Unit 39, Idaho

Unit 39 covers approximately 1,564,124 acres with a dramatic elevation gradient from roughly 2,800 feet in the lower Boise River foothills to 9,730 feet on Steel Mountain and neighboring peaks such as Blacknose, Bald, and Edaho mountains. Terrain is dominated by steep ridges, canyons, and draws running through the core Boise Mountains, giving way to flatter, treeless arid foothills and rolling plains near Interstate 84 in the south. The unit is drained by the Boise River system, including the Middle Fork and South Fork of the Boise River, which flows into Anderson Ranch Reservoir on the unit's eastern edge.

Primary public land managers: U.S. Forest Service (58.5% of the unit), BLM (9.2%), and Idaho state lands (7.1%); combined public land approximately 75%. The Sawtooth Wilderness (89,011 acres, 5.7% of the hunt area) prohibits motorized vehicles — foot or horseback access only. Outside wilderness, a county road and forest road network reaches most high country. Idaho State Highway 21 (Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway) runs along the northern edge, providing the main access corridor toward Atlanta and the Middle Fork Boise River Road. Four-wheel drive is recommended on secondary and primitive roads. The nearest supply towns are Boise (~20 miles southwest) and Mountain Home (~30 miles south). A portion south and east of Blacks Creek Road and south of the South Fork Boise River has specific closure restrictions on general B-tag elk hunting (controlled hunt 2142 area only).

Lower foothills and the southern fringe support sagebrush-steppe, bunchgrass, and shrub communities. Moving up in elevation, Douglas fir and ponderosa pine appear on mid-elevation slopes, transitioning to Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, and lodgepole pine in the upper forest zone. Aspen groves and juniper stands add diversity in mid-elevation drainages. The understory includes huckleberries, sagebrush, and browse shrubs that support both deer and elk. Land cover is approximately 61% forest and 37% rangeland, with minimal agricultural or urban development.

Elk are present in good numbers in the Boise River Zone (Units 38 and 39), with populations at or above management objectives. Elk migrate toward lower private lands and agricultural areas on the unit's southeastern boundary as winter progresses. Mule deer are extremely abundant — Unit 39 is one of the most heavily hunted mule deer units in Idaho (9,435 hunters in 2025) — though fawn survival has been poor following the harsh 2022-23 winter, with continued weak recruitment through 2024-25; biologists note fawns leaving summer range in poor body condition and the population is expected to be the same or fewer than prior seasons. White-tailed deer have limited presence. Pronghorn occur in the lower sagebrush-steppe portions. Black bear and mountain lion are present throughout the timbered mountains. Gray wolves inhabit most of the Boise National Forest following reintroduction in the mid-1990s. Mountain goat are listed as present by IDFG on the unit's game species page. Wild turkey, upland birds (chukar, quail, pheasant, forest grouse, sage-grouse, sharp-tail, gray partridge), and various furbearers round out the wildlife community.