Unit 24, Idaho

Unit 24 encompasses that portion of Valley County within the drainage of the North Fork of the Payette River. Long Valley itself is a broad, largely flat agricultural corridor running over 40 miles from McCall south through Round Valley at elevations of 4,700–4,900 feet. The flanking mountains on both sides of the valley rise to rolling and steep terrain, with peaks in the Salmon River Mountains exceeding 8,500 feet. Major waterways include the North Fork of the Payette River (which drains north into Payette Lake before flowing south to fill Lake Cascade), Upper Payette Lake, Payette Lake, and Lake Cascade.

The primary highway corridor is State Highway 55, which runs the full length of Long Valley north through McCall and connects to Cascade to the south. The Payette National Forest (McCall Ranger District and Krassel Ranger District, both headquartered in McCall) provides the dominant public land base. Boise National Forest also touches the southern portion of the unit. Key forest access routes include Lick Creek Road (Forest Road 48), reached from McCall, which climbs east toward Lick Creek Summit and provides access to the Secesh River drainage; Warm Lake Road, which bisects the unit's sub-areas (referenced in controlled hunt boundary descriptions for Units 24-1 and 24-2); and an extensive network of ATV trails, motorcycle trails, and four-wheel-drive roads. Key trailheads include Cow Creek Trailhead, Duck/Hum Lake Trailhead (connecting to Twenty Mile Trail #085 and Hum Lake Trail #082), Lake Fork Trailhead, and Secesh River Trailhead (accessing Secesh River Trail #080). There are no federally designated wilderness areas within Unit 24. A portion of the unit in and around the town of McCall is designated a short-range-weapons-only zone, bounded by State Highway 55, Boydstun Street, West Valley Road, Cabarton Road, Farm-to-Market Road, and Elo Road. Some Forest Service roads close seasonally; hunters should consult the Payette National Forest Motor Vehicle Use Map. Large pieces of state land lie north of Payette and Little Payette lakes and near Lake Cascade. BLM land is minimal (0.37%). No Access Yes! properties are currently enrolled in Unit 24.

Lower valley floors and riparian corridors support grasslands, hay meadows, and irrigated agriculture interspersed with cottonwood and willow. Forested zones from approximately 4,000–7,000 feet are dominated by ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, western larch, Engelmann spruce, and subalpine fir. Above 7,000–8,000 feet, subalpine parklands give way to alpine shrub, krummholz, exposed rock, and talus. The IDFG Hunt Planner reports the unit is approximately 74.6 percent forested, with 3.2 percent rangeland, 3.4 percent water, and roughly 15.8 percent irrigated agricultural land in the valley bottom.

Elk are the primary big game draw; herds in the McCall Zone (Units 19A, 23, 24, 25) are described by IDFG as at or above management objectives as of the 2025 outlook. Elk use the forested mid-elevation benches and drainages of the Salmon River Mountains, with lower-elevation movement into riparian corridors and valley-edge habitat during winter. Both mule deer and white-tailed deer are present: whitetail concentrate along creek bottoms, agricultural edges, and lower-elevation riparian zones below approximately 6,000 feet, while mule deer occupy higher, drier terrain and forest edges. IDFG's 2025 outlook noted white-tailed deer populations in Units 23 and 24 as stable to slightly increasing. Black bear and mountain lion are resident throughout the forested uplands. Gray wolf is present and has an open hunting season. Native chinook salmon and steelhead use North Fork Payette River tributaries and are managed under ESA. Wild turkey, blue/ruffed grouse, chukar, and upland birds are also present.