Jefferson County for Idaho Hunters

Jefferson County by hunting unit

Percentages come from overlaying the IDFG unit polygons on county lines.

6 IDFG hunting units reach into Jefferson County, and Unit 63 covers the largest piece, 69% of the county. Units 64, 59A and 67 touch Jefferson County only at its edge.

The neighbour with the most shared units is Madison County: 4 of them.

Unit shares from the IDFG Game Units layer overlaid on Census county polygons (GIS shares of land area, both ways); elk zone of each unit from the IDFG Elk Zones layer; wolf zones from the IDFG Wolf Zones layer; CWD units from the 2026 brochure; bear tables from the 2026 brochure. Checked November 12, 2026.

Jefferson County CWD rules and wolf zones

Units 63A and 64 are mandatory testing units for 2026, so every deer from them goes in for a CWD test. The 2026 testing list changed: Units 64 and 69 in, Units 24 and 32A out. Unit 64 touches Jefferson County.

Jefferson County wolf zones, units and dates

IDFG maps Jefferson County into 3 wolf zones, Southern Idaho, Island Park and Beaverhead, and sets wolf dates separately for public and private land. Wolf trapping takes a trapping license plus wolf trapper education; from July 1, 2026 trap checks may use transmitting cameras.

CWD zone, transport and testing rules from the Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules p. 9; 2026 changes from IDFG, What hunters need to know about CWD requirements for 2026; county units from the IDFG CWD zone rules; wolf rules from the 2026 brochure; wolf zones from the IDFG Wolf Zones layer. Checked November 12, 2026.

Hunt numbers crossing into Jefferson County

Rows come from the 2026 draw.

The 2026 draw lists 64 hunt numbers whose units cross into the county (17 deer, 26 elk, 10 pronghorn, 8 moose, 1 bighorn sheep and 2 mountain goat). Together they carry 6,821 tags for 2026, but the counts are whole-hunt figures and many hunt areas are smaller than their units or spill into other counties.

The first application period for deer, elk, pronghorn and fall bear runs May 1 to June 5 and results post in early July; the draw is random. Dates for moose, sheep and goat use the month and day in the two-year brochure, set to 2026.

Jefferson County deer hunt numbers (17)

Elk hunts with units in Jefferson County (26)

Pronghorn hunts with units in Jefferson County (10)

Jefferson County: controlled moose (8)

Jefferson County bighorn sheep hunt numbers (1)

Mountain goat hunts with units in Jefferson County (2)

Hunt numbers, types, units, dates, bags and 2026 tags from the IDFG Hunt Planner hunt pages (each hunt number links its page) matched to the Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules and the Moose, Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goat 2025 and 2026 brochure; counties are whole units, so a hunt area can be smaller. Application periods from the 2026 brochure, the moose, sheep and goat brochure and the spring bear page. Checked November 12, 2026.

Jefferson County forests, BLM and WMAs

Solid points on the map are places in the county; hollow ones lie just outside it.

Of every hundred acres in Jefferson County, about 31 are public hunting ground, 214,597 acres on the merged layers. BLM land accounts for 187,854 of those acres, more than any other owner here. Call the Upper Snake Field Office about BLM roads and closures here; its share is roughly 187,854 of 187,854 BLM acres.

Idaho Department of Lands endowment land adds about 14,986 acres, kept out of the public total because recreation there is a secondary use.

Jefferson County places, card by card

Jefferson County neighbours with open land

• Henry's Fork near Cartier Wildlife Management Area west of Rexburg (Access Yes!)19 miles, Access Yes! property
• Cartier Slough Wildlife Management Area20 miles, IDFG WMA
• Sand Creek Wildlife Management Area34 miles, IDFG WMA
• East of Ririe Reservoir/ Meadow Creek Junction (Access Yes!)37 miles, Access Yes! property
• Henry's Fork North of Chester Wetlands (Access Yes!)40 miles, Access Yes! property
• Eighteen Mile Ranch- Camas Creek near Kilgore (Access Yes!)40 miles, Access Yes! property

Acres are GIS measures of polygons with water over 2 square km removed, not official acreage: IDFG WMA layer, PAD-US 4.1 (forest, grassland, BLM, refuge, park, endowment, Reclamation, military, DOE and tribal land), IDFG Access Yes! 2026 layer, IDFG Large Tracts layer; refuges counted only when listed in 50 CFR 32.31; tribal rule from 18 U.S.C. 1165; closures from the 2026 brochure; Craters of the Moon from the NPS laws and policies page. Checked November 12, 2026.

Counties near Jefferson County

Shortest gazetteer distance decides these four county cards; the buttons lead to statewide references.