Idaho › Hunting seasons › Units › Unit 40
Wolf zone Southern Idaho · Southwest
Unit 40 hunt planner notes, 2026-27
Elk here go on the Owyhee Zone A or B tag; 12 drawn hunts and 12 general lines reach Unit 40 in Owyhee.
Photo: Bureau of Land Management Idaho (CC BY 2.0)
Counties inside Unit 40
At 1,447,543 acres on the Hunt Planner, Unit 40 is filed with the IDFG Southwest Region; Owyhee County holds the biggest share, 100%. Unit 40 stays inside Owyhee County, which gives one county page for its towns, services and land.
| Where | Unit share | County share | Named |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owyhee County | 100% | 30% | Yes |
For Unit 40 the IDFG contact is Nampa: the Southwest Region South – Nampa Office, 15950 N. Gate Blvd.
Region, elk zone and boundary counties from the IDFG Hunt Planner unit page; acreage from the Hunt Planner hunt page; shares from the IDFG Game Units layer over Census county lines (GIS measures); office from the IDFG offices page; data read November 11, 2026, checked November 12, 2026.
Unit 40 elk zone, wolf zone and CWD
- The A/B choice for Unit 40 is made at the Owyhee Zone level, shared with Units 41 and 42.
- Wolf: Unit 40 falls in the Southern Idaho wolf zone, one of 13 IDFG data analysis units; wolf seasons themselves are set by unit and land type.
- Chronic wasting disease: Unit 40 is outside the management zone and the testing units.
- The fall 2026 and spring 2027 general black bear tables do not list Unit 40. Check the brochure page linked below.
Zone details: Owyhee Zone · Wolf zones · CWD Management Zone
Elk zone from the Hunt Planner unit page and elk zone list; wolf zone from the IDFG Wolf Zones layer; CWD: CWD rules, Big Game 2026 p. 9; 2026 CWD changes; general bear tables, Big Game 2026 p. 71; checked November 12, 2026.
Unit 40 draw list
Drawn hunting in Unit 40: 12 hunt numbers and 871 tags for 2026, counting hunts that also reach other units. The largest quota touching the unit is 200 tags, on hunt 4030.
The controlled hunt draw is random; a successful applicant buys the tag before the August 1 deadline.
White-tailed deer fawn in tall grass
Deer, antlered (1)
| Hunt | Area | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | Units | Brochure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1031 | 40 | Any Weapon | Nov 1 to Nov 24, 2026 | Antlered | 200 | Only here | p. 23 | — |
Deer, archery (1)
| Hunt | Area | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | Units | Brochure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1073 | 40 | Archery | Aug 15 to Sep 30, 2026 | Antlered | 50 | Only here | p. 24 | Antlered only |
Deer, outfitter allocated (1)
| Hunt | Area | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | Units | Brochure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1169 | 40 | Any Weapon | Nov 1 to Nov 24, 2026 | Antlered | 5 | Only here | p. 30 | — |
Deer, youth only – extra antlerless (1)
| Hunt | Area | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | Units | Brochure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1114 | 40-1X | Any Weapon | Oct 10 to Nov 24, 2026 | Antlerless | 100 | 40, 41 | p. 26 | Portion of Units 40 and 41 only, Very limited access |
Elk, antlered (2)
| Hunt | Area | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | Units | Brochure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 40 | Any Weapon | Oct 15 to Nov 24, 2026 | Antlered | 60 | Only here | p. 51 | — |
| 2015 | 40-1 | Any Weapon | Sep 15 to Oct 14, 2026 | Antlered | 5 | 40, 41, 42 | p. 51 | Caution: An archery only hunt is open at the same time |
Elk, antlerless (1)
| Hunt | Area | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | Units | Brochure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2083 | 40-1 | Any Weapon | Oct 15 to Nov 24, 2026 | Antlerless | 150 | 40, 41, 42 | p. 53 | — |
Elk, archery (1)
| Hunt | Area | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | Units | Brochure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2123 | 40-1 | Archery | Sep 15 to Oct 14, 2026 | Antlered | 25 | 40, 41, 42 | p. 55 | Antlered only, Caution archers and muzzleloaders: An “any weapon” |
Elk, outfitter allocated (1)
| Hunt | Area | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | Units | Brochure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2190 | 40-1 | Any Weapon | Sep 15 to Oct 14, 2026 | Antlered | 1 | 40, 41, 42 | p. 59 | Antlered only |
Pronghorn, archery (2)
| Hunt | Area | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | Units | Brochure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4030 | 40-1 | Archery | Aug 15 to Aug 30, 2026 | Antlerless or Antlered | 200 | 40, 41, 42 | p. 66 | Either sex |
| 4031 | 40-1 | Archery | Sep 1 to Sep 15, 2026 | Antlerless or Antlered | Unlimited | 40, 41, 42 | p. 66 | Either sex |
Pronghorn, either sex (1)
| Hunt | Area | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | Units | Brochure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4008 | 40 | Any Weapon | Sep 25 to Oct 24, 2026 | Antlerless or Antlered | 75 | Only here | p. 64 | — |
Hunt numbers, dates, bags and 2026 tags from the Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules and the Moose, Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goat 2025 and 2026 brochure (page links per row); units and notes from each Hunt Planner hunt page; draw periods from the brochure draw rules; checked November 12, 2026.
