Unit 26 Deer Hunting, Idaho
Idaho hunting unit · 596 sq mi
General season — resident tags over the counter
Residents buy general deer tags over the counter — no draw, no points. Nonresident general tags are allocated by random draw. It also has 1 controlled hunt, drawn by pure random draw with no points — resident odds good odds.
What hunting Unit 26 is like
Unit 26 is big, steep and broken country, dropping from around 3,400 feet at its low point to peaks near 9,500 feet, with a mean slope over 26 degrees and more than half the ground classed as steep. The Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness covers about 89% of the unit, and pieces of both the Payette and Salmon-Challis National Forests fall inside its boundary. Because the wilderness is closed to motorized travel, most of this is foot-and-horse country: hunters willing to get well off any road have a lot of ground to work with, and glassing from a good vantage is often the most efficient way to locate deer before committing to a climb. Cover shifts with elevation, from sagebrush-dominated lower slopes to a mix of conifer, sagebrush and grass and meadow higher up, giving deer plenty of places to bed out of sight.
Almost the entire unit, about 99%, is generally open to public hunting through National Forest and Idaho state endowment land, though endowment parcels can be posted closed or leased and should be treated as conditional rather than guaranteed. Four wildfires have burned pieces of the unit in recent years: the Logan fire (2024) on the northwest side, the Rush fire (2025) on the east side, and the Rush Creek fire (2021) and Porphyry fire (2020), both five to eight years out now, on the southeast and northwest sides respectively. Each burn changes how deer use that ground differently depending on its age, and hunters should check for current fire closures before heading in.
Deer here are covered by two general tags. Residents buy either the regular deer tag or the white-tailed deer tag over the counter with no draw, while nonresidents apply for one of those two specific tags in a random draw at the time they apply. A single controlled hunt, Hunt 26, adds a late-season option for hunters willing to enter the draw for a shot at the rut.
General-season deer (2026)
The Regular Deer tag is valid for mule deer or white-tailed deer unless a season says otherwise; the White-tailed Deer tag is white-tailed deer only. Residents buy general deer tags over the counter; nonresident general tags are allocated by random draw.
| Season | Dates | Legal deer | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular deer tag · Any weapon | September 15 – October 31 | Antlered | Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition, Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase, Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging |
| White-tailed deer tag · Any weapon | September 15 – November 18 | Antlered or antlerless | Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition, Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase, Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging, Primary Rut |
Regular deer tag · Any weapon · September 15 – October 31
This early-fall hunt runs through the velvet shed and early fall transition, into the nocturnal buck phase, and on toward the migration corridor staging that begins in late October. Bucks settle into a predictable morning-feed, midday-bed pattern early on, which makes glassing shady pockets and north-facing slopes at first light the most reliable way to find a buck and mark where he lies down before still-hunting or stalking him at midday. As October wears on bucks grow steadily more nocturnal and tend to stay near their summer ground, so a buck that seems to vanish is usually still tucked into a nearby crevice or draw rather than gone. By the tail end of the month some deer start drifting toward their rutting range, so working the country between summer ground and the rut area can pay off. The tag is valid for antlered deer only, and covers either mule deer or white-tailed deer across the unit's steep, timbered and sage-covered terrain.
White-tailed deer tag · Any weapon · September 15 – November 18
Running longer than the regular season, this hunt carries through the same early fall pattern of bucks feeding into the morning and bedding shady pockets, then into the nocturnal, hard-to-catch phase of October, and finally into the primary rut in November. Early on the approach is the same glass-and-stalk game worked around north-facing slopes and shaded draws, watching for bucks that disappear into nearby cover rather than leaving the area. Once the rut arrives, incoming weather can push deer down out of the high country onto ground that is easier to glass and reach, and fresh snow is a good time to cut fresh buck tracks; finding does is often the fastest way to find a rutting buck. Because this tag allows antlered or antlerless white-tailed deer, hunters can capitalize on the long season and the rut push to fill either kind of tag before it closes on November 18.
Controlled deer hunts (2026)
Controlled hunts have a limited number of tags and are drawn by pure random draw — Idaho uses no points, so years of applying do not improve the odds. First choices are drawn before second choices. A hunt marked as covering part of Unit 26 is valid only in its own hunt area.
| Season | Dates | Legal deer | Resident draw | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controlled hunt 26 · Any weapon | November 1 – November 18 | Antlered only | Good odds | Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging, Primary Rut |
Resident draw is a band in words from the 2026 first-choice results: good, fair, long or very long odds. It is not a published percentage, and nonresident odds differ. Youth-only hunts are shown without a band.
