Unit 29 (Lemhi Zone)
Idaho Hunting Guide — Elk
Unit 29 lies in Lemhi County and covers about 705 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 5,441 to 11,313 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 24%. Federal land covers about 77% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 29
Unit 29 lies in Lemhi County and covers about 705 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 5,441 to 11,313 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 24%. Federal land covers about 77% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Unit 29
What Idaho Fish and Game publishes for unit 29 is a boundary, not a elk map. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Lemhi County. It runs to about 705 square miles.
How Idaho Fish and Game sets up elk hunting in unit 29
Idaho Fish and Game runs its general elk seasons by elk management zone rather than unit by unit, and puts unit 29 in the Lemhi Zone, so the zone's tag rules are the ones that apply here.
The lines of the unit: Lemhi River, Salmon River and Poison Creek
Idaho Fish and Game describes unit 29 as that portion of Lemhi County within the Lemhi River drainage south and west of State Highway 28 and that portion of the Salmon River drainage east of the Salmon River from the Salmon River bridge in the City of Salmon upstream to and including the Poison Creek drainage. It tells you the shape of the unit and nothing about its inhabitants. Those features are what you will check against the map all week, and the divides among them are the ones that matter.
High ground inside the line: Big Creek Peak, Lemhi Range and Yellow Peak
Named high points inside the unit include Big Creek Peak at 11,313 feet, Lemhi Range at 10,998 feet, Yellow Peak at 10,947 feet, Gunsight Peak at 10,781 feet and Portland Mountain at 10,780 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Elk want timber to bed in and open ground to feed on, within a short walk of each other.
Holding ground: Long Canyon, Liberty Gulch and Federal Gulch
Below them sit Long Canyon at 7,296 feet, Liberty Gulch at 7,174 feet, Federal Gulch at 7,173 feet, Silver Moon Gulch at 7,172 feet and Swan Basin at 7,144 feet. That is the low country of the unit — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Two you can watch from a single knob is worth more than five you have to drive between.
Water: Hodges Spring, Rigger Spring and Smith Spring
The water inside the unit line comes to 12 mapped stream reaches, 11 lakes, 27 stock tanks and 1 springs. Named sources include Hodges Spring, Rigger Spring, Smith Spring, Cold Spring, First Basin Spring and Purcell Spring. Nothing in the data says which of them run in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Reading the land status
Our ownership read for this unit is approximate — it comes out as National Forest 60%, Private / Other 32% 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 29 runs from 5,441 feet to 11,313 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.
Unit 29 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 4,951–9,353 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 7,250 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 705.1 sq mi inside the boundary.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest — 60%
- State Trust — 8%
- Private / Other — 32%
Roughly 68% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 27 tanks
- 1 springs
- 12 stream segments
- 11 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: Big Creek Peak (11,313 ft), Yellow Peak (10,947 ft), Gunsight Peak (10,781 ft), Portland Mountain (10,780 ft)
Holding ground: Timber Creek Pass (9,327 ft), First Basin (7,993 ft), Twelvemile Meadows (7,792 ft), Hodges Spring, Rigger 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 Elk in Unit 29
Elk Success Rates
Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 29 at 24% — 68 animals taken by 281 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.
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.
Elk Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (resident) | 162 | 811 | 20.0% | — |
| Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident) | 18 | 272 | 7.0% | — |
| Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident) | 7 | 470 | 1.0% | — |
| Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 122 | 1.0% | — |
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 elk in unit 29, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:
- Hunt 2005 — residents 811 applicants for 162 tags, 20% drawn; nonresidents 272 applicants for 18 tags, 7% drawn
- Hunt 2071 — residents 71 applicants for 33 tags, 46% drawn; nonresidents 4 applicants for 2 tags, 50% drawn
- Hunt 2154 — residents 34 applicants for 23 tags, 68% drawn; nonresidents 4 applicants for 2 tags, 50% 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
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What is the elk success rate in unit 29?
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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 Lemhi Zone elk tag limits — 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 elk in unit 29 · 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