Idaho Unit 70 Mule Deer Hunting Guide

Idaho Unit 70 is a controlled-hunt mule deer unit spanning 242,878 acres, with 61% of that ground in public ownership. Elevation ranges from 4,387 feet up to 8,703 feet, giving hunters a mix of lower sagebrush-and-foothill country and higher timbered ridges to work depending on when they draw and how deer are distributed that season. For hunters researching Idaho Unit 70 mule deer hunting, this is a unit that rewards local knowledge and access strategy as much as raw hunting effort.

This is a controlled-hunt unit, meaning both residents and nonresidents must draw a tag before hunting mule deer here — there's no over-the-counter option. That draw requirement, combined with the unit's private-land patchwork, shapes almost everything about how hunters should approach Unit 70. Public land is the majority of the unit at 61%, but multiple forum accounts from hunters who've drawn tags here describe a unit where a meaningful share of mature bucks live on or move through private ground, and where knowing property boundaries is essential before hunters ever leave the truck.

Recent harvest data compiled by HuntPilot shows Unit 70 producing real opportunity for hunters who draw, with success rates that have shifted year to year — a pattern worth understanding before investing points or planning a trip.

Harvest Success Rates

Harvest data for Unit 70 shows meaningful year-to-year variation in both hunter numbers and success. In 2025, 642 hunters pursued mule deer in the unit and 153 harvested animals, a 24% success rate on a unit-wide basis. That's a notable jump in hunter numbers compared to prior years — in 2024, 434 hunters hunted the unit and 147 harvested, for a 34% success rate, and in 2023, 365 hunters harvested 97 animals for a 27% success rate.

The trend line here is worth noting: hunter numbers in Unit 70 climbed substantially from 2023 to 2025 — nearly doubling — while the harvest success rate actually declined from 34% in 2024 to 24% in 2025. More hunters afield without a proportional increase in harvested deer suggests increasing pressure on a finite deer population and finite public-land access. Hunters drawing a tag in Unit 70 should go in expecting real competition for hunting ground, especially on the public 61% of the unit, and should not assume the higher success rates seen in 2024 are the norm going forward.

Trophy Quality

Trophy history for the counties overlapping Unit 70 reflects a moderate history of trophy-class mule deer production. This isn't a unit with a deep or standout trophy pedigree, but it has produced trophy-class bucks over time, and mature deer are present — mostly concentrated on private ground, according to hunters who've spent time here. Forum accounts describing personal experience in the unit mention bucks in the upper-mid range of typical mule deer scoring taken by hunters who secured private-land access, which lines up with a moderate trophy designation rather than an exceptional one.

It's worth being direct about a recurring theme in hunter reports from this unit: multiple accounts describe concern about mule deer numbers declining over the past decade, and at least one account raises concerns about poaching pressure in the unit. These are qualitative, on-the-ground observations rather than data points HuntPilot can verify at the unit level, but they're consistent enough across multiple sources to be worth factoring into expectations. Hunters chasing an exceptional trophy unit should look elsewhere; hunters willing to work hard for a moderate but real chance at a mature buck, particularly if they can find access to private ground, will find Unit 70 more promising.

Access & Terrain

Unit 70 sits at elevations from 4,387 to 8,703 feet, which typically means hunters can find deer using lower sagebrush and foothill terrain early in a hunt and pushing into higher timbered country as conditions and pressure dictate. There is no wilderness acreage in this unit (0%), so nonresident hunters don't face any guide requirement here — this is unguided, DIY-accessible country from a regulatory standpoint.

That said, the terrain-access picture is more nuanced than the raw public land percentage suggests. At 61% public land, Unit 70 does have a public-land majority, but forum accounts from hunters who've drawn tags here consistently flag that a lot of private ground is interspersed throughout the unit, and that local hunters with existing access relationships take a disproportionate share of the better bucks. Multiple hunters recommend knowing exact property boundaries before still-hunting or glassing, since public and private parcels are mixed rather than cleanly separated into distinct blocks. Hunters planning a DIY hunt should use mapping tools — HuntPilot's public land overlays are built for exactly this kind of boundary work — to identify which public parcels are actually huntable and which border private inholdings before setting foot in the unit.

