Idaho Pronghorn Mule Deer Elk

Unit 68 (Big Desert Zone)

Idaho Hunting Guide — Pronghorn, Mule Deer, Elk

Unit 68 lies in Bingham, Blaine, Butte, Cassia and Minidoka counties and covers about 1,817 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,209 to 7,547 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put pronghorn success here as high as 33%. Federal land covers about 64% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Idaho Hunting Guide

🏔️

64%

Public Land

⛰️

4,400–5,225 ft

Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 68

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Idaho Unit 68 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.

Pronghorn guide Mule Deer guide Elk 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.

Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 68

Where to Find Pronghorn in Unit 68

Idaho Fish and Game's material on unit 68 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 Bingham, Blaine, Butte, Cassia and Minidoka counties. It runs to about 1,817 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up pronghorn hunting in unit 68

Idaho Fish and Game hunts pronghorn here only by controlled hunt, and describes its pronghorn hunt area 68 as all of Unit 68.

The lines of the unit: American Falls, Raft River and Snake River

Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 68 in Bingham, Blaine, Butte, Cassia and Minidoka counties on a line that runs along U.S. 26, State Highway 39, Interstate 86 and U.S. 93, and past American Falls, Raft River and Snake River, written out corner by corner in its unit boundary descriptions. That is a legal description, not a habitat map. 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 Southern Butte, Big Butte and Quaking Aspen Butte

Named high points inside the unit include Big Southern Butte at 7,547 feet, Big Butte at 7,535 feet, Quaking Aspen Butte at 5,845 feet, Cedar Butte at 5,808 feet and Sixmile Butte at 5,695 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Pronghorn live in the open and trust their eyes, which is the whole problem.

Holding ground: Ryegrass Flat, Pleasant Valley and Cedar Field

Below them sit Ryegrass Flat at 4,516 feet, Pleasant Valley at 4,510 feet, Cedar Field at 4,309 feet, Ferry Hollow at 4,252 feet and Lake Channel Canyon at 4,233 feet. That is the low country of the unit — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Pick the one with the least road on its upwind side.

Water: Point Well, Coxs Well and Leo Rogers Well

The water inside the unit line comes to 21 mapped stream reaches, 20 lakes and 26 stock tanks. Named sources include Point Well, Coxs Well, Leo Rogers Well, Mosby Well and Number 1 Well. 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 85% and BLM 15%, so treat it as a starting point and check a current land-status layer before you plan a route. Named ground inside unit 68 runs from 4,209 feet to 7,547 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.

Unit 68 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

4,400–5,225 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,780 ft ; peaks can run higher.
1,817.4 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

Who owns the ground

BLM — 15%
Private / Other — 85%

Roughly 15% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

26 tanks
21 stream segments
20 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: Big Southern Butte (7,547 ft), Quaking Aspen Butte (5,845 ft), Cedar Butte (5,808 ft), Sixmile Butte (5,695 ft)

Holding ground: Box Canyon (5,118 ft), The Frying Pan (5,005 ft), Ryegrass Flat (4,516 ft), Point Well, Coxs Well

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 68

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 68 at 33% across all manners of take. That is an ordinary spread for this country, and it rewards whoever scouted. 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 68

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 rules list 3 controlled hunts for pronghorn on unit 68 under its own number.

Hunt 4023 — either sex pronghorn, 25 tags, Sep 25–Oct 24
Hunt 4041 — archery only, 20 tags, Aug 15–Aug 30. Buck only
Hunt 4042 — archery only, 75 tags, Sep 10–Sep 24. Buck 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 68 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 Split Top, Mosby Butte and Little Wildhorse Butte

Take a position on one of Split Top (5,546 ft), Mosby Butte (5,493 ft), Little Wildhorse Butte (5,478 ft) and Teakettle Butte (5,408 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. A tripod is worth more here than another hour of walking. On the rut hunts, early-season bucks hold does and can be decoyed where the law allows it.

