Idaho Elk Mule Deer Pronghorn

Unit 39 (Boise River Zone)

Idaho Hunting Guide — Elk, Mule Deer, Pronghorn

Unit 39 lies in Ada, Boise and Elmore counties and covers about 2,422 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 2,654 to 9,889 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 13%. Federal land covers about 69% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Idaho Hunting Guide

🏔️

69%

Public Land

⛰️

3,311–7,535 ft

Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 39

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Idaho Unit 39 guide around your hunt: three ranked spots with morning, afternoon and evening plays, a day-by-day plan, topo maps with every pin numbered, a camp and access plan, the legal and retrieval rules for this unit, shot discipline, a meat-care and pack-out plan, and a pre-trip checklist. Every coordinate sits on land recorded as public.

Elk guide Mule Deer guide Pronghorn guide

Free accounts get one report a year with the top spot unlocked. ProHunt Pro includes unlimited reports, all three spots, the full camp plan, and GPX/KML downloads for onX and Google Earth. Prefer to see one first? Open the builder and pick any unit.

Elk Hunting in Unit 39

Where to Find Elk in Unit 39

Idaho Fish and Game draws an exact line around unit 39 and says nothing about where the elk stand inside it. Every place named below sits inside the unit line. Which of them holds animals in your season is for you to find out. The unit lies in Ada, Boise and Elmore counties. It runs to about 2,422 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up elk hunting in unit 39

Idaho Fish and Game runs its general elk seasons by elk management zone rather than unit by unit, and puts unit 39 in the Boise River Zone, so the zone's tag rules are the ones that apply here.

The lines of the unit: Anderson Ranch Dam, Boise River and Anderson Ranch Reservoir

Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 39 in Ada, Boise and Elmore counties on a line that runs along State Highway 21, Interstate 84, U.S. Highway 20 and Forest Service Road 113, and past Anderson Ranch Dam, Boise River, Anderson Ranch Reservoir and Fall Creek, written out corner by corner in its unit boundary descriptions. Read it as a frame, not as a hint about animals. 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: Plummer Peak, Mattingly Peak and Mount Everly

Named high points inside the unit include Plummer Peak at 9,889 feet, Mattingly Peak at 9,846 feet, Mount Everly at 9,816 feet, Steel Mountain at 9,667 feet and Browns Peak at 9,607 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: Bear Gulch, Bogus Basin and Wet Gulch

Below them sit Bear Gulch at 6,273 feet, Bogus Basin at 6,184 feet, Wet Gulch at 6,144 feet, Mores Creek Summit at 6,123 feet and Eagleson Summit at 6,075 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Reaching the edge of one before light beats reaching its middle at noon.

Water: Daveys Spring, Granite Spring and Mud Spring

The water inside the unit line comes to 747 mapped stream reaches, 38 lakes, 304 stock tanks and 3 springs. Named sources include Daveys Spring, Granite Spring, Mud Spring, Chattanooga Hot Spring, Atlanta Hot Springs and Timmons Field 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 39 runs from 2,654 feet to 9,889 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.

Unit 39 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

The lay of it

3,311–7,535 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,167 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
2,421.5 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

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

304 tanks
3 springs
747 stream segments
38 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: Plummer Peak (9,889 ft), Mattingly Peak (9,846 ft), Steel Mountain (9,667 ft), Browns Peak (9,607 ft)

Holding ground: High Pass (8,391 ft), Coulter Summit (7,028 ft), Summit Flat (6,813 ft), Daveys Spring, Granite 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 39

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put elk success in unit 39 at 13% across all manners of take. A number that low means most hunters here go home empty, and the ones who don't put the days in first. The plan: find the feed, find the timber it backs onto, then watch the seam between them at the edges of the day.

The 2026 controlled hunts in unit 39

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 rules list 3 controlled hunts for elk on unit 39 under its own number.

