Idaho Mule Deer Moose

Unit 57 (South Hills Zone)

Idaho Hunting Guide — Mule Deer, Moose

Unit 57 lies in Cassia and Oneida counties and covers about 403 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,839 to 9,357 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put deer success here as high as 19%. Federal land covers about 66% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Idaho Hunting Guide

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66%

Public Land

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4,490–7,316 ft

Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 57

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Idaho Unit 57 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.

Mule Deer guide Moose guide

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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 57

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 57

Idaho Fish and Game draws an exact line around unit 57 and says nothing about where the mule deer stand inside it. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Cassia and Oneida counties. It runs to about 403 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up mule deer hunting in unit 57

Idaho Fish and Game keeps a general deer season page for unit 57, and that page is where this year's dates and weapon rules live.

What bounds unit 57

Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 57 in Cassia and Oneida counties on a line that runs along State Highway 81 and Interstate 84, written out corner by corner in its unit boundary descriptions. It tells you the shape of the unit and nothing about its inhabitants. 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: Black Pine Mountains, Black Pine Peak and War Eagle Peak

Named high points inside the unit include Black Pine Mountains at 9,357 feet, Black Pine Peak at 9,339 feet, War Eagle Peak at 8,669 feet and Black Pine Cone at 7,981 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: Mud Spring Canyon, Fisher Canyon and Monument Canyon

Below them sit Mud Spring Canyon at 5,587 feet, Fisher Canyon at 5,440 feet, Monument Canyon at 5,434 feet, Rice Canyon at 5,420 feet and Eightmile Canyon at 5,396 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: Cottonwood Spring, Boosinger Spring and Point Spring

The water inside the unit line comes to 25 mapped stream reaches. Named sources include Cottonwood Spring, Boosinger Spring, Point Spring, South Fork Kelsaw Spring, Hidden Rock Spring and Mud 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 57 runs from 4,839 feet to 9,357 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.

Unit 57 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

4,490–7,316 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,367 ft ; peaks can run higher.
403.4 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

25 stream segments

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: Black Pine Mountains (9,357 ft), Black Pine Cone (7,981 ft)

Holding ground: Mill Fork (6,019 ft), Little Eightmile Canyon (5,935 ft), Cottonwood Spring, Point Spring, South Fork Kelsaw 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 57

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put deer success in unit 57 at 19% 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: glass the broken edges at first light, then sit still and keep glassing the same ground.

The 2026 controlled hunts in unit 57

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 rules list 5 controlled hunts for mule deer on unit 57 under its own number.

Hunt 1046 — antlered deer, 50 tags, Oct 5–Oct 31
Hunt 1047 — antlered deer, 10 tags, Nov 15–Nov 30
Hunt 1093 — muzzleloader only deer, 15 tags, Nov 1–Nov 14. Antlered only
Hunt 1182 — outfitter allocation deer, antlered deer only, 2 tags, Oct 5–Oct 31
Hunt 1183 — outfitter allocation deer, antlered deer only, 1 tag, Nov 1–Nov 14. Muzzleloader 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 57 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 Black Pine Mountains, Black Pine Peak and War Eagle Peak

Take a position on one of Black Pine Mountains (9,357 ft), Black Pine Peak (9,339 ft), War Eagle Peak (8,669 ft) and Black Pine Cone (7,981 ft) and be on it before light. Cold air slides downhill in the dark, so keep your scent out of the bowl you mean to watch; expect the thermals to turn uphill an hour after the sun reaches the slope. Give a basin forty minutes before you decide it is empty. On the rut hunts, late-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

Water against feed

There are 25 mapped stream reaches and 0 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

Season normals here run Sep 76/42°F, Oct 62/32°F and Nov 47/23°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 0.9 in. in Sep, 0.9 in. in Oct and 0.6 in. in Nov, and the graded gravel in this unit turns greasy wet.

Getting past the roads: I 84 and Black Pine Road

I 84 and ID 81 are the paved frame, which is also where everyone else starts. There is little true four-wheel-drive road here, so distance from the gravel is the only thing separating you from the next hunter.

Getting in and staying out: unit 57

Named routes and what they need

I 84 — 40.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Black Pine Road — 12.1 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
Old Highway 81 — 7.9 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
36000 West — 7.6 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
ID 81 — 5.8 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Six Mile Road — 5.3 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)

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

Malta — 13.8 mi · fuel, groceries
Roy — 21.7 mi · no services listed
Holbrook — 26.4 mi · no services listed
Albion — 26.7 mi · no services listed
Snowville — 27.6 mi · no services listed

Season weather and signal

Jan36° / 17° · 0.9" precip
Aug86° / 50° · 0.9" precip
Sep76° / 42° · 0.9" precip
Oct62° / 32° · 0.9" precip
Nov47° / 23° · 0.6" precip
Dec36° / 17° · 0.9" 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.

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Mule Deer Success Rates

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put deer success in unit 57 at 19% — 7 animals taken by 36 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)	45	350	13.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	5	78	6.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	1	26	4.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident)	0	12	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 mule deer in unit 57, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 1046 — residents 350 applicants for 45 tags, 13% drawn; nonresidents 78 applicants for 5 tags, 6% drawn
Hunt 1047 — residents 238 applicants for 9 tags, 4% drawn; nonresidents 70 applicants for 1 tag, 1% drawn
Hunt 1093 — residents 53 applicants for 14 tags, 26% drawn; nonresidents 16 applicants for 1 tag, 6% 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.

