Unit 73 (Bannock Zone)
Idaho Hunting Guide — Mule Deer, Moose
Unit 73 lies in Bannock, Franklin, Oneida and Power counties and covers about 1,236 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,600 to 9,238 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put deer success here as high as 16%. Federal land covers about 34% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 73
Unit 73 lies in Bannock, Franklin, Oneida and Power counties and covers about 1,236 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,600 to 9,238 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put deer success here as high as 16%. Federal land covers about 34% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 73
Idaho Fish and Game draws an exact line around unit 73 and says nothing about where the mule deer stand inside it. So the ground below is the unit's own and the read on where to start is ours, labelled as such. The unit lies in Bannock, Franklin, Oneida and Power counties. It runs to about 1,236 square miles.
How Idaho Fish and Game sets up mule deer hunting in unit 73
Idaho Fish and Game keeps a general deer season page for unit 73, and that page is where this year's dates and weapon rules live.
What bounds unit 73
Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 73 in Bannock, Franklin, Oneida and Power counties on a line that runs along U.S. 91 and State Highway 37, and past Mink Creek, 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: Oxford Peak, Elkhorn Peak and Elkhorn Mountain
Named high points inside the unit include Oxford Peak at 9,238 feet, Elkhorn Peak at 9,069 feet, Elkhorn Mountain at 9,069 feet, Wakley Peak at 8,791 feet and Oxford Ridge at 8,716 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: Right Fork Dry Pine Canyon, Left Fork Dry Pine Canyon and Bill Morgan Canyon
Below them sit Right Fork Dry Pine Canyon at 6,178 feet, Left Fork Dry Pine Canyon at 6,178 feet, Bill Morgan Canyon at 6,131 feet, Old Canyon Meadow at 6,119 feet and Right Fork Dry Canyon at 6,036 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: Wayland Hot Springs, Dry Creek Spring and Pine Corral Spring
The water inside the unit line comes to 250 mapped stream reaches, 37 lakes, 63 stock tanks and 2 springs. Named sources include Wayland Hot Springs, Dry Creek Spring, Pine Corral Spring, Pea̱i̱ Paatetsopa̱i̱’i, Thomas Davis Springs and Maple Hollow 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 73 runs from 4,600 feet to 9,238 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.
Unit 73 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 4,383–6,653 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 5,505 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 1,235.9 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
- 63 tanks
- 2 springs
- 250 stream segments
- 37 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: Oxford Peak (9,238 ft), Elkhorn Peak (9,069 ft), Wakley Peak (8,791 ft), Oxford Ridge (8,716 ft)
Holding ground: Oxford Basin (7,040 ft), Davis Basin (6,840 ft), Jensen Pass (6,366 ft), Wayland Hot Springs, Dry Creek 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 73
Mule Deer Success Rates
Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put deer success in unit 73 at 16% — 24 animals taken by 147 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.
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) | 2012 | 2,019 | 100.0% | — |
| Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident) | 240 | 605 | 40.0% | — |
| Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 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 73, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:
- Hunt 1057 — residents 2,019 applicants for 2,012 tags, 100% drawn; nonresidents 605 applicants for 240 tags, 40% drawn
- Hunt 1059 — residents 376 applicants for 5 tags, 1% drawn; nonresidents 66 applicants for 0 tags, 0% drawn
- Hunt 1058 — residents 178 applicants for 36 tags, 20% drawn; nonresidents 41 applicants for 4 tags, 10% 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
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What is the mule deer success rate in unit 73?
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What is the Shiras moose success rate in unit 73?
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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 73 — 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 73 · 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
- 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