Unit 73A

The Deep Creek Mountains form the primary geographic anchor, with named peaks like Paps Mountain, Buck Peak, Bannock Peak, and Moonshine Peak providing navigation reference and glassing points. Eagletail Rock stands as a distinctive pillar landmark useful for orientation. Key drainages—West Fork Bannock Creek, Starlight Creek, and Sunbeam Creek systems—offer natural travel corridors and water-finding guides through the rolling country.

Jim Brown Pass and Danish Pass mark travel routes across the terrain. These features combine to create a landscape with natural gathering points where hunters can glass effectively across the rolling sagebrush.

The unit spans a lower-elevation range typical of southeastern Idaho foothills, with rolling terrain dotted by scattered timber rather than dense forest. Sagebrush plains and benches form the primary base landscape, particularly around areas like Wheatgrass Bench and Howard Flat, while scattered conifers appear on north-facing slopes and higher ridges. The elevation spread creates subtle habitat transitions—lower valley bottoms support open grass and sage country, while ridgelines like Flat Ridge and the Deep Creek Mountains add timbered pockets.

This creates a patchwork of open glassing terrain interspersed with scattered cover, typical of the transition zone between high desert and mountain country.

Nearly 800 miles of roads thread through the unit, creating a well-connected landscape accessible from State Highway 37 and Interstate 86 corridors. This road network means the unit draws regular hunting pressure, particularly near accessible saddles and known water sources. However, the rolling terrain provides opportunities to move away from main roads and find less-crowded country with moderate effort.

Road density supports vehicle access to staging areas, but much of the actual hunting requires foot travel into the scattered timber and side canyons. The unit's moderate complexity means some hunters stick to obvious access routes while others push into rolling country for solitude.

Unit 73A straddles the Idaho-Utah border in southeastern Idaho, encompassing portions of Bannock, Oneida, and Power Counties. The western boundary follows State Highway 37 and Interstate 86, while the eastern edge is defined by the state line itself. Holbrook, Arbon, and Pauline serve as reference points within or near the unit boundaries.

The terrain encompasses the drainage systems feeding into the Bannock Creek and Sunbeam Creek watersheds, creating a connected landscape of ridges and valleys. This placement gives the unit access from multiple directions and proximity to established towns for resupply and logistics.

Water is present but scattered across the unit, requiring active location work. The Bannock Creek system and its various forks, along with Sunbeam Creek drainages, provide the most reliable water sources, though these are seasonal creek systems rather than constant flows. Multiple named springs—Sagehen Springs, Buck Spring, Officer Spring, and others—offer supplemental water sources if located.

The Upper Stump Canyon Reservoir provides a known water point in one drainage system. Numerous irrigation canals and ditches reflect the agricultural character of lower areas, but hunting strategy should rely on natural water sources rather than ditch systems. Understanding spring locations becomes critical during dry seasons.

Unit 73A supports deer, elk, and pronghorn hunting across its rolling sagebrush and scattered timber landscape. Early season offers glassing opportunities across the open benches and lower slopes before animals migrate upslope with heat and pressure. Elk in this unit typically move between lower sagebrush country and scattered timber on ridges depending on season and disturbance.

Pronghorn hunting focuses on the open bench country where long-range glassing is productive. Key strategy involves identifying reliable water sources—springs and creek drainages—then hunting the travel corridors between water and bedding cover. The moderate terrain complexity rewards hunters willing to move beyond roadside access points and hunt the rolling country between major drainages.