Skip to content
Idaho · 2026-27 season year

Idaho Deer Season 2026-27

General Archery Only Seasons: August 30, 2026 to December 31, 2026. General Any Weapon Seasons: September 15, 2026 to December 1, 2026. Every date below was read from Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s own published page, linked beside it, on September 2, 2026.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 2, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.
August 30, 2026 to December 31, 2026
General Archery Only Seasons
published
September 15, 2026 to December 1, 2026
General Any Weapon Seasons
published
September 8, 2026 to December 1, 2026
General Muzzleloader Only Seasons
published
8 zone rows
Zone structure
as the agency draws it
The four questions in one

Idaho deer seasons, 2026-27

“When does deer season open” is four questions wearing one coat. Idaho Department of Fish and Game dates mule deer and white-tailed deer seasons separately by weapon, so each one is below under the agency’s own name for it, with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them.

General Archery Only Seasons

published

General Archery Only Seasons is OPEN now in the Unit 73A (second window), through October 24, 2026.

Idaho general archery only seasons, as published by Idaho Department of Fish and Game
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Every unit group except 28, 39 and 55August 30, 2026September 30, 2026An archery permit validation is required
Unit 2 (November window)November 1, 2026December 1, 2026
Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 4A, 5, 6, 7 and 9 (December window)December 10, 2026December 24, 2026
Unit 28December 1, 2026December 31, 2026
Unit 39November 10, 2026November 30, 2026The agency notes a portion of the unit is closed
Unit 55November 16, 2026December 10, 2026
Units 60A, 62, 64, 65, 66, 67 and 69 (late window)November 20, 2026December 19, 2026
Unit 73A (second window)October 10, 2026October 24, 2026

Dates read from Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, accessed 2026-09-02.

Idaho is the rare western state with one archery date that holds almost everywhere: the last day of August to the end of September, in every unit group but three. The extra windows above are the agency's own additional archery rows, several of them limited to white-tailed deer.

General Any Weapon Seasons

published

General Any Weapon Seasons is OPEN now in the Units 1, 2, 3, 4A, 5 and 6, through December 1, 2026, with 7 zone segments open.

Idaho general any weapon seasons, as published by Idaho Department of Fish and Game
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Units 1, 2, 3, 4A, 5 and 6October 10, 2026December 1, 2026The agency splits this window into segments by which deer may be taken
Units 4, 7 and 9October 10, 2026November 9, 2026
Units 8, 8A, 10, 10A, 12, 15 and 16October 10, 2026November 3, 2026
Units 16A, 17, 19 and 20September 15, 2026November 20, 2026The longest general window in the state
Units 20A, 26 and 27September 15, 2026October 31, 2026
The unit groups the agency lists with the longer October windowOctober 10, 2026October 31, 2026Twenty one unit rows in the agency's table share this window
The unit groups the agency lists with the shorter October windowOctober 10, 2026October 24, 2026Twenty unit rows in the agency's table share this window

Dates read from Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, accessed 2026-09-02.

Idaho dates its general any weapon season unit by unit, and October 10 is the common opener across most of the state. The rows above are the distinct windows in the department's own 2026 Regular Deer Tag table; which unit falls in which row is on that table, and a regular deer tag also has separate white-tailed deer tag seasons listed beside it.

General Muzzleloader Only Seasons

published

General Muzzleloader Only Seasons is OPEN now in the Unit 73A, through October 24, 2026.

Idaho general muzzleloader only seasons, as published by Idaho Department of Fish and Game
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Units 4, 7 and 9November 10, 2026December 1, 2026A muzzleloader permit validation is required
Unit 39September 8, 2026September 30, 2026
Unit 73AOctober 10, 2026October 24, 2026New for 2026, where the general any weapon season became muzzleloader only

Dates read from Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, accessed 2026-09-02.

Idaho's general muzzleloader only deer seasons cover just three unit groups. Everywhere else a muzzleloader is one of the arms allowed inside the general any weapon season rather than a separately dated window.

