How we read each state's report

Every number on the site is copied from an agency report. For each state: what the draw is, which reports we read, and what they don't let us show. First-choice applicants only, unless a state says otherwise below.

Arizona

Arizona Game and Fish Department · 899 hunts · 2022–2026

Arizona uses bonus points. In each draw, 20% of a hunt's permits first go to the applicants with the most bonus points who listed it as their 1st or 2nd choice. The rest are drawn at random among 1st and 2nd choices together, where each bonus point buys an extra chance, and leftovers go to 3rd-5th choices. Because 1st and 2nd choices compete in the same passes, applicant and permit counts here include both choices, which is how AZGFD prints them. Nonresidents are capped, usually at 10% of a hunt's permits. AZGFD renumbers hunts most years, so a hunt's number can differ from one year to the next.

Reports

and the same reports for other years and species; every file is listed on the Arizona page.

What we can and can't show

  • Draws at each level are split into the points pool and the random draw, so points needed is the pool's cutoff, not a lucky random winner.
  • 452 hunt-years are left out, 293 of them from 2022. For 343, AZGFD's bonus-point report and its draw report print different applicant or permit totals for the same hunt, and the site shows only hunt-years where the two agree. The rest are hunt numbers missing from that year's hunt table, bonus-point-only codes, and a few unreadable or harvest rows.
›Rows left out (452), by reason
  • 128Elk and Pronghorn draw: Res 1st+2nd choice applicants: point rows give 279, draw report prints 258 (one example of 128)
  • 67Elk and Pronghorn draw: hunt number not in that year's hunt table
  • 55Elk and Pronghorn draw: NonRes 1st+2nd choice applicants: point rows give 685, draw report prints 660 (one example of 55)
  • 44Fall draw: NonRes authorized permits differ between passes
  • 30Elk and Pronghorn draw: Res bonus + 1-2 pass permits: point rows give 309, draw report prints 360 (one example of 30)
  • 29bonus-point-only application code, not a hunt
  • 24Fall draw: Res 1st+2nd choice applicants: point rows give 1563, draw report prints 1614 (one example of 24)
  • 17Fall draw: Res permits issued in the three passes do not add to the printed grand total
  • 11Fall draw: NonRes 1st+2nd choice applicants: point rows give 174, draw report prints 164 (one example of 11)
  • 9Fall draw: hunt number not in that year's hunt table
  • 7Fall draw: Res bonus pass permits: point rows give 25, draw report prints 30 (one example of 7)
  • 5Elk and Pronghorn draw: NonRes bonus + 1-2 pass permits: point rows give 25, draw report prints 30 (one example of 5)
  • 5Spring draw: NonRes 1st+2nd choice applicants: point rows give 511, draw report prints 494 (one example of 5)
  • 4Elk and Pronghorn draw: Res bonus pass permits: point rows give 12, draw report prints 15 (one example of 4)
  • 4Elk and Pronghorn draw: Res permits issued in the three passes do not add to the printed grand total
  • 3Fall draw: NonRes bonus + 1-2 pass permits: point rows give 28, draw report prints 32 (one example of 3)
  • 3Elk and Pronghorn draw: a point row's Total is not Res + NonRes (2 vs 2+1) (one example of 3)
  • 1Fall draw: Res bonus + 1-2 pass permits: point rows give 235, draw report prints 262
  • 1Fall draw: NonRes bonus pass permits: point rows give 3, draw report prints 6
  • 1harvest summary prints this hunt number on two different units
  • 1Elk and Pronghorn draw: unreadable bonus point row '3059 8'
  • 1rows sum to 67 hunters / 51 harvest but the printed grand total is 80 / 51
  • 1Elk and Pronghorn draw: NonRes bonus pass permits: point rows give 28, draw report prints 35
  • 1Elk and Pronghorn draw: bonus pass report prints no Res row

Colorado

Colorado Parks and Wildlife · 2,934 hunts · 2021–2026

Colorado ranks first-choice applicants by preference points (one point for each year you miss your first choice), with nonresidents capped at a share of each hunt's licenses. Hunts that took 10+ resident points the year before and have 5+ licenses also run a hybrid draw: up to 20% of licenses go at random to applicants with at least 5 points. For moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat, each miss after 3 preference points adds a weighted point that improves a random draw instead; for those species the point level shown is preference plus weighted points. Numbers are adult first-choice applicants; youth and landowner (LPP) applicants are reported separately by CPW and left out.

Reports

and the same reports for other years and species; every file is listed on the Colorado page.

