Unit M29 (Moose Hunt Area 29)

Idaho Hunting Guide — Moose

Hunt Area 29 is drawn from units 29, 30, 30A, 37, 37A and 58, in Lemhi, Custer, Butte, Clark and Jefferson counties. Named ground inside it runs from 3,917 to 12,631 feet. Idaho Fish and Game publishes no per-unit Shiras moose 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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Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Idaho Unit M29 guide around your hunt: three ranked spots with morning, afternoon and evening plays, a day-by-day plan, topo maps with every pin numbered, a camp and access plan, the legal and retrieval rules for this unit, shot discipline, a meat-care and pack-out plan, and a pre-trip checklist. Every coordinate sits on land recorded as public.

Moose guide

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Moose Hunting in Unit M29

Where to Find Shiras Moose in Hunt Area 29

Idaho Fish and Game's material on hunt area 29 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its Shiras moose live. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's.

What hunt area 29 is

Idaho Fish and Game describes moose hunt area 29 as all of Units 29, 30, 30A, 37, 37A, and 58. 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 Lemhi, Custer, Butte, Clark and Jefferson counties. Idaho Fish and Game also uses the code 29 for elk hunts, and in its own words "hunt areas are different for each species" — those are other pieces of ground, and this page is the moose area.

High ground inside the line: Borah Peak, Lost River Range and Leatherman Peak

Named high points inside the hunt area include Borah Peak at 12,631 feet, Lost River Range at 12,619 feet, Leatherman Peak at 12,197 feet, Diamond Peak at 12,158 feet and Big Creek Peak at 11,313 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Moose want willow, water and shade, and they rarely leave the drainage that has all three.

Holding ground: Coons Canyon, Wino Basin and Milo Canyon

Below them sit Coons Canyon at 8,419 feet, Wino Basin at 8,346 feet, Milo Canyon at 8,234 feet, Horseshoe Gulch at 8,103 feet and Quartzite Canyon at 8,038 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Pick the one with the least road on its upwind side.

Water: Hodges Spring, Slaughterhouse Spring and Allhands Spring

Named sources include Hodges Spring, Slaughterhouse Spring, Allhands Spring, Rigger Spring, Sawmill Gulch Spring and Sharkey Hot 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 29 runs from 3,917 feet to 12,631 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.

Unit M29 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Leatherman Peak (12,197 ft), Diamond Peak (12,158 ft), Big Creek Peak (11,313 ft)

Holding ground: Leatherman Pass (10,509 ft), Timber Creek Pass (9,327 ft), Goldstone Pass (9,097 ft), Hodges Spring, Slaughterhouse Spring, Rigger 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 Shiras Moose in Hunt Area 29

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics describe general seasons on game management units, so there is no Shiras moose success figure we can tie to hunt area 29 alone, and we won't borrow one from a unit. The plan: walk the willow bottoms slowly at first and last light and look for fresh browse before you look for the animal.

The 2025 and 2026 controlled hunts

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 and 2026 rules list one controlled hunt for Shiras moose in hunt area 29.

Hunt 3050 — 8 tags, Aug 30–Nov 23

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 29

Idaho Fish and Game takes moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat applications together, and anyone who applies for one of the three may not apply for another big game controlled hunt in the same year's first drawing, apart from the unlimited, extra, black bear and depredation hunts IDFG names. A hunter drawn for moose may not apply for a moose tag again for two years except for leftovers, and IDFG allows one antlered and one antlerless moose per hunter in a lifetime. Two hunters may apply together on one application. Idaho's draw is random, with no preference or bonus points to build.

Glassing from Lemhi Range, Italian Peak and Lem Peak

Take a position on one of Lemhi Range (10,998 ft), Italian Peak (10,961 ft), Lem Peak (10,959 ft) and Yellow Peak (10,947 ft) and be on it before light. Work the morning with the air falling away from you, then accept that by mid-morning the wind has reversed and the plan has to change with it. Glass the edges first, then the shaded timber, then the edges again as the light goes. On the rut hunts, late September bulls answer a cow call near water.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Leatherman Peak, Diamond Peak and Big Creek Peak as places to see from, and Leatherman Pass, Timber Creek Pass, Goldstone Pass and Hodges Spring 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 8,714 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 Shiras moose 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.

Moose: where to put the shot

Broadside, behind the shoulder and a third up. Moose look slow to react — the first shot has to count.

Shots to refuse

Where it falls decides your next two days. Avoid shots that drop a moose in water or a bog.
A .30-06 class cartridge minimum, with a bullet built for heavy bone.

Plan the carry: roughly 350– 500 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — four or more large coolers, or a processor. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Moose Success Rates

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics describe general seasons on game management units, and hunt area 29 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.

Moose Draw Odds

Draw odds data not available for this specific unit/species combination in our database.

Search Idaho Draw Odds

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 first drawing for Shiras moose in hunt area 29, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 3050 — residents 84 applicants for 7 tags, 8% drawn; nonresidents 20 applicants for 1 tag, 5% 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

27 named water sources inside the hunt area in our water layer, including Hodges Spring, Slaughterhouse Spring and Allhands 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 3,917 to 12,631 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 hunt 3050 (2025 and 2026 rules). Moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat applications run April 1 to 30. Idaho's draw is random, with no preference or bonus points.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Idaho hunt area 29?

Hunt Area 29 is drawn from units 29, 30, 30A, 37, 37A and 58, in Lemhi, Custer, Butte, Clark and Jefferson counties. Idaho Fish and Game describes moose hunt area 29 as all of Units 29, 30, 30A, 37, 37A, and 58.

What is the Shiras moose success rate in hunt area 29?

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics cover general seasons on game management units, and hunt area 29 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.

Moose, Bighorn Sheep & Mountain Goat 2025 & 2026 Seasons & Rules — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Controlled hunt area description for moose hunt area 29, 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