Hunt 2122 — archery only elk, 50 tags, Aug 30–Sep 30. Antlered only, Caution
Hunt 2134 — muzzleloader only elk, 50 tags, Aug 30–Sep 30. Antlered only, Caution
Hunt 2135 — muzzleloader only elk, 550 tags, Sep 8–Sep 30. Antlerless only, Caution

Dates and tag numbers are IDFG's as printed for that season, and IDFG changes hunt areas between years, so check the current booklet before you apply.

Applying for a unit 39 tag

Idaho Fish and Game's first application period for deer, elk and pronghorn runs May 1 to June 5, with results in early July, and a second period runs August 5 to 15 for what is left. A hunter drawn for a limited antlered-only elk hunt sits out the next year's first period for that kind of hunt; unlimited and extra hunts are exempt. Two to four hunters may apply together for the same hunt. Idaho's draw is random, with no preference or bonus points to build.

Glassing from Greylock Mountain, Smoky Peak and Tackobe Mountain

Take a position on one of Greylock Mountain (9,291 ft), Smoky Peak (9,248 ft), Tackobe Mountain (9,220 ft) and West Warrior Peak (8,902 ft) and be on it before light. Work the morning with the air falling away from you, then accept that by mid-morning the wind has reversed and the plan has to change with it. Work the glass in strips and go back over ground you already covered — animals appear in country you looked at ten minutes ago. On the rut hunts, September bugling works where you can get above a drainage and let the thermals carry sound downhill.

Water against feed

There are 747 mapped stream reaches and 304 tanks inside the unit, so water is rarely the limiting factor. Where water is everywhere, feed is what concentrates animals, so hunt the feed and treat water as a convenience. Sitting water works where you can see fresh tracks going in, and nowhere else.

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Season normals here run Sep 77/41°F, Oct 63/32°F and Nov 46/24°F. Warm afternoons compress the hunting into the first and last hour, and make meat care the day's real problem rather than the shot. Precipitation runs about 0.7 in. in Sep, 1.4 in. in Oct and 2.1 in. in Nov, and the graded gravel in this unit turns greasy wet.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Plummer Peak, Mattingly Peak, Steel Mountain and Browns Peak as places to see from, and High Pass, Coulter Summit, Summit Flat and Daveys Spring as ground to watch. Each pin is a named feature verified to fall inside the unit line, not a spot anyone has hunted. Take the pair you can reach on one road and treat the rest as a second trip.

Getting in and staying out: unit 39

Named routes and what they need

I 84;US 20;US 26;US 30 — 34.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
FS 312 — 20.6 mi · High-clearance
FS 380 — 18.5 mi · High-clearance
Trinity Ridge Road — 18 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
FS 374 — 15.4 mi · High-clearance
ID 55 — 15.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)

Ratings come from road data, not from a drive this season. Check current conditions with the managing office before you commit a trailer.

Nearest services

Idaho City — 11.7 mi · groceries
Boise — 26.3 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging, gear
Garden City — 28 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging, gear
Hidden Springs — 28.6 mi · no services listed
Horseshoe Bend — 29.6 mi · fuel, groceries

Developed camps

Grayback Gulch — 18 sites · reservable
Ten Mile — 14 sites
Edna Creek — 9 sites · reservable
Hayfork Campground · reservable
Bad Bear Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan37° / 18° · 2.8" precip
Aug87° / 49° · 0.4" precip
Sep77° / 41° · 0.7" precip
Oct63° / 32° · 1.4" precip
Nov46° / 24° · 2.1" precip
Dec36° / 18° · 3.2" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 21% of the unit. Plan on being out of contact and tell someone your route.

Idaho rules that decide your day

Summarised from IDFG regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Motorized retrieval

Idaho has no general off-road retrieval allowance on federal ground; stay on designated routes.

Tagging

Validate the tag by cutting out the month and day, and attach it to the carcass before moving it.

Leaving meat

Wasting edible meat is illegal.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No shooting from or across a public highway, and no shooting toward an occupied dwelling.

Elk: where to put the shot

Broadside or quartering away, on the back edge of the front leg about a third of the way up the body. That is lungs, and on a quartering-away angle it picks up the far shoulder.

