Unit 35 Elk Hunting, Idaho
Idaho hunting unit · Sawtooth Elk Zone · 377 sq mi
General season — resident tags over the counter
Residents buy general elk tags over the counter — no draw, no points. General elk is sold by zone: Unit 35 is in the Sawtooth Elk Zone, whose A and B tags carry different seasons. 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 long odds. The zone's A tag and B tag are capped: a limited number, sold first-come, first-served.
What hunting Unit 35 is like
Unit 35 sits across the Boise, Salmon-Challis and Sawtooth national forests, with the Sawtooth Wilderness covering about a quarter of the unit. The ground runs from around 3,800 feet up to 10,700 feet, and the terrain overall is steep and broken, with mean slope near 27 degrees. This is foot-and-glass country more than horseback country in the wilderness portion, since designated wilderness is closed to motorized vehicles; hunters who want to cover ground on wheels are limited to the non-wilderness parts of the unit. Cover shifts with elevation, from conifer and sagebrush lower down to a mix of conifer, grass and meadow, and sagebrush up high, which rewards hunters willing to glass open pockets between timbered stringers.
Essentially all of the unit, about 375 square miles, is national forest or state wildlife management ground that is generally open to public hunting, which is as dependable as this unit gets — though steep terrain and wilderness travel rules still make that access anything but easy. The Wapiti fire burned about 78,000 acres toward the middle of the unit, roughly a third of its total area; hunters should check for current fire closures before heading in. This fall lands two to four years after that burn, a stretch when standing timber loss opens up glassing and new feed can pull elk into the open edges of the burn scar.
General elk tags for Unit 35 come through the Sawtooth Elk Zone, shared with Units 33, 34 and 36. Residents buy either the zone's A tag or B tag over the counter, while nonresidents apply for one specific tag, A or B, in a random draw, choosing at the time of application rather than after. Both zone tags are capped, sold first-come first-served until gone. Beyond the zone tags, two controlled muzzleloader hunts, 33-1 and 33-2, run consecutively in November, each awarded by pure random draw.
General-season elk (2026)
General elk tags are sold by zone. Unit 35 is in the Sawtooth Elk Zone (Units 33, 34, 35 and 36); a hunter chooses its A tag or its B tag, and each carries its own seasons. The windows below are the ones valid in Unit 35. Residents buy the tag over the counter; nonresident general tags are allocated by random draw.
| Season | Dates | Legal elk | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| A tag · Archery Valid area: Units 33, 34, 35 and 36 | August 30 – September 30 | Any elk | Pre-Rut Transition, Rut Onset, Primary Rut |
| B tag · Any weapon Valid area: Units 33, 34, 35 and 36 | October 15 – November 8 | Antlered only | Late Rut / Early Post-Rut, Post-Rut Recovery, Migration Transition |
A tag · Archery · August 30 – September 30
Archery season opens while bulls are still shedding velvet and holding close to the same ground they used through late summer, moving through the Pre-Rut Transition into Rut Onset and on into the Primary Rut by the season's back half. In the timber and brush of Unit 35's lower and mid elevations, sitting water sources or glassing open sagebrush and meadow pockets for a spot-and-stalk works well as bulls become more vocal and active through September. The A tag is valid for any elk and covers Units 33, 34, 35 and 36, and this is the only general season that falls inside the rut.
B tag · Any weapon · October 15 – November 8
By the time the any-weapon season opens in mid-October, the rut has wound down into the Late Rut and Early Post-Rut phase, sliding into Post-Rut Recovery and then the Migration Transition phase as November arrives. Elk begin shifting off summer range as snow builds, with October bringing light snowfall and November adding considerably more along with colder overnight lows, both of which can push animals toward lower conifer and sagebrush cover and make them easier to pattern along travel routes. The B tag is antlered-only and valid across Units 33, 34, 35 and 36, and hunters working the steep, broken country here should expect worsening travel conditions as the season closes out.
