Idaho · Deadlines

Idaho application deadlines

Every date below was read off an Idaho Fish and Game page or document on the verification date, and each row says which one. Where the department gives a month instead of a date, or no time of day at all, this page prints that rather than sharpening it.

Last verified against Idaho Fish and Game: 27 August 2026. Deadlines move. Confirm on the department's own application page before you apply.

Idaho has no points. That is the department's own position, not an omission. Asked on its own nonresident draw page whether it uses preference or bonus points, Idaho Fish and Game answers: “No. IDFG does not use any point system in our draw process.” Every controlled hunt tag is allocated by random draw among eligible applicants. There is no summer point-purchase window to miss, nothing accrues between years, and a hunter who applied for twenty years starts each May on the same footing as one who applied for the first time. What that does mean is that missing a deadline in Idaho costs you a year and nothing more — and that no one, including the paid tools, can sell you a projection of what your points will be worth here, because there are none.

Deer, elk, pronghorn and fall bear — the general controlled hunt draw

One application period covers all four species, and fall turkey and swan ride along in the same window. Residents and nonresidents apply on the same dates; nonresidents are capped at 10% of the tags in most hunts, and at one tag in hunts with 19 or fewer.

The 2026 cycle. The brochure is stamped 2026 and the department's news release of 27 April 2026 names the same window, so these dates are pinned to a cycle rather than floating. Fall turkey and swan share the same window. Times are printed only where Idaho Fish and Game states one.
Stage	Date	Time
First application period opens deer, elk, pronghorn and fall bear	May 1, 2026	none stated
First application period closes the date IDFG gives no time of day for	June 5, 2026	none stated
First drawing results the brochure gives two answers	posted June 17, 2026	—
Deadline to buy a drawn tag unclaimed tags go to the second drawing	August 1, 2026	none stated
Second application period what the first drawing left	August 5 – 15, 2026	closes midnight Mountain Time
Second drawing results promised “by Aug. 25”	posted August 20, 2026	—
Leftover tags, first come first served or the next business day	August 25, 2026	10 a.m. Mountain Time

Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules, pages 1, 7, 108 and 110 · application window confirmed by the news release of 27 April 2026 · second period and leftover sale confirmed by the news release of 28 July 2026 · result dates from the releases of 17 June and 20 August 2026.

Idaho Fish and Game does not publish a firm results date

The department's Draw Results Schedule is a table of months, and this is the whole of it:

Spring bear — Early March
Spring turkey — Mid-March
Moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goat — Early June
Deer, elk, pronghorn, fall bear, swan, turkey — first drawing — Early July
Deer, elk, pronghorn, fall bear — second drawing — Late August

We are not going to convert those into dates. What we can do is show what the department actually did in 2026, from its own dated releases: the first drawing posted 17 June, against a published “early July”, and the moose, sheep and goat results posted 11 May, against a published “early June”. Both landed weeks earlier than the schedule implies. Plan for the department's month, and check your account before it.

The brochure also contradicts itself on this point, in one document.

“Early July”
Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules, page 7 (“Dates to Remember”) and page 108 (“Important Dates”)
Results “announced in June”
The same brochure, page 116: resident deer and elk tags “are not made available for purchase until after the Big Game controlled hunt results are announced in June” — three lines below a sentence on the same page saying the drawings “are done in early July”

June is what happened. We are not treating that as settling the question, because the department has not withdrawn either statement.

Moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat

A separate brochure, a separate calendar, and a rule that catches people out: applying for one of these three bars you from most other controlled hunts in the same year. You may still apply for unlimited, extra deer, elk or pronghorn, black bear, turkey and designated depredation hunts, and you may take part in the second deer, elk and pronghorn period.