Shots to refuse

No straight-on and no straight-away shots. An elk's chest is deep and the margin is small.
Nothing standing behind or overlapping the animal you picked. A pass-through kills the elk behind it too.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have put three shots in a paper plate off the sticks you are actually carrying. Not the farthest you have ever hit anything.
Scope on 3–4x. A herd fills a 12x field of view and you lose the animal you picked.

Identification:On an antlerless tag, legal means no antler of any kind through the skin. A spike looks exactly like a cow until it turns its head. If you can't see the head, don't shoot.

Plan the carry: roughly 150– 220 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two to four large coolers, plus bagged ice from town. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Unlock elk tactics for Unit 39

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Elk Success Rates

Rifle13%

Archery4%

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 39 at 13% — 528 animals taken by 3,990 hunters. That is a lot of hunters in one unit, and the percentage is what it looks like after all of them have been through 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)	45	391	12.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	5	72	7.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	2	108	2.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident)	0	10	0.0%	—

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 Engine

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 first drawing for elk in unit 39, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 2134 — residents 538 applicants for 45 tags, 8% drawn; nonresidents 64 applicants for 5 tags, 8% drawn
Hunt 2122 — residents 391 applicants for 45 tags, 12% drawn; nonresidents 72 applicants for 5 tags, 7% drawn
Hunt 2135 — residents 278 applicants for 278 tags, 100% drawn; nonresidents 22 applicants for 22 tags, 100% 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.

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 39

Unit 39 lies in Ada, Boise and Elmore counties and covers about 2,422 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 2,654 to 9,889 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put deer success here as high as 21%. Federal land covers about 69% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 39

Idaho Fish and Game's material on unit 39 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its mule deer live. 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 Ada, Boise and Elmore counties. It runs to about 2,422 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up mule deer hunting in unit 39

Idaho Fish and Game keeps a general deer season page for unit 39, and that page is where this year's dates and weapon rules live.

The lines of the unit: Anderson Ranch Dam, Boise River and Anderson Ranch Reservoir

Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 39 in Ada, Boise and Elmore counties on a line that runs along State Highway 21, Interstate 84, U.S. Highway 20 and Forest Service Road 113, and past Anderson Ranch Dam, Boise River, Anderson Ranch Reservoir and Fall Creek, written out corner by corner in its unit boundary descriptions. Read it as a frame, not as a hint about animals. 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: Flat Top Mountain, Nahneke Mountain and Blizzard Mountain

Named high points inside the unit include Flat Top Mountain at 9,575 feet, Nahneke Mountain at 9,528 feet, Blizzard Mountain at 9,507 feet, Greylock Mountain at 9,291 feet and Smoky Peak at 9,248 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: Pinch Gulch, Rabbit Creek Summit and Carlson Gulch

Below them sit Pinch Gulch at 5,893 feet, Rabbit Creek Summit at 5,763 feet, Carlson Gulch at 5,722 feet, Mule Gulch at 5,613 feet and Big Gulch at 5,504 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.

Water: Ice Springs, Tommy Field Spring and Cold Spring

The water inside the unit line comes to 747 mapped stream reaches, 38 lakes, 304 stock tanks and 3 springs. Named sources include Ice Springs, Tommy Field Spring, Cold Spring, Daveys Spring, Granite Spring and Mud 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

Unit 39 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

The lay of it

3,311–7,535 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,167 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
2,421.5 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

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

304 tanks
3 springs
747 stream segments
38 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: Plummer Peak (9,889 ft), Mattingly Peak (9,846 ft), Steel Mountain (9,667 ft), Browns Peak (9,607 ft)

Holding ground: High Pass (8,391 ft), Coulter Summit (7,028 ft), Summit Flat (6,813 ft), Daveys Spring, Granite 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 39

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put deer success in unit 39 at 21% across all manners of take. That is an ordinary spread for this country, and it rewards whoever scouted. The plan: glass the broken edges at first light, then sit still and keep glassing the same ground.

