Idaho Nonresident General Season Tag Draw Strategy

With the Idaho Nonresident General Season Tag drawing starting December 5th and ending midnight (Mountain Time) on December 15th, here are some strategies and things to consider.  Do your research, be prepared, but don’t overstretch yourself!  

You Get 5 Choices! BUT…

For this drawing, I covered a lot in the previous blog (Idaho General Tag Nonresident Draw Finalized – Eastmans’ Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans’ Hunting Journals).  Each application has up to 5 choices.  That is UP TO 5 choices.  That does not mean you have to fill in ALL those choices.   

There are both good and bad outcomes for someone filling out too many choices on their application.  Let’s say you apply for all five choices.  You strike on one 1-4 and on your 5th choice, you are successful.  On one hand, you got a tag, but you had better make sure that is a tag you want.  With the old way that Idaho did the first come first serve Idaho tags, a lot of people just snagged a tag even if it was not a spot they wanted to because they felt that if they didn’t, they wouldn’t have a shot at another tag.  

With this new draw system, if you are successful at all during the first application period, you are ineligible to participate in the second drawing (February 5-15, 2026).  So, when the leftover/return tags come out (likely the end of January, 2026) and you see a tag you would rather have, you won’t have a chance at it.  Even if you don’t purchase your tag from your first application.  Again, IF YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL DRAWING A TAG (EVEN IF YOU RETURN IT) DURING THE FIRST APPLICATION PERIOD, YOU ARE INELIGIBLE FOR THE SECOND DRAW.   

On one hand, you have a tag in hand.  On the other hand, if there is a better tag, you will not be able to have a chance at it.  It’s a gamble because there is nothing saying you will get a tag on the second application period.  So, make sure that the tags you apply for are ones that you’d be happy to hunt.  You can still return the tag that you drew, but your next shot for a tag would be when IDFG releases return tags to purchase later in the year.  Those return tags later in the year (July-ish) will be the same, first come first serve type system.  

If you decide to only do two choices on your application and don’t draw one of those two, you can put in for the second chance draw in February.  Look through the 2026 Nonresident General Tag Allocations carefully (seasons-rules-big-game-supplemental-proclamation-2026-2.pdf).  Some units have more tags than others.  This should play into what units you decide to go for.  

Tried & True

If you have units that you and your family always hunt, then by all means keep going for those.  For more people that just want the best opportunity to hunt, you need to look at how many tags are available in that unit.  For example, Unit 35 (RD35) only has 24 tags allocated for nonresidents.  Unit 35 has good hunting but is that the unit that you want to take the chance on?  This first year it’s hard to tell what the draw odds would be, but one can imagine it’s not that high.   

Mulies AND Whitetails

Keep in mind that there are both “whitetail” and “regular deer” tags.  These will each be their own “choice” on your application.  In the tag allocation, the Hunt Codes are “RD” for regular deer tags and “WD” for whitetail deer tags.  For example, hunt Unit 10A has RD10A (only 47 tags available) and WD10A (677 tags available).  So, if you are going into an area where whitetail deer are abundant, consider looking at the whitetail allocated tags versus regular deer allocated tags.  

Elk, Elk, Elk!

Elk tags are a little more straightforward in terms of the Hunt Code.  It will be “ELK” followed by the number that corresponds to the zone in the regulation book linked above.  You will still have to refer to the regular Big Game Seasons and Rule booklet to see when seasons are for both the A Tag and B Tag.  Generally for elk, A Tag is for Archery and B Tag is for Rifle.  Some Elk Zones have other hunts for A tags and B tags that aren’t so straight forward.  For example, McCall Zone has Units 19A, 23, 24 and 25.  The McCall A Tag has an archery season for “Any Elk” Aug 30 to Sept 30.  That same tag is then valid for “Any Weapon Spike Only” Oct 5 to Oct 14.  Again, that same A Tag is valid Nov 10 to Nov 30 in Units 23 and 24 only, and Antlerless only with Short Range Weapons.  

With any of these general season draw tags, remember, you must purchase a nonrefundable 2026 Nonresident Big Game Hunting License.  If you do not draw a tag, you still have access to the Controlled Hunt Draw in June along with any other hunting opportunities that Idaho has to offer.  Good luck!