Lemhi, Idaho Elk Hunting Blues

[MWElk hunter]

We went to Idaho for my first time and went to the Lemhi district. We hunted Montana last year on a general tag and It's tough to describe how many more hunters were in our chosen unit in Idaho. It wasn't multiple vehicles parked at the trailhead, it was multiple vehicles parked at each drainage. All the campsites were full and more people came from RV sites in Leadore. In two weeks we did not hear a single bugle - Not one. We saw a grand total of 16 elk, all by way of still hunting. My son actually shot one, but after two hours that night and six hours on our hands and knees the next day we finally lost blood and the tracks intersected a number of others. It was heartbreaking. He must have only hit one lung as we had definite lung blood on a pass through shot. I did see one world-class bull, which was cool, but you would expect to see more animals after hours of glassing, hiking over 100 miles, and trying different techniques. I don't know if it was just the large number of hunters that made the elk so quiet but it was surprising and vastly different than our Montana experience. We did go to other drainages but the one had even more people - a literal zoo! We finally moved all the way to the other side of the range but had three trucks pull up after we set up camp. All the elk we found were between 8,500-9,000feet. It was a tough hunt and we should've had one but you would like to get more encounters. I think that they are simply selling too many tags for that unit and Idaho Fish and Game needs to correct the problem. We did see most of our elk as other hunters started pulling out early because they weren't seeing any elk and some of them were pretty serious and committed hunters. I don't know where to go next year but if Fish and Game doesn't correct this issue it won't be back to the Lemhi.

 

[Pwells10]

What unit were you in?

 

[KHNC]

Lemhi is unit 29 at Leadore i believe. All the elk are on Sparky's land and all the hunters are on the public land. 100's of hunters , upon 100's of hunters. Made that mistake in 2017. Wont hunt that area again.

 

[Gerbdog]

Not to be negative because i understand the frustrations of elk hunting very well, but, you did let fly an arrow and did hit an elk ... and saw....16 elk.... many many people have hunted years and never even drawn their bow. Heck that seems like a pretty awesome season! You even saw a world class bull!

 

[CB4]

Just spent a week in Lemhi, right outside Leadore as well. Bulls got quiet when I got close. Had a cow at 10 yards but no shot opportunity, unfortunately dead fall ran right across her vitals. The area I was in, hunting within 2-3 miles of the truck was better than going further back. Between a guide who pressures the area too much and the other dozen hunters we saw go in on dirt bikes going in deep doesn't make sense. But I can attest the bulls were 8500' and higher.

 

[MWElk hunter]

Lemhi is unit 29 at Leadore i believe. All the elk are on Sparky's land and all the hunters are on the public land. 100's of hunters , upon 100's of hunters. Made that mistake in 2017. Wont hunt that area again.

It is outside of Leadore - Unit 29.

 

[Swamppirate]

Just got back from North Fork ID area....had Sporadic bugling off and on. Between the hot weather and smoke it shut them down somewhat. Still had a great time and beautiful country.

 

[MWElk hunter]

Not to be negative because i understand the frustrations of elk hunting very well, but, you did let fly an arrow and did hit an elk ... and saw....16 elk.... many many people have hunted years and never even drawn their bow. Heck that seems like a pretty awesome season! You even saw a world class bull!

Seeing the World-Class bull was awesome. Having him bark at me a few times was very cool. That being said, when you are willing to put on those kind of miles on your boots you hope to see more than 16. you also want to hear bugles. that is why we go during the rut, after all. I love the bugles and not hearing any was disappointing. The number of hunters was even more so.

 

[JRMiller]

Not to be negative because i understand the frustrations of elk hunting very well, but, you did let fly an arrow and did hit an elk ... and saw....16 elk.... many many people have hunted years and never even drawn their bow. Heck that seems like a pretty awesome season! You even saw a world class bull!

+1. Saw 16 bulls and arrowed one, thats a decent hunt.
Its on you if shot placement was not ideal and animal got away...

 

[MWElk hunter]

+1. Saw 16 bulls and arrowed one, thats a decent hunt.
Its on you if shot placement was not ideal and animal got away...

JR, what's your point? First off, read the post - 16 elk, not bulls. Secondly, don't be a jerk. Everyone knows that shot placement is on themselves, which is why my son was so sick about it. Loosing an animal is simply heartbreaking, which was the point, and in years of bowhunting it was a first. The complaint was merely the vast numbers of people, which seemed to be too many. We had a good time being together and enjoying the scenery, but would've enjoyed not bumping in to so many people. That is not their fault. They are simply attempting to enjoy the same thing we were trying to enjoy. The area being oversold rests on Idaho Fish and Game.

 

[Rob5589]

Other than the number of hunters, sounds like a pretty good attempt. Saw elk. Shot one. Saw a bomber bull. The rut starts when it starts, it's never a guaranteed day/week. Overall I'd be pretty happy if that's the way the hunt went on an otc public land tag. This year I heard a few bugles and only saw one spike, that I was fortunate enough to tag.

Just FYI, next year IDFG is placing limits on NR tags in various zones. Not sure Lemhi is one of them. Also raising prices by 55%. So you'll likely see a few less hunters next year, if you decide to try again.

Any particular reason why you tried Idaho over Montana this time around?

