Southern Idaho is going to have a couple cow hunts this fall that could be interesting. There have always been draw hunts in these units but this year the tags are OTC. Units 49/50 (Pioneer zone), and 45/52 (Smoky-Bennett zone). They want to thin out the cow numbers. The tags in each hunt are capped at 2500. That's a lot of hunters but it's a big area. They go on sale a few days after the controlled hunt results come out so there could be a lot of people who didn't draw trying to get them. However, 10% are allotted to NON-RESIDENTS and you can buy them now. Both hunts are in Nov and are weather dependent. If there's snow and the elk have moved down, a lot of elk are going to die. Usually, we get the 1st decent snow in those areas early in Nov. Both of these hunts are in very open country. You can see for miles.
Pull up the ID big game regs here
REGULATIONS and go to pages 42 and 43, the Pioneer and Smoky-Bennett zones. You want to look at the
B tags.
I have no idea how these hunts are going to work out. They're new this year. In the past when they were controlled hunts, they didn't always fill. This year will be different.
If this interests you, don't wait to get your tags. Get them NOW before it's opened to resident hunters. That 10% is a maximum, not reserved. If any are still available when the resident period starts on 7/10, they'll sell them to any one.