The 2026 controlled hunts in unit 39

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 rules list 2 controlled hunts for mule deer on unit 39 under its own number.

Hunt 1030 — antlered deer, 200 tags, Aug 15–Sep 30
Hunt 1168 — outfitter allocation deer, antlered deer only, 1 tag, Aug 15–Sep 30

Dates and tag numbers are IDFG's as printed for that season, and IDFG changes hunt areas between years, so check the current booklet before you apply.

Applying for a unit 39 tag

Idaho Fish and Game's first application period for deer, elk and pronghorn runs May 1 to June 5, with results in early July, and a second period runs August 5 to 15 for what is left. A hunter drawn for a limited antlered-only deer hunt sits out the next year's first period for that kind of hunt; unlimited and extra hunts are exempt. Two to four hunters may apply together for the same hunt. Idaho's draw is random, with no preference or bonus points to build.

Glassing from Goat Mountain, Shephard Peak and Wolf Mountain

Take a position on one of Goat Mountain (8,819 ft), Shephard Peak (8,802 ft), Wolf Mountain (8,780 ft) and Big Buck Mountain (8,757 ft) and be on it before light. Work the morning with the air falling away from you, then accept that by mid-morning the wind has reversed and the plan has to change with it. Work the glass in strips and go back over ground you already covered — animals appear in country you looked at ten minutes ago. On the rut hunts, late-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

Water against feed

There are 747 mapped stream reaches and 304 tanks inside the unit, so water is rarely the limiting factor. Where water is everywhere, feed is what concentrates animals, so hunt the feed and treat water as a convenience. A tank with no tracks is a tank with no reason to sit on it.

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Getting past the roads: I 84 / US 20 / US 26 / US 30 and FS 312

I 84 / US 20 / US 26 / US 30 and ID 55 are the paved frame, which is also where everyone else starts. FS 312, FS 380 and FS 374 need clearance, and that is usually where the boot tracks thin out. There is little true four-wheel-drive road here, so distance from the gravel is the only thing separating you from the next hunter.

What we can't tell you

Some of the ground named above carries no land-status flag we trust, so check ownership on a current layer before you hunt it.

Getting in and staying out: unit 39

Named routes and what they need

I 84;US 20;US 26;US 30 — 34.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
FS 312 — 20.6 mi · High-clearance
FS 380 — 18.5 mi · High-clearance
Trinity Ridge Road — 18 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
FS 374 — 15.4 mi · High-clearance
ID 55 — 15.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)

Ratings come from road data, not from a drive this season. Check current conditions with the managing office before you commit a trailer.

Nearest services

Idaho City — 11.7 mi · groceries
Boise — 26.3 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging, gear
Garden City — 28 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging, gear
Hidden Springs — 28.6 mi · no services listed
Horseshoe Bend — 29.6 mi · fuel, groceries

Developed camps

Grayback Gulch — 18 sites · reservable
Ten Mile — 14 sites
Edna Creek — 9 sites · reservable
Hayfork Campground · reservable
Bad Bear Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan37° / 18° · 2.8" precip
Aug87° / 49° · 0.4" precip
Sep77° / 41° · 0.7" precip
Oct63° / 32° · 1.4" precip
Nov46° / 24° · 2.1" precip
Dec36° / 18° · 3.2" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 21% of the unit. Plan on being out of contact and tell someone your route.

Idaho rules that decide your day

Summarised from IDFG regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Motorized retrieval

Idaho has no general off-road retrieval allowance on federal ground; stay on designated routes.

Tagging

Validate the tag by cutting out the month and day, and attach it to the carcass before moving it.

Leaving meat

Wasting edible meat is illegal.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No shooting from or across a public highway, and no shooting toward an occupied dwelling.

Mule Deer: where to put the shot

Broadside or quartering away, on the back edge of the front leg about a third of the way up the body.

Shots to refuse

Nothing behind or overlapping the animal you picked.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have shot a three-shot group into a paper plate from the rest you are carrying.
Pass the shot you are talking yourself into.