Water against feed

There are 21 mapped stream reaches and 26 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 76/43°F, Oct 61/33°F and Nov 45/24°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 0.8 in. in Sep, 0.9 in. in Oct and 0.7 in. in Nov, and the graded gravel in this unit turns greasy wet.

Getting past the roads: ID 39 and I 86 / US 30

ID 39, I 86 / US 30 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 68

Named routes and what they need

ID 39 — 24.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
I 86;US 30 — 16.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Minidoka To Arco Road — 14.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
North Pleasant Valley Road — 11.9 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
US 26 — 11.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Center Pleasant Valley Road — 11.4 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

Aberdeen — 14.6 mi · no services listed
American Falls — 23.8 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging
Fort Hall — 29.9 mi · no services listed
Tyhee — 30.1 mi · fuel, gear
Riverside — 30.2 mi · fuel

Developed camps

Upper Camp Ground
Lower Camp Ground
Unnamed camp site
Craters of the Moon / Arco KOA Journey · Fee
Mountain View RV Park — 44 sites

Season weather and signal

Jan33° / 16° · 1" precip
Aug86° / 51° · 0.5" precip
Sep76° / 43° · 0.8" precip
Oct61° / 33° · 0.9" precip
Nov45° / 24° · 0.7" precip
Dec33° / 17° · 1" 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.

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 68 at 33% — 31 animals taken by 94 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.

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.

Pronghorn Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (resident)	23	899	3.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	2	96	2.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	0	247	0.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident)	1	32	3.0%	—

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 pronghorn in unit 68, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 4023 — residents 899 applicants for 23 tags, 3% drawn; nonresidents 96 applicants for 2 tags, 2% drawn
Hunt 4041 — residents 52 applicants for 18 tags, 35% drawn; nonresidents 7 applicants for 2 tags, 29% drawn
Hunt 4042 — residents 32 applicants for 32 tags, 100% drawn; nonresidents 9 applicants for 7 tags, 78% 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 68

Unit 68 lies in Bingham, Blaine, Butte, Cassia and Minidoka counties and covers about 1,817 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,209 to 7,547 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put deer success here as high as 19%. Federal land covers about 64% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 68

What Idaho Fish and Game publishes for unit 68 is a boundary, not a mule deer 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 Bingham, Blaine, Butte, Cassia and Minidoka counties. It runs to about 1,817 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up mule deer hunting in unit 68

Idaho Fish and Game keeps a general deer season page for unit 68, and that page is where this year's dates and weapon rules live.

The lines of the unit: American Falls, Raft River and Snake River

Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 68 in Bingham, Blaine, Butte, Cassia and Minidoka counties on a line that runs along U.S. 26, State Highway 39, Interstate 86 and U.S. 93, and past American Falls, Raft River 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. 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: Rock Corral Butte, Sunset Ridge and Tin Cup Butte

Named high points inside the unit include Rock Corral Butte at 5,626 feet, Sunset Ridge at 5,607 feet, Tin Cup Butte at 5,573 feet, Split Top at 5,546 feet and Mosby Butte at 5,493 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: Frymier Field, Dry Hollow and Box Canyon

Below them sit Frymier Field at 4,230 feet, Dry Hollow at 4,209 feet, Box Canyon at 5,118 feet, The Frying Pan at 5,005 feet and Great Rift at 4,986 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: Point Well, Coxs Well and Leo Rogers Well

Reading the land status

Unit 68 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

4,400–5,225 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,780 ft ; peaks can run higher.
1,817.4 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

Who owns the ground

BLM — 15%
Private / Other — 85%

Roughly 15% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

26 tanks
21 stream segments
20 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: Big Southern Butte (7,547 ft), Quaking Aspen Butte (5,845 ft), Cedar Butte (5,808 ft), Sixmile Butte (5,695 ft)

Holding ground: Box Canyon (5,118 ft), The Frying Pan (5,005 ft), Ryegrass Flat (4,516 ft), Point Well, Coxs Well

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 68

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put deer success in unit 68 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 68

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 rules list one controlled hunt for mule deer on unit 68 under its own number.

