Central Idaho Mule Deer

[roadhntr]

I typically just ignore these kind of posts but I can't help it.......

Where do you think you should go look?

How is OnX not real helpful????

It's a desert, think about how to hunt in a desert. If you don't know, call the biologist. Do some actual homework first though or he might just hang up on you.

In all honesty if some other dude did exactly what you're doing, which is asking for a hand out publicly on an internet searchable forum for your favorite hunting unit how would you respond?

It's about as ridiculous as asking one of your buddies if you can kiss his old lady.....

I don't look at it that way at all. I've literally helped dozens of hunters asking for a little direction and have made as one good friends in doing so. A little more charity in the hunting community we wouldn't hurt. Especially this time of year.

 

[roadhntr]

Last post was taken down due to it having the unit in the title...

I'm going to hunt mule deer in central/southern Idaho near the Columbia Plateau. That land is super flat which is why I had to pick that because of the people going with. They are too old for rough terrain. I've only hunted in areas with elevation so can anyone give any pointers (besides locating water sources) as to how to scout so we can at least see some Muley bucks? Not looking for your honey hole. I'm one of the dreaded nonres hunters that has never step foot in this unit and OnX isnt much help. Thanks in advance.

Sibe03, send me a pm and I'll give you some advice.

 

[realunlucky]

Come on man, "spot burning"? Someone that has already drawn or bought the tag and are asking for general information about a unit. The same information that a biologist would probably give is hardly hot spotting. You guys need to lighten up a little. It wouldn't hurt to be a little less aggressive on deleting and locking post. Maybe a new leaf can be turned in 2025.

Then calling the biologist should cover it and a step everyone new to a unit should be doing right away anyways.

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

 

[TaperPin]

There is a dear hiding somewhere in this photo - not giving out the coordinates.

 

[roadhntr]

Then calling the biologist should cover it and a step everyone new to a unit should be doing right away anyways.

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

Sure that can be a good route but not all biologist are very helpful. Some don't want to help. I absolutely have no problem with someone asking answers to general questions.

 

[LONE HUNTER]

Sure that can be a good route but not all biologist are very helpful. Some don't want to help. I absolutely have no problem with someone asking answers to general questions.

What I said earlier might be harsh. I get it.

Here's the reality though. We help people on searchable stuff it becomes public knowledge. literally hundreds of thousands of people will probably see it when its tied to a unit number. Eventually said unit starts to suck if the information is anything other than like "find water and hunt near AG".

The question the OP posed would have been a lot better received it he was an active member and had offered up help elsewhere before asking. Rokslide is a community. Asking for help is fine, especially through PM and usually after you've proven you're not some 12 post dude whos not even gonna tell those who helped him how he did on his hunt.

And what he's having to deal with is literally the reality of hunting out of state. I personally this year got a terrible number in line and ended up with a unit 56 deer tag. I know nothing about this unit. I am going in blind. I can tell just off the IDFG data it's going to be a very tough hunt...... but that's part of the journey. Go figure it out. See if you can win even in tough circumstances........ Handouts are not the way.

 

[roadhntr]

What I said earlier might be harsh. I get it.

Here's the reality though. We help people on searchable stuff it becomes public knowledge. literally hundreds of thousands of people will probably see it when its tied to a unit number. Eventually said unit starts to suck if the information is anything other than like "find water and hunt near AG".

The question the OP posed would have been a lot better received it he was an active member and had offered up help elsewhere before asking. Rokslide is a community. Asking for help is fine, especially through PM and usually after you've proven you're not some 12 post dude whos not even gonna tell those who helped him how he did on his hunt.

And what he's having to deal with is literally the reality of hunting out of state. I personally this year got a terrible number in line and ended up with a unit 56 deer tag. I know nothing about this unit. I am going in blind. I can tell just off the IDFG data it's going to be a very tough hunt...... but that's part of the journey. Go figure ut. See if you can win even in tough circumstances........ Handouts are not the way.

I get what you're saying but I'll continue to stick to my position that I don't think it's a problem for anyone (new to forum or not) to simply ask if someone is willing to answer some questions they have on a certain unit through a pm. Then no other "searcher" will have access to those questions and answers. This can't be done if a person can't ever bring up a unit name or number.

 

[LONE HUNTER]

I get what you're saying but I'll continue to stick to my position that I don't think it's a problem for anyone (new to forum or not) to simply ask some of the are willing to answer some questions they have on a certain unit through a pm. Then no other "searcher" will have access to those questions and answers. This can't be done if a person can't ever bring up a unit name or number.

All good. We don't have to agree. Just wanted to explain myself a little more is all.

 

[freddyG]

It’s a very tough unit for any age hunter to kill a mule deer buck, without major time being put in. Animals hang out in select places, and other than glassing for hours on end, every day, there isn’t much advice to give.

Bring excellent glass with you, or it’s a waste of time.

 

[Macegl]

Don’t want to discourage the OP but if I was looking for a unit that was accessible for older or out of shape hunters I would probably look elsewhere.

I lived and worked that area for a couple years, it’s rough. And I wouldn’t view the lack of elevation as a positive. A select few had it figured out, but even then it was far from an easy hunt.

A few pointers I can give are take extra water and fuel. An extra spare is a great idea, the roads eat tires. Not sure the dates of your hunt but that country can get dang cold for a desert. Stop and eat at Pickles Place in Arco. It’s beautiful country in its own way, I have a lot of great memories up there.

 

[Jtibbit2]

Last post was taken down due to it having the unit in the title...

