Unit 78 Deer Hunting, Idaho
Idaho hunting unit · 245 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 4 controlled hunts, drawn by pure random draw with no points — resident odds from good odds to long odds.
What hunting Unit 78 is like
Unit 78 is rolling to moderately steep country running from around 5,900 feet up to 9,600 feet, with most of the ground sitting in the moderate-slope range rather than anything truly rugged. Lower elevations open up into sagebrush flats with pockets of conifer, riparian strips and aspen, while the mid and upper country trades much of that sagebrush for conifer timber mixed with aspen stands and a bit of grass and meadow near the top. It is foot-hunting country for the most part — glassing from vantage points and working the timber-sagebrush edges is the practical way to find deer, and the terrain rewards patience over horsepower.
About 72 percent of the unit, roughly 177 square miles, is generally open to public hunting across National Forest, BLM and Idaho state endowment land, including ground within the Caribou National Forest. That is the only share a hunter can really plan around, since endowment parcels can be posted closed or leased even though they are generally open. The remaining 28 percent is private and requires written permission. Designated wilderness within the unit is closed to motorized travel, which matters for anyone leaning on the Motorized Hunting Rule seasons to cover ground.
Residents can buy a general regular deer tag over the counter for the archery season with no draw involved. Nonresidents get into the general season through a random draw in which they apply for either the regular deer tag or the white-tailed deer tag as a specific choice when applying, not after the fact. Beyond that, three controlled hunts in Unit 78 offer additional archery, muzzleloader and any-weapon opportunity for antlered deer, plus a very limited controlled antlerless hunt for white-tailed deer that spans this unit and a neighboring one.
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 · Archery · August 30 – September 30
Archery season here opens while bucks are still working through summer patterns, bachelored up and holding close to where they spent the summer, before shifting into the velvet-shed transition by month's end. Summer scouting pays off more than anything else in this unit — glass at first light to find a buck, mark where he beds for the day, then close the distance at midday while he's down. Bucks lean on forbs and browse and don't need much water, so a small seep or a rain-soaked draw can hold a buck as well as any obvious water source; shady pockets and north-facing slopes in the timber and sagebrush edges are worth glassing hard. Evenings are often better spent watching a buck to full dark and returning the next morning than forcing a stalk. Once velvet sheds late in the season the routine holds, though bucks may bed earlier and stay down longer, so a buck that seems to vanish is usually still tucked into a nearby crevice or draw. Residents can fill this with an over-the-counter regular deer tag good for antlered deer only, taken under the Motorized Hunting Rule.
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 78 is valid only in its own hunt area.
| Season | Dates | Legal deer | Resident draw | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controlled hunt 78 · Archery Archery only; Motorized Hunting Rule Applies | August 30 – September 30 | Antlered only | Long odds | Summer Range / Bachelor Pattern, Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition |
| Controlled hunt 66A-1X · Any weapon Extra antlerless tag; White-tailed deer only, Very limited access; 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 78 · Muzzleloader Motorized Hunting Rule Applies | October 1 – October 9 | Antlered only | Good odds | Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase |
| Controlled hunt 78 · Any weapon Motorized Hunting Rule Applies | October 10 – October 31 | Antlered only | Long odds | Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase, Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging |
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 78 · Archery · August 30 – September 30
This archery-only controlled hunt runs the same calendar as the general archery season, spanning the summer bachelor pattern into the early velvet-shed transition, and it rewards the same approach. Bucks are still tied to summer ground, feeding into the morning on forbs and browse before bedding through the heat of the day in shade or on north-facing slopes, so early glassing to locate a buck and watching him into his bed sets up a midday stalk. Water is rarely the key since a buck can get by on very little, but evenings are worth glassing to pattern a buck for either a stalk or a return trip at first light. Once velvet drops late in the season the pattern holds, with bucks sometimes bedding earlier and staying down until dark, so persistence in checking the small folds of ground near known summer haunts pays off. The tag is antlered deer only, taken under the Motorized Hunting Rule, and Unit 78's resident draw odds for this hunt run long, so it is worth entering without counting on it as the only plan for the fall.
