Idaho Deer · Unit 78

Idaho Unit 78 covers 156,763 acres and lies 15 miles south-west of Montpelier and 34 miles south of Soda Springs. 72% of it is public land, mostly national forest (68%) and BLM (3%). In 2025, 412 people hunted deer here and took 107, a 26% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 1060, put up 175 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 275 nonresident first-choice applicants, 17 of whom drew.

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

Tags, 2026
225

2 licenses · NR capped at 10%

Applicants
307

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
26%

2025, all licenses

Public Land
72%

68% Forest Service

Size
245 mi²

156,763 acres

Montpelier Preston 78
26%hunter success 2025 · 412 hunters, 107 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 78

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
1060 6%
1099 16%

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) 412 107 26%
2024 (summed) 430 68 16%
2023 (summed) 416 82 20%
2022 (summed) 439 109 25%
2021 (summed) 393 120 31%
2025 by LicenseHuntersDeerSuccess
1060 167 64 38%
1099 45 11 24%
1188 7 0 0%

2025 split: firearm 85 (79%) from 216 hunters, 39%, archery 11 (10%) from 151 hunters, 7%, muzzleloader 11 (10%) from 45 hunters, 24%

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

National Forest 106,064 ac 68%
Private 43,290 ac 28%
BLM 5,411 ac 3%
State land 1,893 ac 1%

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 78.

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