Idaho Mule Deer Moose

Unit 74 (Bannock Zone)

Idaho Hunting Guide — Mule Deer, Moose

Unit 74 lies in Bannock, Caribou and Franklin counties and covers about 610 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,808 to 9,147 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put deer success here as high as 33%. Federal land covers about 12% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Idaho Hunting Guide

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12%

Public Land

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4,727–7,882 ft

Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 74

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Idaho Unit 74 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.

Mule Deer guide Moose guide

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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 74

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 74

What Idaho Fish and Game publishes for unit 74 is a boundary, not a mule deer map. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Bannock, Caribou and Franklin counties. It runs to about 610 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up mule deer hunting in unit 74

Idaho Fish and Game keeps a general deer season page for unit 74, and that page is where this year's dates and weapon rules live.

What bounds unit 74

Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 74 in Bannock, Caribou and Franklin counties on a line that runs along U.S. 91, Interstate 15, U.S. 30 and State Highway 34, 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: Sedgwick Peak, Baldy Mountain and Petticoat Peak

Named high points inside the unit include Sedgwick Peak at 9,147 feet, Baldy Mountain at 8,319 feet, Petticoat Peak at 8,015 feet, Fish Creek Range at 7,989 feet and Thatcher Hill at 7,959 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: Bullwhacker Canyon, Walker Gulch and Fox Canyon

Below them sit Bullwhacker Canyon at 6,471 feet, Walker Gulch at 6,436 feet, Fox Canyon at 6,428 feet, Fish Creek Basin at 6,396 feet and Mill Canyon at 6,343 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: Heart Mountain Spring, Christenson Spring and Welcome Spring

The water inside the unit line comes to 93 mapped stream reaches, 14 lakes and 36 stock tanks. Named sources include Heart Mountain Spring, Christenson Spring, Welcome Spring, Milkshake Spring, Time Spring and Dry 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 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 74 runs from 4,808 feet to 9,147 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.

Unit 74 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

4,727–7,882 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,008 ft ; peaks can run higher.
609.9 sq mi inside the boundary.

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

36 tanks
93 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: Sedgwick Peak (9,147 ft), Baldy Mountain (8,319 ft), Petticoat Peak (8,015 ft), Cottonwood Peak (7,900 ft)

Holding ground: Windy Pass (7,555 ft), Hog Wallow (6,814 ft), Right Fork Mill Canyon (6,605 ft), Heart Mountain Spring, Christenson 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 74

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put deer success in unit 74 at 33% across all manners of take. That is an ordinary spread for this country, and it rewards whoever scouted. The plan: glass the broken edges at first light, then sit still and keep glassing the same ground.

The 2026 controlled hunts in unit 74

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 rules list one controlled hunt for mule deer on unit 74 under its own number.

Hunt 1098 — 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 74 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 Treasureton Hill, Buckskin Mountain and Heart Mountain

Take a position on one of Treasureton Hill (6,680 ft), Buckskin Mountain (6,408 ft), Heart Mountain (6,304 ft) and Mount Moh (6,235 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, late-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

Water against feed

There are 93 mapped stream reaches and 36 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

Season normals here run Sep 75/41°F, Oct 60/32°F and Nov 44/23°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 1.4 in. in Sep, 1.4 in. in Oct and 1.1 in. in Nov, and the graded gravel in this unit turns greasy wet.

Getting past the roads: ID 34 and US 91

ID 34, US 91 and I 15 / US 91 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.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Sedgwick Peak, Baldy Mountain, Petticoat Peak and Cottonwood Peak as places to see from, and Windy Pass, Hog Wallow, Right Fork Mill Canyon and Heart Mountain Spring 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 74

Named routes and what they need

ID 34 — 16.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
US 91 — 13.3 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Old Highway 30 — 11 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
Treasurton Road — 7.9 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
East Sublette Road — 6.1 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
I 15;US 91 — 6 mi · Paved (all rigs)

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

Lava Hot Springs — 10.7 mi · groceries, lodging
Downey — 10.8 mi · no services listed
Grace — 11.9 mi · no services listed
Arimo — 13.8 mi · no services listed
Bancroft — 16.8 mi · no services listed

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Downey City RV Park
Crystal Springs Campground
Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site

Season weather and signal

Jan32° / 14° · 1.4" precip
Aug86° / 49° · 1" precip
Sep75° / 41° · 1.4" precip
Oct60° / 32° · 1.4" precip
Nov44° / 23° · 1.1" precip
Dec33° / 15° · 1.3" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 21% 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 74 at 33% — 359 animals taken by 1,086 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)	18	165	11.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	2	27	7.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	1	27	4.0%	—
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 Engine

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 first drawing for mule deer in unit 74, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 1098 — residents 165 applicants for 18 tags, 11% drawn; nonresidents 27 applicants for 2 tags, 7% 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.

Moose Hunting in Unit 74

Unit 74 lies in Bannock, Caribou and Franklin counties and covers about 610 square miles. Named ground inside it runs from 4,808 to 9,147 feet. Idaho Fish and Game's harvest estimates put Shiras moose success here as high as 80%. Federal land covers about 12% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Shiras Moose in Unit 74

Idaho Fish and Game's material on unit 74 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its Shiras moose live. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Bannock, Caribou and Franklin counties. It runs to about 610 square miles.