Plan the carry: roughly 40– 120 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two large coolers. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

Pro Members Only

Unlock mule deer tactics for Unit 39

Upgrade to Pro — $49/yr

Mule Deer Success Rates

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put deer success in unit 39 at 21% — 2,000 animals taken by 9,435 hunters. That is a lot of hunters in one unit, and the percentage is what it looks like after all of them have been through it. The figure is IDFG's result for deer in the unit, not for mule deer alone.

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (resident)	179	915	20.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	21	123	17.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	12	372	3.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident)	3	26	12.0%	—

Open in Draw Odds Engine

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 first drawing for mule deer in unit 39, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 1030 — residents 915 applicants for 179 tags, 20% drawn; nonresidents 123 applicants for 21 tags, 17% drawn

Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 39

Unit 39 lies in Ada, Boise and Elmore counties and covers about 2,422 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 2,654 to 9,889 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put pronghorn success here as high as 62%. Federal land covers about 69% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Pronghorn in Unit 39

Idaho Fish and Game's material on unit 39 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its pronghorn live. Every place named below sits inside the unit line. Which of them holds animals in your season is for you to find out. The unit lies in Ada, Boise and Elmore counties. It runs to about 2,422 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up pronghorn hunting in unit 39

Idaho Fish and Game hunts pronghorn here only by controlled hunt, and describes its pronghorn hunt area 39 as all of Unit 39.

The lines of the unit: Anderson Ranch Dam, Boise River and Anderson Ranch Reservoir

High ground inside the line: Tackobe Mountain, West Warrior Peak and Goat Mountain

Named high points inside the unit include Tackobe Mountain at 9,220 feet, West Warrior Peak at 8,902 feet, Goat Mountain at 8,819 feet, Shephard Peak at 8,802 feet and Wolf Mountain at 8,780 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Pronghorn stay on the open rolling ground and leave the timber alone.

Holding ground: Camp Gulch, Stove Gulch and Mohawk Gulch

Below them sit Camp Gulch at 5,469 feet, Stove Gulch at 5,451 feet, Mohawk Gulch at 5,378 feet, Quartz Gulch at 5,244 feet and Ader Gulch at 5,237 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Pick the one with the least road on its upwind side.

Water: Chattanooga Hot Spring, Atlanta Hot Springs and Timmons Field Spring

The water inside the unit line comes to 747 mapped stream reaches, 38 lakes, 304 stock tanks and 3 springs. Named sources include Chattanooga Hot Spring, Atlanta Hot Springs, Timmons Field Spring, Ice Springs, Tommy Field Spring and Cold 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

Unit 39 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

The lay of it

3,311–7,535 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,167 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
2,421.5 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

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

304 tanks
3 springs
747 stream segments
38 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: Plummer Peak (9,889 ft), Mattingly Peak (9,846 ft), Steel Mountain (9,667 ft), Browns Peak (9,607 ft)

Holding ground: High Pass (8,391 ft), Coulter Summit (7,028 ft), Summit Flat (6,813 ft), Daveys Spring, Granite 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 Pronghorn in Unit 39

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 39 at 62% across all manners of take. A number like that comes from few tags and a short season, not from easy hunting. The plan: spot from a vehicle or a rise at distance, then plan a stalk that uses the only cover there is — the curve of the ground.

The 2026 controlled hunts in unit 39

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 rules list 3 controlled hunts for pronghorn on unit 39 under its own number.

Hunt 4007 — either sex pronghorn, 40 tags, Sep 25–Oct 24
Hunt 4051 — pronghorn, 5 tags, Aug 15–Sep 15. Either sex, Archery only
Hunt 4052 — pronghorn, 25 tags, Oct 25–Dec 31. Doe or Fawn only

Dates and tag numbers are IDFG's as printed for that season, and IDFG changes hunt areas between years, so check the current booklet before you apply.

