Yes, hunting coyotes in Arizona is legal year-round with no bag limit. You need a general hunting license, and you have to follow the state’s rules on methods, locations, and distance from occupied buildings. Beyond that, Arizona treats coyotes with far fewer restrictions than it applies to deer, elk, or other game species.
The License You Need
Anyone 10 years of age or older needs a valid hunting license to take wildlife in Arizona.1Arizona Game & Fish Department. Arizona Game and Fish Department – Hunting Licenses A general hunting license covers predatory animals, which is the category coyotes fall into. No special tag, draw application, or additional permit is required.
Arizona residents pay $37 for a general hunting license. A non-resident combo hunt-and-fish license runs $160. Youth combo licenses cost $5 regardless of residency, and short-term daily licenses are $15 for residents and $20 for non-residents.1Arizona Game & Fish Department. Arizona Game and Fish Department – Hunting Licenses You can buy a license online, at any AZGFD office, or through a license dealer. If you hold a hunter education certificate from another state, Arizona accepts it; provide the certificate number when you purchase.
Season and Bag Limit
Arizona Revised Statutes Section 17-101 defines “predatory animals” as foxes, skunks, coyotes, and bobcats.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes Title 17-101 – Definitions The Arizona Game and Fish Commission has set no closed season and no bag limit for predatory animals. You can hunt coyotes any day of the year and take as many as you want.
Legal Hunting Methods
Arizona law permits taking wildlife with firearms, archery equipment, and other implements defined by the Game and Fish Commission.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 17-301 – Times When Wildlife May Be Taken Rifles, shotguns, handguns, bows, and crossbows are all allowed. Electronic and manual predator calls are permitted under commission rules.
Two prohibitions apply across the board. You cannot shoot from a motor vehicle, aircraft, powerboat, or any towed floating object. And you cannot discharge a firearm across or into a road or railway.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 17-301 – Times When Wildlife May Be Taken
Night Hunting
The default rule is that wildlife may be taken only during daylight hours, and the statute prohibits jacklights and other artificial lights for taking wildlife. However, the Game and Fish Commission may prescribe exceptions,3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 17-301 – Times When Wildlife May Be Taken and it has used that authority to allow night hunting for predatory animals with artificial light. This is one of the clearest advantages of the predatory animal classification. Check the current commission orders in the AZGFD annual regulations booklet before you go, because the commission can modify these provisions from year to year.
Suppressors
Hunting with a suppressor is legal in Arizona. As of 2026, the federal $200 tax stamp that previously applied to every suppressor transfer has been eliminated, though ATF registration, a background check, and serial-number tracking remain mandatory. You still need to file the appropriate ATF form and receive approval before taking possession. Arizona does not add restrictions beyond the federal requirements.
Where You Can Hunt
Coyote hunting is allowed on most public land in Arizona, including Bureau of Land Management acreage and National Forest land, as long as there are no posted closures or area-specific restrictions. Individual units, wilderness areas, and fire-closure zones can be off-limits temporarily, so check with the specific land management agency before heading out.
Hunting is generally prohibited inside state parks, national park units, wildlife refuges, and the boundaries of most incorporated cities and towns. Many municipalities also have ordinances restricting the discharge of firearms within city limits. Verify local rules before hunting near any developed area.
Private Land
Arizona’s rules on hunting private land are more specific than a blanket “get permission” warning. Under ARS 17-304, a landowner who wants to prohibit hunting must post the land with signs at least 8 by 11 inches, with bold lettering at least one inch high, placed at every vehicular access point, every fence corner, and at intervals no greater than a quarter mile along the boundary.4Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 17-304 – Prohibition by Landowner on Hunting, Fishing, Trapping or Guiding An orange-painted post with at least 100 square inches of visible paint can substitute for interval signs between corners.
Entering private land to hunt is not automatically criminal trespass. It becomes criminal trespass if the land is posted with “no trespassing” language or if you refuse to leave after a reasonable request from the owner or a law enforcement officer.4Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 17-304 – Prohibition by Landowner on Hunting, Fishing, Trapping or Guiding Practical courtesy still applies. Verbal or written permission from the landowner is the smarter move, posted or not.
Distance From Occupied Buildings
Arizona makes it unlawful to discharge a firearm while hunting within a quarter mile of an occupied farmhouse, residence, cabin, lodge, or other building without the owner’s or resident’s permission. One exception: shotguns can be discharged from a distance greater than an eighth of a mile from an occupied structure without permission. This matters if you run shotguns with predator loads at close range near rural properties.
No Traps, Snares, or Poison on Public Land
Arizona voters passed a ballot measure that made it unlawful to use leghold traps, body-gripping traps, poison, or snares to take wildlife on any public land, including state-owned land, National Forest land, BLM land, state parks, national parks, and municipal land.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 17-301 – Times When Wildlife May Be Taken You can still hunt coyotes with firearms, archery equipment, and other hand-held implements on public land. Mechanical traps and chemical methods are not an option there.
Trapping coyotes on private land requires a separate trapping license, which authorizes the holder to trap predatory, nongame, and furbearing mammals under commission rules.5Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 17-361 – Trappers; Licensing; Restrictions; Duties; Reports The trapping license is distinct from the general hunting license, and commission rules govern trap types, placement, and check intervals.
Do Not Mistake a Mexican Gray Wolf for a Coyote
This is the single highest-stakes issue a coyote hunter in Arizona can face. The Mexican gray wolf is an endangered species, and killing one violates the federal Endangered Species Act. Penalties include criminal fines up to $50,000, up to a year in jail, seizure of firearms and vehicles, and civil penalties up to $25,000. These are federal charges and carry consequences well beyond anything in Arizona’s state game code.
Mexican wolves are present in parts of eastern Arizona near the New Mexico border, in and around the designated Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area. Wolves have occasionally been documented outside that zone, including as far north as Flagstaff. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that adult coyotes and Mexican wolves are visually distinguishable, but environmental groups have raised concerns that juvenile wolves can resemble coyotes in size and coloring. If you are hunting in eastern Arizona, know what a Mexican wolf looks like. Wolves are substantially larger, with broader heads, shorter ears relative to their skull, and larger paws. When in doubt, do not shoot.
Penalties for Violations
The default penalty for violating any provision of Arizona’s Game and Fish title, or any commission rule, is a class 2 misdemeanor. A class 2 misdemeanor in Arizona can carry up to four months in jail and a fine of up to $750. The commission also has the authority to revoke hunting privileges. These provisions apply to things like hunting without a license, shooting from a vehicle, or discharging a firearm too close to an occupied structure. The financial and legal costs of a misdemeanor conviction are modest compared to what you would face for accidentally killing a Mexican wolf under federal law.