How Idaho Fish and Game sets up Shiras moose hunting in unit 74

Idaho Fish and Game hunts Shiras moose here only by controlled hunt, and describes its moose hunt area 74 as all of Unit 74.

What bounds unit 74

Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 74 in Bannock, Caribou and Franklin counties on a line that runs along U.S. 91, Interstate 15, U.S. 30 and State Highway 34, 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: Cottonwood Peak, Twin Knobs and Dry Hollow Mountain

Named high points inside the unit include Cottonwood Peak at 7,900 feet, Twin Knobs at 7,783 feet, Dry Hollow Mountain at 7,204 feet, Treasureton Hill at 6,680 feet and Buckskin Mountain at 6,408 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: Mine Hollow, Tough Hollow and Trough Hollow

Below them sit Mine Hollow at 6,108 feet, Tough Hollow at 6,074 feet, Trough Hollow at 6,074 feet, Cottonwood Valley at 5,995 feet and Smith Canyon at 5,969 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: Railroad Spring, Toolson Spring and Clark Spring

The water inside the unit line comes to 93 mapped stream reaches, 14 lakes and 36 stock tanks. Named sources include Railroad Spring, Toolson Spring, Clark Spring, Josie Spring, Chatterton Spring and School House Spring. Nothing in the data says which of them run in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.

Reading the land status

Unit 74 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

4,727–7,882 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,008 ft ; peaks can run higher.
609.9 sq mi inside the boundary.

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

36 tanks
93 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: Sedgwick Peak (9,147 ft), Baldy Mountain (8,319 ft), Petticoat Peak (8,015 ft), Cottonwood Peak (7,900 ft)

Holding ground: Windy Pass (7,555 ft), Hog Wallow (6,814 ft), Right Fork Mill Canyon (6,605 ft), Heart Mountain Spring, Christenson 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 74

Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 74 at 80% 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 74

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 and 2026 rules list one controlled hunt for Shiras moose on unit 74 under its own number.

Hunt 3085 — 5 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 74 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 Cedar Hill, Ice Cave Knoll and Sedgwick Peak

Take a position on one of Cedar Hill (6,107 ft), Ice Cave Knoll (5,603 ft), Sedgwick Peak (9,147 ft) and Baldy Mountain (8,319 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. 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, late September bulls answer a cow call near water.

Water against feed

There are 93 mapped stream reaches and 36 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

Getting past the roads: ID 34 and US 91

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 74

Named routes and what they need

ID 34 — 16.6 mi · Paved (all rigs)
US 91 — 13.3 mi · Paved (all rigs)
Old Highway 30 — 11 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
Treasurton Road — 7.9 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
East Sublette Road — 6.1 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
I 15;US 91 — 6 mi · Paved (all rigs)

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

Lava Hot Springs — 10.7 mi · groceries, lodging
Downey — 10.8 mi · no services listed
Grace — 11.9 mi · no services listed
Arimo — 13.8 mi · no services listed
Bancroft — 16.8 mi · no services listed

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Downey City RV Park
Crystal Springs Campground
Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site

Season weather and signal

Jan32° / 14° · 1.4" precip
Aug86° / 49° · 1" precip
Sep75° / 41° · 1.4" precip
Oct60° / 32° · 1.4" precip
Nov44° / 23° · 1.1" precip
Dec33° / 15° · 1.3" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 21% 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 74 at 80% — 4 animals taken by 5 hunters. On a sample that small the percentage moves several points with one animal, so read the hunter count beside it.

Moose Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (resident)	4	39	10.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	1	13	8.0%	—

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

Hunt 3085 — residents 39 applicants for 4 tags, 10% drawn; nonresidents 13 applicants for 1 tag, 8% 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

Planning Notes

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Camp Sites

8 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit, including Downey City RV Park, Crystal Springs Campground and Lava Hot Springs KOA.

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Road Conditions

ID 34, US 91 and Old Highway 30 are the named routes in the unit. Roughly 59 mi paved, 58 mi gravel and 0 mi four-wheel-drive.

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Terrain Difficulty

Named features from 4,808 to 9,147 ft. More than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so plan the pack-out before the shot.

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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 75/41°F, 1.4 in.; Oct 60/32°F, 1.4 in.; Nov 44/23°F, 1.1 in..

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Cell Service

Verizon 21%, AT&T 14%, T-Mobile 7% of the unit area — modelled coverage, not measured. Assume no signal off the paved road.

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Nearest Town

Lava Hot Springs (11 mi), Downey (11 mi), Grace (12 mi)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Idaho unit 74?

Unit 74 lies in Bannock, Caribou and Franklin counties. Idaho Fish and Game draws unit 74 on a line that runs along U.S. 91, Interstate 15, U.S. 30 and State Highway 34, written out corner by corner in its unit boundary descriptions. It covers about 610 square miles.

What is the mule deer success rate in unit 74?

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put deer success in unit 74 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 74 hunt?

The nearest services our logistics pipeline finds for unit 74 are at Lava Hot Springs, about 11 miles from the unit's centre, with Downey at about 11 miles. There are also 8 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit.

What is the Shiras moose success rate in unit 74?

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 74 at 80% 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
IDFG general deer season page for unit 74 — 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 74 · 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