Elk in northern idaho

[Tailhunter]

Born and raised here!! hunted around the state end to end .. I just prefer not be anywhere Non res see 4 wheeler trails and flock to them!

I'm worried about that as well. Any trails in dworshak unit to avoid?

 

[fngTony]

Perfectly justified and my type of "goofball fun" if that's what you call it. I'm looking for knowledge and have responded to every helpful piece of knowledge and discourage childish games because my name says "newbie" or "junior member".

You made three insults in two comments (I deleted one of them), is that is what you meant by “perfectly justified”?

 

[Tailhunter]

You made three insults in two comments (I deleted one of them), is that is what you meant by “perfectly justified”?

Oh you mean calling a spade a spade? Yes, perfectly justified.

 

[Tailhunter]

You need to contact PotlatchDeltic and contact the forest service to get both of their travel management regulations and maps. PotlatchDeltic went heavy on the travel management this year and closed most of their gated roads to motorized use and their security and The conservation officers are enforcing it. The forest service main roads are open to ATV use. Not sure what the state regs are. Avoid dent road and the elk river area if you don’t want to deal with atv’s and side by sides in September. You’ll also find a lot of that traffic near every town mainly on the main roads. Once you have a game plan of where you want to hunt, I’d get a CB as the loggers and log truck drivers will run archery hunters off the road if the archery hunters are being jackasses. There was someone this year that passed empties sitting in turnouts waiting for loaded trucks to come down on a road and an archery hunter zoomed by them and was run off the road when he met a loaded coming out. All the roads are marked at the bottom with the cb channels.


Bring a saw as I usually average 2 trees a day that I have to fully cut out of the road once it starts raining again. Snow shouldn’t be an issue. Like it was mentioned it was pretty hot this fall until the 2nd weekend of rifle season.


Bulls were running all over the place between the 10th and the 1st this last year. Tagged along on hunts throughout September over the years and every weekend was great when we were on the elk.

Of course they are enforcing it this year..... Thank you so much for the heads up. I guess I will be getting in touch with potlatchdeltic in a few days then. Tha ks for the information.

 

[fngTony]

Oh you mean calling a spade a spade? Yes, perfectly justified.

I suggest you read our rules. If you have any questions I’ll be happy to answer them in a month. https://rokslide.com/forums/forums/forum-rules.57/

 

[.204smokechaser]

I suggest you read our rules. If you have any questions I’ll be happy to answer them in a month. https://rokslide.com/forums/forums/forum-rules.57/

I deleted my post to this thread. Guess I should have read the whole thread before posting!

 

[Huntnnw]

I bowhunted my spot 2 years ago in ID and the best week I had was the first week of season and it just never got any better throughout sept as I spent days in area every week. Last year I had a rifle tag and hunted same spot, but I had a cam on a heavily used saddle and wallow/water hole and the first week of season was incredible amount of rutting activity and it just diminished. This was true 3 years ago too alot of activity the first week then got worse.

 

[SwiftShot]

Thank you for the reply. Hauling ATVs out there to get back a ways and save the hiking legs for the hunt through all of that thick stuff. Do you know if it snows at all in the last 2 weeks of September?

You will not have snow. I spent plent of time up past Priest Lake. It might be warm in September. Wolves are a thing too. If you see signs of wolves, move because the elk that want to live will as well.

 

[Huntnnw]

You will not have snow. I spent plent of time up past Priest Lake. It might be warm in September. Wolves are a thing too. If you see signs of wolves, move because the elk that want to live will as well.

if you see or hear wolves there is elk around. I also do not buy into the elk are quiet cause of wolves. I hunt in ground zero wolf re introduction unit in ID and the elk are as vocal as any elk I have ever hunted. I have elk and wolves on the same water hole hours apart and daily

 

[SwiftShot]

if you see or hear wolves there is elk around. I also do not buy into the elk are quiet cause of wolves. I hunt in ground zero wolf re introduction unit in ID and the elk are as vocal as any elk I have ever hunted. I have elk and wolves on the same water hole hours apart and daily

I guess you have the vegan tofu eating wolves. We do not have those hippie wolves over here. Ours kill and eat deer and elk, which tends to move animals, much like a bunch of guys in hunter orange do. Moves them to where they are not pressured.

