Unit 66A Deer Hunting, Idaho
Idaho hunting unit · 268 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 2 controlled hunts, drawn by pure random draw with no points — resident odds from good odds to very long odds.
What hunting Unit 66A is like
Unit 66A is rolling to moderately steep country ranging from about 5,600 feet up to 9,800 feet, with most of the ground falling into gentle to moderate slopes rather than anything truly rugged. Cover shifts with elevation: lower ground mixes riparian corridors, sagebrush and some conifer with a little aspen, mid elevations lean heavily conifer and sagebrush, and the highest country is mostly timber with sagebrush openings and small pockets of grass and meadow. Much of the hunting here is on foot, working timbered slopes and glassing open sagebrush benches and drainages to pattern deer moving between cover types.
About 68 percent of the unit, roughly 183 square miles, is generally open to public hunting across National Forest ground including Caribou National Forest and Targhee National Forest, along with Idaho state endowment land and BLM parcels; state endowment land is open unless posted closed or leased, and hunters should treat individual parcel status as something to check rather than assume. Private land makes up close to 29 percent of the unit and requires written permission, while a small unclassified share rounds out the remainder. Public ownership is real and substantial here, but reaching it and hunting it well still takes legwork rather than being a sure thing.
General season hunters carry either an archery or any-weapon regular deer tag depending on the time of year, both restricted to antlered deer and both bought over the counter by residents; nonresidents apply for a specific tag through a random draw and choose the regular deer tag or the white-tailed deer tag when they apply, not afterward. Beyond the general seasons, two controlled hunts add options timed around the November rut, one an antlerless white-tailed deer hunt with good resident draw odds and very limited access, the other an any-weapon buck hunt with very long resident draw odds.
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 · Archery Motorized Hunting Rule Applies | August 30 – September 30 | Antlered | Summer Range / Bachelor Pattern, Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition |
| Regular deer tag · Any weapon Motorized Hunting Rule Applies | October 10 – October 24 | Antlered | Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase |
Regular deer tag · Archery · August 30 – September 30
Early in the archery season, bucks are still in velvet and holding in small bachelor groups on their summer range, feeding heavily on forbs and browse. Glassing at first light to locate a buck and mark his bedding area, then closing the distance during the middle of the day while he's bedded, is the most effective approach in this rolling to moderately steep country, and a disappearing buck is often still tucked into a nearby draw or crevice. Water is not the key it might seem — a mature buck can get by on very little, so time spent watching shaded pockets and north-facing slopes on the sagebrush and timber benches tends to pay off better. Once velvet sheds later in the month, bucks keep similar habits but tend to bed earlier and stay down longer, so the same glass-and-stalk pattern from summer scouting still holds through the close of the season. Only antlered deer are legal, and the tag is bought over the counter by residents or drawn by nonresidents who applied for it specifically.
Regular deer tag · Any weapon · October 10 – October 24
By this stretch of October, bucks are sliding into a more nocturnal pattern, moving less in daylight but generally still holding near the same ground they used through summer. That makes the timbered mid and lower elevations, and the sagebrush edges where they've been bedding, worth still hunting quietly and glassing hard at first and last light rather than covering a lot of country. Light early-season snowfall and cooling lows can start nudging deer around, but there's no migration or rut activity yet to change the pattern. The tag is antlered only, filled over the counter by residents or through the nonresident draw for hunters who applied for this specific tag.
