Idaho Elk · Unit 39-2

Idaho Unit 39-2 covers 424,791 acres and lies 19 miles north-east of Garden City. 55% of it is public land, mostly national forest (37%) and BLM (9%). In 2025, 429 people hunted elk here and took 98, a 23% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 2082, put up 500 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 21 nonresident first-choice applicants, 15 of whom drew.

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

Tags, 2026
500

1 license · NR capped at 10%

Applicants
21

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
23%

2025, all licenses

Public Land
55%

37% Forest Service

Size
664 mi²

424,791 acres

Garden City Eagle Emmett Kuna Fruitland 39-2
23%hunter success 2025 · 429 hunters, 98 elk

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 39-2

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
2082 71%

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): $854.75 ($203 to apply). Open May 1 – Jun 5, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Harvest

Year Hunters Elk Success
2025 (summed) 429 98 23%
2024 (summed) 412 94 23%
2023 (summed) 433 118 27%
2022 (summed) 433 99 23%
2021 (summed) 463 134 29%
2025 by LicenseHuntersElkSuccess
2082 429 98 23%

2025 split: firearm 98 (100%) from 429 hunters, 23%

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, elk; IDFG 2024 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, elk; IDFG 2023 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, elk.

The Ground

Private 190,177 ac 45%
National Forest 157,147 ac 37%
BLM 37,206 ac 9%
State land 36,103 ac 8%
Bureau of Reclamation 2,966 ac <1%
Other public 971 ac <1%
Department of Defense 218 ac <1%

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

What the Agency Says About the Area

That portion of Unit 39 north and west of State Highway 21 and that portion of Unit 33 west of Alder Creek Road (Forest Service Road 615) and south of Highway 17.

Source: IDFG 2025 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, elk.

▸ 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, elk harvest, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. IDFG 2024 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, elk harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. IDFG 2023 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, elk harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  6. IDFG 2022 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, elk harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  7. IDFG 2021 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, elk 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 elk hunts