Idaho Elk — Unit 52A-1

Idaho Unit 52A-1 covers 2,275,455 acres and lies 34 miles north-west of American Falls and 45 miles north-east of Heyburn. 80% of it is public land, mostly BLM (55%) and national park (20%). In 2025, 93 people hunted elk here and took 55 — 59% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 100 tags here for 85 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):100 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:85 Hunter success (2025):59% Public land:80% Size:2,275,455 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Unit 52A-1, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

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

2034 Antlered elk, any weapon, Hunt Area 52A-1 100 tags · 85 applicants

12% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice

Hunt	Your odds	As 2nd choice	Points needed	Tags / applicants	Season
2034 ↗ Antlered elk, any weapon, Hunt Area 52A-1	12% Long shot	0%	—	100 / 85	Oct 1 – Nov 30, 2026

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	$854.75

Application window: opens May 1, closes Jun 5, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Unit 52A-1 within Idaho

Unit 52A-1 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 1,251,729 ac · 55%
National Park Service 451,734 ac · 20%
Private 445,105 ac · 20%
Other public 74,199 ac · 3%
State land 47,753 ac · 2%
Bureau of Reclamation 4,563 ac · 0%
National Wildlife Refuge 369 ac · 0%

Source: BLM Idaho Surface Management Agency (land ownership / SMA)

Nearby areas

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 Department of Fish and Game publishes these per hunt rather than per unit; the rows below add its own figures together, since a hunter holds one tag for the species in a season. Idaho's figures are counts from mandatory hunter reports and check stations rather than survey estimates, so they behave differently from the survey states.