So I've been scouring the internet on this area and it seems to not be a very popular zone for elk. Any help would be appreciated. I start in 2 weeks nov 1. Any idea if their are resident herds in the area or is it mainly a migration hunt. Anything is better than nothing.
Elk hunt unit 45 and 52 idaho
- Thread starter Cody96056
- Start date
Lol. I'm sure they did. But I'm still going to try idaho first. This will be my first elk hunt. I know alot of people are closed lipped about their home town areas. I live in northern ca in the center of the x zones. Everyone and their brother puts in for this area. But my grandfather was the local warden so I was taught to help other hunters when you can just dont ruin any spots that the locals go to.
- Banned
- #4
nope .no elk there. probably one of the worst units statewide unless you have access to private land. they also changed the regs this year from a draw hunt to an OTC capped with around three times as manty tags as they were issuing before ,so expect it to be a complete and totall cluster f%$#
- Banned
- #6
which ones????????? some are paved .some are gravel. some are rocky two tracks . some are muddy two tracks.
roads are fine. generally very little snow in November . wouldn't expect more then a foot or so at most(and probably none) even up high. the majority of the unit is private land though
According to onx and other maps I've doug up the lower areas are mainly private but their is also alot of public. Were planning on hiking in an area that residents behind private ranch land. I'm debating starting by mount Bennett I figure that area gets hit hard opening weekend. Same with magic valley reservoir. So for the first few days were going to hike in to an area with the best vantage point. I appreciate the feedback on the roads. In areas I've been to with similar terrain it tends to get sloppy muddy fast when it rains.
Haven't been to the area because I am new to Idaho but I have researched the area. I think there are some resident populations but it is mainly a migration area. Looks like it is a cow hunt in November so you might get some of that migration. You are out of state so you probably don't have this flexibility but I would try and monitor for any big snows in the high country and then head out. I also don't see this hunt being available in previous years. I'd be very interested to hear how it turns out for you.
I'll keep you posted. Yea unfortunately it doesnt look like much wheather will be hitting the high country till the last week of the season. But I'm hoping the storm that is currently passing threw drives some down. I'll keep my eyes posted for bucks. I've read alot about the muleys in the area but not much on elk.
- Banned
- #10
generally the muds not to bad in these units till around February when the snow starts melting off
- Banned
- #11
there was a time this was a premier mulie draw hunt . these days while there are still some big bucks running around it is but a shadow of what it was 20 years ago. deer pops are down . wolf pops are up. tags issued is out of control in relation to amount of deer left.
in short, the management policies of the past couple decades has been geared more towards dollars today , then vision for thriving future herds . but that's the times we live in . it is pretty much the same nation wide.
back in the 80s and 90s you couldn't hardly throw a rock and not hit a trophy mulie in 45 and 52.
a good hunter can still find a decent buck but true monsters are pretty few and far between these days.
Yea sounds very familiar to my local area. We spent 3 weeks in x4 trying to get my 80 year old grandfather a buck. But we saw 3 does the entire season. It's a draw only once every 5 to 7 years. And we have like 5 wolves thanks to fish and game taking some from your state and re introducing them to are area. I'm just stunned 2500 tags all sold out that's insane.
theleo91386
WKR
2,500 cow tags (B tags). You can't forget A tags, draw tags, landowner tags, and depredation/conflict tags in the zone. The elk in that area are going to be seeing a ton more pressure than they've ever seen in the past.
Yea I'm surprised with all the tags behind sold out that someone else hunting this hasn't turned in honestly I'll have a good time either way. But with that much activity and not many roads. Well atleast nothing like the forest service land and BLM land in ca theres roads everywhere here. It's going to be conjested. Are there wolves in that area maybe I'll just buy a wolf tag. Lol atleast you locals will make some money but I can see how trespassing and idiots are going to pick off alot of the guys who own land in the area. I've never had a hunt with that many people shoved into that area and you know mount Bennett is going to probably have the most pressure. Atleast from what I can see onx it has the most amount of trees lol. Sorry guys I feel bad for you locals.
theleo91386
WKR
If you think trees dictate where the elk will be, you're in for an education.
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Lol that's the who
That's the whole reason I'm doing this is to learn. I've never elk hunted before so honestly I dont know how they behave. I've seen one elk at about 400 yards in oregon so honestly this is a whole learning experience for me. I picked that zone cause I was hoping all the lava rock would keep most guys from wanting to hike to far. Either way it's better than working. If your up for giving me some pointers on how elk behave in terrain like that. I just figure the patches of trees may house some that are 2 to 3 miles from the nearest road same with the canyons. And same with the backside of private land. But you know I only know what I've read on the internet and you know how that goes. I will be logging the whole trip mainly because by the math it seems their will be 1.5 hunters per square mile. Honestly that seems like someone might get shot but maybe I'm just whining for not doing enough research on my end.
Yea well ill guess we will just have to wait and see. Hope all of you had a good season. We will be packing in and setting a tent up somewhere just havent picked that spot yet. That storm that came threw hit Montana and north Dakota pretty good did it snow in the higher elevations. I'm hoping that starts some of them coming down but I dought it will be enough to get them across the highway.
So I just got off the phone with the Jerome office I told him I where I was going to plan on starting and he said the rancher below where were going to start will probably harass us. He said just use onx and maps and prepare for some nasty encounters which doesnt sound fun at all. But he really didn't give me much he basically said good luck thanks for the money lol.
theleo91386
WKR
Keep to basics. They need food, water, and cover. Just don't fix on trees being the only definition of cover. There's elk living out in the desert year round with very few trees around. They show up in weird places. Those weird places is where you'll find them more often when they're getting tons of pressure.
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