Big Game Draw - Arizona Game & Fish Department (2024)

Each year, in June, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission awards Special Big Game License Tags, sometimes called Commissioners’ tags, to selected 501(c)(3) wildlife conservation organizations who are charged to market and sell those tags to raise funds for Arizona’s wildlife.

Up to three tags for each of the following 10 Arizona big game species are typically allocated: pronghorn, bighorn sheep, black bear, bison, elk, javelina, mountain lion, mule deer, Coues white-tailed deer and turkey.

All of the revenues raised are then returned to the Arizona Game and Fish Department to be directly used to benefit those species through wildlife and habitat management in coordination with the Arizona Habitat Partnership Committee.

Tags are typically made available to the public through auctions or raffles, includingConservation First USA, formerly called the Arizona Big Game Super Raffle.

The uniqueness of these special tags is that the hunting season is year-round allowing winning tag holders the time to pursue an animal, many of which can only be found in the Southwest and some only in Arizona – particularly, the Gould’s wild turkey, desert and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, and the world-famous Kaibab mule deer.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department frequently receives questions from constituents asking, “What is the Arizona Big Game Super Raffle?”

The Arizona Big Game Super Raffle, now called Conservation First USA, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) entity that conducts special raffles each year to raise money for wildlife conservation efforts. Each year the Arizona Game and Fish Commission sets aside one tag for each of 10 big game species—bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, bison, turkey, bear, javelina and mountain lion—for the purpose of being offered through Conservation First USA’s raffles.

People buy tickets for a chance to win one or more of the tags. Ticket prices range from $5 to $25 each, depending on species. Winners will be able to hunt for 365 days almost anywhere in the state of Arizona. Every dollar raised for each species by the raffle is returned to the Arizona Game and Fish Department and managed by the Arizona Habitat Partnership Committee for that particular species, with input from local habitat partners across the state.

For more information about Conservation First USA, visitconservationfirstusa.org