I made some phone calls over the last couple of weeks and it turns out that a large percentage of the burned areas in Units 14 & 19 where the outfitter hunts were burned in a backfire set to control the advance of the main burn so the areas were burned but not scorched. Quite a bit of cover remains and new growth was already coming up in November. The Idaho Fish & Game Dept was very good about providing info and I spoke to a few guys who hunted there in late November Muzzleloader season. It sounds like the elk herd wasn't affected by the fire and is stable in that area so I'm booking with the outfitter for this fall. This will be my first trip out west to hunt since 2006 so I'm pretty pumped. 9 months to go!
Last edited by Bill_N; 01/03/18.
