Unit E70-1 (Elk Hunt Area 70-1)

Idaho Hunting Guide — Elk

Hunt Area 70-1 is drawn from units 70, 71, 72, 73, 73A and 74, in Bannock, Power, Bingham, Caribou and Franklin counties. Named ground inside it runs from 4,523 to 9,255 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 E70-1

Where to Find Elk in Hunt Area 70-1

Idaho Fish and Game's material on hunt area 70-1 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its elk live. 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 70-1 is

Idaho Fish and Game describes elk hunt area 70-1 as all of Units 70, 71, 72, 73, 73A, and 74. 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 Bannock, Power, Bingham, Caribou and Franklin counties.

High ground inside the line: Bonneville Peak, Portneuf Range and Oxford Peak

Named high points inside the hunt area include Bonneville Peak at 9,255 feet, Portneuf Range at 9,255 feet, Oxford Peak at 9,238 feet, Sedgwick Peak at 9,147 feet and Snow Peak at 9,119 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: Oxford Basin, Davis Basin and Hog Wallow

Below them sit Oxford Basin at 7,040 feet, Davis Basin at 6,840 feet, Hog Wallow at 6,814 feet, Devils Gate at 6,791 feet and Swaps Pass at 6,724 feet. That is the low country of the hunt area — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Reaching the edge of one before light beats reaching its middle at noon.

Water: Wayland Hot Springs, Dry Creek Spring and Pine Corral Spring

Named sources include Wayland Hot Springs, Dry Creek Spring, Pine Corral Spring, Heart Mountain Spring, Pea̱i̱ Paatetsopa̱i̱’i and Ninety Percent Spring. 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 70-1 runs from 4,523 feet to 9,255 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.

Unit E70-1 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Bonneville Peak (9,255 ft), Oxford Peak (9,238 ft), Sedgwick Peak (9,147 ft), Elkhorn Peak (9,069 ft)

Holding ground: Buckskin Basin (7,633 ft), Inkom Pass (7,622 ft), Windy Pass (7,555 ft), Wayland Hot Springs, Dry Creek 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 Elk in Hunt Area 70-1

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 70-1 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 3 controlled hunts for elk in hunt area 70-1.

Hunt 2043 — antlered elk, 25 tags, Oct 1–Oct 14. Motorized Hunting Rule Applies in Unit 73
Hunt 2044 — antlered elk, 250 tags, Oct 15–Oct 24. Motorized Hunting Rule Applies in Unit 73
Hunt 2145 — muzzleloader only elk, 125 tags, Nov 16–Nov 30 and Dec 1–Dec 31

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 70-1

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 South Putnam Mountain, Mount Putnam and Wakley Peak

Take a position on one of South Putnam Mountain (8,941 ft), Mount Putnam (8,800 ft), Wakley Peak (8,791 ft) and Deep Creek Mountains (8,737 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. Give a basin forty minutes before you decide it is empty. 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 Bonneville Peak, Oxford Peak, Sedgwick Peak and Elkhorn Peak as places to see from, and Buckskin Basin, Inkom Pass, Windy Pass and Wayland Hot Springs as ground to watch. Each pin is a named feature verified to fall inside the hunt-area line, not a spot anyone has hunted. Take the pair you can reach on one road and treat the rest as a second trip.

What a day here costs you

With 4,732 feet between the lowest and highest ground, the walk back up out of a kill site is the part to plan first. One good position held through the whole of first light beats three visited in a hurry.

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 70-1 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)	23	818	3.0%	—
Controlled — 1st Drawing either sex (nonresident)	2	100	2.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (resident)	16	502	3.0%	—
Controlled — 2nd Drawing either sex (nonresident)	1	41	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 70-1, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 2044 — residents 874 applicants for 225 tags, 26% drawn; nonresidents 180 applicants for 25 tags, 14% drawn
Hunt 2043 — residents 818 applicants for 23 tags, 3% drawn; nonresidents 100 applicants for 2 tags, 2% drawn
Hunt 2145 — residents 118 applicants for 113 tags, 96% drawn; nonresidents 24 applicants for 12 tags, 50% 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

78 named water sources inside the hunt area in our water layer, including Wayland Hot Springs, Dry Creek Spring and Pine Corral Spring. 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 4,523 to 9,255 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 2043, 2044 and 2145 (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 70-1?

Hunt Area 70-1 is drawn from units 70, 71, 72, 73, 73A and 74, in Bannock, Power, Bingham, Caribou and Franklin counties. Idaho Fish and Game describes elk hunt area 70-1 as all of Units 70, 71, 72, 73, 73A, and 74.

What is the elk success rate in hunt area 70-1?

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics cover general seasons on game management units, and hunt area 70-1 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 70-1, 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