Applying for a unit 39 tag

Idaho Fish and Game's first application period for deer, elk and pronghorn runs May 1 to June 5, with results in early July, and a second period runs August 5 to 15 for what is left. Anyone drawn for a limited pronghorn hunt in the first period must sit out the next year's first period for limited pronghorn hunts. Two to four hunters may apply together for the same hunt. Idaho's draw is random, with no preference or bonus points to build.

Glassing from East Warrior Peak, Swanholm Peak and Tyee Mountain

Take a position on one of East Warrior Peak (8,718 ft), Swanholm Peak (8,703 ft), Tyee Mountain (8,701 ft) and Silver Mountain (8,523 ft) and be on it before light. In the dark the air runs downhill. Pick an approach that doesn't send it into the country you want to see, and plan to move once the slope warms. Glass the edges first, then the shaded timber, then the edges again as the light goes. On the rut hunts, early-season bucks hold does and can be decoyed where the law allows it.

Water against feed

There are 747 mapped stream reaches and 304 tanks inside the unit, so water is rarely the limiting factor. Where water is everywhere, feed is what concentrates animals, so hunt the feed and treat water as a convenience. Check the ground around it before you commit an evening to it.

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Getting past the roads: I 84 / US 20 / US 26 / US 30 and FS 312

Getting in and staying out: unit 39

Named routes and what they need

I 84;US 20;US 26;US 30 — 34.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
FS 312 — 20.6 mi · High-clearance
FS 380 — 18.5 mi · High-clearance
Trinity Ridge Road — 18 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
FS 374 — 15.4 mi · High-clearance
ID 55 — 15.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)

Ratings come from road data, not from a drive this season. Check current conditions with the managing office before you commit a trailer.

Nearest services

Idaho City — 11.7 mi · groceries
Boise — 26.3 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging, gear
Garden City — 28 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging, gear
Hidden Springs — 28.6 mi · no services listed
Horseshoe Bend — 29.6 mi · fuel, groceries

Developed camps

Grayback Gulch — 18 sites · reservable
Ten Mile — 14 sites
Edna Creek — 9 sites · reservable
Hayfork Campground · reservable
Bad Bear Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan37° / 18° · 2.8" precip
Aug87° / 49° · 0.4" precip
Sep77° / 41° · 0.7" precip
Oct63° / 32° · 1.4" precip
Nov46° / 24° · 2.1" precip
Dec36° / 18° · 3.2" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 21% of the unit. Plan on being out of contact and tell someone your route.

Idaho rules that decide your day

Summarised from IDFG regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Motorized retrieval

Idaho has no general off-road retrieval allowance on federal ground; stay on designated routes.

Tagging

Validate the tag by cutting out the month and day, and attach it to the carcass before moving it.

Leaving meat

Wasting edible meat is illegal.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No shooting from or across a public highway, and no shooting toward an occupied dwelling.

Pronghorn: where to put the shot

Broadside, straight up the front leg, a third of the way into the body. Pronghorn are shallow-chested and the lungs sit forward.

Shots to refuse

Range it, then range it again. Open country makes 400 yards look like 250.
Wait for the buck to stop. Nobody kills a running pronghorn cleanly on purpose.
Mind the backdrop. A miss carries a long way across a flat.

Plan the carry: roughly 30– 45 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — one large cooler with ice already in it. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Pronghorn Success Rates

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 39 at 62% — 39 animals taken by 63 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.

Pronghorn Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (resident)	39	1,582	2.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	1	98	1.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	1	331	0.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident)	0	21	0.0%	—

Open in Draw Odds Engine

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 first drawing for pronghorn in unit 39, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 4007 — residents 1,582 applicants for 39 tags, 2% drawn; nonresidents 98 applicants for 1 tag, 1% drawn
Hunt 4052 — residents 188 applicants for 25 tags, 13% drawn; nonresidents 4 applicants for 0 tags, 0% drawn
Hunt 4051 — residents 10 applicants for 5 tags, 50% drawn

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

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Camp Sites

24 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit, including Grayback Gulch, Ten Mile and Edna Creek.

