Antelope and Mule Deer: Hunting the Open Country of Gooding County, Idaho

There are places in Gooding County where you can glass for ten miles in every direction without a single obstruction.

Open sagebrush flats. Lava rock outcroppings. Dry creek drainages that cut through the plain and hold the only shade for miles. This is spot-and-stalk country, and it's some of the most honest hunting there is.

Pronghorn Antelope in the Sagebrush

Gooding County is part of one of Idaho's best pronghorn antelope management units. Antelope tags here are available through the controlled hunt draw system, and the animals are worth pursuing.

Pronghorn are the fastest land animal in North America and they live in country where they can see everything coming from a long way off. Hunting them successfully means understanding wind, terrain, and patience. The sagebrush flats of Gooding County teach you all three.

Early morning is when antelope are most active — feeding, moving between water sources, working through the sage. Glass from high ground, spot your buck, plan your stalk using every bit of terrain between you and him, and close the distance slowly. A flat-shooting rifle and good optics are essential.

Mule Deer on the Breaks

Where the flat country of Gooding County gives way to the canyon breaks and lava benches along the river drainages, mule deer find cover. These transition zones — sage flat to rocky rim — are where the big bucks live during daylight hours.

I have spent mornings glassing these breaks from my truck before work and spotted bucks that would make any hunter's heart rate climb.

Hunt Where You Live

The hunters who do best in Gooding County are the ones who live here — who know every drainage, every water hole, every fence line crossing. That local knowledge is priceless, and the only way to get it is to put down roots.

I'm Dr. Ron Jones, a Magic Valley real estate agent who has glassed more than a few Gooding County sunrises. Let me help you find your hunting property.

Dr. Ron Jones | Rim & River Real Estate | rimandriver.com | 208-712-8386