The brochure covers the 2025 and 2026 cycles in one document and stamps both on its cover, so these dates need no external source to pin them to a year. Vendors take applications until midnight Mountain Time on April 30 or their own normal closing time, whichever comes first — the department's wording, not ours.
Stage	Date	Time or note
First application period	April 1 – 30	midnight Mountain Time April 30
First drawing results	posted May 11, 2026	brochure said “early June”
Refunds to unsuccessful applicants	by July 1	—
Second application period	June 15 – 25	none stated
Second drawing	early July	no date given
Leftover tags go on sale	July 10	none stated

Moose, Bighorn Sheep & Mountain Goat 2025 & 2026 Seasons & Rules, pages 39 to 41 · 2026 result date from the news release of 11 May 2026, which also confirms the June 15–25 second period.

The whole tag fee is due at application and refunded if you do not draw; the application fee is not. Phone applications are taken 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mountain Time, seven days a week, April 1 to April 30. On results, the brochure gives two forms of the same soft answer — posted “early June”, applicants “notified by June 10” — and in 2026 the department posted them on May 11.

Nonresident general-season deer and elk — new for 2026, and a different calendar

This is the change most likely to catch a returning nonresident out. General-season deer and elk tags used to be bought over the counter. Beginning with the 2026 season they are issued through a draw, and it runs in December and February — nothing to do with the May controlled hunt window.

The 2027 cycle. This is the only part of Idaho's calendar for which the department has published a full 2027 schedule, and the only place it gives dated stages rather than months.
Stage	Date
First application period	December 5 – 15, 2026
First period results announced	early January 2027
Deadline to claim awarded tags except DAV tags	January 20, 2027
Second application period nonresident draw only; no second period for DAV	February 5 – 15, 2027
Second period results announced	early March 2027
Deadline to claim, including DAV	March 20, 2027

Nonresident Deer and Elk Tags, the department's own FAQ · structure cross-checked against the Key Dates block of the 2026 Nonresident General Tags supplement, which gives the identical December, January, February and March shape one cycle earlier.

Three things about this draw that the department states and that surprise people.

There is no application fee. The department says so in as many words, and adds “this could change in future years”. You do need a valid hunting licence to apply, and the licence fee is not refunded if you don't draw.

Applying here does not touch your controlled hunt eligibility. Tags issued in this draw are general-season tags. You can apply in this draw and in the controlled hunt draws, moose, sheep and goat included.

Drawing and not claiming still burns your year. A hunter who draws in the first period cannot apply in the second for the same species even if they never buy the tag.

Super Hunt

Two drawings a year for tags valid in any open hunt in Idaho, general or controlled. No hunting licence is needed to enter and there is no limit on entries — $6.00 for one of deer, elk, pronghorn or moose, $20.00 for the four-species combo.

First drawing — entries must be received by May 31
Drawn in June, winners notified mid-June. Eight elk, eight deer, eight pronghorn, one moose and one combo. The department's news release of 27 April 2026 places this deadline in the 2026 cycle.
Second drawing — entries must be received by August 10
Drawn in August, winners notified mid-August. Two elk, two deer, two pronghorn, one moose and one combo. Entries in the first drawing are not carried into the second.

Idaho Super Hunts · Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules, pages 109 and 115 · 2026 cycle confirmed by the news release of 27 April 2026.

Tag sale dates after the draw

Idaho residents cannot buy a general deer or elk tag until the controlled hunt results are out, and the capped elk zones sell out in minutes. These are the 2026 dates, carried by two department sources that agree.

early July 2026
Resident general-season deer and uncapped elk zone tags, after the controlled hunt results are released
July 8, 2026
Resident capped elk zone tags, all zones except Sawtooth — 10 a.m. MDT
July 10, 2026
Resident Sawtooth Zone capped elk tags — half at offices and vendors at 10 a.m. MDT, half online and by phone at 1 p.m. MDT
July 31, 2026
Last day to exchange a general-season deer or elk tag. IDFG states exchanges will not be approved after this date
August 25, 2026
Leftover controlled hunt tags from the second drawing — 10 a.m. Mountain Time

Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules, page 7 · capped elk zone news release of 26 June 2026, the only source giving the Sawtooth split-sale times · July calendar release of 29 June 2026.

