Unit 69 (Tex Creek Zone)
Idaho Hunting Guide — Mule Deer
Unit 69 lies in Bingham, Bonneville and Caribou counties and covers about 1,444 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,585 to 7,705 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put deer success here as high as 22%. Federal land covers about 6% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 69
Unit 69 lies in Bingham, Bonneville and Caribou counties and covers about 1,444 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,585 to 7,705 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put deer success here as high as 22%. Federal land covers about 6% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 69
Idaho Fish and Game draws an exact line around unit 69 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 Bingham, Bonneville and Caribou counties. It runs to about 1,444 square miles.
How Idaho Fish and Game sets up mule deer hunting in unit 69
Idaho Fish and Game keeps a general deer season page for unit 69, and that page is where this year's dates and weapon rules live.
The lines of the unit: Idaho Falls, Fort Hall- Government Dam and Blackfoot River
Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 69 in Bingham, Bonneville and Caribou counties on a line that runs along U.S. 91, Interstate 15, State Highway 34 and Forest Service Road 077, and past Idaho Falls, Fort Hall- Government Dam, Blackfoot River and Government Dam, 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: Flag Knoll, Pelican Ridge and Camp Peak
Named high points inside the unit include Flag Knoll at 7,705 feet, Pelican Ridge at 7,693 feet, Camp Peak at 7,693 feet, Blue Ridge at 7,531 feet and Birch Creek Mountain at 7,481 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: Commissary Basin, The Basin and Pack Saddle Basin
Below them sit Commissary Basin at 6,544 feet, The Basin at 6,531 feet, Pack Saddle Basin at 6,497 feet, Crooked Creek Flat at 6,364 feet and Big Dry Hollow at 6,353 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: Qeedup Spring, Mud Spring and Warm Spring
The water inside the unit line comes to 192 mapped stream reaches, 14 lakes, 31 stock tanks and 2 springs. Named sources include Qeedup Spring, Mud Spring, Warm Spring, Coyote Spring, Chubb Springs and White Rock 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 69 runs from 4,585 feet to 7,705 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.
Unit 69 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 4,556–6,645 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,838 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 1,443.6 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.
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
- 31 tanks
- 2 springs
- 192 stream segments
- 14 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: Flag Knoll (7,705 ft), Pelican Ridge (7,693 ft), Blue Ridge (7,531 ft), Wilson Ridge (7,467 ft)
Holding ground: Wilson Pass (6,626 ft), Commissary Basin (6,544 ft), Crooked Creek Flat (6,364 ft), Qeedup Spring, Mud 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 69
Mule Deer Success Rates
Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put deer success in unit 69 at 22% — 403 animals taken by 1,828 hunters. That is a lot of hunters in one unit, and the percentage is what it looks like after all of them have been through 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) | 9 | 599 | 2.0% | — |
| Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 18 | 6.0% | — |
| Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident) | 1 | 273 | 0.0% | — |
| Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident) | 0 | 14 | 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 EngineIdaho Fish and Game's 2025 first drawing for mule deer in unit 69, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:
- Hunt 1054 — residents 599 applicants for 9 tags, 2% drawn; nonresidents 18 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.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Idaho unit 69?
What is the mule deer success rate in unit 69?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 69 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
- IDFG general deer season page for unit 69 — 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 69 · 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