Idaho Hunting by County

Idaho counties for hunters

Idaho has 44 counties, and IDFG groups them into seven regions: Panhandle (5), Clearwater (5), Southwest (10), Magic Valley (8), Southeast (7), Upper Snake (7) and Salmon (2); 14 counties straddle a regional line. Big game seasons are written for 99 numbered hunting units rather than for counties, so each county guide opens with the units that reach it and how much of each lies inside. Idaho County touches the most units (18), while Boundary County, Canyon County and Jerome County each sit inside a single unit; Idaho County has the most controlled hunts with units reaching it (103).

General elk tags are sold for one of 28 elk zones as an A tag or a B tag, so the county guides also show which zones cross each county and the tag lines for those zones. Public land comes from merged GIS layers: Idaho County has the most open public ground, about 4,543,787 acres, and Lewis County the least, near 6,462 acres. Summed county by county, the open public total is about 32,207,639 GIS acres of WMAs, national forest, Curlew National Grassland, BLM land, listed refuges and the Craters of the Moon National Preserve, with tribal land removed.

Regions from the IDFG regions; units from the IDFG Game Units layer; elk zones from the IDFG Elk Zones layer; hunts from the Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules; public land from merged GIS layers (not official acreage). Checked November 12, 2026.

Counties by IDFG region

Each county is listed under the region holding most of its land.

IDFG Panhandle Region counties

• Benewah Countyseat St. Maries; 4 units
• Bonner Countyseat Sandpoint; 4 units
• Boundary Countyseat Bonners Ferry; 1 unit
• Kootenai Countyseat Coeur d'Alene; 6 units
• Shoshone Countyseat Wallace; 7 units

IDFG Clearwater Region counties

• Clearwater Countyseat Orofino; 7 units
• Idaho Countyseat Grangeville; 18 units
• Latah Countyseat Moscow; 3 units
• Lewis Countyseat Nezperce; 2 units
• Nez Perce Countyseat Lewiston; 4 units

IDFG Southwest Region counties

• Ada Countyseat Boise; 3 units
• Adams Countyseat Council; 5 units
• Boise Countyseat Idaho City; 6 units
• Canyon Countyseat Caldwell; 1 unit
• Elmore Countyseat Mountain Home; 7 units
• Gem Countyseat Emmett; 3 units
• Owyhee Countyseat Murphy; 5 units
• Payette Countyseat Payette; 2 units
• Valley Countyseat Cascade; 10 units
• Washington Countyseat Weiser; 4 units

IDFG Magic Valley Region counties

• Blaine Countyseat Hailey; 9 units
• Camas Countyseat Fairfield; 4 units
• Cassia Countyseat Burley; 5 units
• Gooding Countyseat Gooding; 3 units
• Jerome Countyseat Jerome; 1 unit
• Lincoln Countyseat Shoshone; 3 units
• Minidoka Countyseat Rupert; 3 units
• Twin Falls Countyseat Twin Falls; 4 units

IDFG Southeast Region counties

• Bannock Countyseat Pocatello; 5 units
• Bear Lake Countyseat Paris; 4 units
• Bingham Countyseat Blackfoot; 6 units
• Caribou Countyseat Soda Springs; 7 units
• Franklin Countyseat Preston; 5 units
• Oneida Countyseat Malad City; 4 units
• Power Countyseat American Falls; 6 units

IDFG Upper Snake Region counties

• Bonneville Countyseat Idaho Falls; 7 units
• Butte Countyseat Arco; 6 units
• Clark Countyseat Dubois; 8 units
• Fremont Countyseat St. Anthony; 5 units
• Jefferson Countyseat Rigby; 6 units
• Madison Countyseat Rexburg; 5 units
• Teton Countyseat Driggs; 4 units

IDFG Salmon Region counties

• Custer Countyseat Challis; 9 units
• Lemhi Countyseat Salmon; 12 units