Unit 40 hunts without a draw
Unit 40 carries 12 general season lines for deer, mountain lion, gray wolf and wild turkey; residents buy these tags over the counter. The regular tag any-weapon line opens October 10, 2026 in this unit.
Deer (4)
| Tag or type | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Area | Notes | Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular tag | Any Weapon | Oct 10 to Oct 24, 2026 | Two-Point | This unit | — | |
| White-tailed tag | Archery | Aug 30 to Sep 30, 2026 | Two-Point | This unit | — | |
| White-tailed tag | Archery | Aug 30 to Sep 30, 2026 | Antlerless | This unit | — | |
| White-tailed tag | Any Weapon | Oct 10 to Oct 24, 2026 | Two-Point | This unit | — |
Mountain lion (1)
| Tag or type | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Area | Notes | Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lion tag | Any weapon | Jul 1, 2026 to Jun 30, 2027 | One mountain lion per tag; females with spotted kittens protected | This unit | Dogs prohibited: July 1 – Aug 29; Oct 5 – Nov 24 |
Gray wolf (5)
| Tag or type | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Area | Notes | Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunting, private land | Hunting | Jul 1, 2026 to Jun 30, 2027 | Per wolf tag (see brochure for tag limits) | Statewide | — | |
| Hunting, public land | Hunting | Jul 1, 2026 to Jun 30, 2027 | Per wolf tag (see brochure for tag limits) | 38 units | — | |
| Trapping, private land | Trapping | Nov 15, 2026 to Mar 31, 2027 | Per wolf tag (see brochure for tag limits) | 21 units | — | |
| Trapping, public land | Trapping | Sep 10 to Nov 14, 2026 | Per wolf tag (see brochure for tag limits) | 32 units | — | |
| Trapping, public land | Trapping | Nov 15, 2026 to Mar 31, 2027 | Per wolf tag (see brochure for tag limits) | 32 units | — |
Wild turkey (2)
| Tag or type | Weapon | Dates | Bag | Area | Notes | Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | — | Apr 15 to May 25, 2027 | Male or bearded turkey | 45 units | — | |
| Spring youth | — | Apr 8 to Apr 14, 2027 | Male or bearded turkey | 45 units | Unit 2 except Farragut State Park and WMA; Unit 32 except the Payette County portion. 2026 & 2027 brochure: same dates in 2027. |
Unit 40 is in the Owyhee Zone, but no A or B tag line covers it.
Season rows from the Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules (deer, elk, black bear, mountain lion, wolf) and the Upland Game, Turkey and Furbearer 2026 and 2027 brochure (turkey), with unit lists from the Hunt Planner; over-the-counter sales from the brochure; checked November 12, 2026.
Five seasons in Unit 40
The Hunt Planner credits Unit 40 with 640 general season deer in 2025 from 2,117 hunters.
Unit 40 has no general elk harvest figure for 2025.
Other 2025 unit figures: 9 mountain lion.
A dash means the Hunt Planner prints no figure for that cell.
Take method, 2025
| Kind and method | Taken | Hunters | Success | Days | Antlered | Antlerless |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deer, Any Weapon | 631 | 1,979 | 32% | 6,824 | 624 | 7 |
| Deer, Archery | 9 | 133 | 7% | 697 | 9 | — |
| Deer, Muzzleloader | 0 | 5 | 0% | 9 | — | — |
| Deer, All Weapons Combined | 640 | 2,117 | 30% | 7,531 | 633 | 7 |
Five seasons, 2021 to 2025
| Year | Deer (all weapons) | Elk (all weapons) | Black bear | Mountain lion | Gray wolf | Spring turkey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 657 | — | — | 12 | — | — |
| 2022 | 689 | — | — | 19 | — | — |
| 2023 | 577 | — | — | 12 | — | — |
| 2024 | 708 | — | — | 9 | — | — |
| 2025 | 640 | — | — | 9 | — | — |
Drawn hunts, harvest by year (12)
| Hunt | Species | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Hunters 2025 | Success 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1031 | Deer | 61 | 69 | 163 | 150 | 155 | 196 | 79% |
| 1073 | Deer | 2 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 13 | 45 | 29% |
| 1169 | Deer | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 5 | 100% |
| 1114 | Deer | 40 | 74 | 27 | 39 | 54 | 91 | 59% |
| 2014 | Elk | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 30 | 54 | 56% |
| 2015 | Elk | 15 | 15 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 100% |
| 2083 | Elk | 36 | 41 | 26 | 25 | 19 | 122 | 16% |
| 2123 | Elk | 5 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 14 | 25 | 56% |
| 2190 | Elk | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| 4030 | Pronghorn | 29 | 21 | 16 | 22 | 22 | 166 | 13% |
| 4031 | Pronghorn | 39 | 34 | 21 | 28 | 53 | 350 | 15% |
| 4008 | Pronghorn | 78 | 110 | 52 | 44 | 37 | 67 | 55% |
White-tailed buck emerging from the tree line at the edge of a field
IDFG Hunt Planner harvest statistics 2021-2025 (2025 pages linked): general deer, general elk, black bear, mountain lion, gray wolf, turkey, controlled deer, controlled elk, controlled pronghorn; data read November 11, 2026, checked November 12, 2026.
