Unit 45 rifle have permission on private land a freaking lot of private land.

There are 75 tags for this unit I have permission to hunt a ton of private land and have been seeing some decent deer. General deer open yesterday now I have to wait 5 days for my hunt to open.

I'm so stocked I picked up a pair of viper glass and ohhh man are they sweet.



These deer pics are from scouting last weekend I love doing preseason shooting as much as I do with the rifle. I have a deer picked out but have only seen him once this tall buck still in velvet entregues.


So far I've been able to find him for the last 3 weekend's he's always with this smaller 4 point.



Stopped to glass and my heart skipped a beat as I noticed this guy watching me through the brush from 50yds he never did get out of his bed.




Was suprise to find a single buck hanging in this group of does I'm hoping this means the rutting is starting early



My normal hunting area. I miss it but have not been back since finding I had a special tag


I'm so stoked

These pictures are from a month ago.



This is my first choice buck I have not seen him since getting these pictures.


I have to find him. The hunt starts in 5 days

Good luck, great looking area and bucks. Keep us in the loop.

Good luck on those deer. I'd feel blessed just to be able to hunt in that country!

Sweet - I love those big sage brush mulies...I'll be heading to unit 42 in November for my controlled hunt. I hope to see some bucks as nice as those, but I haven't so far.

Good luck,

Tom

Thanks guys.

Kinda feels weird sleeping in on the opening weekend of deer season.

Great pics. Beautiful country.

Looks like you are well on your way to tagging a great buck.

Good luck. Post pics........

WOW! Thank you for sharing and letting us go with you in photos!

AB

Few more scouting photos

Good luck with your hunt Evan. It looks like from your scouting pics that the wolves have left a few big husky bucks for you.

Thanks ocean blue . I'll shoot a wolf but on the ranches dime not sure I'll get a tag.

Good stuff.

Looks like awesome country. Nothing like hunting on a good horse.

I used to do a lot more on my feet. I still do a lot on my feet but with way less on my back. Been loving this colt started him last summer he's now the best hunting friend ever.

This was in a few year break from horses. I was outa my mind I grew up on horses but for some reason decided they were a pain. I now think it's a pain to not have a horse at least tagging along behind me.



Rifle IN This Picture I a #1 220 vt. With A vxIII 4.5-14 stoked with 53gr triple shocks. The rig took down quite a few Idaho mulies from 100-400 yds with outstanding results. And it never fired more Rds then the deer it killed.

Evan,

My friend drew the same tag and I'll be tagging along on the hunt. Good luck and post some pics afterward. Hold out for a real wall hanger; especially since you have access to private ground.

Your friend running around on a utv thing?

I'm limited on when I can hunt I'm sure your friend will live out for the duration of the hunt. Some of the photos I posted are on public land.

No atv or horses just hiking in and packing out.

I got this guy in unit 48, very close to unit 45. Mulies and sagebrush just go together.

I don't have horses but these guys are also very adept at getting meat out of the hills. One of them can handle a small to medium deer boned out, 2 can handle any mule deer in the hills.

Lochsa.

Was just curious I've checked on a few public land spots to see if the deer are there yet and every time run into a guy on utv doing some heavy glassing. He has a tag to I talked to him and both of us, we're surprised the other had a, tag.

The last weekend of the hunt will be awesome. I wish the still had 25 November tags. Grrrrr

Also not sure how close unit 48 is. I do k own it's Idaho though

Got a, kinda side profile of the tall buck in posts above.



Look at that kneck



I'm very worried about shooting a average buck on ounce in a lifetime tag

It really is a once in a lifetime hunt. You have to be willing to pass on average bucks and hold out for the big one. This hunt always gets better later on but there are some resident deer worth going after too.

I think the llamas would be the way to go; at least where I have hunted.

I've been putting in for 12 years so it's close enough to ounce in a lifetime.

I agree there are great residents deer.

On the lamas [bleep] that [bleep]

So far everything I'm seeing resides here . I will hold till last weekend if I havevto. If I have to I'll make time stand still so I can kill the buck of a life time.

So if the hunt seems to run long it's because I've stopped the clock from ticking.

