Unit 53
Elk
Resident licenses
Big Desert Zone Elk Tag
Availability: General Season
✅ Includes bull elk
A Tag: Archery only — any elk (Units 52A, 68); Short range weapons only — any elk (Unit 53); Archery only — any elk (Unit 68A).
Source: IDFG regulations (2026)
Nonresident licenses
Nonresident Elk Zone Tag
Availability: Draw — see notes
✅ Includes bull elk
Big Desert Zone general elk tag (units 52A, 53, 68, 68A).
Nonresident general-season elk tags are not sold over the counter: beginning with the 2026 season IDFG issues them by random draw — first application period Dec 5-15, 2025, second application period Feb 5-15, 2026 — against a statewide nonresident general-season quota of 12,815 elk tags.
Big Desert Zone nonresident limits — A Tag: 57 nonresident tags (uncapped zone; 0 additional tags allocated to outfitters), archery-only and short-range-weapon-only seasons.
B Tag: 3 nonresident tags (capped zone — 350 total capped tags, of which 347 are resident tags and 0 are allocated to outfitters).
Price: $651.75 nonresident elk tag plus $185.00 nonresident hunting license (Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons & Rules, Nonresident License, Tag and Permit Fees, prices as of December 1, 2024).
Source: 2026 Nonresident General Tags and Tags Allocated to Outfitters, "Nonresident Elk Tags by Zone" and "Elk Tag Limits for Nonresidents and Outfitters by Zone".
Source: IDFG regulations (2026)
6+ point bulls: 14 of 29 total bulls harvested (2025)
Success rate history
| Year | Hunters | All | Spike | Bull | 6+ pt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvest | Rate | Harvest | Rate | Harvest | Rate | Harvest | Rate | ||
| 2025 | 298 | 34 | 11.4% | 8 | 2.7% | 21 | 7% | 14 | 4.7% |
| 2024 | 314 | 34 | 10.8% | 6 | 1.9% | 27 | 8.6% | 16 | 5.1% |
| 2023 | 365 | 28 | 7.7% | 1 | 0.3% | 25 | 6.8% | 17 | 4.7% |
| 2022 | 321 | 58 | 18.1% | 2 | 0.6% | 45 | 14% | 15 | 4.7% |
| 2021 | 405 | 49 | 12.1% | 3 | 0.7% | 35 | 8.6% | 13 | 3.2% |
| 2020 | 345 | 76 | 22% | 6 | 1.7% | 57 | 16.5% | 30 | 8.7% |
| 2019 | 226 | 49 | 21.7% | 2 | 0.9% | 26 | 11.5% | 14 | 6.2% |
| 2018 | 386 | 77 | 19.9% | 13 | 3.4% | 49 | 12.7% | 31 | 8% |
| 2017 | 377 | 28 | 7.4% | 0 | 0% | 14 | 3.7% | 0 | 0% |
| 2016 | 324 | 44 | 13.6% | 6 | 1.9% | 20 | 6.2% | 2 | 0.6% |
| 2015 | 243 | 64 | 26.3% | 3 | 1.2% | 42 | 17.3% | 20 | 8.2% |
| 2014 | 292 | 44 | 15.1% | 10 | 3.4% | 26 | 8.9% | 18 | 6.2% |
| 2013 | 359 | 51 | 14.2% | 2 | 0.6% | 43 | 12% | 21 | 5.8% |
| 2012 | 249 | 23 | 9.2% | 1 | 0.4% | 15 | 6% | 7 | 2.8% |
| 2011 | 147 | 16 | 10.9% | 4 | 2.7% | 7 | 4.8% | 1 | 0.7% |
| 2010 | 798 | 108 | 13.5% | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2009 | 299 | 29 | 9.7% | 10 | 3.3% | 10 | 3.3% | 1 | 0.3% |
| 2008 | 461 | 17 | 3.7% | 2 | 0.4% | 5 | 1.1% | 2 | 0.4% |
| 2007 | 359 | 32 | 8.9% | 2 | 0.6% | 14 | 3.9% | 7 | 1.9% |
IDFG doesn't publish harvest by residency.
