Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Elk or Deer In Idaho Unit 28?

I'll be going to Idaho in mid-October this fall for a DIY hunt with folks who have a lot of experience doing that there. I've hunted whitetails in MO for 30 years but this will be my first true, western hunt.

Anyway, we'll be in Unit 28. I don't know that I want to get an elk and a deer tag, for cost reasons as well as the fact that I couldn't use all the meat if I was fortunate enough to bag both. I'd really like to have a chance to bag an elk, wouldn't have to be a giant, as I'd be satisfied with just about any bull. A muley would be okay, but not as good as an elk.

So, hopefully for any of you that have experience in or near that unit, the question is, which animal would I most likely have a chance to bag, elk or deer? I know there are a lot of variables, but mainly based on game populations, which is a better bet?

Also, we will have wolf tags, too. Are the odds of getting a crack at one of those halfway decent?

Thanks in advance for the input.

28 is big country. If your friends know what they're doing you should have a decent shot at either/or. That said, I always see way more mulies than elk, though I have not hunted 28 specifically. I have guided some summer fishing trips in that country though.

As a thought, I would forgo the wolf tag, simply because you can use your elk or deer tag on a wolf (or bear or lion)...assuming both species involved are in season...Might as well buy the deer and elk tag, that way you could keep hunting deer or elk after you bagged one of the two.

If you do take a deer and an elk, then get a chance at a wolf, you're doing something very right. There's an absurd number of dogs in that country, but getting a chance shot at one is still rare.

Buy the 30.00 wolf tag, save the 400.00 elk tag for your bull.

Don't know much about unit 28, but have hunted 21 and 21 a since 1983. The elk are where you find them, and the numbers are down.
Get in shape and have fun.

Just looked...didn't realize a NR wolf tag was only $31 and change. Ya, for that price you can't afford NOT to buy a wolf tag too.