Unit 40 WMAs, forests and walk-in land
6 land records cross into Unit 40, 6 with a page of their own.
Within Owyhee some places carry no state hunting: Bruneau Dunes State Park and Duck Valley Reservation; check whether they fall in Unit 40.
Land records and their units from IDFG, USFS, BLM, USFWS and IDL sources (see each land page); closed places from the Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules and 18 U.S.C. 1165 for tribal land; checked November 12, 2026.
Near Unit 40
Homedale, Marsing and Murphy sit inside the lines of Unit 40, and Caldwell and Parma are within 10 miles of its edge.
- HomedaleIn unit · Owyhee County
- MarsingIn unit · Owyhee County
- MurphyIn unit · Owyhee County
- CaldwellWithin 10 mi · Canyon County
- ParmaWithin 10 mi · Canyon County
Battle Creek winding through a narrow rhyolite canyon in the Owyhee River Wilderness
Units in the counties Unit 40 reaches, with their elk zones and 2025 deer:
| Unit | Shared counties | Elk zone | Deer 2025 | Hunts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 41 | Owyhee | Owyhee | 148 | 16 |
| Unit 42 | Owyhee | Owyhee | 33 | 13 |
| Unit 46 | Owyhee | South Hills | 406 | 10 |
| Unit 47 | Owyhee | South Hills | 21 | 12 |
Towns and their units from places.json (Census places joined to the IDFG Game Units layer); 2025 deer from the Hunt Planner; checked November 12, 2026.
Legal hours around Unit 40
Clocks fall back on November 1, 2026 and spring forward on March 14, 2027, so the Unit 40 times jump an hour across those dates.
| Day | Why it matters | Sun up | Sun down | Shooting hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30, 2026 | Archery deer opener | 7:07 a.m. MT | 8:28 p.m. MT | 6:37 a.m. MT to 8:58 p.m. MT |
| Sep 15, 2026 | Chukar opener | 7:25 a.m. MT | 7:59 p.m. MT | 6:55 a.m. MT to 8:29 p.m. MT |
| Oct 10, 2026 | General deer opener | 7:53 a.m. MT | 7:14 p.m. MT | 7:23 a.m. MT to 7:44 p.m. MT |
| Oct 19, 2026 | Duck opener | 8:04 a.m. MT | 6:59 p.m. MT | 7:34 a.m. MT to 7:29 p.m. MT |
| Dec 21, 2026 | Shortest day | 8:15 a.m. MT | 5:14 p.m. MT | 7:45 a.m. MT to 5:44 p.m. MT |
| Apr 15, 2027 | Spring turkey | 7:06 a.m. MT | 8:28 p.m. MT | 6:36 a.m. MT to 8:58 p.m. MT |
Hours rule from the Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules (wolf and upland game animals: same rule, wolf, upland); time zone from 49 CFR 71.9; sunrise and sunset worked out for this location with the NOAA solar formula (Mountain Time); migratory bird hours: IDFG migratory bird table; checked November 12, 2026. Legal hours for every county.
Questions on Unit 40
Who manages wildlife in Unit 40?
IDFG Southwest Region staff based in Nampa.
Where do hunters in Unit 40 buy fuel and groceries?
Homedale, Marsing and Murphy.
Which units share the Owyhee Zone with Unit 40?
Units 41 and 42.
Which IDFG region files Unit 40?
IDFG Southwest Region; its staff work out of Nampa.
Is there a general deer season in Unit 40?
Yes, 4 lines on the regular tag and white-tailed tag.
How does the draw work for Unit 40?
Idaho draws controlled tags at random; apply in the period for the species, then buy the tag if drawn.
Where do I check bear rules for Unit 40?
Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules, the general bear tables.
What was elk success in Unit 40 in 2025?
No general elk row for 2025.
May a whole deer carcass leave Unit 40?
The zone transport rule does not reach this unit.
Is wolf hunting open in Unit 40?
5 wolf lines reach it, split by public and private land.
Is any national forest in Unit 40?
Not in our records.
Answers drawn from the IDFG sources cited on this page; checked November 12, 2026.
Other photos on this page: USFWS Mountain Prairie (Public domain); USFWS Mountain Prairie (Public domain); Bureau of Land Management Idaho (CC BY 2.0).