Moose Hunting in Unit 57

Unit 57 lies in Cassia and Oneida counties and covers about 403 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,839 to 9,357 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put Shiras moose success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 66% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Shiras Moose in Unit 57

What Idaho Fish and Game publishes for unit 57 is a boundary, not a Shiras moose map. 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 Cassia and Oneida counties. It runs to about 403 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up Shiras moose hunting in unit 57

Idaho Fish and Game hunts Shiras moose here only by controlled hunt, and describes its moose hunt area 57 as all of Unit 57.

What bounds unit 57

Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 57 in Cassia and Oneida counties on a line that runs along State Highway 81 and Interstate 84, 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: Black Pine Mountains, Black Pine Peak and War Eagle Peak

Named high points inside the unit include Black Pine Mountains at 9,357 feet, Black Pine Peak at 9,339 feet, War Eagle Peak at 8,669 feet and Black Pine Cone at 7,981 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Moose want willow, water and shade, and they rarely leave the drainage that has all three.

Holding ground: Kelsaw Canyon, Burnt Basin and Formation Canyon

Below them sit Kelsaw Canyon at 5,378 feet, Burnt Basin at 5,370 feet, Formation Canyon at 5,357 feet, Strevell Canyon at 5,355 feet and West Dry Canyon at 5,317 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: Cottonwood Spring, Boosinger Spring and Point Spring

Reading the land status

Unit 57 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

4,490–7,316 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,367 ft ; peaks can run higher.
403.4 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

25 stream segments

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: Black Pine Mountains (9,357 ft), Black Pine Cone (7,981 ft)

Holding ground: Mill Fork (6,019 ft), Little Eightmile Canyon (5,935 ft), Cottonwood Spring, Point Spring, South Fork Kelsaw 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 Shiras Moose in Unit 57

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 57 at 100% across all manners of take. A number like that comes from few tags and a short season, not from easy hunting. The plan: walk the willow bottoms slowly at first and last light and look for fresh browse before you look for the animal.

The 2025 and 2026 controlled hunts in unit 57

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 and 2026 rules list one controlled hunt for Shiras moose on unit 57 under its own number.

Hunt 3059 — 1 tag, Aug 30–Nov 23

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 57 tag

Idaho Fish and Game takes moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat applications together, and anyone who applies for one of the three may not apply for another big game controlled hunt in the same year's first drawing, apart from the unlimited, extra, black bear and depredation hunts IDFG names. A hunter drawn for moose may not apply for a moose tag again for two years except for leftovers, and IDFG allows one antlered and one antlerless moose per hunter in a lifetime. Two hunters may apply together on one application. Idaho's draw is random, with no preference or bonus points to build.

Glassing from Black Pine Mountains, Black Pine Peak and War Eagle Peak

Take a position on one of Black Pine Mountains (9,357 ft), Black Pine Peak (9,339 ft), War Eagle Peak (8,669 ft) and Black Pine Cone (7,981 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, late September bulls answer a cow call near water.

Water against feed

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Getting past the roads: I 84 and Black Pine Road

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 57

Named routes and what they need

I 84 — 40.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Black Pine Road — 12.1 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
Old Highway 81 — 7.9 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
36000 West — 7.6 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
ID 81 — 5.8 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Six Mile Road — 5.3 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)

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

Malta — 13.8 mi · fuel, groceries
Roy — 21.7 mi · no services listed
Holbrook — 26.4 mi · no services listed
Albion — 26.7 mi · no services listed
Snowville — 27.6 mi · no services listed

Season weather and signal

Jan36° / 17° · 0.9" precip
Aug86° / 50° · 0.9" precip
Sep76° / 42° · 0.9" precip
Oct62° / 32° · 0.9" precip
Nov47° / 23° · 0.6" precip
Dec36° / 17° · 0.9" 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.

Moose: where to put the shot

Broadside, behind the shoulder and a third up. Moose look slow to react — the first shot has to count.

Shots to refuse

Where it falls decides your next two days. Avoid shots that drop a moose in water or a bog.
A .30-06 class cartridge minimum, with a bullet built for heavy bone.

Plan the carry: roughly 350– 500 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — four or more large coolers, or a processor. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Moose Success Rates

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 57 at 100% — 1 animals taken by 1 hunters. On a sample that small the percentage moves several points with one animal, so read the hunter count beside it.

Moose Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (resident)	0	19	0.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	1	3	33.0%	—

Data from 2026 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 2026 first drawing for Shiras moose in unit 57, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 3059 — residents 19 applicants for 0 tags, 0% drawn; nonresidents 3 applicants for 1 tag, 33% 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 2026. Checked against Idaho Fish and Game's hunt planner draw results on 2026-06-09.

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

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Camp Sites

No developed campground falls inside the unit in our data — plan on dispersed camping and check the land status first.

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Road Conditions

I 84, Black Pine Road and Old Highway 81 are the named routes in the unit. Roughly 65 mi paved, 39 mi gravel and 0 mi four-wheel-drive.

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Terrain Difficulty

Named features from 4,839 to 9,357 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 76/42°F, 0.9 in.; Oct 62/32°F, 0.9 in.; Nov 47/23°F, 0.6 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

Malta (14 mi), Roy (22 mi), Holbrook (26 mi)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Idaho unit 57?

Unit 57 lies in Cassia and Oneida counties. Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 57 on a line that runs along State Highway 81 and Interstate 84, written out corner by corner in its unit boundary descriptions. It covers about 403 square miles.

What is the mule deer success rate in unit 57?

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put deer success in unit 57 at 19% 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 57 hunt?

The nearest services our logistics pipeline finds for unit 57 are at Malta, about 14 miles from the unit's centre, with Roy at about 22 miles. No developed campground falls inside the unit in our data, so plan on dispersed camping.

What is the Shiras moose success rate in unit 57?

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 57 at 100% across all manners of take. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

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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 general deer season page for unit 57 — 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 57 · 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