Lemhi, Idaho Elk Hunting Blues

[dreamingbig]

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.

There has been less than 1200 hunters hunting the Lemhi zone per the IDFG stats which should be correct since you have to buy the specific zone. I wonder what they would cap it at? I think McCall has 2.5k as an example. These are A tag stats.


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[JMF]

This year was my 6th year hunting unit 29 and next year will most likely will be my 7th. We ran into other hunters like we do every year but the drainage we camped in only had 2 other camps. We didn't hear many bugles but the elk were there like they always are. My only complaint was heat and smoke, but we did go a week and a half earlier than we usually do. Heard and saw more wolf sign than we have any other year and that doesn't help the bugle situation. To the OP, I'm not sure how many elk you expected to see but I would say you had a pretty good trip.

 

[wind gypsy]

Then the pendulum swings the other way, "I can't draw! DAMN ( )ahns" fill in the state.

Robby, I can only think of one applicable population that ends with "ahns". I thought it was socially acceptable to complain about UT?

 

[robby denning]

Robby, I can only think of one applicable population that ends with "ahns". I thought it was socially acceptable to complain about UT?

No! Wyoming ahns, Colorado ahns etc. or is it “ites”?


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[ridgefire]

We still had fun there but I know I can find new areas that are like the Lemhis were 10-15 years ago. We had never ran into wolves where we hunt until the last two years and I'm sure that is partially to blame for the lack of bugling we heard.

 

[chukar_chaser]

Lemhi is tough for sure

 

[IdahoHntr]

General units and zones are very cyclic and makes it so it's very important for hunters to be able to adapt. Especially in a general season structure like Idaho.

For example, and the Lemhi has followed this fairly closely, an area will not have very good hunting for a few years, so less people will go there. Because of the lack of pressure and lack of bulls getting killed the area will rebound in both trophy quality and overall population, and with that the hunting will start to get better. Especially how easy harvest stats are to access anymore, people start to notice that the harvest stats are going up in a unit so some people start flocking back and the stats also bring in new people. Now pressure increases, success and %6pt harvest rate usually stays higher for a few more years until the area is just getting over pressured and the hunting experience starts to decline. Harvest stats start not looking as good, and so less new people come to the unit. As the hunting declines, people start leaving again going to the next hot unit, and it leaves us back where we started.

You can see this type of cycle happening all over Idaho for both deer and elk in general units/zones and if you can learn how to play the game, and aren't so stuck on one particular area every year, understanding the cycles can actually help you find those under the radar units.

The important thing here is that the pressured units only get the chance to rebound if there is enough general units to spread people out and allow people to switch around every year. If you start capping units and zones you start displacing hunters, which just creates more crowding problems on other units, until you have people wanting to cap the unit everybody was displaced to and so on and so forth.

Let the general season system work and just understand it better next time. The system displaces pressure all on its own and as long as herds are healthy, there is no reason to start throwing caps around.

I will also say that I happen to know the Lemhi zone well and there are places to get away from people. In almost any general hunt throughout the state I've ever been on, finding a camp spot near the road is hard. I will see people on the roads and within 3-4 miles of them every day. That should just be expected. Just because in your very first time hunting the area you didn't find the elk honey hole or how to escape pressure doesn't mean that zone doesn't have places that you can. Always remember the sample size of 1 (especially if its your first time in the unit) is never very good for making broad sweeping generalization for the zone, like it needs a cap.

 

[robby denning]

General units and zones are very cyclic and makes it so it's very important for hunters to be able to adapt. Especially in a general season structure like Idaho.

For example, and the Lemhi has followed this fairly closely, an area will not have very good hunting for a few years, so less people will go there. Because of the lack of pressure and lack of bulls getting killed the area will rebound in both trophy quality and overall population, and with that the hunting will start to get better. Especially how easy harvest stats are to access anymore, people start to notice that the harvest stats are going up in a unit so some people start flocking back and the stats also bring in new people. Now pressure increases, success and %6pt harvest rate usually stays higher for a few more years until the area is just getting over pressured and the hunting experience starts to decline. Harvest stats start not looking as good, and so less new people come to the unit. As the hunting declines, people start leaving again going to the next hot unit, and it leaves us back where we started.

