Unit E36A-1 (Elk Hunt Area 36A-1)

Idaho Hunting Guide — Elk

Hunt Area 36A-1 is drawn from unit 36A, in Custer County. Named ground inside it runs from 5,742 to 11,772 feet. Idaho Fish and Game publishes no per-unit elk 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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Elk guide

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Elk Hunting in Unit E36A-1

Where to Find Elk in Hunt Area 36A-1

Idaho Fish and Game draws an exact line around hunt area 36A-1 and says nothing about where the elk stand inside it. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's.

What hunt area 36A-1 is

Idaho Fish and Game describes elk hunt area 36A-1 as that portion of Unit 36A west of the East Fork of the Salmon River and that portion east of the East Fork of the Salmon River upstream from and including the West Pass Creek drainage. 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 Custer County. Idaho Fish and Game also uses the code 36A-1 for pronghorn and mountain goat hunts, and in its own words "hunt areas are different for each species" — those are other pieces of ground, and this page is the elk area.

High ground inside the line: White Cloud Peaks, Castle Peak and Glassford Peak

Named high points inside the hunt area include White Cloud Peaks at 11,772 feet, Castle Peak at 11,700 feet, Glassford Peak at 11,556 feet, Lee Peak at 11,324 feet and Chinese Wall at 11,025 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Elk want timber to bed in and open ground to feed on, within a short walk of each other.

Holding ground: Chamberlain Basin, Bighorn Basin and Washington Basin

Below them sit Chamberlain Basin at 9,420 feet, Bighorn Basin at 9,373 feet, Washington Basin at 9,107 feet, Spring Basin at 8,905 feet and Galena Gulch at 7,846 feet. That is the low country of the hunt area — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Pick the one with the least road on its upwind side.

How high the named ground goes

Named ground inside hunt area 36A-1 runs from 5,742 feet to 11,772 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.

Unit E36A-1 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: White Cloud Peaks (11,772 ft), Glassford Peak (11,556 ft), Lee Peak (11,324 ft), Chinese Wall (11,025 ft)

Holding ground: The Gunsight (10,364 ft), The Kettles (10,318 ft), Windy Devil (10,006 ft)

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 Elk in Hunt Area 36A-1

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics describe general seasons on game management units, so there is no elk success figure we can tie to hunt area 36A-1 alone, and we won't borrow one from a unit. The plan: find the feed, find the timber it backs onto, then watch the seam between them at the edges of the day.

The 2026 controlled hunts

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 rules list 2 controlled hunts for elk in hunt area 36A-1.

Hunt 2010 — antlered elk, 60 tags, Oct 1–Oct 31
Hunt 2183 — outfitter allocation elk, 3 tags, Oct 1–Oct 31. 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 hunt area 36A-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 elk 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 Croesus Peak, Railroad Ridge and Bible Back Mountain

Take a position on one of Croesus Peak (10,229 ft), Railroad Ridge (10,118 ft), Bible Back Mountain (9,891 ft) and Red Ridge (9,740 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. Glass the edges first, then the shaded timber, then the edges again as the light goes. On the rut hunts, September bugling works where you can get above a drainage and let the thermals carry sound downhill.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks White Cloud Peaks, Glassford Peak, Lee Peak and Chinese Wall as places to see from, and The Gunsight, The Kettles and Windy Devil 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 6,030 feet between the lowest and highest ground, the walk back up out of a kill site is the part to plan first. Leave the truck earlier than you want to and you will hunt the best half-hour of the day.

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 elk 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.

Elk: 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. That is lungs, and on a quartering-away angle it picks up the far shoulder.

Shots to refuse

No straight-on and no straight-away shots. An elk's chest is deep and the margin is small.
Nothing standing behind or overlapping the animal you picked. A pass-through kills the elk behind it too.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have put three shots in a paper plate off the sticks you are actually carrying. Not the farthest you have ever hit anything.
Scope on 3–4x. A herd fills a 12x field of view and you lose the animal you picked.

Identification:On an antlerless tag, legal means no antler of any kind through the skin. A spike looks exactly like a cow until it turns its head. If you can't see the head, don't shoot.

Plan the carry: roughly 150– 220 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two to four large coolers, plus bagged ice from town. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Elk Success Rates

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics describe general seasons on game management units, and hunt area 36A-1 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.

Elk Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (resident)	54	318	17.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	6	105	6.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	3	118	3.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident)	1	52	2.0%	—

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 elk in hunt area 36A-1, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 2010 — residents 318 applicants for 54 tags, 17% drawn; nonresidents 105 applicants for 6 tags, 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

Planning Notes

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Water

No named spring or water source falls inside the hunt area in our water layer, so plan on carrying water or finding it on a scouting trip.

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Terrain Difficulty

Named features inside the hunt area run from 5,742 to 11,772 ft. More than 4,000 feet between them alone, so plan the pack-out before the shot.

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Permit Notes

Idaho Fish and Game controlled hunts 2010 and 2183 (2026 rules). The first application period runs May 1 to June 5 and the second August 5 to 15. Idaho's draw is random, with no preference or bonus points.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Idaho hunt area 36A-1?

Hunt Area 36A-1 is drawn from unit 36A, in Custer County. Idaho Fish and Game describes elk hunt area 36A-1 as that portion of Unit 36A west of the East Fork of the Salmon River and that portion east of the East Fork of the Salmon River upstream from and including the West Pass Creek drainage.

What is the elk success rate in hunt area 36A-1?

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics cover general seasons on game management units, and hunt area 36A-1 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 elk hunt area 36A-1, The game management units the area is drawn from, Controlled hunt numbers, tags and season dates · 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