I spent nearly ten days in Idaho chasing elk, getting frustrated by the elk, and being excited by the elk all in the same breath. We saw some quality bulls, saw a lot of mule deer, some sheep, and several people.
It was a rollercoaster, but I wouldn’t imagine it any other way. We didn’t fill our tags, but this being our 2nd elk hunt, we were very close at times to letting an arrow fly, and that in itself felt like a win.
I do want to share a story of a gentleman we ran into. He was open to conversation, but I caution this blanket approach. We were hiking in with camp on our back and he was camped along the main trail. We cordially said hello and he asked how we found this place. Thanks to a a local contact and some due diligence of my own, we had colocated areas of interest in the particular area. He proceeded to tell us how crowded it had been, and how out of staters have flooded his area (I saw a Washington plate on his truck). He also proceeded to talk about a ruined shot opportunity on a 5pt due to an ATV rider. Followed by the classic I wish NR hunters in Idaho had to do a draw. I responded with a hey, I apologize if NR hunters have caused issues for you, but we’re here to do the same thing as you and have spent a lot of time and money to get here.
That day we got into elk after setting up camp 3mi in. It was the best first day in my very short elk hunting career. And yes, we ran into two NR hunters on our way up the mountain.
The next day we ran into this gentleman again. This time he had three other gents. All cordial, and all working the same bulls we glassed the night before on the mountain. This time, the gentleman he was hunting with were comprised of two NR hunters and one other resident. His story of the ruined 5pt changed to I hit one in the shoulder after we described the two big 6pt bulls we glassed. We chatted a little bit, had a few laughs and then went on our separate ways. That was the last time we seen them as we had packed out on day 3 to reassess and re-gameplan and they were gone.
What I know is there were three quality bulls in 4 separate drainages which this gentleman was eying. We had local insight and e-scouting intel to work off of as in-person scouting was not possible for us. And we just happened to pick a similar area but made an effort to hunt away from them. However, I only saw one other NR plate in the entire 45min drive from town at any camps or trailheads, most of the others I spoke to coming into the area were native Idaho residents, and I ultimately didn’t see that many people hunting. Maybe all of 8-9 other hunters in nearly 10 days. But, I quickly learned people can be possessive of the animals they are interested in regardless of how each of us scout.
I would definitely go back to where we were, and outside of this gentleman, every Idaho resident we ran into was extremely nice, appreciative of the info we shared, and reciprocal in what they shared. But, I know there’s more people out there hunting that are like this gentleman, and I think we need to reassess our disdain towards those who work hard and put in the time on their hunts. It doesn’t matter where they’re from, it simply matters what kind of hunter they are. And, we need to get away from the entitlement of animals being “ours” and more focused on how we can lift others up in the process of their elk hunt.
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It was a rollercoaster, but I wouldn’t imagine it any other way. We didn’t fill our tags, but this being our 2nd elk hunt, we were very close at times to letting an arrow fly, and that in itself felt like a win.
I do want to share a story of a gentleman we ran into. He was open to conversation, but I caution this blanket approach. We were hiking in with camp on our back and he was camped along the main trail. We cordially said hello and he asked how we found this place. Thanks to a a local contact and some due diligence of my own, we had colocated areas of interest in the particular area. He proceeded to tell us how crowded it had been, and how out of staters have flooded his area (I saw a Washington plate on his truck). He also proceeded to talk about a ruined shot opportunity on a 5pt due to an ATV rider. Followed by the classic I wish NR hunters in Idaho had to do a draw. I responded with a hey, I apologize if NR hunters have caused issues for you, but we’re here to do the same thing as you and have spent a lot of time and money to get here.
That day we got into elk after setting up camp 3mi in. It was the best first day in my very short elk hunting career. And yes, we ran into two NR hunters on our way up the mountain.
The next day we ran into this gentleman again. This time he had three other gents. All cordial, and all working the same bulls we glassed the night before on the mountain. This time, the gentleman he was hunting with were comprised of two NR hunters and one other resident. His story of the ruined 5pt changed to I hit one in the shoulder after we described the two big 6pt bulls we glassed. We chatted a little bit, had a few laughs and then went on our separate ways. That was the last time we seen them as we had packed out on day 3 to reassess and re-gameplan and they were gone.
What I know is there were three quality bulls in 4 separate drainages which this gentleman was eying. We had local insight and e-scouting intel to work off of as in-person scouting was not possible for us. And we just happened to pick a similar area but made an effort to hunt away from them. However, I only saw one other NR plate in the entire 45min drive from town at any camps or trailheads, most of the others I spoke to coming into the area were native Idaho residents, and I ultimately didn’t see that many people hunting. Maybe all of 8-9 other hunters in nearly 10 days. But, I quickly learned people can be possessive of the animals they are interested in regardless of how each of us scout.
I would definitely go back to where we were, and outside of this gentleman, every Idaho resident we ran into was extremely nice, appreciative of the info we shared, and reciprocal in what they shared. But, I know there’s more people out there hunting that are like this gentleman, and I think we need to reassess our disdain towards those who work hard and put in the time on their hunts. It doesn’t matter where they’re from, it simply matters what kind of hunter they are. And, we need to get away from the entitlement of animals being “ours” and more focused on how we can lift others up in the process of their elk hunt.
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. To each their own just leave my stuff alone and I’m all good, I have hiked by many of them with racks on my shoulder smiling 
a few have asked when I got them and I replied when you were sleeping I was an hour into this mountain.