A resident who applies for a controlled elk hunt — Super Hunt, extra and depredation hunts excepted — cannot buy a capped elk zone tag until five days after the sale opens, whether or not they drew.

What it costs to apply

The application fee is charged per person, per species, and is not refunded whether or not you draw. Online and phone transactions add a credit card fee of 3% of the transaction plus $4.00 online or $6.50 by phone.

Nonrefundable controlled hunt application fees. One dollar of each may be designated to the Citizens Against Poaching programme.
Application	Resident	Nonresident
Deer, elk, pronghorn, bear or turkey — per person, per species	$6.25	$18.00
Moose, bighorn sheep or mountain goat	$16.75	$45.75

Tag fees, charged on a successful draw — except moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat, where the tag fee is due at application and refunded if you do not draw.

Adult tags. Resident prices are the Price Lock column; residents outside that programme pay more — $24.75 for deer, $36.75 for elk, $36.50 for pronghorn and $199.75 for the trophy species. The brochure also lists youth, senior, DAV and junior mentored prices.
Tag	Resident	Nonresident
Deer	$19.75	$351.75
Elk	$30.75	$651.75
Pronghorn	$31.25	$342.75
Black bear	$11.50	$231.75
Moose, bighorn sheep or mountain goat	$166.75	$2,626.75

Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules, pages 108 and 120 to 123 · cross-checked against the department's resident and nonresident fee pages, which agree.

A moose, bighorn sheep or mountain goat application is submitted as one amount — tag plus application fee — which the trophy species brochure gives as $183.50 for a Price Lock resident, $216.50 without it, and $2,672.50 for a nonresident. Separately, the brochure's nonresident fee table is headed “Prices listed below are as of December 1, 2024. Prices may change without notice.” That header is the department's, and it is printed in the 2026 edition.

Where Idaho Fish and Game's own pages disagree

Shown rather than resolved. Each of these is two department statements, not a department statement against ours.

The 2027 claim deadline for nonresident tags. The nonresident draw page lists “Second Application Period and all DAV tags Deadline to Claim Awarded Tags: March 20, 2027”, then three answers further down says “The deadline to claim DAV tags will be the final draw process deadline, 03/20/26.” Same page, same cycle, two years. The same answer block also gives a paperwork cut-off as “12/11/ at 2pm”, with no year at all, and elsewhere “12/12/25”, which belongs to the 2026 draw.
When 2027 nonresident information appears. Page 7 of the 2026 brochure says information for the 2027 season “will be available in October 2026”. The nonresident draw page has already published the 2027 dates. Both are current as of 27 August 2026.
The card fee on a Super Hunt entry. The Super Hunt page says telephone and online vendors add 3% of the purchase plus $3.50. The brochure's licensing page gives 3% plus $4.00 online and $6.50 by phone. The department does not say which governs a Super Hunt entry.

What Idaho Fish and Game does not state

Named here rather than filled in. Every item below is a gap in the department's own publications as of 27 August 2026, not a gap in our reading of them.

A closing time on the June 5 deadline. The brochure is explicit that the second period runs “from August 5 through Midnight Mountain Time August 15”, and the moose, sheep and goat brochure is explicit that applications are taken “through midnight Mountain Time April 30”. For the June 5 deadline — the one that matters to the most people — no time of day is printed anywhere in the 2026 brochure. Neither is an opening time for May 1 or April 1.
A firm results date for any drawing. The department's published schedule gives months. It labels nothing tentative and commits to nothing; it simply does not print dates. Only the second drawing carries a stated bound — results “by Aug. 25” — and that came from a news release rather than the schedule.
Which year the application-periods table describes. The department's Controlled Hunt Application Information page prints a full table of application periods with no year on any row. Every year on this page comes from a brochure cover or a dated news release instead.
The 2027 controlled hunt calendar. No 2027 Big Game brochure and no 2027 controlled hunt schedule had been published as of the verification date. The only 2027 controlled hunt date the department stamps anywhere is on the cover of the 2026 brochure: spring black bear applications, January 15 to February 15, 2027. The nonresident general-season draw above is the exception, and it is not a controlled hunt.
Current worksheets. The two application worksheets linked from the department's own application page are filed as 2019 and 2022. The page does not say whether they are current, and the brochure warns separately that hunt numbers change every year.

