Lemhi County, Idaho Hunting

Lemhi County hunting units

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

Of the 12 units on the county map, Unit 28 takes in the most ground, about 28%. For Units 28, 29, 21, 30, 30A and 1 more, unit and county overlap almost completely.

Less than 5% of the county falls in each of Units 51, 37 and 59A, but those slivers still follow their own unit seasons. Custer County shares the most units with Lemhi County (5), so a hunt that starts here often ends there.

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.

Lemhi County disease testing and wolf hunting

No unit in Lemhi County is in the CWD Management Zone or on the 2026 mandatory deer testing list.

Wolf zones reaching Lemhi County

Salmon, Southern Mountains, Middle Fork and Beaverhead are the wolf zones for Lemhi County, but the season lines below go unit by unit. The wolf rules for 2026-27 add transmitting cameras for trap checks from July 1, 2026; trapping still requires a trapping license and wolf trapper education.

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.

2026 controlled hunts around Lemhi County

Grouped by species, then by opening date.

Drawn hunts with ground in or around Lemhi County: 98 in all (25 deer, 34 elk, 12 pronghorn, 3 moose, 19 bighorn sheep and 5 mountain goat). Tags for these hunts come to 3,809 this year; a hunt area can cover only part of a unit.

Every controlled hunt is filled by random draw, with deer and elk applications due by June 5 and moose, sheep and goat by April 30. Moose, sheep and goat dates come from the two-year 2025 and 2026 brochure, with the 2026 year applied.

Deer tags drawn around Lemhi County (25)

Lemhi County elk hunt numbers (34)

Lemhi County pronghorn hunt numbers (12)

Moose draws reaching Lemhi County (3)

Bighorn sheep tags drawn around Lemhi County (19)

Lemhi County mountain goat hunt numbers (5)

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.

Lemhi County forests, BLM and WMAs

Private land in Access Yes! and Large Tracts is open only on program terms.

By the merged GIS count, 89% of Lemhi County (2,609,649 acres) belongs to an owner that opens it to hunting under Idaho seasons. National forest carries the most weight, with 2,043,490 acres inside Lemhi County. For forest roads, fire closures and camping rules, the North Fork Ranger District covers about 683,897 acres of the county.

The Salmon Field Office looks after most of the 566,348 BLM acres inside Lemhi County, about 486,178 of them. State trust land managed by the Idaho Department of Lands covers about 36,673 acres here, listed apart from the public total.

Lemhi County places, card by card

• Idaho Falls DistrictBLM district
• Upper Snake Field OfficeBLM field office
• Challis Field OfficeBLM field office
• Salmon Field OfficeBLM field office

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.

Lemhi County hunting calendar

County total as of November 11, 2026: 4 dates ahead (DU sportsman’s bingo, RMEF chapter banquet, trapper certification and wolf trapper certification). 1 had no open seat when IDFG’s class page was checked.

A class or bingo night nearby that is not here? Post it

Around Lemhi County

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