Unit E52A-1 (Elk Hunt Area 52A-1)

Idaho Hunting Guide — Elk

Hunt Area 52A-1 is drawn from units 52A and 68, in Blaine, Butte, Lincoln, Minidoka and Bingham counties. Named ground inside it runs from 4,136 to 7,547 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 E52A-1

Where to Find Elk in Hunt Area 52A-1

What Idaho Fish and Game publishes for hunt area 52A-1 is a boundary, not a elk map. Every place named below sits inside the hunt-area line. Which of them holds animals in your season is for you to find out.

What hunt area 52A-1 is

Idaho Fish and Game describes elk hunt area 52A-1 as all of Units 52A and 68. (Caution: See Craters of the Moon closure, page 97.). That is whole units, so the outline on this page follows unit lines all the way round. The units it is drawn from lie in Blaine, Butte, Lincoln, Minidoka and Bingham counties. Idaho Fish and Game also uses the code 52A-1 for pronghorn 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: Big Southern Butte, Big Butte and North Laidlaw Butte

Named high points inside the hunt area include Big Southern Butte at 7,547 feet, Big Butte at 7,535 feet, North Laidlaw Butte at 5,894 feet, Quaking Aspen Butte at 5,845 feet and Cedar Butte at 5,808 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: Litte Park, The Frying Pan and Great Rift

Below them sit Litte Park at 5,012 feet, The Frying Pan at 5,005 feet, Great Rift at 4,986 feet, Bear Park at 4,980 feet and Inferno Chasm at 4,959 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Two you can watch from a single knob is worth more than five you have to drive between.

Water: South Park Well, Peavey Well and Pagari Well

Named sources include South Park Well, Peavey Well, Pagari Well, Point Well, Black Ridge Well and Coxs 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 52A-1 runs from 4,136 feet to 7,547 feet. Those are the heights of the features GNIS names, which bound the range from inside rather than measure it.

Unit E52A-1 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Big Southern Butte (7,547 ft), Quaking Aspen Butte (5,845 ft), Cedar Butte (5,808 ft), Wildhorse Butte (5,711 ft)

Holding ground: Hollow Top (5,380 ft), Box Canyon (5,118 ft), Litte Park (5,012 ft), South Park Well, Peavey Well

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 52A-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 52A-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 one controlled hunt for elk in hunt area 52A-1.

Hunt 2034 — antlered elk, 100 tags, Oct 1–Nov 30. Motorized Hunting Rule Applies in Unit 52A

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 52A-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 Fingers Butte, Sunset Ridge and Tin Cup Butte

Take a position on one of Fingers Butte (5,616 ft), Sunset Ridge (5,607 ft), Tin Cup Butte (5,573 ft) and Saddle Butte (5,568 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, 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 Big Southern Butte, Quaking Aspen Butte, Cedar Butte and Wildhorse Butte as places to see from, and Hollow Top, Box Canyon, Litte Park and South Park 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

With 3,411 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 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 52A-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)	95	1,547	6.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	5	66	8.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	3	497	1.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident)	0	33	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 elk in hunt area 52A-1, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 2034 — residents 1,547 applicants for 95 tags, 6% drawn; nonresidents 66 applicants for 5 tags, 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 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

10 named water sources inside the hunt area in our water layer, including South Park Well, Peavey Well and Pagari Well. Which of them run in autumn is something only a scouting trip will tell you.

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Terrain Difficulty

Named features inside the hunt area run from 4,136 to 7,547 ft. Named heights only — the ground between and below them can run lower.

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Permit Notes

Idaho Fish and Game controlled hunt 2034 (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 52A-1?

Hunt Area 52A-1 is drawn from units 52A and 68, in Blaine, Butte, Lincoln, Minidoka and Bingham counties. Idaho Fish and Game describes elk hunt area 52A-1 as all of Units 52A and 68. (Caution: See Craters of the Moon closure, page 97.).

What is the elk success rate in hunt area 52A-1?

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics cover general seasons on game management units, and hunt area 52A-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 52A-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