Idaho Deer — Unit 52A

Idaho Unit 52A covers 1,112,213 acres and lies 36 miles north of Rupert. 91% of it is public land, mostly BLM (55%) and national park (34%). In 2025, 1,353 people hunted deer here and took 207 — 15% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 75 tags here for 18 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):75 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:18 Hunter success (2025):15% Public land:91% Size:1,112,213 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Unit 52A, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

No points in this draw — every nonresident applicant has the same chance.

1 license on offer · 75 tags · 18 applicants in the 2026 draw

Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • 1092 Antlerless or Antlered deer (mule or white-tailed), muzzleloader, Hunt Area 52A 75 tags · 18 applicants
    39% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
What these columns mean
Your odds
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
The badge
plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
As 2nd choice
Idaho lets you name more than one hunt on the application. Miss on your first choice and you go into the pot for whatever tags are left, alongside everyone else's second choices. Points never help a lower choice, so this number is the same whatever you have banked — it is usually worth naming a hunt that goes undersubscribed.
Points needed
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
Tags / applicants
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.

What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Per application $203 $203 $554.75

Application window: opens May 1, closes Jun 5, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Bellevue Rupert Victor Salmon Fruitland
Unit 52A within Idaho
39-1 43 43-1 44 45 47-1 48 49 50-1 50-1X 51-1 52 53-1 66A-1X 68 68A 68AX 70 70-1X 73A Bellevue Rupert Ketchum Jerome Gooding
Unit 52A and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Who owns the ground

  • BLM 616,943 ac · 55%
  • National Park Service 373,572 ac · 34%
  • Private 98,294 ac · 9%
  • State land 22,926 ac · 2%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 476 ac · 0%

Source: BLM Idaho Surface Management Agency (land ownership / SMA)

How the hunting has gone

What Idaho Department of Fish and Game publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. Idaho's figures are counts from mandatory hunter reports and check stations rather than survey estimates, so they behave differently from the survey states.

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 1,353 207 15%
2024 1,110 244 22%
2023 1,170 169 14%
2022 1,099 200 18%
2021 1,240 234 19%

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Firearm 202 · 88% · 1,283 hunters, 16% success
  • Archery 5 · 2% · 61 hunters, 8% success
  • Muzzleloader 23 · 10% · 78 hunters, 29% success

What the agency says about the area

All of Unit 52A. (Caution: Craters of the Moon National Park is CLOSED)

Source: Idaho Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer 2025 (general + controlled hunt tables)

Boundary: Controlled Hunts - All Species, BigGame='Deer' AND Year=2025 (hunt-area boundaries)

Harvest: Idaho Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer 2025 (general + controlled hunt tables)

Harvest: Idaho Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer 2024 (general + controlled hunt tables)

Harvest: Idaho Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer 2023 (general + controlled hunt tables)

How we compute draw odds · All Idaho deer hunts