Unit 68A Deer Hunting, Idaho
Idaho hunting unit · 448 sq mi
Controlled hunts only
Unit 68A has no general deer season for adults in the current data; deer hunting here is by controlled hunt. It also has 2 controlled hunts, drawn by pure random draw with no points — resident odds from good odds to long odds.
What hunting Unit 68A is like
Unit 68A is gentle and rolling ground, with mean slope of about one degree and virtually all of the country classed as gentle terrain. There is no wilderness component and nothing steep or rugged to plan around; the challenge here is less about climbing and more about finding huntable ground and getting eyes on deer across open country. Foot travel is straightforward once a hunter is standing on legal ground, since the terrain itself throws up little resistance.
That last point matters because access, not elevation gain, is what limits this unit. Only about 3.5% of Unit 68A (roughly 16 square miles) is generally open to public hunting, made up of BLM and State Wildlife Management Area land. Another small slice, under 2%, is unclassified ownership that cannot be counted as public. The remaining 95% is private, and written permission is required to hunt it, so a hunter's plan for the season has to start with where that permission or public ground actually is rather than with the terrain itself.
Deer hunting in Unit 68A runs entirely through controlled hunts rather than a general season, and there is no point system of any kind in Idaho to bank toward better odds — every draw is a fresh random draw each time. Residents apply for these controlled hunts directly; nonresidents likewise apply for a specific hunt as one of their choices when they submit their application. Two archery hunts cover the same broad date range but differ sharply in legal animal, access, and draw difficulty, so matching the right tag to the right expectation is the first decision to make before the season starts.
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 68A is valid only in its own hunt area.
| Season | Dates | Legal deer | Resident draw | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controlled hunt 68A · Archery | August 30 – December 19 | Antlered only | Good odds | Summer Range / Bachelor Pattern, Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition, Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase, Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging, Primary Rut, Late Rut / Winter Consolidation |
| Controlled hunt 68AX · Archery Extra antlerless tag; Archery only, White-tailed deer only; Very limited access | August 30 – December 19 | Antlerless only | Long odds | Summer Range / Bachelor Pattern, Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition, 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 68A · Archery · August 30 – December 19
This is the unit's general-style buck opportunity, run as an archery-only controlled hunt with good resident draw odds and a long season that stretches from late summer bachelor groups all the way through the rut into winter consolidation. Early on, bucks are still in velvet and grouped up on summer range, so the best strategy is glassing shady pockets and north-facing slopes in the gentle, rolling country to catch them bedded through the heat of the day, then closing the distance at midday while they hold tight. Through the Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition and Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase periods bucks keep similar patterns but grow harder to catch moving, becoming steadily more nocturnal through October, so scouting the same summering ground and watching evenings for a buck to relocate for a morning stalk pays off. As the calendar turns into the Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging phase, deer may start shifting toward rutting ground, and by the Primary Rut in November bucks are traveling with does, with weather pushing animals down onto more open, glassable ground; fresh snow in November or the modest snow of December can put fresh tracks on the ground worth following. Only antlered deer are legal under this tag, and the wide-open, low-relief terrain makes long-range glassing the core tactic from opening day through the late rut.
Controlled hunt 68AX · Archery · August 30 – December 19
This controlled hunt is an extra antlerless tag limited to white-tailed deer and archery equipment only, and it carries very limited access alongside long resident draw odds, so success starts with securing a place to actually hunt inside the roughly 3.5% of the unit that is dependably open or with written permission on the private ground that dominates the rest. The season runs the same long stretch as the unit's other archery hunt, from summer range and bachelor patterns through velvet shed, the early fall transition, migration, staging ahead of the rut, the primary rut in November, and on into late rut and winter consolidation in December. The gentle, rolling terrain and open cover mean movement on foot is easy once a hunter is on legal ground, but the tight access footprint is the real constraint on this hunt rather than the country itself. Snowfall stays light through November and picks up modestly in December, without changing footing or travel in this low-relief unit. Any doe or fawn white-tailed deer taken under this tag is legal, and the hunt exists specifically to add antlerless opportunity on top of the unit's buck season.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,300–4,800 ft, typically around 4,400 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 99% gentle · 1% moderate · 0% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~16 sq mi
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.
Across the unit
- Other cover74%
- Riparian19%
- Sagebrush6%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land.
Land & access
About 3% of Unit 68A is public land a hunter can generally count on — BLM and State Wildlife Management Area.
- BLM2%
- State Wildlife Management Area1%
- Unclassified ownership2%
- Private95%
Fall weather
- August — highs around 88°F, lows around 52°F
- September — highs around 77°F, lows around 43°F
- October — highs around 62°F, lows around 33°F, about 0.1 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 46°F, lows around 24°F, about 1.5 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 34°F, lows around 17°F, about 4.2 in of snowfall
Unit 68A deer hunting FAQ
Can a resident buy an over-the-counter deer tag for Unit 68A?
No. Deer hunting in Unit 68A is managed entirely through controlled hunts, so both residents and nonresidents must apply and be drawn rather than buying a tag over the counter. There is no general season tag available here.
How do nonresidents get a deer tag in Unit 68A?
Nonresidents apply through the same random draw process as residents, and they choose the specific hunt — such as the regular archery controlled hunt or the antlerless white-tailed hunt — as part of their application. The tag is selected when applying, not after the draw results are known.
How hard is it to draw a controlled hunt tag in Unit 68A?
Odds vary by hunt: the main archery buck hunt (68A) carries good resident draw odds, while the extra antlerless white-tailed hunt (68AX) carries long resident draw odds. Neither is guaranteed since both are pure random draws with a limited number of tags and no points system to improve future chances.
Which deer tags are valid in Unit 68A?
Controlled hunt 68A issues a regular deer tag valid for antlered deer only, while controlled hunt 68AX issues a tag valid only for antlerless white-tailed deer. Both are archery-only hunts covering the same broad date range from late August through mid-December.
How much of Unit 68A can a hunter count on for public access?
Only about 3.5 percent of the unit, or roughly 16 square miles, is generally open to public hunting through BLM and State Wildlife Management Area land. The remaining ground is almost entirely private (about 95 percent), meaning written permission is required for most of the unit, with a small unclassified share that cannot be counted as public.
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.