What we can and can't show

  • CPW prints the point level each hunt drew out at, and that printed cutoff is what the site calls points needed.
›Rows left out (1), by reason
  • 1CPW prints 1 nonresident first-choice license drawn but no point level shows a nonresident draw, so the point table cannot be trusted

Montana

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · 441 hunts · 2019–2026

Montana squares bonus points: each applicant gets one chance for the application plus their bonus points squared (FWP's example: 10 points = 101 chances), and the draw is random among those chances, so applicants with few or no points still draw. Points build until you draw. Nonresident combination licenses use preference points instead: 75% go to the most points in order and 25% are drawn at random among applicants with no preference points.

Reports

and the same reports for other years and species; every file is listed on the Montana page.

What we can and can't show

  • FWP prints the point level each hunt drew out at, and that printed cutoff is what the site calls points needed.
  • Montana's harvest figures are for the hunting district, not the single license, and FWP publishes them only for moose, sheep and goat.
›Rows left out (4), by reason
  • 2rows sum to 138 applications/40 drawn, printed total 139/40 (one example of 2)
  • 2point levels sum to 18759 applications, printed total 30947 (one example of 2)

New Mexico

New Mexico Department of Wildlife · 1,585 hunts · 2019–2026

New Mexico has no points: every application has the same chance every year. Each hunt's licenses are split by law, at least 84% to residents, 6% to nonresidents without an outfitter and 10% to applicants (resident or not) who contracted with an outfitter. Counts here are first-choice applicants and first-choice draws.

Reports

and the same reports for other years and species; every file is listed on the New Mexico page.

What we can and can't show

  • The draw has no points, so there are no point-level rows: only applicants and draws per residency.
  • The draw report doesn't print permit numbers, so the permit column is empty.
  • NMDGF counts licenses sold as hunters, and the harvest is NMDGF's estimate from hunter reports, public land only. The success rate is NMDGF's own printed figure, not harvest divided by licenses sold.
›Rows left out (507), by reason
  • 228harvest: 2023-2024 deer harvest report printed group total (108, 36, 0) != rows (107, 38, 0) (one example of 228)
  • 210harvest row for a code not in any draw report (over-the-counter or special license)
  • 20harvest: 2024-2025 barbary sheep harvest report printed group total (1044, 160, 160) != rows (1044, 167, 127) (one example of 20)
  • 17harvest: 2023-2024 pronghorn harvest report lists this code on 2 rows and they could not be told apart
  • 9harvest: 2023-2024 elk harvest report printed group total (54, 8, 3) != rows (52, 8, 3) (one example of 9)
  • 6harvest: 2024-2025 deer harvest report lists this code on 2 rows and they could not be told apart
  • 3harvest: 2023-2024 pronghorn harvest report printed group total (25, 8, 0) != rows (26, 8, 0) (one example of 3)
  • 3harvest: 2023-2024 bighorn sheep harvest report lists this code on 2 rows and they could not be told apart (one example of 3)
  • 2drawn columns: drawn choice 1: total != R+NR+O
  • 2harvest: 2024-2025 barbary sheep harvest report lists this code on 2 rows and they could not be told apart (one example of 2)
  • 1nothing dropped: the printed species Totals row differs from the sum of its hunts (printed minus sum, by sheet column: {3: 96, 6: 96}); each hunt row's own totals reconcile, so rows were kept
  • 1nothing dropped: the printed species Totals row differs from the sum of its hunts (printed minus sum, by sheet column: {23: -3, 24: -1, 28: 3, 29: 1}); each hunt row's own totals reconcile, so rows were kept
  • 1nothing dropped: the printed species Totals row differs from the sum of its hunts (printed minus sum, by sheet column: {24: -2, 25: -3}); each hunt row's own totals reconcile, so rows were kept
  • 1applicant columns: T applicant total != 1st+2nd+3rd
  • 1drawn columns: R drawn T != 1st..4th
  • 1drawn columns: not a number 'a'
  • 1drawn columns: drawn by-pool block != pool totals

Nevada

Nevada Department of Wildlife · 922 hunts · 2018–2025

Nevada squares bonus points: an applicant with P points gets P squared plus one random numbers and keeps the lowest, so more points mean better odds but no tags are reserved for top point holders. Odds here are 1st-choice applicants only; up to five choices are drawn in order. Points reset to zero after drawing or after two years without applying.

Reports

and the same reports for other years and species; every file is listed on the Nevada page.