Every source read for this page

Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules — the year-stamped brochure, last updated 04-07-2026 — the only source that gives any application time of day, fetched 27 August 2026
Big Game Seasons and Rules Brochure — the brochure’s landing page, carrying the edition year and the last-updated stamp, fetched 27 August 2026
Idaho Moose, Bighorn Sheep & Mountain Goat 2025 & 2026 Seasons & Rules — the separate trophy-species brochure, last updated 03-30-2026, covering two cycles in one document, fetched 27 August 2026
Controlled Hunt Application Information — the department’s summary table of application periods, which carries no year on any row, fetched 27 August 2026
Controlled Hunt Information — the controlled hunt landing page, fetched 27 August 2026
Controlled Hunt Results Information — the Draw Results Schedule, which gives months rather than dates, fetched 27 August 2026
Nonresident Deer and Elk Tags — the nonresident draw page, and the only place IDFG publishes a 2027 date set, fetched 27 August 2026
2026 Nonresident General Tags and Tags Allocated to Outfitters — the supplemental proclamation that introduced the nonresident draw, with its own Key Dates block, fetched 27 August 2026
Idaho Super Hunts — the Super Hunt drawing page — deadlines given without a year, fetched 27 August 2026
Resident Licenses, Tags and Permits — resident fees, cross-checked against the brochure’s fee tables, fetched 27 August 2026
Nonresident Licenses, Tags and Permits — nonresident fees, cross-checked against the brochure’s fee tables, fetched 27 August 2026
Controlled hunt application period for deer, elk, pronghorn, swan, and fall black bear and turkey runs May 1 through June 5 — department news release, posted 27 April 2026 — the dated source that pins May 1 to June 5 to the 2026 cycle, fetched 27 August 2026
Now available: Controlled hunt drawing results for deer, elk, pronghorn, fall bear, turkey, and swan — department news release, posted 17 June 2026 — the record of when the first drawing actually landed, fetched 27 August 2026
Now available: Controlled hunt drawing results for moose, bighorn sheep, and mountain goat — department news release, posted 11 May 2026, fetched 27 August 2026
Second big game controlled hunt drawing application period is Aug. 5-15 — department news release, posted 28 July 2026, naming a valid 2026 licence as the requirement, fetched 27 August 2026
Second controlled hunt draw results now online — department news release, posted 20 August 2026, fetched 27 August 2026
Most capped elk zone tags go on sale at 10 a.m. MDT July 8; Sawtooth Zone tags on July 10 — department news release, posted 26 June 2026 — the only source giving a time on the Sawtooth split sale, fetched 27 August 2026
Important dates to help plan your July — department news release, posted 29 June 2026, independently confirming the July 8, July 10 and July 31 dates, fetched 27 August 2026

Idaho draw data on this site

Idaho is the one state where deadlines and odds are nearly the same question. With no point system, the department's published drawing odds are the complete answer — there is no point ladder underneath them and nothing a paid tool can model that Idaho has not already printed.

Those tables are now published: 974 controlled hunts, 1998 to 2026, both application periods and both residency pools, with every figure linked to the department response it was read from. Twenty-nine seasons is the longest run on this site.

Two things about the data are worth knowing before reading it, and both are on the hunt pages: Idaho draws every hunt twice and publishes the two periods separately, and its residency permit columns changed meaning around the 2019 season without being renamed.

Idaho draw odds Coverage status by state Wyoming draw odds Wyoming deadlines Utah deadlines Methodology

Deadlines are re-checked against the department's documents each cycle and never carried forward. When the 2027 Big Game brochure is published, this page is rebuilt from it rather than edited.