Guide

Idaho nonresident elk draw odds and how to pick a zone

Updated October 12, 2026

32.15 percent of nonresident applicants drew an Idaho general elk tag in 2026, the first year of the draw. That is IDFG's statewide figure, and it is not your odds. Your odds are the ones for the zone and the tag you put in for, and those differ by zone and by tag. Here is how to read them, and how to pick a zone that is both drawable and worth hunting.

32.15%

of 2026 nonresident general elk applicants drew a tag

Dec 5–15

2026 application window for the 2027 season

$18

application fee per species, new this cycle

What the 2026 draw odds say

IDFG publishes the results of the 2026 draw as a PDF of draw data and odds for every zone. IDFG calculates a zone's odds as the tags available in that zone divided by the applicants for that zone, so the figure differs by zone and, inside a zone, by A tag and B tag. The statewide 32.15 percent is one number across every zone and both tags; it tells you nothing about any one of them.

The limits behind those odds vary widely. For 2026, the Panhandle Zone offered 657 nonresident A tags and 1,092 nonresident B tags. The Big Desert Zone offered 57 nonresident A tags and 3 nonresident B tags. Odds are tags over applicants, so a tag with three nonresident slots goes to very few of the people who want it, however good the country is. On first choices, IDFG's table shows Panhandle B at 76 percent, Salmon B at 18 percent, and Big Desert B at 4 percent.

IDFG also reports that every elk tag in the 2026 draw went to an applicant's first or second hunt choice, before any tag was issued on a third, fourth, or fifth choice.

Every elk tag was awarded in the first period, but not every tag was claimed. IDFG's list for the second drawing, February 5 to 15, 2026, carried 1,150 unclaimed elk tags. Panhandle B had the most, 146, followed by Selway A with 68 and Panhandle A and Boise River B with 66 each. Three tags had none left: Big Desert B, Brownlee A, and Pioneer B. Read the PDF for your zone and your tag, not a summary of it.

This is one year of history. The draw replaced first-come sales for 2026, so there is no second year to compare against yet, and one year of odds can move a lot once hunters see them.

How the draw reads your five choices

Each application gets a random number and carries up to five hunt choices. The draw runs in rounds: it works through every application's first choice, from the lowest number up, before it looks at anyone's second, then every second choice, and so on down to the fifth.

Up to four hunters can apply together, but a group counts as a single application and is only drawn if enough tags remain for every member. In a zone with 3 nonresident tags, a group of four cannot draw at all. In a tight zone, a group can cost you a tag you would have drawn alone.

IDFG uses no points of any kind. Nothing builds up, and a year you sit out costs you nothing. Most hunters can submit two applications, one for deer and one for elk.

The practical order: put the zone you most want first, and expect that choice to decide it. In 2026 only three tags still had room on second choices: Lolo A at 59 percent, Lolo B at 50 percent, and Selway A at 77 percent. Every other tag was gone after first choices. Check IDFG's table for which tags had room in the round you plan to use, and treat choices three through five as insurance, not a plan.

Pick the zone by its units, then check the odds

Idaho elk hunters killed an elk at a rate of 15.6% from 2021 to 2025. Rank units first, then map them to zones. These are Idaho's top 10 elk units by pooled 2021–2025 success rate:

1. Unit 68 31.0%
2. Unit 21A 28.6%
3. Unit 28 27.9%
4. Unit 14 27.6%
5. Unit 52A 25.6%
6. Unit 36A 25.1%
7. Unit 37 24.5%
8. Unit 8 24.2%
9. Unit 11A 23.4%
10. Unit 76 22.4%

See the full ranking: Best elk hunting units in Idaho

Then read what the tag actually lets you do in each one.

• Big Desert Zone. Unit 68 posts one of the best elk rates in Idaho at 31.0%, but its general seasons are archery only for any elk, plus a late any-weapon hunt for antlerless elk only. There is no rifle bull hunt behind that number. Unit 53, in the same zone, is short-range weapons only and posts 11.9%. The zone's B tag had 3 nonresident tags for 2026.
• Salmon Zone. Unit 21A at 28.6% and Unit 28 at 27.9% both rank near the top of the state. The Salmon B tag is capped at 2,507 tags in all, 627 of them for nonresidents.
• Panhandle Zone. Unit 4 draws one of the largest elk hunter counts in Idaho and returns 9.5%. The zone's nonresident limits are large, 657 A tags and 1,092 B tags, so expect company when you get there.
• Smoky-Bennett Zone. The B tag is an any-weapon antlerless hunt in Units 44, 45, and 52 only. Hold that tag and Unit 45 offers you no general-season bull.

