Drop hunt

[shmelton]

I am just another newbie Western Hunter that is thinking about an OTC drop hunt in ID. What do you guys who use drop camps look for in an outfitter? We prefer to use pick animals over a plane. I just don’t want to get totted off to the middle of nowhere, and get left, or show up at the camp, and it be nothing like it was advertised to be.

I thought about hiking in, which I’m not opposed to, but by the time I buy the gear, and get it out there it will be more than some of the drop camp costs.


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[idahohikker]

Drop camps are normally pretty crappy, at least in Idaho. They set you up along a trail in national forest that can be accessed by other hunters and you'll likely have some come by. In the wilderness areas 9/10 outfitters are busy with fully guided clients and don't give a crap about drop camps and normally won't book them or will ignore them if they do.

Consider your choice a guided hunt or DIY in Idaho, IMO.

I have thoroughly researched outfitters in most of the state outside the Panhandle. I follow where they hunt, what kind of animals, they shoot, the hunts they offer. I'm aware of the drop camp locations of outfitters anywhere near where I hunt. They're funny to me because people are paying thousands of dollars to be dropped off where they could hike in with a half day's effort or less.

 

[sneaky]

Buy your own gear and enjoy a decade of use out of it over a one time crappy drop camp.

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[idahohikker]

Buy your own gear and enjoy a decade of use out of it over a one time crappy drop camp.

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Sneaks, there is a drop camp that is about 2-3 miles up the trail off the highway near your place. Cracks me up that a few miles from the main highway an outfitter is charging thousands of dollars for a drop camp.

If you poke around on fish and game's website, you can figure out who it is.

 

[shmelton]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a big waste of money. Logistically it seemed like a good idea. Especially, seeing how I could fly in instead of driving across the country. Guess it’s going to be a 36hr rd trip for me.


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[TXMT]

I am just another newbie Western Hunter that is thinking about an OTC drop hunt in ID. What do you guys who use drop camps look for in an outfitter? We prefer to use pick animals over a plane. I just don’t want to get totted off to the middle of nowhere, and get left, or show up at the camp, and it be nothing like it was advertised to be.

I thought about hiking in, which I’m not opposed to, but by the time I buy the gear, and get it out there it will be more than some of the drop camp costs.


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I suggest a Kodiak Canvas tent 10x10 for $399 as a good piece of gear to start on, and just pick an area that doesnt need Onxmaps to distinguish private lands and just walk in from a trailhead. Idaho has lots of this type of country...

 

[Rich M]

Folks forget that people have personal expectations.

A LOT of people like drop camps - a group of guys getting together and going hunting without worrying about lodging, carrying game out, etc. There is a lot to be said about having a camp in place to go to. Knowing it is public land with other hunters is another thing. Just about anywhere you go is gonna have people, some areas more than others.

It really depends on what you want to get out of it all. If it is more about the experience, then it could be good. If it is more about shooting a monster buck, might be good to look at fully guided hunts. If it is about dipping a toe and coming back every year hereafter, you might be better just jumping into the DIY pond.

I did an antelope DIY in 2017 and bought some gear, did a mule deer DIY in 2019 and bought more gear. Have all the gear now and am tired of driving it all 30+ hours to get there and back. LOL! Have 2 more western hunts and calling it a success - never saw this as an all the time thing, more like that exotic vacation that you take a time or two and then go back to same-old-same-old, happier with life having done the exotic thing but no desire to make it a lifestyle. Anyway, driving a week of your 2 week vacation is tough. Did 2017 in 2-2.5 days each way, did 2019 straight thru both ways. Was very relaxed and rested in 2019 after a 8 days of hunting and then drove home to be exhausted when I got there.

Cost $500 for rental truck (got a good deal) and $500 for gas in 2019, figure can get a decent seat on the plane for less than that. I'm flying the next 2 trips. May do 1st class cause they let you carry more stuff and might not charge extra for carrying gun & meat home. Gotta look into that cause there are fees for everything.

Spend a little time thinking about what you want. Some guys truck camp, others pack in, some stay at lodges & hotels, etc. Pluses and minuses to each. Figure out what would make the hunt memorable for you.

In 2019 I had to hunt some canyons in the snow - went and did it. Saw nothing, didn't cut a track but hunted a couple square miles of canyons with absolutely no-one around. That's what I went there to do. Day later we were hunting sage, day later had a buck, day later buddy missed one, day later buddy missed another, day later driving home.