Idaho Moose Mule Deer

Unit 63A (Snake River Zone)

Idaho Hunting Guide — Moose, Mule Deer

Unit 63A lies in Bonneville, Jefferson and Madison counties and covers about 323 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,784 to 5,610 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put Shiras moose success here as high as 70%. Federal land covers about 14% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Idaho Hunting Guide

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14%

Public Land

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4,757–4,961 ft

Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 63A

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Idaho Unit 63A 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.

Moose guide Mule Deer guide

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Moose Hunting in Unit 63A

Where to Find Shiras Moose in Unit 63A

What Idaho Fish and Game publishes for unit 63A is a boundary, not a Shiras moose map. 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 Bonneville, Jefferson and Madison counties. It runs to about 323 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up Shiras moose hunting in unit 63A

Idaho Fish and Game hunts Shiras moose here only by controlled hunt, and describes its moose hunt area 63A as all of Unit. 63A.

The lines of the unit: Idaho Falls, Heise Hot Springs and Snake River

Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 63A in Bonneville, Jefferson and Madison counties on a line that runs along U.S. 26, U.S. 191, State Highway 33 and Interstate 15, and past Idaho Falls, Heise Hot Springs and Snake River, written out corner by corner in its unit boundary descriptions. 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: Menan Buttes, Little Buttes and Lewisville Knolls

Named high points inside the unit include Menan Buttes at 5,610 feet, Little Buttes at 4,963 feet and Lewisville Knolls at 4,917 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Moose need standing water and willow, so on dry country they are tied to the few drainages that hold both.

Holding ground: Kelly Canyon, Tie Bend and Deer Parks

Below them sit Kelly Canyon at 5,033 feet, Tie Bend at 4,994 feet and Deer Parks at 4,784 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 in this unit

The water inside the unit line comes to 220 mapped stream reaches, 43 lakes and 49 stock tanks. 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 Private / Other 100%, so treat it as a starting point and check a current land-status layer before you plan a route. Named ground inside unit 63A runs from 4,784 feet to 5,610 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.

Unit 63A terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

4,757–4,961 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,830 ft ; peaks can run higher.
323.1 sq mi inside the boundary.

Who owns the ground

Private / Other — 100%

Roughly 0% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

49 tanks
220 stream segments
43 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: Menan Buttes (5,610 ft), Lewisville Knolls (4,917 ft)

Holding ground: Deer Parks (4,784 ft)

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 63A

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 63A at 70% 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 63A

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 and 2026 rules list one controlled hunt for Shiras moose on unit 63A under its own number.

Hunt 3069 — 10 tags, 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 63A 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 Menan Buttes, Little Buttes and Lewisville Knolls

Take a position on one of Menan Buttes (5,610 ft), Little Buttes (4,963 ft) and Lewisville Knolls (4,917 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. 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

There are 220 mapped stream reaches and 49 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 75/46°F, Oct 60/35°F and Nov 43/25°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 1.1 in. in Sep, 1.2 in. in Oct and 0.8 in. in Nov, and the graded gravel in this unit turns greasy wet.

Getting past the roads: I 15 and ID 33

I 15, ID 33 and US 26 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.

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 63A

Named routes and what they need

I 15 — 24.1 mi · Paved (all rigs)
ID 33 — 10.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)
US 26 — 9 mi · Paved (all rigs)
South 400 West — 2.9 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
South 3000 West — 2.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
East Heise Road — 2.5 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

Rigby — 2.5 mi · fuel
Menan — 2.6 mi · no services listed
Lewisville — 2.7 mi · no services listed
Ucon — 7 mi · fuel
Roberts — 8.7 mi · no services listed

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site
Aspen Grove Inn
Wind Willows RV Park
Mountain River Ranch RV Park/Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan31° / 15° · 1.3" precip
Aug84° / 53° · 0.8" precip
Sep75° / 46° · 1.1" precip
Oct60° / 35° · 1.2" precip
Nov43° / 25° · 0.8" precip
Dec30° / 16° · 1.3" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 26% 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 63A at 70% — 7 animals taken by 10 hunters. On a sample that small the percentage moves several points with one animal, so read the hunter count beside 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.

Moose Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (resident)	9	93	10.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	1	21	5.0%	—

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 63A, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 3069 — residents 93 applicants for 9 tags, 10% drawn; nonresidents 21 applicants for 1 tag, 5% 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.

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 63A

Unit 63A lies in Bonneville, Jefferson and Madison counties and covers about 323 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,784 to 5,610 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put deer success here as high as 14%. Federal land covers about 14% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 63A

Idaho Fish and Game draws an exact line around unit 63A and says nothing about where the mule deer 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 Bonneville, Jefferson and Madison counties. It runs to about 323 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up mule deer hunting in unit 63A

Idaho Fish and Game's unit layer marks unit 63A "No Regular Deer Tag Opportunity", so deer here are hunted on controlled hunts rather than a general tag.

