Unit 65 (Palisades Zone)
Idaho Hunting Guide — Moose
Unit 65 lies in Bonneville, Madison and Teton counties and covers about 223 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 5,993 to 8,857 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put Shiras moose success here as high as 90%. Federal land covers about 27% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Moose Hunting in Unit 65
Unit 65 lies in Bonneville, Madison and Teton counties and covers about 223 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 5,993 to 8,857 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put Shiras moose success here as high as 90%. Federal land covers about 27% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Shiras Moose in Unit 65
What Idaho Fish and Game publishes for unit 65 is a boundary, not a Shiras moose map. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Bonneville, Madison and Teton counties. It runs to about 223 square miles.
How Idaho Fish and Game sets up Shiras moose hunting in unit 65
Idaho Fish and Game hunts Shiras moose here only by controlled hunt, and describes its moose hunt area 65 as all of Unit 65.
The lines of the unit: Leigh Creek, Milk Creek and Grandview Point
Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 65 in Bonneville, Madison and Teton counties on a line that runs along State Highway 33 and State Highway 31, and past Leigh Creek, Milk Creek, Grandview Point and Canyon Creek, 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: Big Hole Mountains, Ryan Peak and Relay Ridge
Named high points inside the unit include Big Hole Mountains at 8,857 feet, Ryan Peak at 8,857 feet, Relay Ridge at 8,857 feet, Henderson Peak at 8,302 feet and Mahogany Ridge at 8,302 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: Pine Creek Pass, Blind Canyon and Idaho Canyon
Below them sit Pine Creek Pass at 6,767 feet, Blind Canyon at 6,727 feet, Idaho Canyon at 6,404 feet, Sweet Hollow at 6,362 feet and Rotten Bottom at 6,324 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: Paradise Spring, Boquet Springs and Crandall Spring
The water inside the unit line comes to 84 mapped stream reaches, 33 stock tanks and 3 springs. Named sources include Paradise Spring, Boquet Springs, Crandall Spring, Packsaddle Spring and Hands 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 65 runs from 5,993 feet to 8,857 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.
Unit 65 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 5,974–7,810 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,389 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 222.7 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
- 33 tanks
- 3 springs
- 84 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: Big Hole Mountains (8,857 ft), Henderson Peak (8,302 ft), Twin Creek Ridge (8,079 ft), Idaho Ridge (7,362 ft)
Holding ground: Packsaddle Basin (8,136 ft), Horse Heaven (8,121 ft), Center Basin (7,042 ft), Paradise Spring, Crandall 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 65
Moose Success Rates
Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 65 at 90% — 9 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 | 83 | 11.0% | — |
| Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 26 | 4.0% | — |
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 EngineIdaho Fish and Game's 2026 first drawing for Shiras moose in unit 65, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:
- Hunt 3071 — residents 83 applicants for 9 tags, 11% drawn; nonresidents 26 applicants for 1 tag, 4% 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
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Idaho unit 65?
What is the Shiras moose success rate in unit 65?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 65 hunt?
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Upgrade to Pro — $49/yrSources & Verification
Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-24.
- Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons & Rules — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Game management unit boundary description, Counties the unit lies in, Controlled hunt numbers, tags and season dates · accessed 2026-10-24
- 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 65 · 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