odds · accessed 2026-04-17
AZGFD Turkey Hunting — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Merriam's turkey distribution along the Mogollon Rim, Combined 4A/4B hunt structure, Spring and fall turkey seasons, Tag allocation and draw rules · accessed 2026-04-17
Coconino National Forest — Mogollon Rim and Blue Ridge RDs — USDA Forest Service · supports: FR 3, FR 300 (Rim Road) access, Dispersed camping, Motor Vehicle Use Map · accessed 2026-04-17
AZGFD Bighorn Sheep Management — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Rocky Mountain bighorn reintroduction in Arizona, Unit 4A/5A combined hunt structure, Mogollon Rim and Bill Williams habitat, Translocation source herds · accessed 2026-04-17
Kaibab National Forest — Williams Ranger District — USDA Forest Service · supports: Bill Williams Mountain access, Mogollon Rim trails, Dispersed camping · accessed 2026-04-17