Idaho Elk — Unit 66-1

Idaho Unit 66-1 covers 1,149,553 acres and lies 18 miles south-east of Ammon. 36% of it is public land, mostly national forest (18%) and state land (13%). A further 15% is tribal land rather than public land. In 2025, 115 people hunted elk here and took 61 — 53% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 75 tags here for 80 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):125 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:137 Hunter success (2025):53% Public land:36% Size:1,149,553 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Unit 66-1, 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.

2 licenses on offer · 125 tags · 137 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
  • 2040 Antlered elk, any weapon, Hunt Area 66-1 50 tags · 57 applicants
    7% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • 2144 Antlerless or Antlered elk, muzzleloader, Hunt Area 66-1 75 tags · 80 applicants
    9% 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 $854.75

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

The country

Ammon Soda Springs Kimberly Salmon Mountain Home
Unit 66-1 within Idaho
62-1X 62-2X 63 63-1X 63X 64-1 66-2 66A 66A-1 66A-1X 67-1 68 68-1X 69-1X 70-1 72-1X 76 76-1 76-1X Ammon Rigby Blackfoot Victor Rexburg
Unit 66-1 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

  • Private 554,249 ac · 48%
  • National Forest 204,902 ac · 18%
  • Tribal 176,164 ac · 15%
  • State land 145,983 ac · 13%
  • BLM 41,834 ac · 4%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 19,230 ac · 2%
  • Other public 7,347 ac · 1%

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 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.

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2025 115 61 53%
2024 47 11 23%
2023 48 15 31%
2022 51 13 25%
2021 49 18 37%

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Firearm 29 · 48% · 44 hunters, 66% success
  • Muzzleloader 32 · 52% · 71 hunters, 45% success

What the agency says about the area

All of Units 66 and 69.

Source: Idaho Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, elk 2025 (general + controlled hunt tables)

Boundary: Controlled Hunts - All Species, BigGame='Elk' AND Year=2025 (hunt-area boundaries)

Harvest: Idaho Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, elk 2025 (general + controlled hunt tables)

Harvest: Idaho Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, elk 2024 (general + controlled hunt tables)

Harvest: Idaho Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics, elk 2023 (general + controlled hunt tables)

How we compute draw odds · All Idaho elk hunts