Idaho Mule Deer

Unit D3-1X (Deer Hunt Area 3-1X)

Idaho Hunting Guide — Mule Deer

Hunt Area 3-1X is drawn from unit 3, in Benewah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties. Named ground inside it runs from 2,128 to 5,663 feet. Idaho Fish and Game publishes no per-unit mule deer success figure we can verify for this hunt area. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

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Mule Deer guide

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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit D3-1X

Where to Find Mule Deer in Hunt Area 3-1X

Idaho Fish and Game draws an exact line around hunt area 3-1X 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.

What hunt area 3-1X is

Idaho Fish and Game draws deer hunt area 3-1X in Benewah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties with a boundary written out in full in its controlled hunt area descriptions, which is the text to check before you cross a line. That makes it a piece of ground drawn for this hunt, not a unit, and the outline on this page is IDFG's own polygon for it rather than a unit outline. The units it is drawn from lie in Benewah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties.

High ground inside the line: South Chilco Mountain, Chilco Mountain and Skitwish Peak

Named high points inside the hunt area include South Chilco Mountain at 5,663 feet, Chilco Mountain at 5,632 feet, Skitwish Peak at 5,346 feet, Skitwish Ridge at 5,346 feet and Monument Mountain at 5,097 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: Fernan Saddle, Skookum Saddle and Burnt Cabin Summit

Below them sit Fernan Saddle at 4,052 feet, Skookum Saddle at 4,020 feet, Burnt Cabin Summit at 4,013 feet, Curran Saddle at 4,003 feet and John Saddle at 3,761 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this hunt area has, and they are what you glass into from above. Pick the one with the least road on its upwind side.

How high the named ground goes

Named ground inside hunt area 3-1X runs from 2,128 feet to 5,663 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.

Unit D3-1X terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: South Chilco Mountain (5,663 ft), Chilco Mountain (5,632 ft), Skitwish Peak (5,346 ft), Monument Mountain (5,097 ft)

Holding ground: Wolf Lodge Saddle (4,690 ft), Mason Saddle (4,389 ft), Hudlow Saddle (4,086 ft)

Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.

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How to Hunt Mule Deer in Hunt Area 3-1X

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics describe general seasons on game management units, so there is no mule deer success figure we can tie to hunt area 3-1X alone, and we won't borrow one from a unit. The plan: glass the broken edges at first light, then sit still and keep glassing the same ground.

Glassing from Tenderfoot Ridge, Windy Ridge and Huckleberry Mountain

Take a position on one of Tenderfoot Ridge (4,852 ft), Windy Ridge (4,848 ft), Huckleberry Mountain (4,848 ft) and Badger Mountain (4,764 ft) and be on it before light. Cold air slides downhill in the dark, so keep your scent out of the bowl you mean to watch; expect the thermals to turn uphill an hour after the sun reaches the slope. 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.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks South Chilco Mountain, Chilco Mountain, Skitwish Peak and Monument Mountain as places to see from, and Wolf Lodge Saddle, Mason Saddle and Hudlow Saddle as ground to watch. Each pin is a named feature verified to fall inside the hunt-area line, not a spot anyone has hunted. Join two of them into a morning: be on the first before light, move to the second once the thermals turn.

What a day here costs you

With 3,535 feet between the lowest and highest ground, the walk back up out of a kill site is the part to plan first. Decide the night before where you will be at first light, and go there in the dark.

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. We have no mule deer success figure for this hunt area that survives checking against Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest and hunter counts, and we would rather say so than print a statewide average as though it were measured here.

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 per-unit harvest statistics describe general seasons on game management units, and hunt area 3-1X is a controlled-hunt area, not a unit, so there is no figure here we can tie to it. A unit's general-season number would describe different hunters on different ground. Idaho Fish and Game's hunt planner reports controlled-hunt results hunt by hunt, which is the figure to check before you apply.

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (resident)	75	286	26.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	0	1	0.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	3	48	6.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident)	0	2	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 hunt area 3-1X, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 1125 — residents 286 applicants for 75 tags, 26% drawn; nonresidents 1 applicants for 0 tags, 0% 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

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Idaho hunt area 3-1X?

Hunt Area 3-1X is drawn from unit 3, in Benewah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties. Idaho Fish and Game draws deer hunt area 3-1X with a boundary written out in full in its controlled hunt area descriptions, which is the text to check before you cross a line.

What is the mule deer success rate in hunt area 3-1X?

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics cover general seasons on game management units, and hunt area 3-1X is a controlled-hunt area, so there is no figure we can tie to it. Idaho Fish and Game's hunt planner reports controlled-hunt results hunt by hunt, and that is the number to check before you apply.

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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: Controlled hunt area description for deer hunt area 3-1X, The game management units the area is drawn from · accessed 2026-10-24
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

Unit D3-1X (Deer Hunt Area 3-1X)

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit D3-1X

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit D3-1X

Where to Find Mule Deer in Hunt Area 3-1X

What hunt area 3-1X is

High ground inside the line: South Chilco Mountain, Chilco Mountain and Skitwish Peak

Holding ground: Fernan Saddle, Skookum Saddle and Burnt Cabin Summit

How high the named ground goes

Unit D3-1X terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Mule Deer in Hunt Area 3-1X

Glassing from Tenderfoot Ridge, Windy Ridge and Huckleberry Mountain

A first plan from the pins on this page

What a day here costs you

What we can't tell you

Idaho rules that decide your day

Legal shooting hours

Motorized retrieval

Tagging

Leaving meat

Where you may not shoot

Mule Deer: where to put the shot

Shots to refuse

Mule Deer Success Rates

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

Water

Terrain Difficulty

Frequently Asked Questions

Free Hunt Planning Tools

Plan Your Hunt with ProHunt Pro

Sources & Verification

Unit D3-1X (Deer Hunt Area 3-1X)

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit D3-1X

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit D3-1X

Where to Find Mule Deer in Hunt Area 3-1X

How to Hunt Mule Deer in Hunt Area 3-1X

Mule Deer Success Rates

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Explore Related Units

Frequently Asked Questions

Free Hunt Planning Tools

Plan Your Hunt with ProHunt Pro

Sources & Verification