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Road Conditions

I 84 / US 20 / US 26 / US 30, FS 312 and FS 380 are the named routes in the unit. Roughly 74 mi paved, 182 mi gravel and 1 mi four-wheel-drive.

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Terrain Difficulty

Named features from 2,654 to 9,889 ft. More than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so plan the pack-out before the shot.

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Hunting Pressure

Our land-status read for this unit is approximate, so treat any pressure estimate from it with suspicion and check a current ownership layer.

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Weather

Season normals: Sep 77/41°F, 0.7 in.; Oct 63/32°F, 1.4 in.; Nov 46/24°F, 2.1 in..

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Cell Service

Verizon 21%, AT&T 14%, T-Mobile 7% of the unit area — modelled coverage, not measured. Assume no signal off the paved road.

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Nearest Town

Idaho City (12 mi), Boise (26 mi), Garden City (28 mi)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Idaho unit 39?

Unit 39 lies in Ada, Boise and Elmore counties. Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 39 on a line that runs along State Highway 21, Interstate 84, U.S. Highway 20 and Forest Service Road 113, and past Anderson Ranch Dam, Boise River, Anderson Ranch Reservoir and Fall Creek, written out corner by corner in its unit boundary descriptions. It covers about 2,422 square miles.

What is the elk success rate in unit 39?

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 39 at 13% across all manners of take. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 39 hunt?

The nearest services our logistics pipeline finds for unit 39 are at Idaho City, about 12 miles from the unit's centre, with Boise at about 26 miles. There are also 24 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit.

What is the mule deer success rate in unit 39?

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put deer success in unit 39 at 21% across all manners of take. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

What is the pronghorn success rate in unit 39?

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 39 at 62% across all manners of take. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

Free Hunt Planning Tools

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Sources & 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 Boise River 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 39 · 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
IDFG general deer season page for unit 39 — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Season structure for the unit · accessed 2026-10-24

Unit 39 (Boise River Zone)

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 39

Elk Hunting in Unit 39

Where to Find Elk in Unit 39

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up elk hunting in unit 39

The lines of the unit: Anderson Ranch Dam, Boise River and Anderson Ranch Reservoir

High ground inside the line: Plummer Peak, Mattingly Peak and Mount Everly

Holding ground: Bear Gulch, Bogus Basin and Wet Gulch

Water: Daveys Spring, Granite Spring and Mud Spring

Reading the land status

Unit 39 terrain and land status

The lay of it

Who owns the ground

Water on the ground

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Elk in Unit 39

Elk Success Rates

Elk Draw Odds

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 39

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 39

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up mule deer hunting in unit 39

The lines of the unit: Anderson Ranch Dam, Boise River and Anderson Ranch Reservoir

High ground inside the line: Flat Top Mountain, Nahneke Mountain and Blizzard Mountain

Holding ground: Pinch Gulch, Rabbit Creek Summit and Carlson Gulch

Water: Ice Springs, Tommy Field Spring and Cold Spring

Reading the land status

Unit 39 terrain and land status

The lay of it

Who owns the ground

Water on the ground

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Mule Deer in Unit 39

Mule Deer Success Rates

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 39

Where to Find Pronghorn in Unit 39

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up pronghorn hunting in unit 39

The lines of the unit: Anderson Ranch Dam, Boise River and Anderson Ranch Reservoir

High ground inside the line: Tackobe Mountain, West Warrior Peak and Goat Mountain

Holding ground: Camp Gulch, Stove Gulch and Mohawk Gulch

Water: Chattanooga Hot Spring, Atlanta Hot Springs and Timmons Field Spring

Reading the land status

Unit 39 terrain and land status

The lay of it

Who owns the ground

Water on the ground

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Pronghorn in Unit 39

Pronghorn Success Rates

Pronghorn Draw Odds

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Explore Related Units

Unit 36 — Sawtooth Elk

Unit 44 — South Boise Elk

Unit 39 — Mule Deer

Frequently Asked Questions

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Sources & Verification