 

[MWElk hunter]

Other than the number of hunters, sounds like a pretty good attempt. Saw elk. Shot one. Saw a bomber bull. The rut starts when it starts, it's never a guaranteed day/week. Overall I'd be pretty happy if that's the way the hunt went on an otc public land tag. This year I heard a few bugles and only saw one spike, that I was fortunate enough to tag.

Just FYI, next year IDFG is placing limits on NR tags in various zones. Not sure Lemhi is one of them. Also raising prices by 55%. So you'll likely see a few less hunters next year, if you decide to try again.

Any particular reason why you tried Idaho over Montana this time around?

Thanks for the feedback and the question. Montana's deadline happened during the initial phases of the Coronavirus crazy. Things were shutting down and I didn't know what the income picture was. So, I held off. Idaho was also less expensive, so that factored in to the decision. I really love hearing bugles. I'll never forget the feeling when we got our first answered call. I was out-of-my-mind excited. Then when we came up on a herd bull with his cows and he was bugling like mad - well, it's tough to describe the feeling.

 

[MWElk hunter]

It was a good attempt. We worked our asses off. We hiked 22 miles the one day. We had 4 other days over 10 miles. We moved up and down over 2,000 feet on many days. We honestly loved every minute of it. We just wanted to come out with blood on our hands and meat in the freezer. That bull was huge. I still dream about him.

 

[Gerbdog]

It was a good attempt. We worked our asses off. We hiked 22 miles the one day. We had 4 other days over 10 miles. We moved up and down over 2,000 feet on many days. We honestly loved every minute of it. We just wanted to come out with blood on our hands and meat in the freezer. That bull was huge. I still dream about him.

It's those dreams that we all go back out into the woods every year, and hike all over creation in one day again, rip all our clothing on deadfall again, and wonder why we keep doing it hahaha. Then you hear the first bugle of the season and it all makes sense. It really sounds like an awesome hunt and you and your son will have all year to talk about it and what happens next!

 

[KHNC]

It is outside of Leadore - Unit 29.

Splittin hairs

 

[JRMiller]

JR, what's your point? First off, read the post - 16 elk, not bulls. Secondly, don't be a jerk. Everyone knows that shot placement is on themselves, which is why my son was so sick about it. Loosing an animal is simply heartbreaking, which was the point, and in years of bowhunting it was a first. The complaint was merely the vast numbers of people, which seemed to be too many. We had a good time being together and enjoying the scenery, but would've enjoyed not bumping in to so many people. That is not their fault. They are simply attempting to enjoy the same thing we were trying to enjoy. The area being oversold rests on Idaho Fish and Game.

Excuse my typo, 16 Elk, not 16 bulls.
And i agree %100 that too many states are overselling tags, no disagreement there.
But my point still stands, arrowed a bull even with the crowds. Still a decent hunt.

 

[ridgefire]

I'm pretty sure we ran into you out in the woods. I believe it was our 15th straight year hunting the Lemhis and it was probably our last. You could hardly let a bugle or cow call out without calling in another hunter and that was 4+ miles from the takes trail head. Our group had a few opportunities but all in all it was a pretty dismal year for us with very little bugling going on. I hope that 29 is capped in the coming years.

 

[Riflehuntr19]

Haha so IDFG oversells the unit. What do you want them to do? Say it sucks? Cap it so there’s less hunters which will directly limit your ability to get a tag in the future?

You realize this is pretty good for OTC, right?

 

[Muley_GOAT]

What's disappointing about this is that when it's an open OTC unlimited hunt everyone complains about too many Hunters. I just don't understand what you expected? This reminds of @robby denning recent podcast (except he was talking about mule deer). He talks about this exact situation... specifically expectations vs reality. And when the expectations aren't met everyone burns IDFG at the stake (my words).

I'm not trying to be a dick here. But personally I value opportunity over quality hunts and If they limit tags my opportunity to hunt every year is diminished. And that's not what I personally want as a resident and hunter of Idaho. So when I hear or see posts like this I feel like I have to speak up. I don't want to go down a political rabbit hole, but I've seen in this country what happens when people don't speak up. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

What's really ironic about this is I drew a controlled deer hunt up by leadore and have been scouting a lot up there... all I have seen are elk! I have seen 7 different 6 points (some really good ones too), several smaller bulls, and dozens of cows over the last month and a half. I kept thinking to myself "get a tag and archery hunt!" But if I got a tag I'm sure they would all be gone! Lol

I'm sorry about your your lost elk. That's a bummer. And it does suck to not hear them bugle. Personally I think the lack of vocalization is due, at least in part, to wolves. Just my opinion. And if that's not the type of hunt you want, I get it dude. But please don't blame IDFG for your crappy hunt. Just learn from it and next time do some research and pick a hunt with fewer tags, fewer Hunters, and better quality. But I bet you learned a lot during your hunt you can apply to future hunts! And that is why I value opportunity.

God bless

 

[robby denning]

you went to one of the most publicized archery units in Idaho. Been that way since the 90s. And hey, you shot an elk!

Sorry you were disappointed, but I find this one hard to pin on F&G. If they cut tags up there, be ready to not hunt it as you won't get a tag. Just the way it is as soon as they cap it. all the hunt services list it as a must apply, and only a handful of guys get to go. Then the pendulum swings the other way, "I can't draw! DAMN ( )ahns" fill in the state.

Keep trying, you learned where the elk are. And most people didn't report a heavy bugle (yet) this year. go back next year and take advantage of what you learned. Or start over somewhere else (that will have hunters too)