Llamas get to looking a lot better after they've brought your elk 2 miles off the side of a mountain or packed your and your partner's deer from 3 miles back. These guys have done both.

Nothing wrong with lamas. Me and this little dude often cover 10-15 miles. Next year I hope to have pack horse going to but for now I'm cool with walking after the shot wich rarely happens any more since I've become very good at ea ting tags.



This is my daughters horse I also just started this filly she's only 2 so her knees arent developed enough to climb tall mtns and cover lots of ground.

.

On a trotting horse I can cover lots of Mikes fast

I'm 66 now and I got tired of backpacking elk quarters. I figure those llamas added 5 years to my elk hunting time. Llamas, horses, goats, it doesn't matter. Any time you can find extra legs to carry the weight, it's good.
So far I've only found 1 big drawback to the llamas. Every time I take them out, I get delayed by hikers wanting to take pictures and pet them. It never fails.

One of my favorite bucks to look at came from that unit, Robert Arledge's 290+" giant.


Good luck.

I tried but couldn't find any photos of the deer you speak of. I did find it scored a 308/294 was harvested in 97.

Didn't see any mention of what hunt unit but man that is a monster. I remember the day I fell in love with Bennett mtn. Was calling coyotes in November in the snow and stumbled on buck that I can't describe. I was 15 or 16 at the time I'm almost 32 now and finally hold a tag.
I'm wondering now I could have possibly seen this buck. Way back in 97

My math was off that puts me at 14 in 97 I didn't start hunting till I got my drivers license at 16

Looks and sounds awesome.....
Good luck, dude.

Good luck! I drove through and hunted near that country last week. Very neat country that holds some whoppers!

It's not the same buck. One I saw didn't have the extra eye guard


I'm going bat sheet. Crazy kids and I are going to glass some public land. The freaking hunt still isn't open


Ohhh sheet chill out evan stay home have a few beers and get your sheet togethere.

I really Amy going crazy over this hunt and every sheeting thing is trying to keep me off the mtn.

The photo says Elmore County. That covers parts of several units: 39, 43, 44, 45, 46, or maybe a corner of 38 (the least likely). Almost the entire county is sagebrush hills with some patches of quakies and timber.

Going to do some research.

This is 43 from jumbo mtn.




39



People don't realize what we have here. I could take you from extreme sagebrush to ridges and ridges of pine and fur trees I can take you to elevations where not much grows and the big bucks roam


Benet mtn is great example of this and almost all in Elmore county. Alot of the lower elevation is mostly sage brush. But there's lots of trees and meadows enough so Bennett mtn holds a decent number of moose.

I can't hardly believe I've been born and raised here and not know of this deer.

It is the ivory tooth buck. I'm slowly learning more on this deer and robert.

Is that juniper in the background



I guess this photo is probly years after the kill.

Rosco what book is your photo out of?

I remember the story of that buck when it was killed. I believe Arledge's father wrote the story IIRC,at least the story I read.Can't remember the magazine.

Evan, get Idaho's greatest mule deer by Ryan Hatfield, thats where I got these from..

He's supposed to be coming out with a new one, I gave him some photo's to put in the new one 10 or so years ago, he said the book would be out "soon". I know he's a busy guy these days, his Idaho deer and elk book kinda made him popular.

Both his deer and Elk books are excellent, and a must have if you like Idaho's hunting history.

A few more from the book to get the juices flowing. (as if you needed it ha)

Kill Photo of Roberts buck.

I remember it as well, and it was his father that wrote it..

The very next year a hunting bud of mine killed a 256" Idaho buck (different unit)..I still want to beat his buck I'm starting to have my doubts tho, just dont seem to be many that size running around

And oh ya Evan, double your 12 years of waiting..Thats how long i've gone without drawing ANY tag in Idaho (besides unlimited draws), let alone a Bennett hills tag.

It's the orange and blue license plate hurting your odds!

I always thought Idaho prefrenced out of state hunters.

In the12 years this is the hunt I always put in for. Though I've drawn 43 bull tags a few times.

Tomorrow is the opener and I can't go might find myself in washington for work.

I can glass the face of Bennett mtn from my front porch.

How? By limiting their tag number to 10% max of draws? Residents are getting 90% of the love.

Good luck and kill a smoker!