I'm going to hunt mule deer in central/southern Idaho near the Columbia Plateau. That land is super flat which is why I had to pick that because of the people going with. They are too old for rough terrain. I've only hunted in areas with elevation so can anyone give any pointers (besides locating water sources) as to how to scout so we can at least see some Muley bucks? Not looking for your honey hole. I'm one of the dreaded nonres hunters that has never step foot in this unit and OnX isnt much help. Thanks in advance.

How is the access as far as roads go? The best luck I’ve had hunting flat/ desert like country is just put as much glass on country as possible. A lot of people knock it but there’s something to be said for covering lots of country with the glass hard, and sometimes the best way to do it is from the road. Drive and glass, drive and glass

 

[WeiserBucks]

How is the access as far as roads go? The best luck I’ve had hunting flat/ desert like country is just put as much glass on country as possible. A lot of people knock it but there’s something to be said for covering lots of country with the glass hard, and sometimes the best way to do it is from the road. Drive and glass, drive and glass

Do it, it'll either work or it won't. 90% of people road hunt whether they admit it or not.

 

[dgfavor]

Don’t want to discourage the OP but if I was looking for a unit that was accessible for older or out of shape hunters I would probably look elsewhere.

I lived and worked that area for a couple years, it’s rough. And I wouldn’t view the lack of elevation as a positive. A select few had it figured out, but even then it was far from an easy hunt.

A few pointers I can give are take extra water and fuel. An extra spare is a great idea, the roads eat tires. Not sure the dates of your hunt but that country can get dang cold for a desert. Stop and eat at Pickles Place in Arco. It’s beautiful country in its own way, I have a lot of great memories up there.

Yah, I am out that way quite a bit doing...stuff. Few days ago in a 6.2 mile loop I accumulated 800ft+ elevation gain just going up and down a gazillion little ups and downs. Not a killer by any means but...it ain't flat. It's kind of a crazy place...you think you can see everything for miles, probably swear there is not a living animal, go up over a 10ft rise and there is a herd of 50 elk in the next bottom. They take off and go over the next hill...you go over the next hill and can see for miles and you never see them again. I think it takes alot of time to figure out the habits of critters out there. I wandered into these 6 bulls on my loop the other day laid up in a shallow sagebrush choked trough that I never saw until I was on just enough of a bump to see 'em:








If you wanna kill yourself with some climbs...they're out there too:

 

[Yoteassasin]

Why on earth would someone get tags in a new area that they dont intend to scout or have prior local info ?
I hunt 3-4 western states a year and a weekend trip asap to learn the lay of the land is first on my list always on a new zone

 

[LONE HUNTER]

Why on earth would someone get tags in a new area that they dont intend to scout or have prior local info ?
I hunt 3-4 western states a year and a weekend trip asap to learn the lay of the land is first on my list always on a new zone

It isn't the getting the tag that I see as an issue. It's the expecting everyone else to figure it out for you that I think is downright silly.

 

[Sibe03]

It isn't the getting the tag that I see as an issue. It's the expecting everyone else to figure it out for you that I think is downright silly.

for those of you that actually gave any bit of knowledge, I appreciate you. All I was looking for is some insight on the unit. This was by no means our first unit to pick and from OnX it just looks like completely flat land with a few spots to glass. It’s OTC, you get what you get.

For those of you that wasted everyone’s time, get off your “I live out west” high horse and be more open to new to the area hunters. It’s public land…you don’t own shit. Everyone looks at this and thinks you’re a douche.
I’m sure half of you don’t even mule deer hunt.

 

[Huntnnw]

Why on earth would someone get tags in a new area that they dont intend to scout or have prior local info ?
I hunt 3-4 western states a year and a weekend trip asap to learn the lay of the land is first on my list always on a new zone

I hunt multiple states and driving 12-20 hours to some is just not possible to scout. Id rather have that time off to hunt. Do all the research I can and hit the unit to hunt.

Way I see it if you hunt a general unit I look at it as a 3 year investment to really figure it out and make a decision to keep hunting it or move to a different unit. I just cringe when guys pick up a lolo or selway tag "cause that was all that was left" you need to give that years of commitment or your wasting your money and time.

 

[Sibe03]

I hunt multiple states and driving 12-20 hours to some is just not possible to scout. Id rather have that time off to hunt. Do all the research I can and hit the unit to hunt.

Way I see it if you hunt a general unit I look at it as a 3 year investment to really figure it out and make a decision to keep hunting it or move to a different unit. I just cringe when guys pick up a lolo or selway tag "cause that was all that was left" you need to give that years of commitment or your wasting your money and time.

Funny you mention the Selway, I was there two years ago and that is some serious terrain. Beautiful unit. And the macgruder corridor is nothing to mess with.

 

[Yoteassasin]

It isn't the getting the tag that I see as an issue. It's the expecting everyone else to figure it out for you that I think is downright silly.

Agreed but I'm looking at it holistically . If one is not committed enough to do enough pre-work on a basic level ( biologist calls, topo review , weekend trip for an accessibility review ) the. Why on earth is some one randomly getting tags in an area .
Every single zone produces deer . Familiarity with any zone is likely the single greatest factor in success
I guess that's why guides exist

 

[Sibe03]

Agreed but I'm looking at it holistically . If one is not committed enough to do enough pre-work on a basic level ( biologist calls, topo review , weekend trip for an accessibility review ) the. Why on earth is some one randomly getting tags in an area .
Every single zone produces deer . Familiarity with any zone is likely the single greatest factor in success
I guess that's why guides exist

Look at it however you want, I’ve done everything but go to the unit. I thought this was a forum for hunters to talk about units and hunting info. How could I be so naive? I’m not randomly getting tags. We’ve done research on the units. Guess that’s what happens when a bunch of Biden voters start hunting