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 66A is valid only in its own hunt area.
| Season | Dates | Legal deer | Resident draw | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controlled hunt 66A-1X · Any weapon Extra antlerless tag; White-tailed deer only, Very limited access; Motorized Hunting Rule Applies in Units 66A, 73, 75, 76; 77 and 78 | October 1 – November 30 | Antlerless only | Good odds | Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase, Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging, Primary Rut, Late Rut / Winter Consolidation |
| Controlled hunt 66A · Any weapon Motorized Hunting Rule Applies | October 10 – November 30 | Antlered only | Very long odds | Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase, Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging, Primary Rut, Late Rut / Winter Consolidation |
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 66A-1X · Any weapon · October 1 – November 30
This long antlerless season runs from the tail end of summer patterns through the pre-rut, the rut, and into winter consolidation, giving a hunter a wide window to fill a doe or fawn white-tailed deer tag. Access is the defining feature of this hunt — it's described as very limited, so scouting ahead for a way onto huntable ground, whether National Forest, BLM, or state endowment land generally open to hunting, matters as much as anything else. October brings light snowfall and cool nights, while November turns colder and considerably snowier, which can concentrate deer onto lower, more accessible ground as the season wears on. The tag is antlerless only and restricted to white-tailed deer, with the motorized hunting rule in effect across this unit and several neighboring ones.
Controlled hunt 66A · Any weapon · October 10 – November 30
This controlled hunt opens with bucks still shaking off their nocturnal October pattern near their summer range, then carries through the shift toward rutting ground and into the heart of the rut itself in November. Glassing the country between summer range and likely rutting areas pays off late in October, and once November arrives, finding does in the sagebrush and timber mix is the surest way to find bucks, since they'll be with or near them. Weather moving through in November — and this unit can see substantial snowfall that month — often pushes deer down out of the highest timber onto lower, more open, more glassable ground, and fresh snow is a good time to cut buck tracks. Only antlered bucks are legal, tags are limited and resident odds run very long, with the motorized hunting rule in effect for the entire season.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 5,600–9,800 ft, typically around 6,800 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 43% gentle · 47% moderate · 10% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~183 sq mi
- National forests
- Caribou National Forest and Targhee National Forest
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
- Riparian42%
- Sagebrush29%
- Conifer20%
- Other cover6%
- Aspen2%
Mid elevations
- Conifer54%
- Sagebrush37%
- Aspen7%
- Other cover1%
Higher elevations
- Conifer62%
- Sagebrush31%
- Aspen4%
- Grass and meadow3%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land.
Land & access
About 68% of Unit 66A is public land a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, Idaho state endowment land and BLM.
- National Forest66%
- Idaho state endowment land2%
- BLM<1%
- Unclassified ownership2%
- Private29%
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 78°F, lows around 47°F
- September — highs around 68°F, lows around 39°F
- October — highs around 53°F, lows around 30°F, about 1.1 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 39°F, lows around 20°F, about 10.6 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 30°F, lows around 12°F, about 21 in of snowfall
Unit 66A deer hunting FAQ
Can a resident buy a deer tag for Unit 66A over the counter?
Yes. Residents can buy either the regular deer tag or the white-tailed deer tag over the counter for the general archery and any-weapon seasons without applying or drawing. No points or application process are involved for residents on these general tags.
How do nonresidents get a general tag for this unit?
Nonresidents enter a random draw for a general deer tag, but they must choose the specific tag they want — either the regular deer tag or the white-tailed deer tag — at the time they apply. The tag is never chosen after the draw; it's selected up front as part of the application.
How hard are the controlled hunts in Unit 66A to draw?
Controlled hunt 66A-1X, an antlerless white-tailed deer hunt with very limited access, carries good resident first-choice odds. Controlled hunt 66A, an antlered any-weapon buck hunt, carries very long resident first-choice odds. Both are pure random draws with a limited number of tags and no points involved.
Which deer tags are valid in Unit 66A?
The regular deer tag covers either mule deer or white-tailed deer unless a specific season restricts it further, and it's used for the general archery and any-weapon seasons as well as Controlled hunt 66A. The white-tailed deer tag is valid for white-tailed deer only and is the tag required for the antlerless Controlled hunt 66A-1X.
Which Unit 66A deer seasons fall during the rut?
Controlled hunt 66A-1X and Controlled hunt 66A both run into the Primary Rut phase, which falls November 11 through November 25, as well as the late rut period after that. The general archery and any-weapon seasons close before the rut begins and don't overlap with it.
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.