Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Southern Idaho?

Anyone know about southern Idaho for Elk? I've got an opportunity to go in there cheap with Mules DIY. Area 41 I think.

Area 41 is a "controlled drawing only" for elk. In 2010, Id. F&G issued only 10 bull tags, and no cow tags for Unit 41.

There are some big bulls there but the odds of drawing a tag are very high. Good luck if you try.

L.W.

41 elk is a draw hunt with only about 10 tags. 41 deer is 2 point during general season, and there's also a draw hunt for antlered with about 100 tags. There's some big elk in the Owyhees along the Idaho-Oregon border (units 40 & 42), but they are all draw hunts also. 41 isn't one of the better units for either deer or elk, if that's the one you were looking at. Check out the IDFG website for more information - http://fishgame.idaho.gov/ifwis/huntplanner/default.aspx .

Still gathering info, started doing some searches here tonight. He's told me he applied for 41R B?

No such thing... Draw hunts are a 4 digit number that associates to a unit number. Get some more specific info, and we'll go from there.

sorry about that. he sent me a receipt from his last purchase. the unit is 27. I'll start from there. I've not hunted idaho before, but have been to CO three times.

from looking online it looks like the success rate for that area is around 20%.

do you know about the wolfe impact in that area? are bulls reluctant to bugle as a result? Elk numbers in that area?

27 is one of the more remote and rugged areas in the state. I've never been in the unit in my life, but have seen pics of others hunts in there. Some gnarly, big country.

that's what I'm looking for. The guy I'm going with says it's one of the most rugged he's been to in the lower 48. Perfect trip for my wife to tag along, this trip was her Christmas gift to me.

I spent 20 days in 27 helping a friend with a bighorn sheep tag. Here are some pics

Beautiful country pointer. I better start laying off snacks now...lol I'm usually in pretty good shape for these hunts for a flatlander but it gets harder each time. Last trip to CO was 12 weeks after having back surgery!

27 is a pretty good unit, with good success rates for both deer and elk. There are wolves, and a lot of them. The elk and deer will be in steep timbered country if wolves are nearby, as wolves have a tougher time hunting that type of country. Wolf activity map - http://fishgame.idaho.gov/cms/wildlife/wolves/manage/09_map.pdf .

No elk draw hunts in 27, so you'll be general season. You'd mentioned the "B" tag, which corresponds to the 27 deer draw hunt Nov 1 - 18. Last year 27 had a brow tine only restriction on antlered elk, and a bigger than 3 point (per side) restriction on deer. The deer and elk usually aren't in the same places, and you have to find either before you can hunt, so use a small mobile camp. Elk rut and peak bugling is in September, so you probably won't hear any bugling. I've heard them well into October, so who knows... Come prepared for any type of weather, it can be warm, cold, raining, or snowing, and that's in one day. And cold can be well below freezing. I used to hunt the units just south of 27 the last two weeks of October and it would be around 10'F in the morning and get to 70'F in the afternoon. Bring a big enough daypack to put all your extra clothes in as you take them off...

You mentioned getting in shape - it's no joke. I grew up in Colorado, so thought Idaho would be a piece of cake. I was wrong - Colorado might have higher elevations, but Idaho has much steeper slopes. If you notice in Pointer's pictures most of the slopes are more than 45 degrees! Do some aerobic exercise (running, biking, etc) to get back into it, then hit the stairclimber and do lots of squats. You'll go from aerobic to anaerobic in about 10 minutes out of camp...

It is VERY steep. That pic of me pointing, is about 0.7 miles from the river, but over 3000ft higher. We started at the river with camp, gear, food, and water for 4 days. It was not a fun 'walk'... That said, it was a trip to be remembered that's for sure.

Good info. I don't plan ot add a deer tag to my hunt, however the guy I'm going with will. Sorry I should have included the time period. I think we're shooting for the week of Sept 15th, but honestly I haven't gotten far enough into research to know how much of a surething that tag is. Hopefully it's just a general tag.

I'm in good shape on gear from my other hunts, but I will have to get my wife setup. I suspect she'll spend alot of time at camp on this trip. We will have mules to get to/near our hunting areas or to move camp so that will help.

There's two deer hunts in 27, the controlled hunt that I mentioned, which runs Nov 1 - 18, and a general hunt that runs Sept 15 - Oct 31. You don't "put in" for the general hunt, the tags are OTC. The 27 elk "B" tag (actually the Middlefork Zone "B" tag, as you buy elk tags for zone with several units in them in Idaho) has a split season Sept 15 - 30 and Nov 1 - 18. There's likely to be a quota on the elk tags (there was in 2010) so get one early; they're OTC too, as it's a general hunt. The reason there's a quota is because of the wolves... 27 has a brow tined only bulls restriction. You should get into some bugling bulls, but usually they only bugle at night and about the first 1/2 hour of the morning.

Make sure your mules are in shape, too!

Just FYI - 27 is in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area. Access is by boating/rafting, fly in to backcountry airstrips, walk in, or pack animals. There aren't any roads. You have to figure out where you'll go in from, and don't be surprised to see the parking areas filled up by outfitters stock trailers, so have a 2nd and 3rd plan...

good info on the parking areas. since I'm going with someone familiar to the area I feel a little better about that part. We will go in early too. I appreciate the tag explanation. I hope to secure my license/tag by the end of the week.

One other thing I forgot to mention - don't leave the mules unattended. At a minimum they are likely to get run off by wolves. If you're highlining them in camp, and your wife is staying with them, she should be armed. If you take them hunting with you don't hobble or tie them out and leave them unattended either... Here's the current rule on what to do about them - http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/wildlife/wolves/current.cfm . The original wolf goal for Idaho was 10 breeding pairs and a total population of 100. That goal was met 7 years after the reintroduction, in 2002. The current estimate is that there is over 1000 wolves in Idaho, over 10 times the original goal. The population has been increasing at over 100 additional wolves per year, and picking up steam. Not trying to scare anyone off coming to Idaho to hunt, but there are some realities that need to be considered...

I actually know a guy who hunted Idaho (via KY) for 13 years straight but he's not going back because of the impact of wolves in his area.

thanks for the info on the highlines

Yeah, it's a major disaster... I really feel for the outfitters and towns that used to make good money on hunters. Hopefully wolves will get delisted again soon.

When anybody asks where to hunt I always send them the link to the wolf map and tell them to hunt where the wolves aren't, which is getting harder and harder to do.

I read an article by an outfitter who had guided in most of the Rocky Mtn states. He rated Idaho as the toughest. He said that it isn't the highest (although there are a lot of places over 9 & 10K), but the elevation chance between ridges and valleys is the highest and steepest.

I believe it! I used to mountain and rock climb - I've been merrily hunting along some hillside in Idaho, when the thought struck me that there I was with my rifle or bow, where in other places I'd be roped up and with an ice axe or two. Then I'd get that little suck you shorts up your butt moment...