You can see this type of cycle happening all over Idaho for both deer and elk in general units/zones and if you can learn how to play the game, and aren't so stuck on one particular area every year, understanding the cycles can actually help you find those under the radar units.

The important thing here is that the pressured units only get the chance to rebound if there is enough general units to spread people out and allow people to switch around every year. If you start capping units and zones you start displacing hunters, which just creates more crowding problems on other units, until you have people wanting to cap the unit everybody was displaced to and so on and so forth.

Let the general season system work and just understand it better next time. The system displaces pressure all on its own and as long as herds are healthy, there is no reason to start throwing caps around.

I will also say that I happen to know the Lemhi zone well and there are places to get away from people. In almost any general hunt throughout the state I've ever been on, finding a camp spot near the road is hard. I will see people on the roads and within 3-4 miles of them every day. That should just be expected. Just because in your very first time hunting the area you didn't find the elk honey hole or how to escape pressure doesn't mean that zone doesn't have places that you can. Always remember the sample size of 1 (especially if its your first time in the unit) is never very good for making broad sweeping generalization for the zone, like it needs a cap.

Wisdom!


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[Fatcamp]

Wisdom!


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Shhhhh.........

 

[CorbLand]

There has been a lot of good posts in this thread.

Don’t start asking for units to be capped because they don’t meet your expectations. It’s a no win situation. I was born and raised in Idaho and moved to Utah. Utah is probably one of the worst states for opportunity. There are plenty of elk around and some really good bulls. It only takes you 15 years to draw the tag for a chance at 330-350 bulls. If you want 350-390, better be willing to wait 26 years. Everyone looks at Utah and sees these giant animals that get killed but don’t realize that it take forever to draw. Then as they take longer and longer to draw, people expect more and more. They cut the tags on the Cache unit this year. It took 7-15 years to draw before the cut. Why did they cut it? Because people complained about waiting 15 years for 330 bulls. So the solution is...wait 25 years for 360s.

I put in for elk and deer this year in Utah and drew exactly 0 tags. What options did I have? Well I hunted spikes/cows in August with a bow...not that exciting.

The rut has sucked everywhere this year. Even on these low pressure units they aren’t talking. They literally give out 20 total tags for archery, rifle, muzzleloader and late rifle on the unit closest to me. Talk about little to no pressure and we still couldn’t get them talking mid September.

Idaho residents. Fight to keep what you have. You have no idea the opportunities that are available to you.


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[grossklw]

We hunted a zone not far from you. We weren’t into elk everyday by any stretch of the imagination but they were there. The elk knew how to avoid the pressure and we still saw em.

Was it kind of a shit show with the number of people? Yup, but I wasn’t really expecting anything different. First 4 days we didn’t run into much for elk, moved areas and kept trying, and wallah, elk. You guys got an arrow in an elk in an OTC unit, that’s better than most can say.

I won’t be back to idaho anytime soon as it wasn’t the hunt I was after, but it could’ve went a lot worse. I’m guessing there are a lot of OTC units in CO that are 10x as busy. Idaho’s is at least somewhat restricted.

 

[Muley_GOAT]

There has been a lot of good posts in this thread.

Don’t start asking for units to be capped because they don’t meet your expectations. It’s a no win situation. I was born and raised in Idaho and moved to Utah. Utah is probably one of the worst states for opportunity. There are plenty of elk around and some really good bulls. It only takes you 15 years to draw the tag for a chance at 330-350 bulls. If you want 350-390, better be willing to wait 26 years. Everyone looks at Utah and sees these giant animals that get killed but don’t realize that it take forever to draw. Then as they take longer and longer to draw, people expect more and more. They cut the tags on the Cache unit this year. It took 7-15 years to draw before the cut. Why did they cut it? Because people complained about waiting 15 years for 330 bulls. So the solution is...wait 25 years for 360s.

