Idaho 19A Mule Deer

[djtreadw]

Hello All,

I will be heading out into the rough Idaho wilderness for 8 nights come the second week in October with two other friends. We have mule deer and elk tags in hand and will be jet boated in on the Salmon River. This is my first time hunting mulies, as I have been an east coast whitetail hunter my entire life and am really looking forward to the challenge. Our plan is to put our boots on the ground and glass up drainages along the steep countryside for a spot and stalk opportunity. The question I have, is if anyone has hunted this area before and have any pointers for the area, especially this time of year? Also wondering what the crowds would be like in the area as well? We are coming in with only e-scouting experience of the area and know it will be an absolute bear to hike in, however, we are willing to put in the miles and hopefully locate some good buck/bulls along the way. This experience will be one for the books in my world, and any game we are lucky enough to take on the journey is just another plus. Any recommendations/questions are welcome and I appreciate all taking the time to help out a fellow hunter.

-Dan

 

[RustyHazen]

Go SLOW. Google Earth cannot even BEGIN to depict how steep that country is climbing up from the river. Your legs probably aren't ready for that reality. Be patient and let your glass do a lot of your walking. Good luck, should be fun!

 

[robby denning]

Rusty’s right! Save this big hikes if you can until you spot game. I’ve never done that hunt but I can’t imagine it’s gonna be a lot of competition.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[djtreadw]

I appreciate the insight rusty and robby. I'll be sure to take the time to glass up game carefully rather than thinking I have to trudge into every drainage I can.

 

[d3ntalbliss]

Being jet boated up the salmon river. I can't imagine there will be that many other hunters.

 

[gumbl3]

They're not kidding about being steep up from the river. Was there several years ago and hardly saw a soul out hunting, boats up and down the river were pretty regular, my buddy actually killed his M.D. down along the river, only had to go 6 miles back to the truck but worth it. We were on the other side in 19 and 20 but had lots of views of 19A and 20A

I looked at my Nez Perce NFS map it's got most of 19A on it, at least all you're gonna cover on foot from the river, I'd order one up, you can navigate different drainages by the rivers on the map in I remember right, better than a lot of other maps with regards to this. Most of the deer we found were holed up where springs popped out of the mountains and vegetation was thicker higher up. As steep as that stuff is you have to side hill to see it though, where we were you can only see about 50 yards in front of you up or down cause of the terrain

 

[KurtR]

Hunted there the last two years and google earth is so far from doing it justice how steep it is. We have been hunting elk but have seen a fair amount of mule deer we were west of the area you are going in.

 

[adams417]

@djtreadw, how'd the hunt go?

 

[djtreadw]

@djtreadw, how'd the hunt go?

It went really well. Three of us went in and all came out with a mule deer. It was no walk in the park by any means, it kicked our ass the whole time but was well worth it in the end. I will be back this year and looking forward to the sore legs already. Also saw a bonus blonde phase black bear and wolf through out trudging.

 

[Lowe43]

Any pics

 

[HighCountryHill33]

Using the slope measuring tool on Google Earth will help to give you an idea of how mean that country is. IT IS STEEP. As long as you aren't in a super big hurry though, a little sweat and motrin will turn some deer up