Idaho unit 26 or 27

[_TONY_]

Hey All-

Needing a little advice from those of you that have hunted unit 26, 27 or both. I have my first child on the way in March and that means that I really have to buckle down and choose only one deer hunt (I know I'm lucky to still have one!) this year. The plan as of right now is to apply for my normal out of state hunts, and use one of these two units as a fall back plan for a November hunt. Can't swing the fly in air charters, so will be going in by foot. My question is, if you had to choose one of these units, which would you choose and why? I'm not looking for anything for the record books, would just be happy with an opportunity at a mature buck. Looking at the stats for each, 26 in less busy than 27 and they both have relatively the same success rates.

Any advice given is greatly appreciated and pm's are welcomed.

Thanks!
Tony

 

[PathFinder]

I think both will winter kill hard this year. For foot accessibility 26 might be better along the middle fork, but that's just a theory from looking at GE. Most of the winter range I know of in 27 is hard to access in November by anything but aircraft.

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[martin_shooter]

First- there is one major difference between the two. 27 can only be applied for as a first choice. 26 can be applied for as a second choice.

Access to both units without airplane is risky. Alot of the access is over passes that can get plugged up easily while you are in for 7+ days. Unit 27 encompasses a majority of the middle fork while 26 is a tributary of the middle fork. With that said- a full set of tire chains and a steel coal shovel can take you through a surprising amount of snow. Have you considered floating the middle fork with a small raft? Small and light for easily crossing ice jams would be the cats ass.

 

[_TONY_]

I think both will winter kill hard this year. For foot accessibility 26 might be better along the middle fork, but that's just a theory from looking at GE. Most of the winter range I know of in 27 is hard to access in November by anything but aircraft.

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I'm thinking the same in regards to the winter kill, so we'll see how bad it was this spring.

The plan for 26 is head up via the 27 side of the middle fork, ferry a cross with my pack raft and hunt up the big creek drainage. For 27 the plan would be to hunt from the confluence up.

 

[_TONY_]

First- there is one major difference between the two. 27 can only be applied for as a first choice. 26 can be applied for as a second choice.

Access to both units without airplane is risky. Alot of the access is over passes that can get plugged up easily while you are in for 7+ days. Unit 27 encompasses a majority of the middle fork while 26 is a tributary of the middle fork. With that said- a full set of tire chains and a steel coal shovel can take you through a surprising amount of snow. Have you considered floating the middle fork with a small raft? Small and light for easily crossing ice jams would be the cats ass.

Actually I have considered hiking/hunting up the middle fork and pack rafting my way down.... Though with the gear and with a little success, meat bags, I'm not sure that's a great idea.
20a is still in the cards, though it's rather accessible, so I'm sure it's going to be busier.

Thanks for the input so far guys!

 

[mntnguide]

Your not going to be hiking up the middle fork to where big creek drains in, then hunting up big creek....You realize its 20+ miles from any trailhead right? And ill just save you some leg work now...You will have a terrible hunt trying to hunt up big creek in November from where it drains in. The deer are not down there, and you are 10+miles from where the majority will congregate if the snow pushes them down in time. Big creek is over 30 miles long from the trailhead at Big Creek. It is not game rich country, and the best hunting is in the middle of the drainage roughly. I spent 3 years and over 300 days living in the entirety of Big creek guiding, so i kinda know it...Save yourself a lot of trouble, and figure out the 800 bucks or so to fly in if you want to really hunt that country. We rode our horses over 60 miles from the Challis side to get into big creek for the fall, then would ride them out in the end of november. All clients flew in to airstrips for a reason. The airstrips look like tent cities in November with the amount of people who come to hunt it, and it is by no means a big deer producing area.

 

[_TONY_]

Your not going to be hiking up the middle fork to where big creek drains in, then hunting up big creek....You realize its 20+ miles from any trailhead right? And ill just save you some leg work now...You will have a terrible hunt trying to hunt up big creek in November from where it drains in. The deer are not down there, and you are 10+miles from where the majority will congregate if the snow pushes them down in time. Big creek is over 30 miles long from the trailhead at Big Creek. It is not game rich country, and the best hunting is in the middle of the drainage roughly. I spent 3 years and over 300 days living in the entirety of Big creek guiding, so i kinda know it...Save yourself a lot of trouble, and figure out the 800 bucks or so to fly in if you want to really hunt that country. We rode our horses over 60 miles from the Challis side to get into big creek for the fall, then would ride them out in the end of november. All clients flew in to airstrips for a reason. The airstrips look like tent cities in November with the amount of people who come to hunt it, and it is by no means a big deer producing area.

Thanks very much for your input, MNTNGUIDE.

It looks like my distance calcs may have been a little off, with you saying 20+ miles to reach the confluence of BC. Seeing as with your experience, the meat of the BC drainage being the better section, 26 is looking like a no go.

 

[mntnguide]

I would not hunt 26 for deer unless you fly in...its basically inaccessible for just a foot hunter. Even from Big Creek trailhead, I would ride 5-6 hours before i started hunting. The frank church in general is not exactly backpack hunter friendly unless you fly into one of the many airstrips

 

[338edge]

Tagging in!