I put in for elk and deer this year in Utah and drew exactly 0 tags. What options did I have? Well I hunted spikes/cows in August with a bow...not that exciting.

The rut has sucked everywhere this year. Even on these low pressure units they aren’t talking. They literally give out 20 total tags for archery, rifle, muzzleloader and late rifle on the unit closest to me. Talk about little to no pressure and we still couldn’t get them talking mid September.

Idaho residents. Fight to keep what you have. You have no idea the opportunities that are available to you.


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Amen!

 

[kvw4x4]

I have hunted this unit for 3 years now. This year was by far the best year for the amount of bugles, bulls and cows we saw/heard. 4-5 different herds averaging 6-10 elk each l, We had setups everyday. Just lack of setup knowledge was our down fall. I’d say glass was more reliable then bugling. But once we glassed them we could sneak in closer and then bugle closer to them To get them to talk. Half the herds are less then a mile from any vehicle gravel road. I think to many people either don’t get 100 yards from their Atv or they hike 10 miles in and pass the elk up. The last 2 years we have ran in to 2 other hunter total. And they were together and one was a guide. Don’t be an average caller. Be an excellent caller.

 

[MWElk hunter]

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.

Did we see you in the other valley after we moved?

 

[MWElk hunter]

I have hunted this unit for 3 years now. This year was by far the best year for the amount of bugles, bulls and cows we saw/heard. 4-5 different herds averaging 6-10 elk each l, We had setups everyday. Just lack of setup knowledge was our down fall. I’d say glass was more reliable then bugling. But once we glassed them we could sneak in closer and then bugle closer to them To get them to talk. Half the herds are less then a mile from any vehicle gravel road. I think to many people either don’t get 100 yards from their Atv or they hike 10 miles in and pass the elk up. The last 2 years we have ran in to 2 other hunter total. And they were together and one was a guide. Don’t be an average caller. Be an excellent caller.

I'll have to up my calling game. Sounds like you had a good time. We also were obviously in different areas of that region or you would've seen other hunters. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[MWElk hunter]

This year was my 6th year hunting unit 29 and next year will most likely will be my 7th. We ran into other hunters like we do every year but the drainage we camped in only had 2 other camps. We didn't hear many bugles but the elk were there like they always are. My only complaint was heat and smoke, but we did go a week and a half earlier than we usually do. Heard and saw more wolf sign than we have any other year and that doesn't help the bugle situation. To the OP, I'm not sure how many elk you expected to see but I would say you had a pretty good trip.

Yeah..... The smoke was obnoxious. California needs to get their act together and cut some trees and make some fire lines. Between the smoke and dry air I kept getting a bloody nose. Maybe I'll have to try a different drainage.

 

[MWElk hunter]

Amen!

You are probably right. Frustration can lead to bad decisions/requests. I certainly don't want everything to go to a draw. That can get very annoying. I won't even apply to AZ, because who wants to pay that kind of money just to MAYBE be able to draw a tag and continue spending the money for 20 years? You would be better off paying the money and just doing a private ranch somewhere.

 

[MWElk hunter]

There has been a lot of good posts in this thread.

Don’t start asking for units to be capped because they don’t meet your expectations. It’s a no win situation. I was born and raised in Idaho and moved to Utah. Utah is probably one of the worst states for opportunity. There are plenty of elk around and some really good bulls. It only takes you 15 years to draw the tag for a chance at 330-350 bulls. If you want 350-390, better be willing to wait 26 years. Everyone looks at Utah and sees these giant animals that get killed but don’t realize that it take forever to draw. Then as they take longer and longer to draw, people expect more and more. They cut the tags on the Cache unit this year. It took 7-15 years to draw before the cut. Why did they cut it? Because people complained about waiting 15 years for 330 bulls. So the solution is...wait 25 years for 360s.

I put in for elk and deer this year in Utah and drew exactly 0 tags. What options did I have? Well I hunted spikes/cows in August with a bow...not that exciting.