Idaho elk zones and tags explained maps every zone to its units. The full ranked list is on Best elk hunting units in Idaho. To build your own list, open the Idaho planner, set a minimum rate, and turn on "General tag includes bull elk" if you want a general bull season, then read the zone's season lines on each unit page before you apply.

Pooled rates beat last season

Unit 45 pooled 19.1% across 2021 to 2025 and ran 10.4% in 2025. Unit 68 pooled 31.0% and ran 27.2% in 2025. One season can turn on weather. Five seasons are closer to what the unit does year in and year out.

This matters for the draw as well as the hunt. A zone whose best unit had one great year can pull applicants, and more applicants for the same tags means lower odds. Pick on the pooled rate and you are less likely to be crowding into last year's headline.

Idaho rates on this site are every general-season hunter in the unit. IDFG does not break harvest out by residency, so there is no nonresident rate to show. How to read hunting success rates covers pooled versus single-season rates in full.

A tag or B tag

Each zone's nonresident limit is set separately for the A tag and the B tag, so the odds differ too. Some zones offer only one. The Bannock Zone, for example, had 186 nonresident A tags and no B tag for 2026.

IDFG's own summary of the difference: A tags generally give more opportunity to archery and muzzleloader hunters, B tags to centerfire rifle hunters. That is a tendency, not a rule. Read the zone's season lines for bull versus antlerless and for which units each season covers before you apply, because a B tag with good odds is no bargain if it is antlerless only where you want to hunt.

Dates and costs for the 2027 season

The first application period for the 2027 season runs December 5 to 15, 2026. Results post in early January 2027, and you have until January 20, 2027 to claim a tag you drew. Miss that date and you forfeit it. Forfeited tags go to a second period, February 5 to 15, 2027, with results in early March and a March 20, 2027 deadline to claim. Disabled American veteran (DAV) tags have no second period.

Each application now carries an $18 fee per species. There was no application fee for the 2026 draw. You must hold a nonresident hunting license before you apply. It costs $185.00, and it is nonrefundable whether you draw or not. IDFG adds a $10.00 access and depredation fee to every annual nonresident hunting license. If you draw, the elk tag is $651.75. Those are the prices on IDFG's nonresident fee page as of October 2026.

Controlled hunts are a separate drawing, with applications that ran May 1 to June 5 in 2026, and applying in the nonresident general draw does not affect your controlled-hunt eligibility. The Idaho nonresident guide covers the draw, the caps, and the costs in full, and How to pick an elk unit walks through the rest of the unit-picking process.

Sources

1. Idaho Fish and Game — Nonresident Draw Data and Descriptions, 2026 Draw (PDF) — the 32.15 percent overall nonresident general elk draw rate, the per-zone odds calculation, the first-choice odds for Panhandle B, Salmon B, and Big Desert B, the second-choice odds for Lolo A, Lolo B, and Selway A, and the first-or-second-choice result. Accessed October 2026.
2. Idaho Fish and Game — Nonresident Second Draw Tag List, January 2026 (PDF) — the 1,150 unclaimed elk tags offered in the February 5 to 15, 2026 second drawing, by zone and tag. Accessed October 2026.
3. Idaho Fish and Game — Nonresident Deer and Elk Tags — the 2027-season application periods, results timing, January 20 and March 20, 2027 claim deadlines, no DAV second period, the $18 application fee per species, random numbers and five hunt choices evaluated in rounds, four-hunter groups, two applications per hunter, no point system, the license requirement, and that the general draw does not affect controlled-hunt eligibility. Accessed October 2026.
4. Idaho Fish and Game — Everything a nonresident hunter needs to know about the 2026 tag drawing — the nonrefundable license requirement. Accessed October 2026.
5. Idaho Fish and Game — 2026 Nonresident General Tags and Tags Allocated to Outfitters (PDF) — per-zone nonresident A and B tag limits for the Panhandle, Big Desert, Salmon, and Bannock zones, the Salmon Zone B tag cap, and the statement that there was no application fee for the 2026 draw. Accessed October 2026.
6. Idaho Fish and Game — 2026 Big Game Seasons and Rules (PDF) — A and B tag opportunity, the Big Desert Zone archery and late antlerless seasons, Unit 53's short-range weapon restriction, the Smoky-Bennett Zone B tag, and the Panhandle Zone's units. Accessed October 2026.
7. Idaho Fish and Game — License, Tag, and Permit Costs, Nonresidents — $185.00 adult hunting license, $651.75 adult elk tag, $10.00 access and depredation fee. Accessed October 2026.
8. Idaho Fish and Game — Controlled Hunt Application Information — the May 1 to June 5 application period. Accessed October 2026.
9. Idaho Fish and Game — Big Game Harvest Statistics — general-season unit hunter and harvest counts behind every Idaho rate, with no residency split. Accessed October 2026. See the Data page for the per-unit sources.

Glass Idaho elk