Thoughts on Idaho archery deer?

[smoke]

I need some basic wisdom. I'm an old trad archer who would like to take a mule deer. It looks like Idaho has over-the-counter nonresident tags available. Would it be worth a trip from Nebraska to venture to western Idaho for mule deer - anything that is legal with antlers. Looking to do a solo hunt on public land. Any and all input is appreciated!

 

[Customweld]

I sent you a message Smoke.

 

[idahohikker]

What does is it worth it mean? Some considerations for ID archery mule deer. ID doesn’t have a lot of the typical high country that guys are mostly hitting up to target backs in CO, WY, UT.

 

[smoke]

Good question. For me, "worth it" means will I see a good number of animals (size doesn't really matter), and will I have a lot of competition? Keep in mind, I'll be hunting with a recurve or longbow so being able to close the distance is also critical. Thanks much,

 

[elkguide]

Western Nebraska has some good mule deer.

 

[smoke]

Western Nebraska has some good mule deer.

It does and I got a nice bull elk out there last year but I'd like to hunt some new country. Getting old (60) so I'd like to hunt some rough country while I still can!

 

[idahohikker]

Yeah so does WY, CO, UT on easy to draw archery tags that I would definitely hit before Idaho OTC. I'm not sure why I'd willingly chose OTC when a draw tag is easily available with limits on hunter numbers.

I think an issue with the lack of high country deer habitat is you'll see less deer and the elk and deer hunters in many areas are on top of each other. In CO, you have more of a division between elk and deer hunters.

That all said, I would not hesitate to hunt archery deer in ID if you'd be happy seeing 5-10 bucks in a week which is conservative for a newer guy. It'll take some research to find areas in Idaho that aren't low density for bucks but it's decent hunt overall with major variation throughout the state in habitat, deer density, deer quality, etc.

 

[Extrapale]

I sent you a PM with an idea for you to look at.

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[Dioni A]

If your looking for deer numbers there's better places than Idaho OTC. If your looking for the easiest place to get a tag you found it. I would try and get a tag closer to home.

 

[smoke]

Thanks everyone for your input - very helpful!

 

[Tag_Soup]

Idaho is a decent big buck state for people who want to put in a ton of time and homework, but even in higher density units you are likely to see less than 10 bucks a week just starting out. If you want to consider white tail further north there are some decent opportunities, but spot and stalk becomes potentially difficult due to heavily timbered country with open clear cuts periodically. Archery OTC success is sub 10% pretty much everywhere. If does are on the table you can expect more opportunity, but thats an expensive tag to burn on antlerless...Most OTC archery units allow either sex harvest. An easy to obtain utah general archery in the south or central units would probably fit your needs much better IMHO...I saw more deer on my last utah general hunt in 4 days than I did in both september and october Idaho general hunts last year. Just my two lead pennies from my experience though...

 

[sneaky]

Some of the Utah easy to draw units are crawling with archery guys, and elk guys, and guys scouting for LE tags, and their 25 "spotters". Yes, more high country in Utah than Idaho but I have seen way more archery deer hunters in Utah than I ever have in Idaho. You get pretty much the whole state of Idaho on your general tag, you get one unit or zone in WY, CO or UT. The experience is what YOU make of it. It's funny that guys raised hell when Idaho announced they were raising tag prices in 2021, but nary a peep when Utah jacked their tag prices starting July 1st of this year. As long as you have a tag somewhere, you're in the game smoke.

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[himtnelk]

If you have the money, buy a tag. You’re buying an experience.

 

[hoytforlife]

Great information.