Unit 60A Elk Hunting, Idaho
Idaho hunting unit · Island Park Elk Zone · 921 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 60A is in the Island Park Elk Zone, whose A and B tags carry different seasons. Nonresident general tags are allocated by random draw. It also has 3 controlled hunts, drawn by pure random draw with no points — resident odds from fair odds to very long odds.
What hunting Unit 60A is like
Unit 60A is gentle and rolling country, with a mean slope of just a few degrees and no steep or rugged ground to speak of. It sits in a fairly narrow elevation band, from around 4,800 feet to 6,600 feet, and the cover shifts from sagebrush, grass and a little riparian growth at the lower elevations to increasingly sagebrush- and grass-dominated ground higher up. There's no timber class in the mix here, so this is open, foot-friendly hunting where glassing and covering ground on foot are the main tools, rather than picking through dark timber or negotiating cliff bands.
About 53 percent of the unit, roughly 491 square miles, is generally open to public hunting through a mix of BLM, Idaho state endowment land and a State Wildlife Management Area. That's the only ground a hunter can plan on, since endowment land can be closed or leased on individual parcels and needs to be checked. The remaining 47 percent is private and requires written permission before stepping onto it, so a hunter working this unit needs to pay close attention to boundaries even though public access covers just over half the ground.
Unit 60A falls within the Island Park Elk Zone, alongside Units 60, 61, 62 and 62A, and general tags here are zone tags rather than unit-specific ones. Residents buy the general elk tag over the counter with no draw required, while nonresidents apply for a specific zone tag — the A tag or B tag — through a random draw, choosing which one they want at the time they apply. Beyond the general season, three controlled hunts under tag 60-2 offer additional opportunity through pure random draws with no points involved, each with its own odds band and legal animal.
General-season elk (2026)
General elk tags are sold by zone. Unit 60A is in the Island Park Elk Zone (Units 60, 60A, 61, 62 and 62A); 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 60A. 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: Island Park Zone | August 30 – September 30 | Any elk | Pre-Rut Transition, Rut Onset, Primary Rut |
A tag · Archery · August 30 – September 30
This archery season opens right as bulls are finishing the shedding of their velvet and runs through the rut onset and into the primary rut by its close. Early on, bulls tend to hold close to the open sagebrush and grass flats where they spent the summer, making it worthwhile to sit water sources or glass the gentle, rolling terrain for a stalk. As the season progresses into rut onset and primary rut, the wide-open character of this unit rewards patient glassing over calling into cover, since there's little timber to hunt blind. Any elk is legal under the A tag, and the flat, foot-friendly ground here makes covering distance between vantage points realistic for an archery hunter.
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 60A is valid only in its own hunt area.
| Season | Dates | Legal elk | Resident draw | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controlled hunt 60-2 · Any weapon | November 1 – November 15 | Antlered or antlerless | Long odds | Migration Transition |
| Controlled hunt 60-2 · Any weapon | November 15 – November 30 | Antlerless only | Fair odds | Migration Transition |
| Controlled hunt 60-2 · Any weapon | November 16 – November 30 | Antlered or antlerless | Very long 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 60-2 · Any weapon · November 1 – November 15
By the time this hunt opens, elk are well into the migration transition, shifting off summer ground as conditions change. Hunting this stretch means covering the open sagebrush and grass country on foot, glassing likely travel routes since there's no timber to funnel movement predictably. Either an antlered or antlerless elk is legal, giving a drawn hunter flexibility to fill the tag with whatever presents a good opportunity. November snowfall and cold lows can start nudging elk to move, so persistence in checking new ground pays off over the two-week season.
Controlled hunt 60-2 · Any weapon · November 15 – November 30
This hunt is antlerless-only and falls during the migration transition, when elk are shifting through the unit rather than holding in fixed patterns. A hunter filling a cow or calf tag should focus on glassing the open, gently rolling sagebrush and grass terrain from a distance, watching for groups working through as they move with the season. November brings measurable snowfall and cold lows, which can push animals toward more accessible ground, so covering open country methodically and being ready to adjust as weather shifts is the practical approach here. Fair odds in the resident draw make this one of the more attainable controlled tags for hunters wanting a realistic shot at drawing this hunt.
Controlled hunt 60-2 · Any weapon · November 16 – November 30
Running into the back half of November, this hunt overlaps the same migration transition as the other late-season hunts, with elk continuing to shift across the open country. Either an antlered or antlerless elk can be taken, so a hunter has flexibility once drawn, though the very long odds in the resident draw make this the toughest of the three controlled hunts to pull. Cold lows and steady November snowfall can concentrate movement, so glassing open sagebrush and grass flats and watching how animals respond to the weather is the practical way to hunt the closing days of the season.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,800–6,600 ft, typically around 5,300 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 98% gentle · 2% moderate · 0% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~491 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.
Lower elevations
- Other cover45%
- Sagebrush40%
- Grass and meadow12%
- Riparian3%
Mid elevations
- Sagebrush63%
- Grass and meadow28%
- Other cover9%
Higher elevations
- Sagebrush70%
- Grass and meadow28%
- Other cover1%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land.
Land & access
About 53% of Unit 60A is public land a hunter can generally count on — BLM, Idaho state endowment land and State Wildlife Management Area.
- BLM35%
- Idaho state endowment land16%
- State Wildlife Management Area3%
- Private47%
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 83°F, lows around 47°F
- September — highs around 72°F, lows around 40°F
- October — highs around 57°F, lows around 30°F, about 0.4 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 41°F, lows around 20°F, about 4.4 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 29°F, lows around 12°F, about 12.9 in of snowfall
Unit 60A elk hunting FAQ
Can a resident buy an elk tag for Unit 60A over the counter?
Yes. Residents buy the general elk tag for the Island Park Elk Zone, which covers Unit 60A, over the counter with no application or draw needed. The only choice is between the zone's A tag and B tag, each with its own season.
How do nonresidents get a general elk tag for Unit 60A?
Nonresidents cannot simply buy a general tag over the counter; they enter a random draw for the Island Park Elk Zone. When applying, the nonresident selects a specific tag, either the zone's A tag or B tag, since the choice is made at the time of application rather than after the draw.
How hard is it to draw the controlled hunts in Unit 60A?
Unit 60A's controlled hunts are all filed under hunt 60-2 and are pure random draws with no points system involved. The resident first-choice odds vary by hunt: the November 1–15 any-weapon hunt runs long odds, the November 15–30 antlerless-only hunt runs fair odds, and the November 16–30 any-weapon hunt runs very long odds.
Which elk zone and tags cover Unit 60A?
Unit 60A is part of the Island Park Elk Zone, which also includes Units 60, 61, 62 and 62A. General tags for the zone come as an A tag or a B tag with different seasons, and only the archery A tag window applies specifically in Unit 60A for the general season.
How much of Unit 60A is public land a hunter can count on?
About 53 percent of the unit, roughly 491 square miles, is generally open to public hunting through BLM, Idaho state endowment land and a State Wildlife Management Area. The rest, about 47 percent, is private and requires written permission, and even the open endowment land can have individual parcels closed or leased.
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.