Source: IDFG harvest statistics, 2025.
Deer
Resident licenses
Regular Deer Tag
Availability: Controlled Hunt
⚠️ No general season data for this species in this unit — see the regulation notes below for details.
Not listed in the 2026 Regular Deer Tag general-season table — controlled-hunt-only for deer in this unit.
Source: IDFG regulations (2026)
Nonresident licenses
Nonresident Regular Deer Tag
Availability: Draw — see notes
⚠️ No general season data for this species in this unit — see the regulation notes below for details.
Unit 53 Regular Deer, nonresident hunt code RD53.
Nonresident general-season deer tags are not sold over the counter: beginning with the 2026 season IDFG issues them by random draw — first application period Dec 5-15, 2025, second application period Feb 5-15, 2026 — against a statewide nonresident general-season quota of 15,500 deer tags.
Unit 53 nonresident limit: 44 tags, plus 0 tags allocated to outfitters (short-range-weapon-only season).
Price: $351.75 nonresident deer tag plus $185.00 nonresident hunting license (Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons & Rules, Nonresident License, Tag and Permit Fees, prices as of December 1, 2024).
Source: 2026 Nonresident General Tags and Tags Allocated to Outfitters, "Nonresident Regular Deer Tags by Unit" and "Regular Deer Tag Limits for Nonresidents and Outfitters by Unit".
Source: IDFG regulations (2026)
Idaho's Regular Deer Tag harvest and success-rate figures below combine the mule and white-tailed deer populations into one number — IDFG doesn't publish a single-species breakdown at the unit level.
4+ point deer (all deer): 34 of 72 antlered deer harvested (2025)
Success rate history
| Year | Hunters | All deer | Antlered | 4+ pt | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvest | Rate | Harvest | Rate | Harvest | Rate | ||
| 2025 | 431 | 115 | 26.7% | 72 | 16.7% | 34 | 7.9% |
| 2024 | 322 | 127 | 39.4% | 85 | 26.4% | 43 | 13.4% |
| 2023 | 435 | 152 | 34.9% | 94 | 21.6% | 44 | 10.1% |
| 2022 | 353 | 121 | 34.3% | 100 | 28.3% | 16 | 4.5% |
| 2021 | 436 | 148 | 33.9% | 124 | 28.4% | 36 | 8.3% |
| 2020 | 492 | 145 | 29.5% | 99 | 20.1% | 31 | 6.3% |
| 2019 | 495 | 183 | 37% | 132 | 26.7% | 67 | 13.5% |
| 2018 | 512 | 198 | 38.7% | 84 | 16.4% | 18 | 3.5% |
| 2017 | 415 | 142 | 34.2% | 87 | 21% | 42 | 10.1% |
| 2016 | 495 | 172 | 34.7% | 101 | 20.4% | 25 | 5.1% |
| 2015 | 430 | 140 | 32.6% | 84 | 19.5% | 18 | 4.2% |
| 2014 | 562 | 161 | 28.6% | 129 | 23% | 51 | 9.1% |
| 2013 | 615 | 169 | 27.5% | 98 | 15.9% | 34 | 5.5% |
| 2012 | 443 | 122 | 27.5% | 69 | 15.6% | 17 | 3.8% |
| 2011 | 557 | 152 | 27.3% | 81 | 14.5% | 39 | 7% |
| 2010 | 945 | 194 | 20.5% | 114 | 12.1% | 46 | 4.9% |
| 2009 | 841 | 186 | 22.1% | 113 | 13.4% | 35 | 4.2% |
| 2008 | 877 | 140 | 16% | 79 | 9% | 37 | 4.2% |
| 2007 | 864 | 159 | 18.4% | 118 | 13.7% | 49 | 5.7% |
IDFG doesn't publish harvest by residency.
Source: IDFG harvest statistics, 2025.