Hunting the Salmon/Sawtooth border

[Kgiudici]

My brother and I are planning a DIY Elk hunt in the Salmon zone this fall. Can anybody comment on the idea of hunting in Salmon 36B along the border of Sawtooth 36? With the popularity of the sawtooth zone being what it is, it seems to me that some critters might get pressured out of Sawtooth 36 and into Salmon 36B.

 

[Joe Schmo]

I’m just gonna come out and say that’s a bad idea. It ain’t exactly like hunting a checkerboard area in Wyoming or the edge of a giant private ranch in Montana.
I believe the sawtooth is only so popular because IDFG is constantly sending out press releases on the tags...slam dunk hunt it is not. Bigger bulls in other OTC units, for sure.

 

[idahohikker]

+1

I wouldn't be hunting right by the Sawtooth zone just hoping some of those bulls are in the area.

It's not significantly better in elk numbers or trophy quality than other Idaho OTC zones; it can be good, but it's just really popular, at least partly because of the alpine scenery. I'm surprised that there's so many guys salivating over it on here recently. I wouldn't say it's on par with WY general elk units and neither would GoHunt.

 

[Kgiudici]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm just starting to put a plan together for our hunt. I've looked through the harvest stats in the idfg website and am trying to zero in on an area that will hopefully give us some chances.

 

[Scoony]

We hunted the Sawtooth near Stanley in 2016 and Salmon zone near Challis this past year. We did hunt down by one of the creeks near the border between the two zones. You don't have to get too far back for the mule deer, we were seeing does every day, but were not smart enough to outsmart the bucks. The Elk seemed to be a little father back in. There were a lot of hunters in that area, but the majority of them stay near the roads.

If I was to go back out there, I would probably go back to that same area, and hike back a few miles from the end of the jeep trails and set up camp. Elevations start around 6k and work up to 9k so lots of up. Oh, and I would have chains. There was lots of mud this past year and the mud was worse then the snow. Seems like they grease the mud out there.

 

[Kgiudici]

Thanks. We've been trying to decide whether we should set up base camp near a road with more comforts, or suck it up and carry camp in on our backs. Sounds like it's a little crowded near the roads.

 

[Idahohillboy]

I want to shed some insight here. The Elk in the Sawtooth Zone are not heavily pressured in Archery. They are heavily pressured in the OTC counter rifle though which happens later in the season and you have a lot of road hunters both early and late season. As far as bulls getting chased in there it is a big unit with very little pressure on that side and definitely not enough to make a difference as well the unit is way below objective due to wolves and that OTC rifle hunt. I was up there helping a buddy last year for archery, hunted it in 2016 for deer and it was a definitely light on elk. Be warned if you think it will not be crowded think again those zones are the most crowded zones IMO the Pioneer, and Smokey Bennett. I was trying to get into the Sawtooth just to get away from the other hunters in the OTC for some peace of mind.

 

[Kgiudici]

I should have mentioned this...We will be hunting the B tag in mid-late October.