How do you choose a unit for NR Idaho elk

[Indian Summer]

I live/hunt in Utah and im considering hunting in Idaho for elk next year. I've never hunted the west as a non-resident, I'm very unfamiliar with the process of picking out a place to hunt where I've never been.

I'm wanting to either rifle or muzzleloader hunt and am fine with shooting antlerless. I want maximum chance to fill my tag, so bull or cow is fine. I live near salt lake, so staying out of the panhandle to shorten the drive is important.

I looked through some units on the IDFG site, looked at success rates, etc and I'm looking at the beaverhead elk zone, but not sure. It's the first place that caught my eye.

If you have some general info, warnings, things I should definitely know about that zone, please PM me. I plan on calling IDGF to ask about it too.

How do you guys go about picking a place for the first time? Are there any primary strategies you use? Just go off a list of priorities?

Near Salt Lake and a priority is a shorter drive. You’ll soon learn about priorities if you expect to kill elk. I live in Pennsylvania and we pass up Colorado and the entire eastern and central parts of Wyoming and Montana to get to where we think our odds are best. If I lived in Salt Lake City, I’d be driving to my elk hunting areas two or three times a year just to scout them.