Unit 61 (Island Park Zone)

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put deer success in unit 61 at 24% 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 61

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 rules list one controlled hunt for mule deer on unit 61 under its own number.

• Hunt 1094 — muzzleloader only deer, unlimited tags, Nov 11–Dec 9. Either sex

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 61 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 Henrys Lake Mountains, Eastern Centennial Mountains and Black Mountain

Take a position on one of Henrys Lake Mountains (8,038 ft), Eastern Centennial Mountains (7,714 ft), Black Mountain (7,646 ft) and Opal Mountain (7,208 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. Glass the edges first, then the shaded timber, then the edges again as the light goes. On the rut hunts, late-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

Water against feed

There are 102 mapped stream reaches and 20 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

Season normals here run Sep 67/33°F, Oct 51/24°F and Nov 36/14°F. By Nov the lows are around 14°F, and the first hard storm after that moves animals off the high ground — a late tag is a bet on that storm arriving. Precipitation runs about 1.6 in. in Sep, 2.1 in. in Oct and 2.2 in. in Nov, and the graded gravel in this unit turns greasy wet.

Getting past the roads: CR-A2 and I 15

I 15 is 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.

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.

Idaho Fish and Game's material on unit 61 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 Clark and Fremont counties. It runs to about 790 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up pronghorn hunting in unit 61

Idaho Fish and Game hunts pronghorn here only by controlled hunt, and draws the hunt area that reach into unit 61: 60A-1. Each is its own piece of ground with its own tags, so the tag you draw decides which part of the unit you hunt.

The lines of the unit: Baker Draw-Black Mountain Springs, Fish Creek and Partridge Creek

Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 61 in Clark and Fremont counties on a line that runs along Interstate 15, U.S. 191 and State Highway 47, and past Baker Draw-Black Mountain Springs, Fish Creek, Partridge Creek and Monida Pass, written out corner by corner in its unit boundary descriptions. That is a legal description, not a habitat map. What it does give you is the way in: the rivers and highways you cross, and the divides that decide which drainage you end up in.

High ground inside the line: Signal Peak, Castle Peak and Henrys Lake Mountains

Named high points inside the unit include Signal Peak at 8,525 feet, Castle Peak at 8,115 feet, Henrys Lake Mountains at 8,038 feet, Eastern Centennial Mountains at 7,714 feet and Black Mountain at 7,646 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: East Fork Bear Gulch, Allan Canyon and Bear Cat Canyon

Below them sit East Fork Bear Gulch at 6,676 feet, Allan Canyon at 6,634 feet, Bear Cat Canyon at 6,608 feet, Waters Flat at 6,593 feet and Schoolhouse Canyon at 6,571 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.

Water: Howard Spring, Keg Spring and Boatman Spring

The water inside the unit line comes to 102 mapped stream reaches, 7 lakes, 20 stock tanks and 6 springs. Named sources include Howard Spring, Keg Spring, Boatman Spring and Palmer Springs. 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 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 61 runs from 6,184 feet to 10,254 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.

Idaho Fish and Game publishes no pronghorn success figure for unit 61 that we can tie to this unit alone, so we won't quote one. 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.

Glassing from Sheridan Ridge, Button Butte and Antelope Ridge

Take a position on one of Sheridan Ridge (6,762 ft), Button Butte (6,761 ft), Antelope Ridge (6,659 ft) and Eccles Butte (6,534 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. Give a basin forty minutes before you decide it is empty. On the rut hunts, early-season bucks hold does and can be decoyed where the law allows it.

Water against feed

There are 102 mapped stream reaches and 20 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 67/33°F, Oct 51/24°F and Nov 36/14°F. By Nov the lows are around 14°F, and the first hard storm after that moves animals off the high ground — a late tag is a bet on that storm arriving. Precipitation runs about 1.6 in. in Sep, 2.1 in. in Oct and 2.2 in. in Nov, and the graded gravel in this unit turns greasy wet.

Getting past the roads: CR-A2 and I 15

I 15 is 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.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Targhee Peak, Black Mountain, Bald Peak and Sawtell Peak as places to see from, and Rock Creek Basin, Mule Meadows, Lone Pine Pass and Howard Spring as ground to watch. Each pin is a named feature verified to fall inside the unit line, not a spot anyone has hunted. Join two of them into a morning: be on the first before light, move to the second once the thermals turn.

What a day here costs you

790 square miles is more country than a week will cover, so pick one drainage and learn it rather than driving the unit. The nearest services are at Island Park, about 12 miles out, which is an hour of your morning each way if you sleep there. With 4,070 feet between the lowest and highest ground, the walk back up out of a kill site is the part to plan first. Decide the night before where you will be at first light, and go there in the dark.