Youth deer hunts

on the agency page

Idaho youth deer season: read them on the agency’s own page

Idaho has no single statewide youth deer season. Its youth deer opportunities are antlerless windows marked youth hunt only inside individual unit rows of the same general season table, plus a separate list of youth only controlled hunts, each with its own unit and dates. Idaho Department of Fish and Game publishes the current dates on its own page, linked below.

Read the dates at Idaho Department of Fish and Game

For which days to sit, the Idaho deer movement forecast rates the next 7 days Slow to Prime from the weather and first light.

Deer, Elk, Pronghorn Seasons: August 2026 - February 2027
Idaho Department of Fish and Game, read September 2, 2026. Read it at the source
Advertisement
The rest of the calendar

Other Idaho deer seasons the agency names

Beyond the four main windows, Idaho Department of Fish and Game dates one further season for deer. They are reproduced here under the agency’s own names, because a hunter reading a calendar needs to know which window a tag actually covers.

General Deer Short Range Weapon Seasons

published

General Deer Short Range Weapon Seasons is OPEN now in the Unit 38, through October 31, 2026, with 3 zone segments open.

Idaho general deer short range weapon seasons, as published by Idaho Department of Fish and Game
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Unit 38October 10, 2026October 31, 2026The agency notes very limited access
Unit 53 (portion of unit only)August 30, 2026November 6, 2026
Unit 63October 10, 2026October 24, 2026

Dates read from Idaho Big Game 2026 Seasons and Rules, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, accessed 2026-09-02.

Three unit windows the department dates as its own short range weapon season, separate from the general any weapon table.

Zones

Idaho deer zones

Idaho does not have a deer season. It has 8 of them, and the boundaries between them were drawn by Idaho Department of Fish and Game along highways, rivers and county fragments rather than anything you can see from a stand. In several states those boundaries are not even the same from one weapon season to the next.

This page publishes the agency’s zone names and links the agency’s own zone map, which is where a hunter’s zone is determined. A wrong zone answer is a wrong season date.

Heavy antlered mule deer buck standing shoulder deep in snowy sagebrush in Wyoming
A mule deer buck in Wyoming sagebrush. Western general seasons run by unit and draw. Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS. “Mule Deer Buck in Southwest Wyoming (23007137314)” — Tom Koerner / USFWS Mountain-Prairie — Public domain
Rules

Idaho deer hunting regulations

Season windows are carried here with their source and read date attached. Everything else a hunter is bound by is set by Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and its regulations page is linked below.

Current Idaho regulations

Harvest limits, antler restrictions, permitted arms, shooting hours, tagging and reporting, and license and permit requirements for Idaho are set by Idaho Department of Fish and Game, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game: current regulations
Two hunters in blaze orange and camouflage beside a wheelchair at the edge of bare winter woods, one helping the other with gear
Getting ready at the edge of the winter woods on a mobility assisted deer hunt. Many states date a season specifically for hunters with disabilities, and those windows are on the state pages. Photo: U.S. Marine Corps. “USMC-11410” — U.S. Marine Corps (official photo, marines.mil) — Public domain

Deer season dates in other states

Idaho deer movement forecastThe next 7 days rated Slow to Prime for deer movement, from the forecast and first light.Idaho deer rutThe biology beside the calendar: when deer actually breed here, from the agency conception studies. Dates are this page; the rut is that one.Idaho turkey seasonSpring and fall wild turkey windows for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Idaho duck seasonDuck and goose season dates by zone and flyway, read from the same agency.Idaho fall foliagePeak color and the archery weeks overlap. Plan the same trip.

Idaho deer season questions

Advertisement
Buck with antlers in velvet standing in tall summer grass in golden light
A buck still in velvet in late summer. The earliest archery openers land within weeks of antlers hardening. “White-tailed Deer Buck in Velvet (48804848567)” — USFWS Mountain Prairie — Public domain

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 2, 2026. Every season window is republished from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game page linked beside it, read on September 2, 2026; windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. Harvest limits, antler restrictions, permitted arms, shooting hours and license rules are set by Idaho Department of Fish and Game, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national deer season guide and the Idaho rut timing page.