Idaho Deer — Unit 61

Idaho Unit 61 covers 506,989 acres and lies 36 miles north of St. Anthony and 47 miles north of Rexburg. 83% of it is public land, mostly national forest (71%) and state land (6%). In 2025, 1,500 people hunted deer here and took 296 — 20% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 137 tags here for 7 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):137 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:7 Hunter success (2025):20% Public land:83% Size:506,989 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Unit 61, 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 · 137 tags · 7 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
  • 1094 Antlerless or Antlered deer (mule or white-tailed), muzzleloader, Hunt Area 61 137 tags · 7 applicants
    100% Undersubscribed 93% 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

St. Anthony Shelley Salmon Soda Springs Jerome
Unit 61 within Idaho
58-1 60-1 60-1X 60-2 62 St. Anthony
Unit 61 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

  • National Forest 359,380 ac · 71%
  • Private 88,153 ac · 17%
  • State land 28,974 ac · 6%
  • BLM 23,340 ac · 5%
  • Other public 6,272 ac · 1%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 284 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 1,500 296 20%
2024 1,364 245 18%
2023 1,386 101 7%
2022 1,396 224 16%
2021 1,370 179 13%

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Firearm 250 · 84% · 1,037 hunters, 24% success
  • Archery 45 · 15% · 461 hunters, 10% success
  • Muzzleloader 3 · 1% · 58 hunters, 5% success

What the agency says about the area

All of Unit 61.

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