Unit D53-1 (Deer Hunt Area 53-1)

Idaho Fish and Game draws an exact line around hunt area 53-1 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.

What hunt area 53-1 is

Idaho Fish and Game draws deer hunt area 53-1 in Blaine, Cassia, Gooding, Jerome and Lincoln counties on a line that runs along U.S. Highway 93, U.S. Highway 30 and U.S. Highway 26, written out corner by corner in its controlled hunt area descriptions. 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 Blaine, Cassia, Gooding, Jerome and Lincoln counties.

High ground inside the line: Kimama Butte, Sid Butte and Owinza Butte

Named high points inside the hunt area include Kimama Butte at 5,052 feet, Sid Butte at 4,753 feet, Owinza Butte at 4,433 feet, Hazelton Butte at 4,404 feet and Skeleton Butte at 4,400 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: Raft River Valley, Deadman Gulch and Box Canyon

Below them sit Raft River Valley at 4,196 feet, Deadman Gulch at 3,616 feet and Box Canyon at 3,532 feet. That is the low country of the hunt area — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.

Water: Shirley G Spring, Star Lake Well Number 1 and Wilson Ridge Well

Named sources include Shirley G Spring, Star Lake Well Number 1 and Wilson Ridge Well. Nothing in the data says which of them run in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.

How high the named ground goes

Named ground inside hunt area 53-1 runs from 3,532 feet to 5,052 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.

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 53-1 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.

The 2026 controlled hunts

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 rules list one controlled hunt for mule deer in hunt area 53-1.

• Hunt 1079 — archery only deer, unlimited tags, Aug 30–Dec 19. Either Sex, Motorized Hunting Rule Applies

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 hunt area 53-1

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 Cinder Butte, Kimama Butte and Sid Butte

Take a position on one of Cinder Butte (4,191 ft), Kimama Butte (5,052 ft), Sid Butte (4,753 ft) and Owinza Butte (4,433 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-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

The way in: Highway 93, Highway 30 and Highway 26

We have no road inventory for this hunt area, so the only routes we can name are the ones Idaho Fish and Game draws the boundary with: Highway 93, Highway 30 and Highway 26. Those are its edges, not its interior — useful because they are where you leave the pavement, and useless for telling you what the inside is like. Check each of them on a current motor-vehicle-use map before you count on it, because a line on a boundary description is not a promise of public access.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Kimama Butte, Sid Butte, Owinza Butte and Wilson Butte as places to see from, and Box Canyon, Shirley G Spring, Star Lake Well Number 1 and Wilson Ridge Well as ground to watch. Each pin is a named feature verified to fall inside the hunt-area 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.

What a day here costs you

One good position held through the whole of first light beats three visited in a hurry.