Controlled elk 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 35 is valid only in its own hunt area.
| Season | Dates | Legal elk | Resident draw | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controlled hunt 33-1 · Muzzleloader | November 10 – November 30 | Antlerless only | Long odds | Migration Transition |
| Controlled hunt 33-2 · Muzzleloader | November 10 – November 30 | Antlered only | Good odds | Migration Transition |
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 33-1 · Muzzleloader · November 10 – November 30
Hunt 33-1 runs entirely within the Migration Transition phase, when elk are shifting off higher ground as snow accumulates through November. This is an antlerless-only muzzleloader hunt, so the focus is finding cow-calf groups moving through the unit's mixed timber and sagebrush as they work toward lower elevations, using the steep terrain's natural funnels and glassing from vantage points to locate groups before closing the distance. Snowfall averages around 17 inches for the month with lows near 19°F, conditions that can concentrate animals but also make steep footing more demanding. Draw odds for resident applicants run long, so this tag is not one to count on drawing.
Controlled hunt 33-2 · Muzzleloader · November 10 – November 30
Hunt 33-2 shares its November window and its Migration Transition timing with 33-1, but this tag is antlered-only, so the game is finding bulls as they trail toward lower ground ahead of building snow. Late-season snowfall, averaging around 17 inches for the month with lows near 19°F, tends to push elk out of the highest wilderness terrain and into more accessible mid-elevation conifer and sagebrush, where glassing travel routes can pay off. Resident draw odds for this hunt run good, making it a realistic option for a muzzleloader hunter chasing a bull outside the archery rut.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 3,800–10,700 ft, typically around 6,900 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 10% gentle · 29% moderate · 55% steep · 7% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~375 sq mi
- National forests
- Boise National Forest, Salmon-Challis National Forest and Sawtooth National Forest
- Designated wilderness
- Sawtooth Wilderness (25%) — 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
- Conifer50%
- Sagebrush44%
- Grass and meadow4%
- Other cover2%
Mid elevations
- Sagebrush44%
- Conifer44%
- Grass and meadow10%
- Other cover1%
Higher elevations
- Conifer35%
- Grass and meadow35%
- Sagebrush26%
- Other cover4%
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 35. 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.
- Wapiti fire, 2024 — about 78,000 acres in the unit (32%), toward the middle of the unit.
Fire perimeters from the National Interagency Fire Center.
Land & access
About 100% of Unit 35 is public land a hunter can generally count on — National Forest and State Wildlife Management Area.
- National Forest99%
- State Wildlife Management Area<1%
- Private<1%
Fall weather
- August — highs around 76°F, lows around 44°F
- September — highs around 66°F, lows around 37°F
- October — highs around 52°F, lows around 28°F, about 2.3 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 38°F, lows around 19°F, about 17.4 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 30°F, lows around 12°F, about 35.8 in of snowfall
Unit 35 elk hunting FAQ
Can a resident buy an elk tag for Unit 35 over the counter?
Yes. Residents can buy either the Sawtooth Elk Zone's A tag or B tag over the counter with no application or draw required, as long as tags remain available since both are capped and sold first-come, first-served.
How do nonresidents get a general elk tag for Unit 35?
Nonresidents cannot simply buy a general tag; they must apply for one specific tag, either the Sawtooth Elk Zone A tag or B tag, through a random draw. The tag is chosen at the time of application, not after the draw is complete.
How hard is it to draw one of the controlled muzzleloader hunts here?
Controlled hunt 33-1, an antlerless-only November muzzleloader hunt, carries long odds for resident first-choice applicants. Controlled hunt 33-2, the antlered-only version with the same November dates, carries good odds by comparison.
Which elk zone covers Unit 35?
Unit 35 falls in the Sawtooth Elk Zone, along with Units 33, 34 and 36. General A and B tags purchased for this zone are valid across all four of those units, though the specific season windows given for Unit 35 are what apply there.
Is any of the general season during the rut in Unit 35?
The archery A tag season, running August 30 through September 30, is the only general season that overlaps the rut, spanning the Pre-Rut Transition, Rut Onset and Primary Rut phases. The B tag any-weapon season and both November controlled muzzleloader hunts fall after the rut has ended, during the Late Rut, Post-Rut Recovery and Migration Transition phases.
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.