Hunt 1095 — muzzleloader only deer, 20 tags, Nov 16–Nov 30. Antlered 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 68 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 Rock Butte, Serviceberry Butte and Table Legs Butte

Take a position on one of Rock Butte (5,401 ft), Serviceberry Butte (5,393 ft), Table Legs Butte (5,373 ft) and Antelope Butte (5,372 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 21 mapped stream reaches and 26 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: ID 39 and I 86 / US 30

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 68

Named routes and what they need

ID 39 — 24.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
I 86;US 30 — 16.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Minidoka To Arco Road — 14.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
North Pleasant Valley Road — 11.9 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
US 26 — 11.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Center Pleasant Valley Road — 11.4 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

Aberdeen — 14.6 mi · no services listed
American Falls — 23.8 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging
Fort Hall — 29.9 mi · no services listed
Tyhee — 30.1 mi · fuel, gear
Riverside — 30.2 mi · fuel

Developed camps

Upper Camp Ground
Lower Camp Ground
Unnamed camp site
Craters of the Moon / Arco KOA Journey · Fee
Mountain View RV Park — 44 sites

Season weather and signal

Jan33° / 16° · 1" precip
Aug86° / 51° · 0.5" precip
Sep76° / 43° · 0.8" precip
Oct61° / 33° · 0.9" precip
Nov45° / 24° · 0.7" precip
Dec33° / 17° · 1" 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.

Pro Members Only

Unlock mule deer tactics for Unit 68

Upgrade to Pro — $49/yr

Mule Deer Success Rates

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put deer success in unit 68 at 19% — 133 animals taken by 691 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)	20	67	30.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	0	1	0.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	1	36	3.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—

Open in Draw Odds Engine

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 first drawing for mule deer in unit 68, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 1095 — residents 67 applicants for 20 tags, 30% drawn; nonresidents 1 applicants for 0 tags, 0% drawn

Elk Hunting in Unit 68

Unit 68 lies in Bingham, Blaine, Butte, Cassia and Minidoka counties and covers about 1,817 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,209 to 7,547 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 35%. Federal land covers about 64% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Elk in Unit 68

What Idaho Fish and Game publishes for unit 68 is a boundary, not a elk map. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Bingham, Blaine, Butte, Cassia and Minidoka counties. It runs to about 1,817 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up elk hunting in unit 68

Idaho Fish and Game runs its general elk seasons by elk management zone rather than unit by unit, and puts unit 68 in the Big Desert Zone, so the zone's tag rules are the ones that apply here.

The lines of the unit: American Falls, Raft River and Snake River

Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 68 in Bingham, Blaine, Butte, Cassia and Minidoka counties on a line that runs along U.S. 26, State Highway 39, Interstate 86 and U.S. 93, and past American Falls, Raft River 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. 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: Little Wildhorse Butte, Teakettle Butte and Rock Butte

Named high points inside the unit include Little Wildhorse Butte at 5,478 feet, Teakettle Butte at 5,408 feet, Rock Butte at 5,401 feet, Serviceberry Butte at 5,393 feet and Table Legs Butte at 5,373 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Elk on low, open country live on distance and visibility, so they see you first.

Holding ground: Inferno Chasm, Kings Bowl and Ryegrass Flat

Below them sit Inferno Chasm at 4,959 feet, Kings Bowl at 4,878 feet, Ryegrass Flat at 4,516 feet, Pleasant Valley at 4,510 feet and Cedar Field at 4,309 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: Point Well, Coxs Well and Leo Rogers Well

Reading the land status

Unit 68 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

4,400–5,225 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,780 ft ; peaks can run higher.
1,817.4 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

Who owns the ground

BLM — 15%
Private / Other — 85%

Roughly 15% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

26 tanks
21 stream segments
20 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: Big Southern Butte (7,547 ft), Quaking Aspen Butte (5,845 ft), Cedar Butte (5,808 ft), Sixmile Butte (5,695 ft)

Holding ground: Box Canyon (5,118 ft), The Frying Pan (5,005 ft), Ryegrass Flat (4,516 ft), Point Well, Coxs Well

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 68

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put elk success in unit 68 at 35% across all manners of take. That is an ordinary spread for this country, and it rewards whoever scouted. 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 68

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 rules list one controlled hunt for elk on unit 68 under its own number.