Controlled hunt 26 · Any weapon · November 1 – November 18
Falling entirely in the late migration staging period and the primary rut, this drawn hunt puts hunters in the unit when buck movement is at its most concentrated. Deer are still shifting toward rutting ground into early November, and once the rut takes hold, incoming weather can push animals down out of the high country onto more open, glassable ground — a good reason to keep glass up early and late in the day and to watch for tracks after a fresh snow. Finding does is usually the key, since bucks travel with or near them through this stretch. Only thirteen nonresident tags are available and residents draw at good odds for Hunt 26, with an antlered-only limit for whoever draws.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 3,400–9,500 ft, typically around 7,100 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 8% gentle · 31% moderate · 57% steep · 5% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~593 sq mi
- National forests
- Payette National Forest and Salmon-Challis National Forest
- Designated wilderness
- Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness (89%) — closed to motorized vehicles
Habitat & cover
What grows here, by elevation. Each band adds to 100% on its own — these are shares of that band, not of the unit.
Lower elevations
- Sagebrush60%
- Conifer32%
- Grass and meadow8%
Mid elevations
- Conifer49%
- Sagebrush40%
- Grass and meadow11%
Higher elevations
- Conifer44%
- Sagebrush38%
- Grass and meadow17%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land.
Recent fires
Wildfires in the last several seasons that burned a meaningful share of Unit 26. Fire perimeters show where a fire burned, not how hot — and closures change through the year, so check current fire closures and restrictions before you go.
- Logan fire, 2024 — about 16,000 acres in the unit (4%), mostly on its northwest side.
- Rush fire, 2025 — about 7,800 acres in the unit (2%), mostly on its east side.
- Rush Creek fire, 2021 — about 7,700 acres in the unit (2%), mostly on its southeast side.
- Porphyry fire, 2020 — about 6,000 acres in the unit (2%), mostly on its northwest side.
Fire perimeters from the National Interagency Fire Center.
Land & access
About 99% of Unit 26 is public land a hunter can generally count on — National Forest and Idaho state endowment land.
- National Forest99%
- Idaho state endowment land<1%
- Private<1%
Idaho state endowment land is generally open to hunting unless posted closed or leased — check the parcel before planning around it.
Fall weather
- August — highs around 73°F, lows around 40°F
- September — highs around 63°F, lows around 34°F, about 0.2 in of snowfall
- October — highs around 49°F, lows around 26°F, about 3.1 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 36°F, lows around 17°F, about 16.2 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 29°F, lows around 10°F, about 30.7 in of snowfall
Unit 26 deer hunting FAQ
Can a resident buy a deer tag for Unit 26 over the counter?
Yes. Residents can buy either the regular deer tag or the white-tailed deer tag over the counter with no draw required. Both tags have their own season dates and legal-animal rules that apply once purchased.
How do nonresidents get a general tag in Unit 26?
Nonresidents go through a random draw for a general tag, but they must choose which specific tag they want, either the regular deer tag or the white-tailed deer tag, at the time they apply. The tag is picked when applying, not after the draw is complete.
How hard is it to draw Controlled hunt 26?
Resident applicants draw Hunt 26 at good odds, and the hunt carries a limit of thirteen nonresident tags. It is a pure random draw with no points involved, since Idaho does not use a points system for deer.
Which deer tags work in Unit 26 and what can each one take?
The regular deer tag is valid for mule deer or white-tailed deer but is antlered-only during its September 15 to October 31 season. The white-tailed deer tag runs longer, through November 18, and allows either antlered or antlerless white-tailed deer.
Which Unit 26 season falls during the rut?
The white-tailed deer tag season and Controlled hunt 26 both run into the primary rut in November, while the regular deer tag season closes on October 31 before the rut gets underway. Hunters wanting to catch bucks actively rutting should look at those two later seasons.
Data sources & methodology
- Idaho Fish and Game — Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons & Rules — general and controlled season dates, legal animals and the brochure's unit notes
- Idaho Fish and Game — Idaho Hunt Planner — unit boundaries, the national forests and wilderness areas in each unit, and controlled-hunt drawing results behind the odds bands
- Idaho Fish and Game — 2026 Nonresident General Tags and Tags Allocated to Outfitters — which general elk zone tags are capped
- USGS / MRLC — National Land Cover Database — habitat and cover classes by elevation band
- USGS PAD-US — Protected Areas Database of the United States — land ownership and access
- Daymet daily climate, 1991–2020 (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) — fall weather
- National Interagency Fire Center — wildfire perimeters — recent fires, their size and where they burned
Controlled-hunt draw difficulty is a qualitative band from resident first-choice results, not published odds. Land shares are separate, non-overlapping categories. Confirm current dates and rules in the Idaho Big Game Seasons & Rules brochure before you hunt. Unit data last updated September 29, 2026.