Idaho Deer · Unit 73

Idaho Unit 73 covers 792,111 acres and lies 23 miles north-west of Preston and 44 miles south of Pocatello. 36% of it is public land, mostly national forest (16%) and BLM (16%). In 2025, 2,245 people hunted deer here and took 940, a 42% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 1057, put up 2,293 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 632 nonresident first-choice applicants, 240 of whom drew.

No points in this draw. Every applicant has the same chance each year.

Tags, 2026
2,338

3 licenses · NR capped at 10%

Applicants
728

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
42%

2025, all licenses

Public Land
36%

16% Forest Service

Size
1,238 mi²

792,111 acres

Preston Pocatello Soda Springs 73
42%hunter success 2025 · 2,245 hunters, 940 deer

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

Best Bets

Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2025. Nonresident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.

Every License in Unit 73

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
1057 38%
1058 10% (small sample)
1059 2% (small sample)

First-choice nonresident odds, 2026 draw. No points in this draw: every applicant has the same chance.

Draw results: IDFG 2026 Hunt Planner drawing odds, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.

If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): $554.75 ($203 to apply). Open May 1 – Jun 5, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Harvest

Year Hunters Deer Success
2025 (summed) 2,245 940 42%
2024 (summed) 1,960 843 43%
2023 (summed) 1,909 560 29%
2022 (summed) 2,071 803 39%
2021 (summed) 2,005 706 35%
2025 by LicenseHuntersDeerSuccess
1057 1,830 840 46%
1058 38 25 66%
1059 5 4 80%
1187 1 1 100%

2025 split: firearm 894 (95%) from 2,021 hunters, 44%, archery 43 (5%) from 221 hunters, 19%, muzzleloader 3 (0%)

What Idaho Department of Fish and Game publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Idaho Department of Fish and Game publishes no whole-unit line for 2025; a year's total is the sum of published weapon rows, added only where the lines do not overlap. Idaho's figures are counts from mandatory hunter reports and check stations rather than survey estimates, so they behave differently from the survey states. Source: IDFG 2025 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer; IDFG 2024 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer; IDFG 2023 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer.

The Ground

Private 508,374 ac 64%
National Forest 126,714 ac 16%
BLM 125,783 ac 16%
Other public 16,777 ac 2%
State land 14,386 ac 2%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Idaho State Office 2026 BLM Surface Management Agency.

What the Agency Says About the Area

All of Unit 73.

Source: IDFG 2025 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer.

▸ Sources 9
  1. IDFG 2026 Hunt Planner drawing odds draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. IDFG 2026 License, Tag, and Permit Costs fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. IDFG 2025 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer harvest, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. IDFG 2024 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. IDFG 2023 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  6. IDFG 2022 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  7. IDFG 2021 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, deer harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  8. IDFG 2025 Controlled hunt area boundaries boundary, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  9. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Idaho State Office 2026 BLM Surface Management Agency land ownership, retrieved Aug 31, 2026

About These Numbers

Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from Idaho Department of Fish and Game's published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.

Report an error on this page

Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

We don't take applications: check Idaho Department of Fish and Game's site and apply there.

Prior-draw odds from Idaho Department of Fish and Game's results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Idaho deer hunts