Lemhi, Idaho Elk Hunting Blues

[MWElk hunter]

Why I chuckle when the eastern WT hunters say it's impossible to "hunt the wind" in their location.

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LOL.

 

[MWElk hunter]

Prevailing coming over the top hitting the thermal coming up on the other side usually equals a toilet bowl. You will have a steadier wind just slightly off the top (either side).


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Well, we were a couple hundred feet off the top and the elk were in that zone, but it was still shifty as all get out. I was doing a stalk up the mountain in a draw and we waited till the last half hour and the winds seemed fairly consistent but after I got to 40-45 yds on three of them and was about to shoot the wind swirled, heads went up, and all I saw were rumps going the other way. Sooooo frustrating. LOL.

 

[dreamingbig]

It doesn’t have to be right all the time but it does have to be right at the time.

We have had more luck with cross winds or strong evening thermals.


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[SEIdaho 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.

Well said

 

[ashanks52]

Not to be a douche or anything, because I had a number of struggles this year on my first elk hunt, but I was also in the Lemhi district, and while there were a number of vehicles around, I did not see another hunter once in the woods. We could see where the pressure was, and went places where it wasn't. I had a solid mule deer buck at 4 yards my first night hunting in a small drainage that had water and no roads to it (didn't buy a mule deer tag because I'm an idiot). I also was able to strike up a few bugling bulls, one of them while I was standing on an actual trail, and all of them between 11am and 2pm. I suspect this is when everyone was leaving the woods. I may have been better equipped to deal with the pressure because of where I hunt back in Ohio, but personally I found it surprisingly easy to get away. There is just a stunning amount of public land, I'm used to fighting with multiple people on parcels that are a few hundred acres. You guys also saw way more elk than I did, and I never once got to draw my bow. Again, not trying to put you down, just relaying my personal experience.

I could talk for literal hours about how to identify and get away from pressure, it's actually one of my favorite things about hunting public land. I personally have a method I call hunting the margins, which basically means hunting marginal habitat for the small number of animals present there, and has been tremendously effective for getting into animals out east and got me into a ton of mule deer and a few elk in Idaho. If you'd like, you can shoot me a pm and I'd be happy to walk you through some of my strategies and whatnot, plus I'd love to talk shop on the Lemhi unit in a way not publicly accessible.

 

[MWElk hunter]

Not to be a douche or anything, because I had a number of struggles this year on my first elk hunt, but I was also in the Lemhi district, and while there were a number of vehicles around, I did not see another hunter once in the woods. We could see where the pressure was, and went places where it wasn't. I had a solid mule deer buck at 4 yards my first night hunting in a small drainage that had water and no roads to it (didn't buy a mule deer tag because I'm an idiot). I also was able to strike up a few bugling bulls, one of them while I was standing on an actual trail, and all of them between 11am and 2pm. I suspect this is when everyone was leaving the woods. I may have been better equipped to deal with the pressure because of where I hunt back in Ohio, but personally I found it surprisingly easy to get away. There is just a stunning amount of public land, I'm used to fighting with multiple people on parcels that are a few hundred acres. You guys also saw way more elk than I did, and I never once got to draw my bow. Again, not trying to put you down, just relaying my personal experience.

I could talk for literal hours about how to identify and get away from pressure, it's actually one of my favorite things about hunting public land. I personally have a method I call hunting the margins, which basically means hunting marginal habitat for the small number of animals present there, and has been tremendously effective for getting into animals out east and got me into a ton of mule deer and a few elk in Idaho. If you'd like, you can shoot me a pm and I'd be happy to walk you through some of my strategies and whatnot, plus I'd love to talk shop on the Lemhi unit in a way not publicly accessible.

We may have been in different areas. I can say that we only saw people on the trails a couple times and we were off trail a LOT, so we didn't run in to anybody then. It was really crazy the one day, but that's a whole other story. I just wanted to hear bugles and that was probably my biggest disappointment. Anyway, I'll shoot you a PM.

 

[sasquatch]

We may have been in different areas. I can say that we only saw people on the trails a couple times and we were off trail a LOT, so we didn't run in to anybody then. It was really crazy the one day, but that's a whole other story. I just wanted to hear bugles and that was probably my biggest disappointment. Anyway, I'll shoot you a PM.

at about what time in the morning were you in about 1 mile deep?

 

[MWElk hunter]

at about what time in the morning were you in about 1 mile deep?

It varied, but we would blow a location bugle 30-60 minutes before shooting light. A couple times we had made it in 3 miles by that time. We tried mid day set-ups as well. We tried just about everything I had been told to do. I'm sure we can improve on our calling but it worked last year and we did improve by practice between trips.

