Unit 62 Elk Hunting, Idaho
Idaho hunting unit · Island Park Elk Zone · 492 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 62 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 good odds.
What hunting Unit 62 is like
Unit 62 sits in gentle and rolling country, with mean slope of only about 5.4 degrees and the overwhelming majority of the ground classed as gentle terrain. Elevations run from around 4,900 feet up to 7,200 feet, and the Targhee National Forest anchors much of the public ground. This is not a place that demands technical mountaineering to get an elk; it rewards hunters willing to cover flat-to-rolling ground on foot and glass patiently rather than climb into rugged basins, because there simply isn't much rugged basin to climb into.
Only about 24 percent of the unit, roughly 118 square miles, is generally open to public hunting across National Forest, BLM and Idaho state endowment land, and even the endowment parcels can be posted closed or leased at any given time. The remaining 76 percent is private and requires written permission to access. That split means the terrain numbers can be misleading — a hunter can't assume they can move freely across the unit just because the ground is gentle; legal access, not physical difficulty, is what limits where a hunt actually happens here.
Tags in Unit 62 run through the Island Park Elk Zone for general season, alongside a set of controlled hunts drawn independently. Residents buy the zone's general tag over the counter, while nonresidents apply for a specific zone tag in a random draw at the time of application. The controlled hunts add antlerless-only and later either-sex opportunity once the general archery season closes, giving the unit a layered season structure from late summer through mid-November.
General-season elk (2026)
General elk tags are sold by zone. Unit 62 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 62. 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
Archery season opens right as bulls are finishing the transition out of velvet and pushes through the rut onset and into the primary rut by month's end. Early on, bulls are still tied loosely to their summer haunts, which makes sitting water sources or glassing open, gently rolling terrain for a spot-and-stalk a sound approach in this unit's mostly gentle country. The A tag covers any elk taken with archery gear across the Island Park Zone's portion that falls in Unit 62, so a hunter can fill the tag on a bull or a cow during this stretch. Because so much of the unit is private, success leans heavily on knowing which blocks of National Forest or open state ground are actually accessible before the season starts.
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 62 is valid only in its own hunt area.
| Season | Dates | Legal elk | Resident draw | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controlled hunt 62-1 · Any weapon | October 15 – November 14 | Antlerless only | Good odds | Late Rut / Early Post-Rut, Post-Rut Recovery, Migration Transition |
| Controlled hunt 62-1X · Any weapon Extra antlerless tag; Private land only | October 15 – November 14 | Antlerless only | Good odds | Late Rut / Early Post-Rut, Post-Rut Recovery, Migration Transition |
| Controlled hunt 62-1 · Any weapon | November 1 – November 14 | Antlered or antlerless | — | 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 62-1 · Any weapon · October 15 – November 14
This hunt runs from the tail end of the rut through post-rut recovery and into the migration transition, and it's an antlerless-only tag, so the focus here is simply locating cow and calf groups rather than reading any bull sign. Cooler, snowier weather builds through the period, with modest October snowfall giving way to a heavier November total, and that later-season snow can start pushing animals toward lower ground as the migration transition phase sets in. Hunting the gentle, open terrain typical of this unit favors covering ground on foot and glassing rather than technical stalking. Access remains the real variable, since the antlerless opportunity only matters on the roughly quarter of the unit that's dependably open to public hunting; residents drawing this hunt face good odds as a first choice.
Controlled hunt 62-1X · Any weapon · October 15 – November 14
Like the neighboring antlerless hunt, this tag spans the late rut, post-rut recovery, and migration transition phases, but it's restricted to private land only and is an extra antlerless tag layered onto the unit's controlled-hunt structure. A hunter drawing this tag needs written permission on private ground beforehand, since none of the public land here counts toward it. The same October-to-November snowfall pattern applies, and increasing snow into November can encourage animals to start shifting range as the migration transition phase takes hold. Resident applicants face good odds on this hunt as a first choice, but the private-land-only condition means success depends entirely on lining up access ahead of time.
Controlled hunt 62-1 · Any weapon · November 1 – November 14
By the time this final controlled hunt opens, elk are deep into the migration transition phase, and the either-sex legal status makes it the only chance in Unit 62's controlled-hunt lineup to take a bull outside archery season. November snowfall is heavier here, with lows dropping into the upper teens, and that weather can be the difference-maker in pushing elk out of the gentle, open terrain and toward lower ground where hunters can intercept movement. With the season running just two weeks, hunters need to move efficiently across whatever public ground is accessible, since the unit's private-land majority still limits where this either-sex opportunity can actually be pursued.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,900–7,200 ft, typically around 5,800 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 87% gentle · 10% moderate · 3% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~118 sq mi
- National forests
- 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.
Across the unit
- Other cover54%
- Conifer23%
- Sagebrush18%
- Riparian3%
- Aspen2%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land.
Land & access
About 24% of Unit 62 is public land a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, BLM and Idaho state endowment land.
- National Forest22%
- BLM2%
- Idaho state endowment land<1%
- Private76%
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 80°F, lows around 45°F
- September — highs around 70°F, lows around 38°F
- October — highs around 55°F, lows around 29°F, about 0.8 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 40°F, lows around 19°F, about 8.2 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 29°F, lows around 11°F, about 17.6 in of snowfall
Unit 62 elk hunting FAQ
Can a resident buy an elk tag for Unit 62 over the counter?
Yes, residents purchase the Island Park Elk Zone's general A tag over the counter with no application or draw required. That archery-only tag runs August 30 through September 30 and allows any elk. Nonresidents do not have this over-the-counter option and must go through a random draw instead.
How do nonresidents get a general elk tag for Unit 62?
Nonresidents enter a random draw and must apply for a specific zone tag, in this case the Island Park Elk Zone's A tag, at the time they submit their application. The tag choice is locked in when applying, not selected afterward. There is no point system involved since Idaho does not use preference or bonus points for elk.
How hard are the controlled hunts in Unit 62 to draw?
Controlled hunt 62-1 and Controlled hunt 62-1X, both antlerless-only hunts running October 15 through November 14, carry good odds for resident first-choice applicants. These are pure random draws with a limited number of tags, and first choices are drawn before second choices. No specific odds band is listed for the later either-sex hunt running November 1 through 14.
Which elk zone covers Unit 62?
Unit 62 falls within the Island Park Elk Zone, which also covers Units 60, 60A, 61 and 62A. General season tags are sold by zone rather than by individual unit, and the zone's A and B tags carry different seasons and weapons. Only the A tag's archery window applies to Unit 62 in the general season.
How much of Unit 62 is public land a hunter can count on?
About 24 percent of the unit, roughly 118 square miles, is generally open to public hunting through National Forest, BLM and Idaho state endowment land. The remaining 76 percent is private and requires written permission. Even the endowment parcels can be posted closed or leased, so that 24 percent figure is the only reliable planning number, not a guarantee of open access everywhere within 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.