I think that photo is out of King hill on the Camas creek ranch the kill photo it is public land. I have seen big deer there but not till november. There's used to be 50 ocover tags and 25 November tags by the photo it looks like october. I need to meet this guy. My mind is a blurblur

Here's where I got the story

http://books.google.com/books?id=1s...q=the%20ivory%20tooth%20buck&f=false

I didn't know they were limited to 10%

Yup. This hunt has 75 tags. They'll start drawing tags and when 7 tags have gone to non-residents, the rest all go to residents.
IIRC, the exception comes with the sheep, goat, and moose tags where there might be only 2 or 3 tags. Then the max non-resident is 1 tag.

Edit i read wrong..But it is my understanding that the NR are int he same draw as residents, we can draw UPTO 10%, but are not guaranteed it..If the quota is reached without a NR tag drawn its tough tittie.

The regs dont break it down in clear terms as to how its done. When I asked IDFG that is how it was explained to me..I wish they drew the NR 10% max first, i'd have a moose tag by now. Units with 5 or fewer tags, it aint uncommon to see no NR get drawn for 3-5 years.

The confusion for me was in units with 10 or more tags..I asked if a unit with 10 tags would always have a NR drawn, they said it is not guaranteed, only that a MAX of 1 NR could be drawn.

Another EDIT, found this on hunterstrailhead.com..I am a member there and forgot they have this info, but here is how NR tags are allocated.

"Though there are some unlimited controlled hunts available (see Over the Counter Permits), Idaho imposes an up to 10% limit on all other non-resident controlled hunt permits but they do not guarantee that the non-residents will actually draw the full 10%. What this means is that all applicants are in the same pool, resident and non-resident, competing for the same permits. If the 10% non-resident quota is reached in a particular hunt area, the other non-residents are omitted from the remainder of the drawing for that hunt.

In areas that have fewer than 10 permits, non-residents are limited to a maximum of 1 of them. However, applying the non-resident quota limitation, non-residents can not draw more than 10% of the total permits for any particular species. Generally, this can only be an issue in the moose, goat, or sheep drawings as there are so few permits that it is be possible to exceed that 10% qouta. It works like this: Since most moose, sheep, and goat hunts have fewer than 10 total permits available, non-residents are limited to a maximum of one in any of these hunts. Then if through the course of drawing all hunts for a particular species, the 10% quota is reached for that species, the remaining non-residents will be omitted from the rest of the drawing."

Sorry for the derail Evan, I hope you can track down Robert and chat with him a bit.

Good luck

The photos from 97 he doesn't look to be much over 40 maybe even not that old.

I'm texting now to find him but not having luck he looks to come from a cowboy ranch type background. Wich us the hoke reason I'm able to hunt this unit the way I want.

You can check out the drawing odds on the IDFG site. Here's the link for the deer this year: DRAWING ODDS Note that in many hunts, NR's drew considerably fewer than 10%.

Well work fell through its cool high in 60s possible rain. I'm headed for fairfeid.

Idaho's has some of the best odds in the West. Rs and NRs are in the same pool (same odds) until the NR quota is met. The quota is not by unit but by total animal draw. If you do a little research, 10% is almost always reached for each draw animal.

I'm shaking way late headed up hy20. But weather is awesome

It should be a good day to hunt.

If it was done that way, there would have to be hunts with more than 10% NR. It's easy to skim the drawing odds charts and see that there are none. Each unit is capped at 10% NR.

Good luck Evan! With a tag that precious don't shoot a small buck. Go home empty handed rather than shoot an average deer. That way you can hold your head up and say you gave it every last minute...

Happy feller ain't he? He looks like he just shot the possum raiding the chicken coop!!!

The 10% max cap for the unit is in place. They don't draw each unit separately, as some people assume.

Pic from yesterday iron mtn has a, skiff of snow.

I didn't kill anything but did come across a little non typical. And that same 4 point from above posts.




Hmmm looking over the odds it looks like there were 10 tags in 2008, then back to 75 in 2005.

Hunt seem to pretty popular of the idaho hunts and gaining popularity each year with 2000 plus hunters putting in for it. Wish I could look back to 1997 and see its odds. Of getting a November tag


I found robert

I have a question about the Bennett Mtn area. A lot of that is private land.