The rut has sucked everywhere this year. Even on these low pressure units they aren’t talking. They literally give out 20 total tags for archery, rifle, muzzleloader and late rifle on the unit closest to me. Talk about little to no pressure and we still couldn’t get them talking mid September.

Idaho residents. Fight to keep what you have. You have no idea the opportunities that are available to you.


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[MWElk hunter]

There has been a lot of good posts in this thread.

Don’t start asking for units to be capped because they don’t meet your expectations. It’s a no win situation. I was born and raised in Idaho and moved to Utah. Utah is probably one of the worst states for opportunity. There are plenty of elk around and some really good bulls. It only takes you 15 years to draw the tag for a chance at 330-350 bulls. If you want 350-390, better be willing to wait 26 years. Everyone looks at Utah and sees these giant animals that get killed but don’t realize that it take forever to draw. Then as they take longer and longer to draw, people expect more and more. They cut the tags on the Cache unit this year. It took 7-15 years to draw before the cut. Why did they cut it? Because people complained about waiting 15 years for 330 bulls. So the solution is...wait 25 years for 360s.

I put in for elk and deer this year in Utah and drew exactly 0 tags. What options did I have? Well I hunted spikes/cows in August with a bow...not that exciting.

The rut has sucked everywhere this year. Even on these low pressure units they aren’t talking. They literally give out 20 total tags for archery, rifle, muzzleloader and late rifle on the unit closest to me. Talk about little to no pressure and we still couldn’t get them talking mid September.

Idaho residents. Fight to keep what you have. You have no idea the opportunities that are available to you.


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Thank you for the thoughtful reply. Those are great points to remember. I just didn't expect to see that many people but it appears I should've. It's good perspective.

 

[MWElk hunter]

General units and zones are very cyclic and makes it so it's very important for hunters to be able to adapt. Especially in a general season structure like Idaho.

For example, and the Lemhi has followed this fairly closely, an area will not have very good hunting for a few years, so less people will go there. Because of the lack of pressure and lack of bulls getting killed the area will rebound in both trophy quality and overall population, and with that the hunting will start to get better. Especially how easy harvest stats are to access anymore, people start to notice that the harvest stats are going up in a unit so some people start flocking back and the stats also bring in new people. Now pressure increases, success and %6pt harvest rate usually stays higher for a few more years until the area is just getting over pressured and the hunting experience starts to decline. Harvest stats start not looking as good, and so less new people come to the unit. As the hunting declines, people start leaving again going to the next hot unit, and it leaves us back where we started.

You can see this type of cycle happening all over Idaho for both deer and elk in general units/zones and if you can learn how to play the game, and aren't so stuck on one particular area every year, understanding the cycles can actually help you find those under the radar units.

The important thing here is that the pressured units only get the chance to rebound if there is enough general units to spread people out and allow people to switch around every year. If you start capping units and zones you start displacing hunters, which just creates more crowding problems on other units, until you have people wanting to cap the unit everybody was displaced to and so on and so forth.

Let the general season system work and just understand it better next time. The system displaces pressure all on its own and as long as herds are healthy, there is no reason to start throwing caps around.

I will also say that I happen to know the Lemhi zone well and there are places to get away from people. In almost any general hunt throughout the state I've ever been on, finding a camp spot near the road is hard. I will see people on the roads and within 3-4 miles of them every day. That should just be expected. Just because in your very first time hunting the area you didn't find the elk honey hole or how to escape pressure doesn't mean that zone doesn't have places that you can. Always remember the sample size of 1 (especially if its your first time in the unit) is never very good for making broad sweeping generalization for the zone, like it needs a cap.

Thank you. That is very good information. We aren't locked in to an area so that certainly gives me good insight. We were able to escape the people a little because many wouldn't go that high or in that far. TO another poster's point, maybe I just need to up my calling game. I think what was so frustrating is that we were able to call with results in MT last year, so I was expecting something similar and I just don't know why we couldn't get an answer.