Hunt 2106 — antlerless elk, 125 tags, Oct 15–Oct 31

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 68 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 Packsaddle Butte, Pillar Butte and Coyote Butte

Take a position on one of Packsaddle Butte (5,244 ft), Pillar Butte (5,225 ft), Coyote Butte (5,147 ft) and Flat Top (5,139 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 21 mapped stream reaches and 26 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: ID 39 and I 86 / US 30

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 68

Named routes and what they need

ID 39 — 24.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
I 86;US 30 — 16.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Minidoka To Arco Road — 14.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
North Pleasant Valley Road — 11.9 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
US 26 — 11.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Center Pleasant Valley Road — 11.4 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

Aberdeen — 14.6 mi · no services listed
American Falls — 23.8 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging
Fort Hall — 29.9 mi · no services listed
Tyhee — 30.1 mi · fuel, gear
Riverside — 30.2 mi · fuel

Developed camps

Upper Camp Ground
Lower Camp Ground
Unnamed camp site
Craters of the Moon / Arco KOA Journey · Fee
Mountain View RV Park — 44 sites

Season weather and signal

Jan33° / 16° · 1" precip
Aug86° / 51° · 0.5" precip
Sep76° / 43° · 0.8" precip
Oct61° / 33° · 0.9" precip
Nov45° / 24° · 0.7" precip
Dec33° / 17° · 1" 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.

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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Elk Success Rates

Rifle35%

Archery19%

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 68 at 35% — 80 animals taken by 226 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.

Elk Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (resident)	123	132	93.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	2	3	67.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	12	76	16.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—

Open in Draw Odds Engine

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 first drawing for elk in unit 68, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 2106 — residents 132 applicants for 123 tags, 93% drawn; nonresidents 3 applicants for 2 tags, 67% drawn

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

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Camp Sites

5 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit, including Upper Camp Ground, Lower Camp Ground and Craters of the Moon / Arco KOA Journey.

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Road Conditions

ID 39, I 86 / US 30 and Minidoka To Arco Road are the named routes in the unit. Roughly 72 mi paved, 184 mi gravel and 1 mi four-wheel-drive.

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Terrain Difficulty

Named features from 4,209 to 7,547 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 76/43°F, 0.8 in.; Oct 61/33°F, 0.9 in.; Nov 45/24°F, 0.7 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

Aberdeen (15 mi), American Falls (24 mi), Fort Hall (30 mi)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Idaho unit 68?

Unit 68 lies in Bingham, Blaine, Butte, Cassia and Minidoka counties. Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 68 on a line that runs along U.S. 26, State Highway 39, Interstate 86 and U.S. 93, and past American Falls, Raft River and Snake River, written out corner by corner in its unit boundary descriptions. It covers about 1,817 square miles.

What is the pronghorn success rate in unit 68?

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 68 at 33% 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 68 hunt?

The nearest services our logistics pipeline finds for unit 68 are at Aberdeen, about 15 miles from the unit's centre, with American Falls at about 24 miles. There are also 5 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit.

What is the mule deer success rate in unit 68?

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put deer success in unit 68 at 19% across all manners of take. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

What is the elk success rate in unit 68?

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 68 at 35% across all manners of take. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

Free Hunt Planning Tools

🎰 Idaho Draw Odds Unit-level tag success rates 📅 Application Timeline Deadlines for all 9 states 🦌 Rut Forecast Peak rut timing by species 💰 Hunt Cost Calculator Budget your entire hunt

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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 Hunt Planner — 2025 general hunt harvest statistics — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Harvest, hunters and percent success for pronghorn in unit 68 · 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 68 — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Season structure for the unit · accessed 2026-10-24
IDFG Big Desert Zone elk tag limits — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Season structure for the unit · accessed 2026-10-24