For those who aren't familiar with Idaho's unusual trespass laws, we have huge chunks of private land that are open rangeland. You can't tell it from public land. Fences don't count because much of the BLM land is fenced for grazing allotments. Idaho's laws say that on land that isn't cultivated or irrigated, the owner must post it or it it's open to hunting without permission.

Is the private land in that area posted?

Thats cool you tracked him down, dod you get to chat with him at all?

No. When I posted that, I'd forgotten that his hunt started the 15th so he'd be gone.

Sorry Rock Chuck, I meant to quote Evan there.

Wow Evan awesome tag & great looking bucks you're scouting! I look forward to seeing some trophy photos!

Starting to wish I had a general deer tag. The ranch had 7000 acres of faram land not counting they're gracing land. They have landowner deer and elk tags there's pickups with guys loaded 5 deep running around all over. I've yet to see anyone get out and walk. I think my 30" buck was killed. I found a fresh carves with just the head cut off. My 2nd choice buck is still around.

I've been forced to cover a lot of country on horseback to attempt to find a big buck. Imy not finding anything but average bucks but I'm finding lots of them. My s5 phone bounced out of the saddle bags. Grrrr.

I'm home tonight I say screw this private land bull [bleep]. I'll be hunting public land tomorrow in country I know.

Some land is posted some isnt.

If it's locked and posted stay out. If it's fenced but not posted it's debatable.

I know a lot of the ranchers so I kinda have permission in a lot of areas. But there is at least one landowner and fish and game officer to steer clear of. That freaking officer will wait at my truck till I get back to check my license. Last time I told him no, you checked it last week

OK were headed up. I slept in took it rearranged saddle bags over fed my horse. Will take it easy gassing public land. I'm OK now knowing I'll most likely eat this tag. I did it all wrong. I scouted the wrong place. All summer. I'm headed into where I come from.

Good luck on your hunt. There can be some dozers that come out of that country. I lived in Nampa for a short stint around 2000, horn hunted Bennett mountain area quite a bit, found some really nice shed antlers out there. Never any non-typical, but some real nice big typicals.

Nice! Looks like you scored. Looking forward to hearing about it.

Ditto, looking forward to the story. Great looking buck there. Would love to see another angle of those antlers. Great character!

Thanks ntg

Sorry no storyou it was late last night coming off the mtn. I'm not sure this is the buck I was after but he'll work. He crumbled on his knees in his track with a 110 account from about 150 to 200. This is my 4th dead right there kill in a row. The accoubonday didn't exit. But did it's job.
this was in the same spot I was scouting sunday. I draw tags in pairs so I'll be drawing this tag again in 2016.

I'll get some more photos.

This is how he crumbled. Way to heavy to move much.

That's a good buck but too bad you did not wait till the last week. That unit holds some big ones and the last week of Oct. they start to get a little rutty and are much easier to find. Well in 12 years you can try again! FWIW you are not missing anything with a general tag - there are more people than deer this year. Bucks of any size are extremely difficult to find - and yes I get out of the truck.

I'd be very proud of that buck, Evan. Looks like a 6x6, and fat to boot! I'm hoping to get a good one myself. I've got the draw hunt that goes to Nov. 8 in unit 69.

We did find a small bachelor group with a big 4x4 leading, but couldn't get them sistered to shooting distance. All I know is I want to be on the mountain right now...this working/paying the bills gig is over rated.

I'm missing out big time on the general hunt.

People don't hunt were I go. I love where I hunt in the general hunt. Not many are willing to make the climb.

good job.
beaut.

Congrats on a good buck! Love the dark heavy rack.

That's a really cool buck. Well done!

Every year people tell me there's to many hunter's pushing the deer all over that is true to a point. The point where I spend 4 hours crawling up on the mtn.I could not do it without a horse no way would I pack that far on my back.

I like this photo best

Good job!

Thanks for making us part of the hunt. Well played.

Thanks guys. I love shooting pictures just as much. Not near the work after the shot

Great thread!!!!!!

Congrats on an excellent buck! And thanks for sharing with all those great photos.

Regards, Guy

Good job getting it done, darn nice buck to boot.