Idaho Elk — Unit 70-1

Idaho Unit 70-1 covers 2,395,823 acres and lies 26 miles south-east of Pocatello. 33% of it is public land, mostly BLM (14%) and national forest (11%). A further 11% is tribal land rather than public land. In 2025, 378 people hunted elk here and took 132 — 35% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 250 tags here for 226 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):400 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:328 Hunter success (2025):35% Public land:33% Size:2,395,823 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Unit 70-1, 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.

3 licenses on offer · 400 tags · 328 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
  • 2043 Antlered elk, any weapon, Hunt Area 70-1 25 tags · 81 applicants
    2% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • 2044 Antlered elk, any weapon, Hunt Area 70-1 250 tags · 226 applicants
    11% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • 2145 Antlerless/Antlerless or Antlered elk, muzzleloader, Hunt Area 70-1 125 tags · 21 applicants
    57% Real chance 13% 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

Pocatello Montpelier Ammon Mountain Home Salmon
Unit 70-1 within Idaho
46-1X 48-2 48-3 49 49-1X 52 52-1X 52A-1 54 54-1X 55-1 55-2 56-1X 66-1 66-2 66A 66A-1 66A-1X 67-1 68 68-1X 69-1X 72-1X 74-1X 74X 75-1 75-1X 76 76-1 76-1X 77-1X Pocatello Soda Springs Preston Blackfoot Montpelier
Unit 70-1 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 1,343,033 ac · 56%
  • BLM 334,349 ac · 14%
  • Tribal 271,192 ac · 11%
  • National Forest 260,630 ac · 11%
  • State land 151,573 ac · 6%
  • Other public 34,968 ac · 1%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 3 ac · 0%

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 378 132 35%
2024 364 123 34%
2023 363 126 35%
2022 263 137 52%
2021 277 122 44%

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Firearm 115 · 87% · 267 hunters, 43% success
  • Muzzleloader 17 · 13% · 111 hunters, 15% success

What the agency says about the area

All of Units 70, 71, 72, 73, 73A and 74.

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