Idaho Elk · Unit 66A-1

Idaho Unit 66A-1 spans 1,061,336 acres, centered 17 miles east of Soda Springs. 60% of it is public land, mostly national forest (47%) and BLM (6%). In 2025, 400 people hunted elk here and took 202, a 51% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 2042, put up 350 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 653 nonresident first-choice applicants, 35 of whom drew.

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

Tags, 2026
400

2 licenses · NR capped at 10%

Applicants
987

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
51%

2025, all licenses

Public Land
60%

48% Forest Service

Size
1,658 mi²

1,061,336 acres

Montpelier Preston Pocatello Blackfoot 66A-1
51%hunter success 2025 · 400 hunters, 202 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 66A-1

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
2041 2%
2042 5%

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) 400 202 51%
2024 (summed) 400 206 52%
2023 (summed) 408 175 43%
2022 (summed) 443 218 49%
2021 (summed) 463 249 54%
2025 by LicenseHuntersElkSuccess
2041 50 33 66%
2042 336 156 46%
2211 2 2 100%
2212 12 11 92%

2025 split: firearm 202 (100%) from 400 hunters, 51%

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

National Forest 495,349 ac 47%
Private 385,016 ac 36%
BLM 65,458 ac 6%
State land 37,127 ac 3%
Other public 21,589 ac 2%
National Wildlife Refuge 17,491 ac 2%
Tribal 3,316 ac <1%
Bureau of Reclamation 394 ac <1%
Private or other non-public land 35,593 ac 3%

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

What the Agency Says About the Area

All of Units 66A and 76.

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