 

[iseebucks]

I don't want to discourage you, but I was in your exact same position one year ago and chose Unit 27 November Rut Hunt. Everyone told me I should hire a pilot to fly me in but I chose to be stubborn and hunt on foot like you are considering. Long story short, I saw 3 three deer(all does) in 7 full days of hard hunting. It was the worst hunt I have ever been on in my life and the other guys that were hunting on foot in the same area as me were not seeing anything either. I really do think the high success rates are skewed from the outfitters and all the people that fly in and actually get into the good deer country. It is beautiful country but I think you REALLY need to fly in to those units in November because most of the deer end up along the river by the time November hits. Good luck.

 

[_TONY_]

I don't want to discourage you, but I was in your exact same position one year ago and chose Unit 27 November Rut Hunt. Everyone told me I should hire a pilot to fly me in but I chose to be stubborn and hunt on foot like you are considering. Long story short, I saw 3 three deer(all does) in 7 full days of hard hunting. It was the worst hunt I have ever been on in my life and the other guys that were hunting on foot in the same area as me were not seeing anything either. I really do think the high success rates are skewed from the outfitters and all the people that fly in and actually get into the good deer country. It is beautiful country but I think you REALLY need to fly in to those units in November because most of the deer end up along the river by the time November hits. Good luck.

Thanks so much, ISEEBUCKS. I really appreciate you sharing your experience.

I'm thinking that I may focus my energy lower into 20A.

 

[530Chukar]

Mntnguide PM sent


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[Joe Schmo]

Fellas,
Do you have experience in the Frank Church or areas like it?
Also guys you do know that most/plenty/a bunch of the deer kilt on those hunts are killed...NOT in November, right?
I second the NOT BIG DEER comment...guys/gals that kill the bigger ones (160-175ish) spend two weeks straight in there...have ya'll done that before?
Also, it's about the experience. It's beautiful, big, wild country!!

 

[GibsonKuenzi]

Fellas,
Also guys you do know that most/plenty/a bunch of the deer kilt on those hunts are killed...NOT in November, right?

Can you explain this more?

 

[Joe Schmo]

Which part are you not understanding?

 

[Idaho CTD]

They list the harvest for general tags separate from the draw tags. In 2015 the draw tags for 27 were 488 drawn with 383 harvested. For the general season it's 834 hunted and 285 harvested. I'm not sure where your getting your data about more getting killed another time but November. 98 more deer killed in the 18 days of November versus the month and a half prior to that. 26 is quite similar percentage wise to 27 but with less people.

I would be willing to bet there will be a sizable winter kill this year though with the amount of snow we have had in the last 10 days.

 

[Upcountry]

Ouch... I'm glad I stumbled across this thread. I had been eyeballing both 26 and 27 myself for a 2017 hunt during the general season...

 

[tttoadman]

We elk hunted 27 in sept. Anywhere you can drive to is packed full of weekend warriors that shoot every dinker legal buck they find. It was pretty crazy. The fly in tags are a different group of people. I did my my part to skew the november results because I ate my tag. I found a buck i liked with 2 days left, but couldn't make it happen. The November hunt is for serious hunters who are prepared for anything.

I have spent many hours trying to find a good place to drive/hike for NOV access. I have not found it yet. I have not really looked at 26.

 

[Joe Schmo]

They list the harvest for general tags separate from the draw tags. In 2015 the draw tags for 27 were 488 drawn with 383 harvested. For the general season it's 834 hunted and 285 harvested. I'm not sure where your getting your data about more getting killed another time but November. 98 more deer killed in the 18 days of November versus the month and a half prior to that. 26 is quite similar percentage wise to 27 but with less people.

I would be willing to bet there will be a sizable winter kill this year though with the amount of snow we have had in the last 10 days.

See..."most/plenty/a bunch" please look at what exactly I wrote before you jump to conclusions on what I'm saying. I was obviously not sure on the data and... also I'm speaking for the fly in crew, which is more like a subset of data that isn't on the IDFG website, not so much the weekend warriors around the edges picking em off every buck they see. For what it's worth, as many buck deer as we saw on the edges this summer (August) it wouldn't surprise me if the weekend warriors got even more of em last year.

**Next year may well be a different story

 

[RAHC]

See..."most/plenty/a bunch" please look at what exactly I wrote before you jump to conclusions on what I'm saying. I was obviously not sure on the data and... also I'm speaking for the fly in crew, which is more like a subset of data that isn't on the IDFG website, not so much the weekend warriors around the edges picking em off every buck they see. For what it's worth, as many buck deer as we saw on the edges this summer (August) it wouldn't surprise me if the weekend warriors got even more of em last year.

**Next year may well be a different story [/QUOTE

I highly doubt ever buck in there is getting taken. I live close to 2 of those areas and I can tell you from experience get in shape or get horses or do both. The "church" doesn't get the tv time as other remote areas in the lower 48, but I guarantee where you find the good deer is some of the toughest country you will ever see. If you want to be successful you have to prioritize areas and chat with boots on the ground type folks. If you only Google Earth that country you will be in over your head.