The lines of the unit: Idaho Falls, Heise Hot Springs and Snake River

Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 63A in Bonneville, Jefferson and Madison counties on a line that runs along U.S. 26, U.S. 191, State Highway 33 and Interstate 15, and past Idaho Falls, Heise Hot Springs and Snake River, 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: Menan Buttes, Little Buttes and Lewisville Knolls

Named high points inside the unit include Menan Buttes at 5,610 feet, Little Buttes at 4,963 feet and Lewisville Knolls at 4,917 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Mule deer on open country use every fold and draw there is, and almost none of the flat.

Holding ground: Kelly Canyon, Tie Bend and Deer Parks

Below them sit Kelly Canyon at 5,033 feet, Tie Bend at 4,994 feet and Deer Parks at 4,784 feet. That is the low country of the unit — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.

Water in this unit

The water inside the unit line comes to 220 mapped stream reaches, 43 lakes and 49 stock tanks. Nothing in the data says which of them run in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.

Reading the land status

Unit 63A terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

4,757–4,961 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,830 ft ; peaks can run higher.
323.1 sq mi inside the boundary.

Who owns the ground

Private / Other — 100%

Roughly 0% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

49 tanks
220 stream segments
43 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: Menan Buttes (5,610 ft), Lewisville Knolls (4,917 ft)

Holding ground: Deer Parks (4,784 ft)

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 63A

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put deer success in unit 63A at 14% 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 63A

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 rules list one controlled hunt for mule deer on unit 63A under its own number.

Hunt 1068 — either sex deer, 50 tags, Oct 5–Nov 15. Chronic Wasting Disease Testing Required, Short range weapons 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 63A 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 Menan Buttes, Little Buttes and Lewisville Knolls

Take a position on one of Menan Buttes (5,610 ft), Little Buttes (4,963 ft) and Lewisville Knolls (4,917 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, late-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

Water against feed

There are 220 mapped stream reaches and 49 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 15 and ID 33

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Menan Buttes and Lewisville Knolls as places to see from, and Deer Parks, I 15 @ unit boundary, Rigby and Menan as ground to watch. Each pin is a named feature verified to fall inside the unit line, not a spot anyone has hunted. Walk between two of them rather than driving between four, and you will learn more in a day.

Getting in and staying out: unit 63A

Named routes and what they need

I 15 — 24.1 mi · Paved (all rigs)
ID 33 — 10.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)
US 26 — 9 mi · Paved (all rigs)
South 400 West — 2.9 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
South 3000 West — 2.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
East Heise Road — 2.5 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

Rigby — 2.5 mi · fuel
Menan — 2.6 mi · no services listed
Lewisville — 2.7 mi · no services listed
Ucon — 7 mi · fuel
Roberts — 8.7 mi · no services listed

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site
Aspen Grove Inn
Wind Willows RV Park
Mountain River Ranch RV Park/Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan31° / 15° · 1.3" precip
Aug84° / 53° · 0.8" precip
Sep75° / 46° · 1.1" precip
Oct60° / 35° · 1.2" precip
Nov43° / 25° · 0.8" precip
Dec30° / 16° · 1.3" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 26% 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 63A at 14% — 58 animals taken by 400 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.

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (resident)	50	210	24.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	0	4	0.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	3	85	4.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident)	0	2	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 63A, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 1068 — residents 210 applicants for 50 tags, 24% drawn; nonresidents 4 applicants for 0 tags, 0% 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

Planning Notes

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Camp Sites

8 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit, including Aspen Grove Inn, Wind Willows RV Park and Mountain River Ranch RV Park/Campground.

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Road Conditions

I 15, ID 33 and US 26 are the named routes in the unit. Roughly 56 mi paved, 30 mi gravel and 0 mi four-wheel-drive.

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Terrain Difficulty

Named features from 4,784 to 5,610 ft. Named heights only — the ground between and below them can run lower.

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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 75/46°F, 1.1 in.; Oct 60/35°F, 1.2 in.; Nov 43/25°F, 0.8 in..

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Cell Service

Verizon 26%, AT&T 17%, T-Mobile 9% of the unit area — modelled coverage, not measured. Assume no signal off the paved road.

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Nearest Town

Rigby (3 mi), Menan (3 mi), Lewisville (3 mi)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Idaho unit 63A?

Unit 63A lies in Bonneville, Jefferson and Madison counties. Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 63A on a line that runs along U.S. 26, U.S. 191, State Highway 33 and Interstate 15, and past Idaho Falls, Heise Hot Springs and Snake River, written out corner by corner in its unit boundary descriptions. It covers about 323 square miles.

What is the Shiras moose success rate in unit 63A?

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 63A at 70% 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 63A hunt?

The nearest services our logistics pipeline finds for unit 63A are at Rigby, about 3 miles from the unit's centre, with Menan at about 3 miles. There are also 8 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit.

What is the mule deer success rate in unit 63A?

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put deer success in unit 63A at 14% 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
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
IDFG Hunt Planner — 2025 general hunt harvest statistics — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Harvest, hunters and percent success for Shiras moose in unit 63A · 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