HuntPilot Analysis: Is Unit 70 Worth Applying For?

Unit 70 is a reasonable, not exceptional, mule deer option for hunters willing to do their homework. The case for applying: it's a controlled-hunt unit with genuine public land access (61%), no wilderness restrictions to complicate logistics, and harvest data showing hunters are getting deer on the ground — 153 harvested in 2025 alone. Trophy potential is moderate, meaning mature bucks are present and record-class deer have come from the surrounding counties, even if this isn't a unit with an elite trophy reputation.

The case for caution: hunter numbers have grown sharply (365 in 2023 to 642 in 2025) while success rate has trended downward over that same window (27% to 34% to 24%), and forum accounts from hunters who've actually hunted the unit repeatedly emphasize that a lot of the best deer sit on private ground that outside hunters can't easily access. Concerns about declining deer numbers and poaching pressure raised by multiple hunters are anecdotal but consistent, and worth weighing against the harvest data showing real success is still achievable.

The honest read: Unit 70 makes sense for a hunter who either has or can secure some private-land access, or who is willing to scout hard on the public 61% and adjust plans once boots are on the ground. It's not a unit to draw expecting an easy, high-percentage hunt on public land alone — the 2025 success rate of 24% reflects that reality directly. For a hunter without private access, this is a moderate-effort, moderate-reward unit rather than a slam-dunk. Check current draw odds on HuntPilot's Idaho state page before deciding how to prioritize this unit against other controlled-hunt options.

How to Apply

Idaho's mule deer draw for Unit 70 runs on the state's controlled-hunt application system.

Note that the license fee is a separate cost from the application fee and is required before a hunter can even submit an application — this is an upfront cost hunters need to budget for regardless of draw outcome. Idaho's draw is a pure lottery system with no preference or bonus points: every applicant, whether applying for the first time or the twentieth, has identical odds on any given application. There's no benefit to "building up" anything by applying in past years — the only lever hunters control is which hunt they choose to apply for.

Application dates and fees change every draw cycle. For the current deadlines, fees, and draw odds, see HuntPilot's Idaho page at /states/id.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the terrain like in Idaho Unit 70? Unit 70 ranges from 4,387 feet up to 8,703 feet in elevation, offering a mix of lower sagebrush and foothill terrain along with higher, more timbered ground at the upper end of that range. The unit covers 242,878 total acres with 61% in public ownership and no wilderness acreage, meaning access logistics are straightforward from a regulatory standpoint, but hunters need to pay close attention to where public and private boundaries fall since the two are intermixed throughout much of the unit.

What is harvest success in Unit 70? Recent harvest data shows success rates of 24% in 2025 (153 harvested of 642 hunters), 34% in 2024 (147 of 434), and 27% in 2023 (97 of 365). Hunter numbers have increased substantially over that span while success rate has trended down, suggesting increasing pressure on the unit's deer population.

How big are the mule deer in Unit 70? Trophy history for the counties overlapping Unit 70 shows a moderate history of trophy-class production — mature bucks are present, particularly on private ground, but this isn't a unit with an elite or exceptional trophy reputation. Hunters have reported taking solid mature bucks here, especially when they've secured access to private land, but multiple accounts also raise concerns about deer numbers declining in the unit over the past decade.

Is Unit 70 worth applying for? It depends on access. Unit 70 offers real, documented harvest success and moderate trophy potential, but a significant amount of the best deer habitat sits on private ground according to hunters familiar with the unit. Hunters with private-land access or connections, or those willing to scout hard on the public 61% of the unit, have a legitimate shot. Hunters expecting an easy public-land hunt should temper expectations given the declining success trend from 2024 to 2025.

Does Idaho use a preference point system for Unit 70 mule deer? No. Idaho's controlled-hunt draw is a pure lottery with no preference points or bonus points of any kind. Every applicant has the same odds on a given application regardless of how many years they've applied in the past, so there's no strategic benefit to waiting or "building points" before applying to Unit 70.