What we can and can't show

  • The report doesn't separate the points pool from random-draw winners, so there is no single point cutoff. Hunt tables show the lowest level at which everyone drew instead.
  • NDOW publishes no hunt numbers. Hunts are identified by species, class, weapon and unit group, and no code is shown.
›Rows left out (52), by reason
  • 52report printed no weapon for this hunt

Oregon

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · 885 hunts · 2020–2026

Preference points with a random slice. For each controlled deer, elk and pronghorn hunt, 75% of tags go to first-choice applicants in order of points and 25% are drawn at random among all first-choice applicants, whatever their points. The count drawn at each point level is the preference draw only; the hunt's total drawn includes the random winners, but ODFW doesn't say how many points they held, and it prints no cutoff line. Bighorn sheep and mountain goat are once-in-a-lifetime random draws with no points. Landowner-preference applicants are a separate pool and are not included. Permits are ODFW's tags authorized for the hunt, not split by residency.

Reports

and the same reports for other years and species; every file is listed on the Oregon page.

What we can and can't show

  • Draws at each level are split into the points pool and the random draw, so points needed is the pool's cutoff, not a lucky random winner.
›Rows left out (18), by reason
  • 8applicants: rows sum to 1336, report prints 668 (one example of 8)
  • 3listed in Applicants by Hunt Choice but absent from the Preference Point Draw Report
  • 2point rows sum to 1496, report prints 748 (one example of 2)
  • 2a point level is printed twice
  • 2nonresident applicants: rows sum to 163, report prints 0 (one example of 2)
  • 1harvest report prints this hunt number twice with different names

Utah

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources · 868 hunts · 2019–2025

Limited-entry and once-in-a-lifetime hunts use bonus points: UDWR reserves 50% of each hunt's permits for applicants with the most bonus points, then draws the rest among everyone left, where each applicant gets one random number for the application plus one per bonus point and their lowest number is used. General-season buck deer uses preference points instead: highest point level draws first. The odds reports count first-choice applications only.

Reports

and the same reports for other years and species; every file is listed on the Utah page.

What we can and can't show

  • Draws at each level are split into the points pool and the random draw, so points needed is the pool's cutoff, not a lucky random winner.
  • The draw report doesn't print permit numbers, so the permit column is empty.

Wyoming

Wyoming Game and Fish Department · 1,224 hunts · 2021–2026

Nonresident elk, deer and antelope, and everyone's moose and bighorn sheep: 75% of each hunt's licenses go to the preference-point draw, highest points first (party points are averaged), and the other 25% are drawn at random among everyone who missed, points ignored. Residents draw elk, deer and antelope at random with no points; mountain goat, bison and the doe/fawn, cow/calf and ewe/lamb licenses are random for everyone. Nonresident 'special' licenses cost more and are drawn as a separate pool (hunt codes ending -S).

Reports

and the same reports for other years and species; every file is listed on the Wyoming page.

What we can and can't show

  • The report lumps applicants below some point level into one row, so low point levels can't be shown one by one.
  • Draws at each level are split into the points pool and the random draw, so points needed is the pool's cutoff, not a lucky random winner.
›Rows left out (21), by reason
  • 15R general license: quota printed as the 9999 placeholder
  • 12023 Deer harvest report: area 010 type rows sum 0 != total 53
  • 12024 Deer Harvest Report: area 131 type rows sum 275 != total 178
  • 12024 Elk Harvest Report: no hunt-area rows found
  • 12024 Antelope Harvest Report: area 117 odd row '(also valid from 97) Full 1 3 0 0 0 0 0.0% NA 3 83'
  • 12025 Mule Deer and White-Tailed Deer Harvest Report: area 116 type 1 twice
  • 12025 Elk Harvest Report: area 077 type 6 twice

Where the map's boundaries come from

The hunt unit map uses each agency's own published boundary layer, simplified so it loads quickly on a phone. Do not use it to decide where you may hunt.

  • Arizona: Arizona Game and Fish Department.
  • Colorado: Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
  • Montana: Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
  • New Mexico: New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, general location only.
  • Nevada: Nevada Department of Wildlife.
  • Utah: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
  • Wyoming: Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

A hunt is joined to its units by the agency's hunt code. Some hunts cover only part of a unit, or a named area that has no polygon of its own (Arizona's hunt portions and elk special-restriction areas, Nevada's sub-units and portions). Those are drawn on the whole unit and marked “boundary drawn larger than the hunt area”; the hunt's own description in the regulations is the real line. New Mexico publishes its units for general location only. Oregon is not on the map yet.

States not on the site

Washington has not published per-hunt draw results by point level since 2020, so there is nothing current to show. Idaho is being added; its draw has no points, so its pages will show applicants and draws per residency.