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Guide

Are Idaho elk tags still over the counter?

Updated October 11, 2026

12,815 is Idaho's 2026 statewide quota of nonresident general-season elk tags, 2,975 of them set aside for outfitted hunters. Since the 2026 season a nonresident gets one by application and random draw, not over the counter. If you are a resident, the answer is still yes: you buy a general elk tag for one zone, and only the capped zones sell out, first-come, on a set date. Either way, Idaho's general-season elk hunters killed an elk at a rate of 15.6% from 2021 to 2025, and the zone on your tag moves that number more than the way you got the tag.

Dec 5–15
2026 application window for 2027 nonresident elk tags
12,815
statewide nonresident general-season elk quota, 2026
Aug 6
2026 Returned Tag Sale start, 10 a.m. MDT

The short answer for nonresidents

The December 1 first-come sale of nonresident general deer and elk tags, which opened at 10 a.m., no longer exists. IDFG now issues nonresident general elk tags by application and random draw, for one zone and for that zone's A tag or B tag. For the 2027 season you apply December 5 to 15, 2026. Results post in early January 2027, and you have until January 20, 2027 to claim the tag you drew. Miss that date and you forfeit the tag. Forfeited tags go into a second period, February 5 to 15, 2027, with results in early March and a March 20, 2027 deadline to claim. If you drew in the first period you cannot apply in the second for the same species, even if you did not claim your tag. You must hold a nonresident hunting license before you apply, and it is nonrefundable whether you draw or not. Each application costs $18 per species. There are no preference or bonus points, so a year you skip costs you nothing. The Idaho nonresident guide covers the costs, the per-zone limits, the five hunt choices, and group applications.

What residents still buy over the counter

Residents buy a general elk tag for one zone, as an A tag or a B tag. In an uncapped zone there is no resident quota, so there is nothing to race for. A capped zone has a fixed quota for its A tag, its B tag, or both, sold first-come, first-served on a set date and time.

The 2026 dates show the pattern. Resident uncapped elk tags went on sale in early July, after controlled hunt results were released. Resident capped zone tags went on sale July 8, except the Sawtooth Zone's, which went on sale July 10: half at license vendors starting at 10 a.m. and half online starting at 1 p.m. Mountain time. The Sawtooth Zone caps its A tag at 1,000 and its B tag at 1,800. The Salmon Zone caps only its B tag, at 2,507. Those are 2026 dates and quotas, from the 2026 seasons and rules book; check the 2027 book before you plan around them.

One rule catches residents every year. If you apply for a controlled elk hunt, you cannot buy a capped zone tag until five days after capped tags go on sale, whether or not your application draws. Super Hunts, extra hunts, and depredation hunts are exempt from that wait. Idaho elk zones and tags explained covers A and B tags, the capped zones, and which units a zone tag opens.

What a nonresident can still buy first-come

One sale is left, and it is leftovers.

That sale is not a plan. What is on the list is whatever nobody claimed, in the zones nobody claimed it, and in 2026 the list went up one day before the sale.

Pick the zone before the tag

Whether you draw a tag or buy one, it is a tag for a zone, and the zone decides which units you can hunt. Rank the units first. These are Idaho's top five 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%

See the full ranking: Best elk hunting units in Idaho

A pooled rate is total harvest divided by total hunters across all five seasons; How to read hunting success rates explains why that beats a single year.

Then read the catch behind each number. Unit 68 posts 31.0%, and it sits in the Big Desert Zone, where the general seasons in Unit 68 are archery only for any elk plus a late any-weapon hunt for antlerless elk. There is no general rifle bull hunt behind that rate. Unit 21A at 28.6% and Unit 28 at 27.9% both sit in the Salmon Zone, where the B tag is capped. A resident has to buy one before the quota runs out, and a nonresident has to draw it.

On the Idaho planner, turn on "General tag includes bull elk" to drop the zones with no general bull season, then set a minimum rate. How to pick an elk unit walks through the rest of the shortlist.

What isn't over the counter at all

Controlled hunts are Idaho's limited-entry drawings, for residents and nonresidents both. For 2026, applications ran May 1 to June 5, with a second period August 5 to 15. IDFG's pages listed only those 2026 dates as of October 2026.

Two elk zones have no general season at all. The Hells Canyon Zone and the Owyhee Zone are controlled hunts only, so no zone tag, drawn or bought, lets you hunt elk there.

Drawing a general tag in the nonresident draw does not affect your controlled hunt eligibility. This site does not show controlled hunt draw odds; IDFG publishes those.

Sources

  1. Idaho Fish and Game — General Season (OTC) Tag Information — that nonresident general elk tags are issued by application and draw beginning with the 2026 season, and that unsold nonresident tags are sold as second tags from early August only if the quota has not sold out. Accessed October 2026.
  2. Idaho Fish and Game — Nonresident Deer and Elk Tags — the December 5 to 15, 2026 and February 5 to 15, 2027 application periods, the January 20 and March 20, 2027 purchase deadlines, the $18 application fee per species, the nonrefundable license requirement, no point system, the Returned Tag Sale and its August 5 and 6, 2026 dates, and that the general draw does not affect controlled hunt eligibility. Accessed October 2026.
  3. Idaho Fish and Game — Elk Tag, Nonresident Limits — the 12,815 statewide nonresident elk quota for 2026. Accessed October 2026.
  4. Idaho Fish and Game — 2026 Nonresident General Tags and Tags Allocated to Outfitters (PDF) — the 12,815 statewide elk quota and the 2,975 elk tags set aside for outfitted hunters (p. 4). Accessed October 2026.
  5. Idaho Fish and Game — 2026 Big Game Seasons and Rules (PDF) — resident sale dates (p. 7), zone tags, A and B tags, and second tags (p. 36), the zone sections for Hells Canyon (p. 38), Salmon (p. 40), Sawtooth (p. 43), Owyhee (p. 44), and Big Desert (p. 46), the capped quota note (p. 49), and the resident capped-tag waiting period (p. 111). Accessed October 2026.
  6. Idaho Fish and Game — Second Tags — the August 6, 2026, 10 a.m. MDT start for second tags, that a nonresident without a tag can buy a first tag in that sale under the nonresident limits, and that the Elk City Zone is not eligible. Accessed October 2026.
  7. Idaho Fish and Game — All 2023 nonresident general season deer and elk tags go on sale Dec. 1 — the former first-come sale, which opened at 10 a.m. MST on December 1. 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 — Controlled Hunt Information — the August 5 to 15 second drawing. Accessed October 2026.
  10. Idaho Fish and Game — Big Game Harvest Statistics — general-season unit hunter and harvest counts behind every Idaho rate. Accessed October 2026. See the Data page for the per-unit sources.

Glass Idaho elk

For planning only. Seasons, license rules, and boundaries change, and this site can contain errors. Before you apply, buy a license, or hunt, confirm everything in the official IDFG big game seasons & rules. Published state regulations always control. Terms of use