 

[mtnbiker208]

I know this goes against normal internet wisdom. but i have had better luck elk hunting, when you can hears wolves howling. I actually believe, hunt where the wolf is.

 

[Huntnnw]

I guess you have the vegan tofu eating wolves. We do not have those hippie wolves over here. Ours kill and eat deer and elk, which tends to move animals, much like a bunch of guys in hunter orange do. Moves them to where they are

I guess you have the vegan tofu eating wolves. We do not have those hippie wolves over here. Ours kill and eat deer and elk, which tends to move animals, much like a bunch of guys in hunter orange do. Moves them to where they are not pressured.

wolves are in the business of killing if you are hearing wolves I'll guarantee there are elk nearby. People act as if when wolves are around every deer and elk on the face of the planet run for miles and miles and thats simply not true. Deer and elk all have places they like and frequent on every mountain and are there year after year no matter if wolves are around. Hell this year we had wolves the whole week we hunted elk in ID, those elk barely moved and they chased those elk around and they stayed in the general area. I shot one of the wolves while they were chasing the elk. Those wolves stayed in the area and so did the elk as the 3 bulls never stopped bugling.

 

[SwiftShot]

wolves are in the business of killing if you are hearing wolves I'll guarantee there are elk nearby. People act as if when wolves are around every deer and elk on the face of the planet run for miles and miles and thats simply not true. Deer and elk all have places they like and frequent on every mountain and are there year after year no matter if wolves are around. Hell this year we had wolves the whole week we hunted elk in ID, those elk barely moved and they chased those elk around and they stayed in the general area. I shot one of the wolves while they were chasing the elk. Those wolves stayed in the area and so did the elk as the 3 bulls never stopped bugling.

Funny how when the wolves you have chase them they stay but a hunter wearing orange can move them miles. Odd.

 

[.204smokechaser]

Funny how when the wolves you have chase them they stay but a hunter wearing orange can move them miles. Odd.

These wolves in the area where Huntnnw is talking about are constantly on the elk and aren’t afraid of anything. Not much human presence away from the roads outside of hunting season and they have adapted to being where people aren’t. I’ve seen them running roads in the summer time and have trail cam pictures of them on work cameras walking in our work compound located in the middle of the woods.

 

[Elkoholic87]

During the rut.


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[sneaky]

30 min before daylight to 30 min after sunset between Aug 30th and Sep 30th. You're welcome

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[Elkaddict]

I hunt further North in Idaho than you are planning but I used to do very well mid-September. However, the last week of September has shown the greatest rut activity in my area the past 3 years for some reason. Good luck!

 

[Clearwaterarcher]

Harvested bulls throughout the entire month… had some epic days from Labor Day weekend all the way to the 30th… my favorite is the 15th-19th, more due to the fact had a few herd bulls hit the dirt in that span. I wouldn’t worry about snow, it can happen but really rare that early. It can take a lot of perseverance at times with elevated hunting pressure and predators. Can still have great hunting days, but at times it can feel desolate. Brush choked mtns with dark timber. Not a spot and stalk type of hunt. Best of luck

Good info here. I've killed bulls on August 30th through the last week of September.. I choose to hunt the first week because I know my areas well and there's less pressure. If it's your first time up north it's going to be a learning experience either way. Elk get pushed around a lot in this country don't get hung up on one specific area if its not producing

 

[UncleTroy]

Dworshak unit. Am I able to use them on logging roads? Unit is filled with them.

Check out ownership of the logging road. Most of the logging there is PotlatchDeltic. Here is a link to a lot of good info for hunting, camping, and OHV-ATV stuff. https://idahoaccess.potlatchdeltic.com My experience is that you can drive all the logging roads with OHV's. There are a lot of gates (look at their online map) that restrict ATV use to 48" max width or sometimes no ATVs at all. You can't drive ATVs ANYWHERE off their trails or roads. I know this is abused but that's the rule. Some gates that are open today can be closed tomorrow (normally based on logging operations). What I was really surprised about is how many trails that you see on OnX are overgrown with alders and impassible. They're nice to walk (flatish trails) but you'll be dodging alders the whole time. Last thing is that hunting is open and free but you have to pay for a camping permit to sleep anywhere on their property.