Idaho 1st scouting trip

[sea trout]

Went to go visit a close friend in the trade in Idaho the week before last. We had a great trip. We saw mule deer, pronghorn and grouse from the road while driving everyday. It was awesome. But my 13yr old son wanted to see elk, my friend said they were up high this time of year. So one mornin at the crack of dawn my son and I borrowed my friends spotting scope and took a short 45 minute drive to the big mountains. We got on a little dirt rd going up and drove it till the end. Then we hiked the rest of the way up to some rocks. His 1st time ever glassing for elk and in around 10 minutes my son finds elk at 1,600 yards away! Now he wants to try to get Idaho elk tag for the 2023 season. I hope we get one.





The elk are.... on our right from the brown rocky/gravely peak in center of photo. There's a tall timber ridge on the top line and green grass. They're on that timberline eating grass.


Meanwhile my wife n daughter got to ride horses in the mountains close to my friends house.


We hiked a lot on our trip and yeti took to it very easily. It was hard as always for me, every time I'm in the Rockies, by the time I get used to hiking it's time to leave.




My daughter brushin one of the horses at my buddies house. Man I love Georgia, our big oaks, I love our coastal marsh, and North Ga moonshine mountains but man Idaho got some perks too.


I've always heard mammoths were big but I had NO IDEA they were this big!!!!


Hope y'all enjoy the pics! If we get and elk tag and go hunt next year I'll take more pics then too!
I'll even try to video it for y'all who love my quality videos so much ah ha ha ha ha!

 

[humblehunter22]

Went back in 2019 for OTC DIY hunt in Idaho. Saw alot of beautiful country and met some really awesome people. But man I will say this folks that say there is a crowding issue on public land in the state of Ga. LOL all I can say is need to load up and head west for a firearms hunt on public lands. I was in pure amazement at the volume of people that poured into the region we were in while we were there. Folks set up shop anywhere and everywhere there was space possible to pitch a tent, park a camper, park horse trailers you name it the whole 9 yards. Even discovered folks will do "game drives" even in elk country it was crazy. Watched across the way from an adjacent ridge a group of about 10 people got on line on 1 side of a mountain while across the way we spotted a group of "shooters" posted up on a point looking over the mountain side and the valley way, in unison the group began to walk from 1 end to the other in attempts to flush any game out that was tucked away in the pockets of dispersed timber.

 

[humblehunter22]

Went back in 2019 for OTC DIY hunt in Idaho. Saw alot of beautiful country and met some really awesome people. But man I will say this folks that say there is a crowding issue on public land in the state of Ga. LOL all I can say is need to load up and head west for a firearms hunt on public lands. I was in pure amazement at the volume of people that poured into the region we were in while we were there. Folks set up shop anywhere and everywhere there was space possible to pitch a tent, park a camper, park horse trailers you name it the whole 9 yards. Even discovered folks will do "game drives" even in elk country it was crazy. Watched across the way from an adjacent ridge a group of about 10 people got on line on 1 side of a mountain while across the way we spotted a group of "shooters" posted up on a point looking over the mountain side and the valley way, in unison the group began to walk from 1 end to the other in attempts to flush any game out that was tucked away in the pockets of dispersed timber.

Highly recommend wherever you pull a tag for immediately try to lock down a pack service of some sort or see if you can borrow some horses from your friend. You will want to go into "horse country" if you are able to do so.

 

[sea trout]

Yes we talked a lot about huntin and my buddy said non resident otc tags can be had but they are for that big crowded national forest. He said it just like you wrote. We can get in there deep enough with the horses to get away from most other hunters.
He said the if we put in for the draw units, then we have to wait 5 days after the otc tags go on sale, and by then they're all sold out..
I have no Idea how we'll go about it yet. We will think and discuss!!

 

[antharper]

Wow what some beautiful country ! I bet yeti with them long legs will walk you to death in them hills ? Hope he gets a tag , can’t wait for a video ?

 

[humblehunter22]

Yes we talked a lot about huntin and my buddy said non resident otc tags can be had but they are for that big crowded national forest. He said it just like you wrote. We can get in there deep enough with the horses to get away from most other hunters.
He said the if we put in for the draw units, then we have to wait 5 days after the otc tags go on sale, and by then they're all sold out..
I have no Idea how we'll go about it yet. We will think and discuss!!

Yea, if you look at the stats on the Idaho DNR site and the other various resources you can get a pretty decent idea about the units you can pull with no points or a point or 2 and really then it's more or less about luck of the draw then. It seems that rifle hunting for elk post rut by then is an absolute challenge because then you have to look at the units in question you are considering and then match them up against the historical migration and travel routes during the winter months ensuring that wherever you decide to go you try to match up as best as possible with their projected paths of travel when the hoped for bad weather hits. We were informed the worse the weather conditions the better to drive them into the lower elevation areas from being way up in the higher elevation areas. Locals said typically you want over several feet of snow on the ground in rifle season when you are hunting for elk because once the food sources are no longer accessible they will begin to push down and head into the valleys and such.

 

[humblehunter22]

Yea, if you look at the stats on the Idaho DNR site and the other various resources you can get a pretty decent idea about the units you can pull with no points or a point or 2 and really then it's more or less about luck of the draw then. It seems that rifle hunting for elk post rut by then is an absolute challenge because then you have to look at the units in question you are considering and then match them up against the historical migration and travel routes during the winter months ensuring that wherever you decide to go you try to match up as best as possible with their projected paths of travel when the hoped for bad weather hits. We were informed the worse the weather conditions the better to drive them into the lower elevation areas from being way up in the higher elevation areas. Locals said typically you want over several feet of snow on the ground in rifle season when you are hunting for elk because once the food sources are no longer accessible they will begin to push down and head into the valleys and such.

