OTC Idaho Deer Tags

bruisernilssen · Jun 22, 2019

Unfortunately I didn't get drawn for WY Muleys this fall. Am seriously considering a hunt in Idaho. Couple questions: 1) Are there non resident OTC mule deer tags available for Idaho? 2) Without giving any trade secrets, where would a non resident find public land available with a chance of harvesting or at least seeing some mule deer? Not asking anyone for specific areas, just some general info to get a guy started on the right track. Sometimes these regulations can be a bit hard to decipher. Thanks in advance for any help you can give a first time ID hunter. B. Nilssen Wisconsin

N_Corey · Jun 22, 2019

Yes there are OTC tags available which have been selling out the last few years by mid October. You could basically throw a dart at a map of Idaho and go hunt where it lands and find public land and mule deer. Almost all of the units have OTC seasons with the exception of a few.

Deepcolor · Jun 23, 2019

I have had my best success in the units on the western side of the state, mild winters and plentiful deer herds.

Buckhunter1 · Jun 23, 2019

I have had my best success in the units on the eastern side of the state,mild winters and plentiful deer herds.

bruisernilssen · Jun 23, 2019

Thank you for the response.

bruisernilssen · Jun 23, 2019

Thanks. I'll do some more checking. Much appreciated.

ramrod8541 · Jun 24, 2019

Here is the link for the exact number of nonresident deer tag quota. https://idfg.idaho.gov/tag/quotas-nonresident

Like it was said above you can pretty much throw a dart and hit public land but it depends on what you like to hunt. If you want rugged mountains then central Idaho is for you. If you want to hunt big sage brush flats and rolling hills then southern Idaho is where to go. Plenty of OTC hunts in either of those areas.

bruisernilssen · Jun 24, 2019

Thanks Ramrod. Looking at the website all of the tags appear to be for white tails. Are there that many white tails throughout ID?

ramrod8541 · Jun 24, 2019

When it says regular/whitetail that means mule deer or whitetail. It's so a hunter can kill either a mule deer or a white tail in the unit they are hunting depending on the season. There are some white tail only hunts and tags but this isn't them. Hope that clears it up for you.

Starting in central Idaho and moving north there are quite a few. You get into the panhandle and north to the Canadian border it's pretty much nothing but whitetail. Not certain on Eastern Idaho but my guess is that there are some there too.