Unit 13A, Arizona

Elevations range from roughly 1,650 feet at the Colorado River canyon floor to 8,028 feet at the summit of Mount Trumbull. The majority of the unit is rolling plateau dissected by deep canyons including Kanab Creek, Whitmore Wash, and Cold Spring Wash. The plateau surface is characterized by broad benches, lava fields, and dramatic canyon rims. The western boundary follows the Hurricane Rim escarpment. Terrain is predominantly remote with few improved roads; much of the backcountry requires 4WD access or foot travel.

Primary vehicle access from the north via AZ Highway 389 (connecting Fredonia and Colorado City) with secondary dirt/gravel roads branching south onto the plateau. Mohave County Road 5 (Mt. Trumbull Road) runs west from near the Hurricane Rim area to the community of Mt. Trumbull (Bundyville). Mohave County Road 257 and BLM Road 1045 extend south from Bundyville into the interior. BLM Road 1123 (Hack Canyon Road) provides access to the Kanab Creek corridor from the east. Roads on the Arizona Strip are notoriously unimproved and become impassable when wet — high-clearance 4WD is essential and ATVs are widely used. The unit is administered primarily by the BLM Arizona Strip Field Office (St. George, UT; 435-688-3200); portions lie within Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument (jointly managed by BLM and NPS) and a small portion borders Grand Canyon National Park (no hunting allowed inside the park). The northern fringe includes BLM-managed lands adjacent to the Cottonwood Wilderness and lands near the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians reservation (sovereign tribal lands excluded from the unit). Mount Trumbull Wilderness and Mount Logan Wilderness restrict all motorized use; hunting in those areas is on foot or horseback only. The interagency Public Lands Information Center at 4001 East Aviator Drive, St. George, UT provides the Arizona Strip Visitor Map and current road-condition information. No services or towns exist within the unit.

Vegetation transitions from Great Basin desert scrub at the lowest canyon elevations — dominated by sagebrush, cliffrose, bitterbrush, and scattered cactus — through pinyon-juniper woodland on the mid-elevation plateau. The higher reaches of Mount Trumbull and Mount Logan support ponderosa pine and oak woodland. Kanab Creek drainage contains riparian habitat. The broader plateau is characterized by Great Basin grassland with sagebrush interspersed through the pinyon-juniper matrix.

Mule deer are present throughout the unit at generally low densities but are managed for older age-class bucks, producing a disproportionate number of record-class animals; bucks exceeding 200 inches Boone and Crockett are documented annually. Pronghorn occupy the northern and open plateau portions of the unit, with the population averaging roughly 15 fawns per 100 does on recent surveys; permit numbers were reduced in 2011 following population surveys and have since partially recovered. Desert bighorn sheep were transplanted between 1985 and 2005 and are concentrated near Hack Canyon, Sunshine Point, Water Canyon Point, and Chamberlain Canyon in the Kanab Creek drainage. Bison from the Kaibab Plateau herd range into the unit; the herd resides primarily inside Grand Canyon National Park but moves into 13A when foraging or seeking water. Merriam's turkeys were transplanted in 1961 and occupy limited pine-oak habitat on the higher Trumbull and Logan massifs. Chukar partridges are present in isolated coveys along the Kanab Creek drainage but are not abundant. Mountain lions inhabit the unit year-round. No elk are resident but the unit is included in an OTC nonpermit-tag elk area. Javelina are not distributed in this unit.

1. Hunter success percentages and reported harvest for individual species in 13A are not publicly available; HuntScore reported 0% success for 2021 (3 hunters), likely reflecting a single small draw hunt. 2. Mule deer tag quota of 55 is the sum of confirmed 2025-26 draw permit quotas: 40 (Hunt 1022, rifle) + 15 (Hunt 1205, archery). GoHunt's 2026 application strategy notes rifle permits increase to 50 for the 2026-27 cycle. 3. Pronghorn total of 20 is the sum of 2026 draw permits: 15 (Hunt 2018, general rifle) + 5 (Hunt 2052, archery). 4. Elk in 13A is OTC nonpermit-tag only; no draw bull elk permit-tag hunts exist for this unit. 5. Bighorn sheep Hunt 6002 covers a multi-unit combined area; the single permit is for desert bighorn. HuntScore lists 'Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep' as a species for 13A — this appears to be a platform data error; all primary sources confirm desert bighorn only. 6. Turkey is not open to hunting in 13A; Merriam's turkeys are present on Mt. Trumbull and Mt. Logan but no hunt table entry exists for Unit 13A in the 2025-26 regulations reviewed. 7. Javelina are absent from Unit 13A. 8. Public land percentage (85%) corroborated by GoHunt (85.4%) and HuntScore (85%, breakdown: 63% BLM, 15% wilderness, 15% NPS). 9. Desert bighorn transplant history: Hack Canyon 1985 and 1987, Gunsight Point 1995, Jumpup Point 1999, north of Bulrush Point 2005 — draft range '1985–2005' is accurate. 10. Draw odds of ~1–2% for mule deer sourced from multiple third-party platforms and corroborated across sources.