First elk trip planned for Sept. Got set up with an outfitter on the recommendation from a friend and got a tag in the DC 66A-76 zone. My friend came back with a spike elk, but now that I browse the forums it seems this zone in ID is the new Disney World for elk hunting with hunter numbers and pressure. Anyone hunt this zone and if so, what are your thoughts/experiences?

Hunted it about 25 years ago, more people than elk back then - can't even imagine it now.

Been 7 years since I've hunted it but killed a good bull.

Its still a good hunt, yes you will have plenty of company but your outfitter should be able to give you an edge there.

I grew up hunting Jackknife and Tincup drainages. Love the area. Love the memories, but it's not on my list of places to hunt in Idaho.

My last time there, there were more UT plates in the pullouts than Idaho plates.

The mild terrain makes it a favorite for many.

Good luck!

In '16, the early bull hunt odds of drawing were 1 in 32. In the late hunt, it was 1 in 6.7. Non-resident hunters are limited to 10% of the tags so to say that it's mostly UT hunters isn't true. There were only 30 non-res hunters in the late, 300 tag hunt.

If you'll be happy with a cow, the odds of drawing are MUCH higher. In fact, last year there were fewer applicants than tags. The hunt boundaries and dates aren't the same as for bulls, though.

The IDFG has a blip in their website right now so you can't see the harvest results for controlled hunts, only general season. I've notified them of the problem.

I was speaking of archery season. I failed to mention that.

I never was lucky enough to rifle hunt elk there.

That makes a difference. Archery tags are OTC. The last year listed, 2015, shows 26% success by archers, about 2/3 of them bulls.

Ok, thanks for the replies. Like Rosco said maybe the outfitter will give me an advantage on that 26% success rate!