Idaho Elk

[mavryk1971]

Grew up hunting deer/small game in Iowa. Been living in Idaho for several years now. I'm experienced and comfortable being in the backcountry.

My elk hunting experience is limited to 2 DIY pack in horse hunts, once in CO Medicine Bow/Routt NF and once in ID Unit 17. I'm planning my hike in Elk hunt Unfortunately, I have not had much time to get familiar with the area and will only be able to spend a couple days scouting prior to the season. The experience of hunting the backcountry is of much greater importance to me than simply filling a tag. That being said, I would be very grateful to harvest a legal bull, not hung up on having to be a monster. Any input/suggestions on the following, or any general advice, would be greatly appreciated.

1. I am planning to have snow to contend with. At what elevations would it be reasonable to plan on being able to travel on foot without major difficulty? I am not planning on packing my snowshoes.
2. I understand the area is a popular summer tourist area. Is it fair to assume the trails are generally passable?
3. I would LOVE to use horse for this hunt. If anyone knows of a reputable outfitter/rancher/stable that offers horse rental in/around Lowman or Stanley area, please let me know.
3. Any other suggestions from you folks who are more experienced/knowledgeable would be greatly appreciated.

Please reserve the captain obvious comments. I'm fully aware hunting elk is completely different than hunting farmland whitetails. I understand the hazards and challenges of being on foot in rough country. I'm not asking for GPS coordinates to your favorite hunting hole.

Thanks everyone in advance.

 

[mavryk1971]

My apologies to all-

I did not read the forum guidelines prior to posting, and did not realize it is not considered proper etiquette to mention specific unit/zone in posts. I cannot seem to find a way to edit my post- if someone could give me direction on how to do so I will remove the information that is not appropriate. Thank you in advance.

 

[fngTony]

My apologies to all-

I did not read the forum guidelines prior to posting, and did not realize it is not considered proper etiquette to mention specific unit/zone in posts. I cannot seem to find a way to edit my post- if someone could give me direction on how to do so I will remove the information that is not appropriate. Thank you in advance.

All good, thanks for taking the initiative! I don’t think new members can edit so I went ahead and removed the unit number from the title and body of the post.

 

[mavryk1971]

All good, thanks for taking the initiative! I don’t think new members can edit so I went ahead and removed the unit number from the title and body of the post.

Thank you and again apologies for not reading the guidelines prior to posting.

 

[Spoonbill]

Grew up hunting deer/small game in Iowa. Been living in Idaho for several years now. I'm experienced and comfortable being in the backcountry.

My elk hunting experience is limited to 2 DIY pack in horse hunts, once in CO Medicine Bow/Routt NF and once in ID Unit 17. I'm planning my hike in Elk hunt Unfortunately, I have not had much time to get familiar with the area and will only be able to spend a couple days scouting prior to the season. The experience of hunting the backcountry is of much greater importance to me than simply filling a tag. That being said, I would be very grateful to harvest a legal bull, not hung up on having to be a monster. Any input/suggestions on the following, or any general advice, would be greatly appreciated.

1. I am planning to have snow to contend with. At what elevations would it be reasonable to plan on being able to travel on foot without major difficulty? I am not planning on packing my snowshoes.
2. I understand the area is a popular summer tourist area. Is it fair to assume the trails are generally passable?
3. I would LOVE to use horse for this hunt. If anyone knows of a reputable outfitter/rancher/stable that offers horse rental in/around Lowman or Stanley area, please let me know.
3. Any other suggestions from you folks who are more experienced/knowledgeable would be greatly appreciated.

Please reserve the captain obvious comments. I'm fully aware hunting elk is completely different than hunting farmland whitetails. I understand the hazards and challenges of being on foot in rough country. I'm not asking for GPS coordinates to your favorite hunting hole.

Thanks everyone in advance.

I would look at the current wildfires and compare it to where you have been e scouting. Lots of wildfires right now so it may change where you want to hunt.

 

[mavryk1971]

I would look at the current wildfires and compare it to where you have been e scouting. Lots of wildfires right now so it may change where you want to hunt.

Thank you for the advice. OnX has a fire activity map layer that I use to monitor fire activity.

Dumb question- if there’s a fire in an area say Late August-Sept timeframe, will elk start using the area again that fall? I assume no unless it’s an area that has some very unique feature that would attract them, or if there was a burst of ew growth forage that mired them back, which doesn’t seem likely. Any experience hunting near a recent (1-2) month old burn?

 

[Raghornklr]

Short answer it depends on how hot the fire was and if you got any rain. Sometimes it will look like fresh green grass right after if it gets moisture. Other times surface of the moon.

 

[mavryk1971]

Makes sense. Was kinda what I assumed but never seen it firsthand. Thank you for the info.

 

[Aginor]

I would look at the current wildfires and compare it to where you have been e scouting. Lots of wildfires right now so it may change where you want to hunt.

Especially if you plan on hunting between Lowman and Stanley this year. That Wapiti fire is no joke. And the Redfish one earlier this year was pretty bad too

If you got the tag I think you do, I hunted this one last year. I think it's more hype than quality (or maybe just the Garden Valley/Crouch locals wanting to hunt from their cabins).

Trails are always hit and miss in Idaho, but the blessing of this place is that you can make your own pretty much anywhere with minimal bushwacking. That's also beneficial in that it means you can get away from hunting pressure since everyone concentrates on the established trails.

I hunted this the entire 2 weeks last year and what I noticed is that after opening day, the elk really stopped moving. Even after a week they weren't moving. In the main spot I was hunting, they hunkered down in three different spots that were impossible to glass into, but I knew they were in there from watching them go in and eventually still hunting into them. It was also very helpful allowing the hunting pressure to push the elk to me. One favorable wind and I would have had a nice elk at 24 yards that another hunter pushed. Another time, I zigged when I should have zagged and missed out on another one.

In my pre season scouting (including all weekends through the peak of the rut), the bugling was very minimal and only at dawn and dusk. I know everyone bitches about wolves, but in this case I heard them constantly while scouting and during the season, so I think it's a safe bet to blame them.

So far as snow, it was frigid down in the river valleys over night, but when I camped high it was actually kind of warm at night. The snow didn't start until halfway through the second week. It was a really wet snow (shocking that close to Stanley, which always seems to have the fluffiest snow) and it quickly hardened, so still hunting was taken off the table at that point. Unfortunately, they still weren't moving around yet (other than a cow migration down the valley) so I wasn't successful glassing for tracks.

I debated back and forth all winter on getting this tag again. After the two weeks I spent hunting it last year, I'm very confident I could be successful this year. However, I didn't want to sink anymore time into a tag/unit that is only getting harder to draw for mediocre quality bulls. I'd rather go run around in the Frank where there are many fewer people and a guaranteed draw every year and invest my time learning hidey holes and places there than stay in a decent spot that I might only be able to get once every couple of years in the near future.

Anyways, just my two cents. I hope you have a great hunt. Just stay after them and you should find some sort of success. They're certainly out there! And it's one of the most beautiful general areas in Idaho

 

[mavryk1971]

Thanks so much for your response and sharing your experience. Unfortunately I had to change plans due to work issues. I’ll be hunting close to home in the Panhandle. From what I understand the hunting pressure is pretty heavy. I’m looking at a couple spots that appear to get hit a little less hard. Kinda planning to do what you described and let the pressure work in my favor if it’s heavy. Anyway, plan on having a great time regardless

Thanks again for sharing.