 

[Wapitiaddict]

Bugles are addicting. After your hear one you go through withdrawals when you don't and hope to hear just one more. Then if you hear one more, you can't wait to hear the next. And when one doesn't come, you start to get very deflated.

As far as tips, as other have alluded, most the local herds have spots they like to go to when the pressure comes. Find those spots then learn how to hunt them. Most of the time these spots can be very hard to hunt. That's why the elk go there. But if you find a way you will most likely be rewarded.

 

[Brianc74]

In my opinion. Idaho fish and game manages the hunters not the game. They do it for the money. I drew a Lemhi rifle elk tag this year. Supposed to be no more then 10 out of state permits. Just camped around us this year was 13 out of state permits. How is this we thought to our selves. But F&G here does what make them money. Even breaking there own rules. It’s crazy on the big decrease in seen game here. I swear there is only less then 20% of the elk and deer there used to be. When I say used to be. I’m saying from just 20 years ago. This over the counter sales after all the rest of the country has drawn sucks. Idaho has to go to a draw only for out of staters.

 

[87TT]

Hell NO!!!

 

[MWElk hunter]

In my opinion. Idaho fish and game manages the hunters not the game. They do it for the money. I drew a Lemhi rifle elk tag this year. Supposed to be no more then 10 out of state permits. Just camped around us this year was 13 out of state permits. How is this we thought to our selves. But F&G here does what make them money. Even breaking there own rules. It’s crazy on the big decrease in seen game here. I swear there is only less then 20% of the elk and deer there used to be. When I say used to be. I’m saying from just 20 years ago. This over the counter sales after all the rest of the country has drawn sucks. Idaho has to go to a draw only for out of staters.

I do not believe that draw only is the way to go and actually from reading the posts of others on this forum there probably isn't much that needs to change. We simply need to learn to play the game better. Maybe Lemhi will be down for a couple of years but somewhere else will be up and we need to be able to adapt. Also, i don't want it to be like NM where your odds are 1% or Arizona where you pay through the nose over the course of twenty years to get a tag - this has already become to much of a rich man's game. Hunter participation is down but tag sales are up and more people are entering the draws. That would imply that fewer people with more resources are applying all over and doing multiple hunts, which is bad for the future of hunting. We need more affordable youth tags so that parents will take their kids out because that is where the future lies.

 

[theleo91386]

In my opinion. Idaho fish and game manages the hunters not the game. They do it for the money. I drew a Lemhi rifle elk tag this year. Supposed to be no more then 10 out of state permits. Just camped around us this year was 13 out of state permits. How is this we thought to our selves. But F&G here does what make them money. Even breaking there own rules. It’s crazy on the big decrease in seen game here. I swear there is only less then 20% of the elk and deer there used to be. When I say used to be. I’m saying from just 20 years ago. This over the counter sales after all the rest of the country has drawn sucks. Idaho has to go to a draw only for out of staters.

Explain how draw only would change anything when NR hunters are allotted the same percentage of tag quotas and tag numbers aren't reduced. If you need an example of what managing for money looks like, then you need to check out Washington's system. Idaho does a great job of putting a huge part of the funding on the backs of NR hunters. If they managed for money more than for the animals, there wouldn't see nearly the amount of NR hunters.

 

[blacktail sniper]

With NR tags going up and up I am sure you will see fewer hunters at least for elk But the bad part in means less revenue for the state as well. tough situation. i would rather wait a year here and there and have a quality exp but thats me personally and i dont mean kill a critter every time just a good time.

 

[MWElk hunter]

Hi all, thank you for all the feedback. I went through a number of pack reviews and took a number of comments about packs from people on Rokslide. I did a review video of the pack I bought and I just posted it. i'll leave that review here if anyone is interested.

 

[Longranginidaho]

Im sure you will see these hunts get capped more and more. IDFG just announced they will only be selling 10-15% of resident numbers to out of staters. If we could only keep all the Californians from moving here and raising our resident numbers so fast....

 

[MWElk hunter]

Im sure you will see these hunts get capped more and more. IDFG just announced they will only be selling 10-15% of resident numbers to out of staters. If we could only keep all the Californians from moving here and raising our resident numbers so fast....

Let's hope they don't bring their politics with them.

 

[dreamingbig]

Im sure you will see these hunts get capped more and more. IDFG just announced they will only be selling 10-15% of resident numbers to out of staters. If we could only keep all the Californians from moving here and raising our resident numbers so fast....

279 for A tags


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[Woodmo]

Thanks to everyone for their posts. This very valuable info for someone planning their first Idaho elk hunt.

 

[Rackmaster77]

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.

I spent 16 days in the panhandle last year, never saw an elk, my son had opportunity on the two he saw. Didn't get any real vocals until the last 3 days, can't wait to get back