Arizona Trapping Regulations: Licenses, Seasons, and Traps

Arizona trapping regulations require nearly anyone who sets a trap to hold a license from the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), use approved devices within specific setback distances, check every trap daily, and file an annual harvest report by April 1. The general season runs November through February, and violations are typically charged as misdemeanors with additional civil penalties assessed per animal.

Who Needs a License and How to Get One

Anyone 10 or older needs a trapping license to take predatory and fur-bearing animals in Arizona. Children under 10 don’t buy a license, but they must apply for and carry a registration number issued by AZGFD.¹ Fees are $30 for residents, $275 for non-residents, and $10 for youth.²

Before your first license, you must complete a trapper education course conducted or approved by AZGFD and pass a written exam. The curriculum covers trapping laws, ethical practices, safe release of non-target animals, wildlife management, and catch handling. Two groups are exempt: people born before January 1, 1967, and anyone who completed the voluntary trapper education program between late 1987 and March 1993.³

Every trap you set must carry a metal tag showing either your name and address or the AZGFD-assigned registration number. No other numbering system is accepted. Carry your license in the field; wildlife officers can ask for it at any time.¹

Season Dates and Legal Species

The general trapping season runs November through February. The Arizona Game and Fish Commission sets exact dates annually based on population data, and the window avoids most species’ spring and summer reproductive periods.⁴

A trapping license covers predatory and fur-bearing mammals: coyote, bobcat, gray and kit foxes, ringtail, badger, beaver, raccoon, skunks, weasels, and muskrat. Beaver may face extra seasonal restrictions or permit requirements in certain regions to protect wetland habitat, and temporary closures can be imposed during drought or other environmental emergencies.

Legal Traps, Baiting Rules, and Daily Checks

Arizona allows foothold traps, body-gripping traps, and cage (confinement) traps. Each type has mechanical requirements meant to reduce injury and non-target captures.

Foothold Traps

For land sets, foothold traps must be commercially manufactured and meet one of two jaw standards: padded or rubber-jawed, or unpadded with jaws permanently offset by at least 3/16 of an inch. Unpadded offset traps must also include a pan tension adjustment, which helps prevent lighter non-target animals from tripping the trap.¹

Body-Gripping Traps

Body-gripping traps are size-restricted by placement. Land sets cap the open jaw spread at 5 inches; water sets allow up to 10 inches. The larger sizes that target animals like beaver can only be used in water.¹

Snares

Snares are generally prohibited unless they meet specific conditions in the trapping regulations. The authorization is narrow and tied to particular trap specifications, so check the current AZGFD rules before setting one.¹

Baiting

You cannot bait a confinement trap with a live animal, edible parts of game animals or game fish, or any part of a game bird or non-game bird. Foothold traps cannot be set within 30 feet of any bait that is visible from above.

Daily Inspection

All traps must be inspected every day. This obligation is heavily enforced and easy to prove. If you cannot check a trap daily, pull it.¹

Where Trapping Is Allowed

Trapping is prohibited in national parks, state parks, and designated wildlife refuges. Violations can result in equipment confiscation and removal from the restricted area.

On other public lands, Arizona uses specific setbacks rather than blanket bans. You cannot place a trap within 50 feet of any trail maintained for public use by a government agency, or within 75 feet of any other road. Those distances are measured in feet, not the quarter-mile buffers seen in some other states, so the margin is tighter than many trappers expect. Check with the relevant land management agency (Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and so on) for area-specific closures.

Urban and suburban trapping is generally off-limits unless a municipal ordinance or special permit authorizes it. Phoenix and Tucson typically allow it only for licensed wildlife control operators handling nuisance animals. Private landowners may trap on their own property but must still follow all setback and device rules, and traps cannot encroach on neighboring land.

Non-Target and Protected Species

If you catch an animal you cannot legally take, you must release it without causing further injury. That covers domestic animals, livestock, and any wildlife not authorized by your license. The daily inspection rule exists partly to keep those releases quick.

Accidentally trapping a federally protected species such as a Mexican gray wolf or jaguar is a different matter. Report the incident to AZGFD immediately. Failure to report can trigger penalties under both state law and the federal Endangered Species Act, which carries fines up to $50,000 and imprisonment up to one year for knowing violations.⁵

The Annual Harvest Report

Every licensed trapper must file an annual harvest report with AZGFD by April 1. The report lists species and quantities taken during the November through February season, the wildlife management units where animals were taken, and the names and addresses of anyone the pelts were shipped or sold to. Late or missing reports can bring fines or suspension of your trapping privileges.¹

The report is required even if you caught nothing. Skipping it because you had a slow season is one of the most common ways trappers lose their license eligibility.

Selling and Shipping Pelts

Bobcat Pelts and CITES

Bobcats are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Any bobcat pelt bound for export must carry a CITES tag, which the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service issues. The tags are inserted through the skin and permanently locked in place before export. Commercial traders also need a separate import/export license from the Office of Law Enforcement.⁶

Shipping Pelts Across State Lines

Federal rules require every container of wildlife shipped interstate to be marked on the outside with the shipper’s and consignee’s name and address, plus an accurate list of contents by species (common or scientific names) and the number of each. As a practical alternative, mark the outside with “wildlife” or the common species name and attach an invoice or packing list carrying the required details.⁷

Taxes on Fur Income

Income from selling pelts is taxable, whether you’re paid in cash at auction or through a payment app. Third-party settlement organizations like PayPal or Venmo must issue a Form 1099-K once total payments exceed $20,000 across more than 200 transactions, but you are required to report all fur-sale income regardless of whether a 1099-K arrives. Direct card payments generate a 1099-K at any amount.⁸

Penalties for Violations

Criminal Charges

Most trapping violations in Arizona are Class 2 misdemeanors, carrying up to four months in jail and fines up to $750. That covers the common offenses: using a prohibited device, trapping without a license, or missing the daily inspection.⁹¹⁰

Knowingly taking big game during a closed season, or possessing unlawfully taken big game, is a Class 1 misdemeanor: up to six months in jail and fines up to $2,500.⁹

Harming a federally listed endangered species can bring federal prosecution with criminal fines up to $50,000 and imprisonment up to one year. The federal government can also suspend or cancel federal hunting and fishing permits after conviction.⁵

Civil Penalties

Separate from any criminal case, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission can impose civil penalties for unlawfully taking wildlife. For predatory, fur-bearing, or nongame animals, the minimum is $250 per animal. For endangered species, the minimum is $8,000 per animal. Minimums double for a second violation and triple for a third, and the civil action can run alongside a criminal prosecution.¹¹

Consequences in Other States

Arizona belongs to the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. A serious trapping violation here can suspend your hunting and trapping privileges in every other member state, which covers most of the western United States and a growing list nationwide. One violation in Arizona can follow you well beyond its borders.

1
Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Arizona Admin Code R12-4-307 – Trapping Regulations, Licensing; Methods; Tagging of Bobcat Pelts
2
Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Arizona Admin Code R12-4-102 – License, Permit, Stamp, and Tag Fees
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 17-333.02 – Trapping License; Education; Exemption
4
Arizona Game & Fish Department. Trapping License
5
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Section 11 – Penalties and Enforcement
6
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 3-200-26: Commercial Export of Skins of 6 Native Species
7
eCFR. Part 14 – Importation, Exportation, and Transportation of Wildlife
8
Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your Form 1099-K
9
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 17-309 – Violations; Classification
10
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-707 – Misdemeanors; Sentencing
11
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 17-314 – Illegally Taking, Wounding, Killing or Possessing Wildlife; Civil Penalty; Enforcement