Controlled hunt 66A-1X · Any weapon · October 1 – November 30
This long any-weapon controlled hunt for antlerless white-tailed deer runs from the nocturnal buck phase of early October clear through the pre-rut staging period and into the primary rut and the late-rut winter consolidation, giving an antlerless hunter a wide window to work with. Early snowfall is light but November brings real accumulation and colder lows, both of which can push deer to lower ground and concentrate them, so paying attention to elevation and cover as the season progresses is worth more than any single tactic. Access is very limited and this tag is shared across this unit and a neighboring one, so a hunter should expect to cover ground to find open pockets of huntable habitat rather than count on easy entry. The tag fills with a white-tailed doe or fawn only, and Unit 78's resident draw odds for this hunt run good, making it one of the more attainable controlled tags here for someone specifically after an antlerless white-tail.
Controlled hunt 78 · Muzzleloader · October 1 – October 9
Muzzleloader hunters draw into a short early-October window that falls squarely in the nocturnal buck phase, when bucks are growing harder to catch moving in daylight but are still largely holding on or near their summer range. That makes the same summer haunts worth checking first, working the sagebrush-timber edges and glassing points where bucks were seen bedding earlier in the fall, since a buck that has gone quiet by day is often just bedding tighter rather than having moved far. Light early-season snowfall can move deer slightly but is unlikely to trigger any real shift in location yet. The tag is antlered deer only, hunted under the Motorized Hunting Rule, and Unit 78's resident draw odds for this hunt run good, making it one of the more accessible controlled tags in the unit for a hunter set on a muzzleloader.
Controlled hunt 78 · Any weapon · October 10 – October 31
Running from mid-October into the end of the month, this any-weapon controlled hunt covers the tail end of the nocturnal buck phase and slides into the early pre-rut staging period, when bucks that have been holding tight on summer ground start drifting toward the country they'll use during the rut. That shift makes it worth glassing the terrain between known summer haunts and likely rutting ground rather than sticking to one spot, since a buck may already be on the move by the back half of the season. Bucks remain hard to catch in daylight early on, so first-light and last-light glassing still carries the hunt. The tag is antlered deer only, hunted under the Motorized Hunting Rule, and Unit 78's resident draw odds for this hunt run long, so it is best treated as a bonus opportunity rather than a sure thing.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 5,900–9,600 ft, typically around 7,400 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 40% gentle · 50% moderate · 10% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~177 sq mi
- National forests
- Caribou 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
- Sagebrush65%
- Other cover18%
- Conifer10%
- Riparian4%
- Aspen3%
Mid elevations
- Conifer50%
- Sagebrush27%
- Aspen21%
- Other cover2%
Higher elevations
- Conifer56%
- Sagebrush25%
- Aspen15%
- Grass and meadow2%
- Other cover2%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land.
Land & access
About 72% of Unit 78 is public land a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, BLM and Idaho state endowment land.
- National Forest68%
- BLM3%
- Idaho state endowment land1%
- Private28%
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 76°F, lows around 48°F
- September — highs around 66°F, lows around 40°F
- October — highs around 52°F, lows around 30°F, about 1.8 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 39°F, lows around 20°F, about 14.2 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 30°F, lows around 13°F, about 26.3 in of snowfall
Unit 78 deer hunting FAQ
Can a resident buy a deer tag for Unit 78 over the counter?
Yes. A resident can buy a general regular deer tag over the counter for the archery season without applying for a draw. Controlled hunts in Unit 78, by contrast, still require entering the random draw even for residents.
How do nonresidents get a general tag in Unit 78?
Nonresidents enter a random draw for the general season, and they 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 not selected after the draw; it is part of the application itself.
How hard are the controlled hunts in Unit 78 to draw?
It varies by hunt: the resident draw runs long odds for both the archery controlled hunt and the October 10-31 any-weapon controlled hunt, while the muzzleloader controlled hunt and the antlerless white-tailed hunt run good odds. None of these are guaranteed, since all controlled hunts here are decided by a pure random draw with a limited number of tags.
Which deer tags are valid in Unit 78?
The regular deer tag covers either mule deer or white-tailed deer unless a specific season restricts it further, while the white-tailed deer tag is valid for white-tailed deer only. Several of the controlled hunts in Unit 78 restrict the legal animal further, down to antlered-only or antlerless-only depending on the hunt.
Which Unit 78 season falls during the rut?
The controlled hunt 66A-1X any-weapon antlerless season, running October 1 through November 30, is the only Unit 78 season that spans the primary rut, which falls November 11-25. The general archery season and the three antlered controlled hunts all fall before the rut begins.
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.