Unit 30A, Arizona

The unit floor sits at roughly 4,000 feet elevation in the valley grasslands, with the mountain ranges rising sharply to 7,185 feet at Swisshelm Mountain and 8,354 feet at Dos Cabezas Peak (the highest point in the range; the Dos Cabezas Wilderness spans 4,080–7,500 ft). The Peloncillo Mountains reach 6,647 feet in Arizona within Coronado NF, spanning about 70 miles along the AZ-NM border (approximately 81% of the range lies in New Mexico). Terrain is steep and rugged in the ranges, with granite outcroppings and vegetated canyon floors in the Dos Cabezas Wilderness; lower elevations feature broad flat grasslands and agricultural fields (Kansas Settlement, Elfrida area). Up to 80% slope gradients exist on public lands, making four-wheel-drive and ATV useful.

Unit 30A spans from the junction of the New Mexico state line and U.S. Hwy 80 south along the state line to the U.S.-Mexico border, west along the border to U.S. Hwy 191, and northerly on U.S. Hwy 191 to I-10 Exit 331. Coronado National Forest (Douglas Ranger District) manages portions of the Peloncillo range; no developed recreational areas exist within the Coronado NF Peloncillo unit. The BLM Safford Field Office (711 S. 14th Ave, Safford, AZ 85546; 928-348-4400) manages the 19,440-acre Peloncillo Mountains Wilderness (designated 1990), located 9 miles northeast of San Simon and spanning Graham, Greenlee, and Cochise counties. The BLM also manages the Dos Cabezas Mountains Wilderness (11,700 acres), which prohibits motorized and mechanized vehicles; access via Apache Pass Road south from Bowie. Key access routes: the Geronimo Trail (Forest Road 63) begins as 15th Street in Douglas, turns to gravel after ~4 miles, and runs 37 miles one-way into the Peloncillo foothills to Clanton Draw just past the AZ-NM border; four-wheel-drive recommended. The Pedregosa Mountains are accessed via Dangerous Road (off U.S. Hwy 80) from the east, and also via Rucker Canyon Road (Forest Road 74) and Tex Canyon Road from the south. Rucker Canyon Campground (fee: $10/night) provides a staging area. Skeleton Canyon Road no longer provides public access. Private land constitutes roughly 51% of the unit — a major constraint, particularly in the San Bernardino Valley where it is a mixture of private property and State Trust land; landowner permission is required across much of the lower valley. Security note: proximity to the border means hunters may encounter law enforcement activities.

Lower elevations (~4,000 ft) support Chihuahuan desert scrub — creosote bush, lechuguilla, mixed cactus, and desert grasses — transitioning to open desert grasslands in the San Bernardino Valley. Middle elevations carry a mix of brush, sacaton grass, and desert willow; riparian corridors along Whitewater Draw and San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge feature cottonwood, willow, and sycamore. Upper mountain slopes support pinyon pine, oak brush, and juniper woodland, with the sky-island character — mountains rising abruptly from a sea of desert grassland — producing distinct vegetation zones. The Dos Cabezas Wilderness contains mountain shrub, desert shrub, and riparian vegetation. Agricultural fields near Kansas Settlement and Elfrida provide dove, quail, and Sandhill Crane habitat.

Mule deer occupy all mountain ranges and lower valleys throughout the unit, with the rut typically running late October through late December. White-tailed deer (Coues deer) are present in isolated populations in the Peloncillo, Dos Cabezas, and Pedregosa Mountains. Pronghorn antelope are found exclusively in the open grasslands of the San Bernardino Valley, predominantly south of U.S. Hwy 80 on mostly private land. Javelina are distributed throughout the unit, with productive areas including the San Bernardino Valley, Perilla Mountains, Pedregosa Mountains, and the agricultural zones near Kansas Settlement. Black bear are present in the Peloncillo and Pedregosa Mountains on National Forest lands; most of unit 30A is not typical bear habitat, so bear hunts are combined with unit 29. Merriam's turkey exist in the Peloncillo and mountain range areas, with hunts combined with unit 29 (north of AZ Hwy 80). Quail (Gambel's, Scaled, and Mearns') and mourning dove are present in the agricultural areas and desert foothills, though quail populations have been suppressed by drought. Sandhill cranes winter at Whitewater Draw and Willcox Playa Wildlife Areas. Mountain lion are present. A jaguar was documented in the Dos Cabezas area beginning November 2016 (the second known jaguar in Arizona at the time); jaguars are fully protected.

Public land percentage (49%) derived from HuntScore/GoHunt aggregate data, not directly from a government GIS source; treat as approximate.,Mule deer and Coues deer general draw tag quotas for 30A were not extractable from the 2026-27 regulations PDF; the regulations confirm multiple season windows but specific permit counts could not be isolated.,Pronghorn quota for unit 30A is very small (likely 4–10 permits) but the exact number could not be confirmed from extracted PDF data.,Turkey harvest data (52 harvest, 20% success, 262 hunters) is from the combined unit 29+30A hunt (Hunt 4043) in the 2024 Spring Turkey Harvest Summary, not 30A alone.,Javelina OTC population management season (Jan 1–Dec 31) is combined units 29+30A with 50 total permits; spring general draw Hunt 5019 is 30A-only with 275 permits.,Bear seasons are listed as combined units 29+30A throughout the regulations.,No elk permits exist for unit 30A — confirmed by absence in all pronghorn/elk and fall regulations documents.,Deer success rate (23%) and harvest counts (24 MD, 7 WT) reflect 2024 OTC archery data from AZGFD PDF; draw hunt success not available.,Swisshelm Mountain elevation corrected to 7,185 ft (per Wikipedia; draft had 7,184 ft).,Peloncillo Mountains Wilderness spans Graham, Greenlee, and Cochise counties (corrected from draft which implied Cochise only).,Dos Cabezas peak elevation is 8,354 ft; the Dos Cabezas Mountains Wilderness spans 4,080–7,500 ft per BLM/Wikipedia data.,Jaguar presence in Dos Cabezas area confirmed since November 2016 (second known jaguar in Arizona); fully protected.