Unit 14 (Elk City Zone)
Idaho Hunting Guide — Mule Deer, Moose
Unit 14 lies in Idaho County and covers about 573 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 1,349 to 7,968 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put deer success here as high as 27%. Federal land covers about 62% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 14
Unit 14 lies in Idaho County and covers about 573 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 1,349 to 7,968 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put deer success here as high as 27%. Federal land covers about 62% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 14
Idaho Fish and Game draws an exact line around unit 14 and says nothing about where the mule deer stand inside it. So the ground below is the unit's own and the read on where to start is ours, labelled as such. The unit lies in Idaho County. It runs to about 573 square miles.
How Idaho Fish and Game sets up mule deer hunting in unit 14
Idaho Fish and Game keeps a general deer season page for unit 14, and that page is where this year's dates and weapon rules live.
The lines of the unit: Salmon River, Wind River and Anchor Creek
Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 14 in Idaho County on a line that runs along Forest Service Road 444, Forest Service Road 221, State Highway 13 and U.S. 95, and past Salmon River, Wind River, Anchor Creek and Square Mountain, written out corner by corner in its unit boundary descriptions. That is a legal description, not a habitat map. Its value is practical — those are the features you will navigate by, and the ridges that separate one day's country from another's.
High ground inside the line: Hanover Mountain, Umbrella Butte and Round Top
Named high points inside the unit include Hanover Mountain at 7,968 feet, Umbrella Butte at 7,888 feet, Round Top at 7,827 feet, Southwest Butte at 7,809 feet and Little Round Top at 7,482 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Mule deer bed on broken ground with a view and feed on the brush below it.
Holding ground: Deep Saddle, Baboon Gulch and Last Chance Gulch
Below them sit Deep Saddle at 5,943 feet, Baboon Gulch at 5,933 feet, Last Chance Gulch at 5,923 feet, Pioneer Gulch at 5,859 feet and Humbug Gulch at 5,745 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Two you can watch from a single knob is worth more than five you have to drive between.
Water: Fenn Cabin Spring and Murdicks Spring
The water inside the unit line comes to 694 mapped stream reaches, 9 lakes, 108 stock tanks and 3 springs. Named sources include Fenn Cabin Spring and Murdicks Spring. On ground with that many tanks, knowing which two or three hold water in your season is the most useful thing a scouting trip can tell you.
Reading the land status
Our ownership read for this unit is approximate — it comes out as National Forest 60%, Private / Other 17%, BLM 15% and State Trust 8%, so treat it as a starting point and check a current land-status layer before you plan a route. Named ground inside unit 14 runs from 1,349 feet to 7,968 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.
Unit 14 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 1,537–7,793 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,795 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 572.9 sq mi inside the boundary.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest — 60%
- BLM — 15%
- State Trust — 8%
- Private / Other — 17%
Roughly 83% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 108 tanks
- 3 springs
- 694 stream segments
- 9 lakes
Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Hanover Mountain (7,968 ft), Umbrella Butte (7,888 ft), Round Top (7,827 ft), Southwest Butte (7,809 ft)
Holding ground: Nut Basin (7,209 ft), Wind River Meadows (6,922 ft), Round Bottom Meadows (6,698 ft), Fenn Cabin Spring, Murdicks Spring
Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.
How to Hunt Mule Deer in Unit 14
Mule Deer Success Rates
Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put deer success in unit 14 at 27% — 259 animals taken by 952 hunters. The hunter count is large enough for the percentage to mean something and small enough that a good or bad year still moves it. The figure is IDFG's result for deer in the unit, not for mule deer alone.
These are the agency's own printed figures for this unit, not a modelled estimate and not a state average. They describe one season, so check Idaho Fish and Game's current harvest estimates before you read a trend into them.
Mule Deer Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (resident) | 78 | 79 | 99.0% | — |
| Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident) | 19 | 60 | 32.0% | — |
| Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident) | 55 | 68 | 81.0% | — |
| Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident) | 15 | 19 | 79.0% | — |
Data from 2025 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number. This agency publishes no point thresholds, so the Pts column stays blank and these are pool odds, not what a point total draws.
Open in Draw Odds EngineIdaho Fish and Game's 2025 first drawing for mule deer in unit 14, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:
- Hunt 1008 — residents 193 applicants for 171 tags, 89% drawn; nonresidents 63 applicants for 19 tags, 30% drawn
- Hunt 1007 — residents 79 applicants for 78 tags, 99% drawn; nonresidents 60 applicants for 19 tags, 32% drawn
Idaho draws at random with no point system, so these are what that year happened to look like, not a requirement to build toward. Idaho Fish and Game reuses hunt numbers for different areas between years, so the figures are matched on the area each hunt had in 2025. Checked against Idaho Fish and Game's hunt planner draw results on 2026-06-09.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Idaho unit 14?
What is the mule deer success rate in unit 14?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 14 hunt?
What is the Shiras moose success rate in unit 14?
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Upgrade to Pro — $49/yrSources & Verification
Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-24.
- Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons & Rules — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Game management unit boundary description, Counties the unit lies in, Controlled hunt numbers, tags and season dates · accessed 2026-10-24
- IDFG general deer season page for unit 14 — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Season structure for the unit · accessed 2026-10-24
- IDFG Hunt Planner — 2025 general hunt harvest statistics — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Harvest, hunters and percent success for deer in unit 14 · accessed 2026-10-19
- IDFG Hunt Planner — controlled hunt drawing odds — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Applicants, tags and percent drawn by hunt, year and residency · accessed 2026-06-09
- IDFG GameManagementUnits and ControlledHunts_All feature services — game management units and every species' controlled-hunt areas — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Mapped extent of the unit or hunt area, Which named ground falls inside its line · accessed 2026-10-24
- Moose, Bighorn Sheep & Mountain Goat 2025 & 2026 Seasons & Rules — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Controlled hunt application periods and eligibility rules · accessed 2026-10-24