Idaho Deer — Unit 68

Idaho Unit 68 covers 1,163,239 acres and lies 24 miles north of American Falls and 33 miles north-west of Pocatello. 70% of it is public land, mostly BLM (55%) and national park (7%). In 2025, 769 people hunted deer here and took 148 — 19% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 20 tags here for 10 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):20 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:10 Hunter success (2025):19% Public land:70% Size:1,163,239 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Unit 68, 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 · 20 tags · 10 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
  • 1095 Antlered deer (mule or white-tailed), muzzleloader, Hunt Area 68 20 tags · 10 applicants
    20% 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

American Falls Shelley St. Anthony Mountain Home Salmon
Unit 68 within Idaho
36A 43 43-1 44 47 48 49 50-1 50-1X 51-1 52 52A 53-1 54 55 55-1 57 60A-1X 62 63A 63A-1X 63AX 66 66A 66A-1X 67 68A 68AX 69 70 70-1X 72-1 73 73-1X 73A 74 78 American Falls Blackfoot Shelley Rupert Rigby
Unit 68 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 634,785 ac · 55%
  • Private 346,809 ac · 30%
  • National Park Service 78,162 ac · 7%
  • Other public 74,199 ac · 6%
  • State land 24,826 ac · 2%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 4,087 ac · 0%
  • National Wildlife Refuge 369 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 769 148 19%
2024 686 168 24%
2023 554 77 14%
2022 549 77 14%
2021 564 88 16%

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Firearm 133 · 86% · 691 hunters, 19% success
  • Archery 15 · 10% · 78 hunters, 19% success
  • Muzzleloader 6 · 4% · 20 hunters, 30% success

What the agency says about the area

All of Unit 68. (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