Unit 63A Elk Hunting, Idaho
Idaho hunting unit · Snake River Elk Zone · 324 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 63A is in the Snake River Elk Zone, whose A and B tags carry different seasons. Nonresident general tags are allocated by random draw.
What hunting Unit 63A is like
Unit 63A is flat, open country by Idaho elk standards — 99% of its ground is gentle and the mean slope is just 1 degree. There's no rugged escape terrain here and no wilderness to speak of, so this is a unit where elk have room to spread out across rolling ground rather than being pushed into steep pockets. Hunting it well means covering distance on foot or glassing long sightlines rather than grinding up and down mountainsides, and it favors hunters comfortable working open, low-relief country patiently.
Only about 22% of the unit (roughly 70 square miles) is generally open to public hunting, spread across BLM, a State Wildlife Management Area, and Idaho state endowment land — the endowment ground is open unless posted closed or leased, so it pays to check individual parcels rather than assume access. The remaining 78% is private and requires written permission. With access being the real limiting factor rather than terrain, a hunter needs to identify and lock down entry to that public fraction well before the season rather than counting on being able to move freely across the unit.
Elk tags here are sold through the Snake River Elk Zone, which also covers Unit 63. Residents buy general elk tags over the counter with no draw required. Nonresidents go through a random draw, but they apply for a specific tag — the zone's A or B tag — at the time of application, not after the draw. In Unit 63A, the zone's A tag is the only option, split between a summer short-range weapons season and a fall short-range weapons season with different legal animals.
General-season elk (2026)
General elk tags are sold by zone. Unit 63A is in the Snake River Elk Zone (Units 63 and 63A); 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 63A. Residents buy the tag over the counter; nonresident general tags are allocated by random draw.
| Season | Dates | Legal elk | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| A tag · Short-range weapons Valid area: Unit 63A | August 1 – August 31 | Any elk | Late Summer / Velvet, Pre-Rut Transition |
| A tag · Short-range weapons Valid area: Unit 63A | September 1 – November 30 | Antlerless only | Rut Onset, Primary Rut, Late Rut / Early Post-Rut, Post-Rut Recovery, Migration Transition |
A tag · Short-range weapons · August 1 – August 31
Early season hunting in Unit 63A means chasing bulls that are just finishing shedding their velvet and haven't moved far from summer range. Bulls are still holding to familiar ground through the Late Summer and Pre-Rut Transition phases, so sitting water sources or glassing the open, gently rolling terrain for a spot-and-stalk works well in country with this little cover to hide movement. The A tag short-range weapons season here runs August 1 through August 31 and allows any elk, giving hunters the flexibility to take a bull or a cow. Success depends more on finding accessible ground within the unit's public parcels than on technical terrain, since nothing here presents real elevation or slope challenges.
A tag · Short-range weapons · September 1 – November 30
This long fall season is built for filling an antlerless tag, running from September 1 through November 30 with short-range weapons and antlerless-only legal animals. It spans the Rut Onset, Primary Rut, Late Rut/Early Post-Rut, Post-Rut Recovery, and Migration Transition phases, and by November hunters can expect some snowfall and lows near 22°F, which can push animals toward more sheltered pockets of cover. The gentle, low-relief terrain makes it practical to cover ground and glass for cow and calf groups, but the same access limits apply all season — most of the unit is private, so a hunter is working within the roughly one-fifth of the unit that's generally open to public hunting. Patience and persistence across the open country, combined with knowing exactly where the public ground lies, matter more here than any specialized tactic.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,700–5,600 ft, typically around 4,800 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 99% gentle · 1% moderate · 0% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~70 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 cover78%
- Sagebrush12%
- Riparian7%
- Grass and meadow2%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land.
Land & access
About 22% of Unit 63A is public land a hunter can generally count on — BLM, State Wildlife Management Area and Idaho state endowment land.
- BLM14%
- State Wildlife Management Area7%
- Idaho state endowment land<1%
- Unclassified ownership<1%
- Private78%
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 85°F, lows around 50°F
- September — highs around 75°F, lows around 42°F
- October — highs around 59°F, lows around 32°F, about 0.1 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 43°F, lows around 22°F, about 1.8 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 31°F, lows around 14°F, about 6.6 in of snowfall
Unit 63A elk hunting FAQ
Can a resident buy an elk tag for Unit 63A over the counter?
Yes. Residents can purchase a general elk tag over the counter for the Snake River Elk Zone, which covers Unit 63A, without applying through any draw. No points or prior application are needed.
How do nonresidents get a general elk tag for Unit 63A?
Nonresidents must go through a random draw rather than buying over the counter. When applying, they select a specific tag — the Snake River Elk Zone's A tag or B tag — and that choice is locked in at application, not after the draw results are known.
Which elk zone and tags cover Unit 63A?
Unit 63A falls in the Snake River Elk Zone, which also includes Unit 63. The zone offers an A tag and a B tag with different seasons, though only the A tag's windows apply within Unit 63A.
Do any of Unit 63A's elk seasons fall during the rut?
The A tag short-range weapons season running September 1 through November 30 overlaps the Rut Onset and Primary Rut phases, but it is antlerless-only. The earlier August A tag season, which allows any elk, falls before the rut begins.
How much of Unit 63A is public land a hunter can count on?
About 22 percent of the unit, roughly 70 square miles, is generally open to public hunting through BLM, a State Wildlife Management Area, and Idaho state endowment land. The remaining 78 percent is private and requires written permission to access.
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.