As far as action goes though I never do hear enough about chasing the rutt during archery season out West when they are buggling. Much more challenging being you are limited with the bow but in terms of it the action is intense if you play your cards right.

 

[sea trout]

Wow what some beautiful country ! I bet yeti with them long legs will walk you to death in them hills ? Hope he gets a tag , can’t wait for a video ?

Thanks man I hope he does too. He took to those climbs well and just took off and left me! I'm gasping for breath wonderin why in the world I eat and smoke too much!!
I know you like my videos! You're the only one I think

 

[antharper]

Thanks man I hope he does too. He took to those climbs well and just took off and left me! I'm gasping for breath wonderin why in the world I eat and smoke too much!!
I know you like my videos! You're the only one I think

?

 

[Doug B.]

As far as action goes though I never do hear enough about chasing the rutt during archery season out West when they are buggling. Much more challenging being you are limited with the bow but in terms of it the action is intense if you play your cards right.

I went to Idaho elk hunting back around 2005. I went up in the panhandle area around Clark Fork. It was in September during bow season and the elk were bugleing. I hunted for a week and never saw another person out in the woods. O'Neill Williams was in the same camp with me. He and a friend of his was bear hunting. They never saw another hunter either. They were hunting with muzzleloaders.

I guess because it was early in the season we didn't run into anybody.

 

[Buford_Dawg]

Wow, great pictures Chad, beautiful scenary. I sure hope y'all draw a elk tag.

 

[kmckinnie]

Thanks for sharing. Nice adventure.

 

[Hawken2222]

I elk hunted in Idaho back in 1997. I was 26 at the time and the country whooped me. I hunted near Elk City Idaho. I remember it not only being steep country but pretty thick as well. I have since hunted in Montana, Wyoming and Colorado and I still think Idaho was the most challenging place out of the 4. I hope you all get to go hunting out there it’s an amazing experience

 

[humblehunter22]

I went to Idaho elk hunting back around 2005. I went up in the panhandle area around Clark Fork. It was in September during bow season and the elk were bugleing. I hunted for a week and never saw another person out in the woods. O'Neill Williams was in the same camp with me. He and a friend of his was bear hunting. They never saw another hunter either. They were hunting with muzzleloaders.

I guess because it was early in the season we didn't run into anybody.

Thats the way it seems. The bulk of the folks far as crowds go are fans of being able to reach out and touch em clear across the other end of the mountain. Which dont get me wrong I'd gladly go back again with rifle hand any day but far as the experience and less to deal with in terms of crowds i can only imagine especially hearing em bugling good. Tough country for sure we ended up 9 miles in the trail head we was staying out of by the time we wrapped things up. I lost 25 pounds dang near developed some kind of blood sickness due to my bodies severe weight loss and nutrient defficiency. spent the following 2 months or so bouncing in and out of the hospital fighting to stabilize my immune system.

 

[Doug B.]

Thats the way it seems. The bulk of the folks far as crowds go are fans of being able to reach out and touch em clear across the other end of the mountain. Which dont get me wrong I'd gladly go back again with rifle hand any day but far as the experience and less to deal with in terms of crowds i can only imagine especially hearing em bugling good. Tough country for sure we ended up 9 miles in the trail head we was staying out of by the time we wrapped things up. I lost 25 pounds dang near developed some kind of blood sickness due to my bodies severe weight loss and nutrient defficiency. spent the following 2 months or so bouncing in and out of the hospital fighting to stabilize my immune system.

Wow! I didn't have any kind of trouble like that. Course, I live in the mountains. Those mountains aren't drastically bigger than ours. I was conditioned and ready. I thought I was going to have to wait on my guide a couple of times.

 

[humblehunter22]

Wow! I didn't have any kind of trouble like that. Course, I live in the mountains. Those mountains aren't drastically bigger than ours. I was conditioned and ready. I thought I was going to have to wait on my guide a couple of times.

When we went it was right when COVID had really started shutting things down. Condition wise it put a damper about midway through far as access to the gym, equipment, and such... still did the usual cardio and what not at the house or what not but it really delayed forward progress sort of speak. I was in decent shape considering but we hunted on foot and stayed 2 weeks out in the trail head. We made like 4 re supply trips during that time to reload on dry goods and supplies which even then consisted of us hiking out making the almost 2 hr drive to the nearest town get the bare minimum and then head back and hike back into camp. By the time we finished our trip we were technically camped out of what was considered "horse country" can't tell you how many times groups on horse back would pass us up and ask if we were lost or what we were doing on foot that far back into the wilderness area on foot. Told them all the same thing we got tired of dealing with the idiots that were hunting "shallow" and decided to commit to push into the more remote country. We encountered these 2 "college kids" on break from school, daddy's money kind of young men. Decked out in head to to custom sitka top of the line gear and apparel. Immediately you could tell they were like fish out of water they approached us asking for directions and help trying to understand how to "read a map" and orient it properly. I kid you not the question was asked. But these 2 kids decked out head to toe in custom gear and the rifles they had easily could tell they were no convenience store caliber setups. And there we are sitting there talking and discussing things trying to ensure these kids understand what they are looking at etc..... and while talking to them i noticed something didnt like right with the 1 rifle and asked if I could take a look at it and sure enough while bushwhacking around wandering around somewhere along the way they took their rifles apart to "clean" them and somehow overlooked the 1 rifle they forgot to put back in the dangum bolt for the rifle. Needless to say they werent concerned the 1 kid said he was going to call his father and have him overnight a new rifle to the nearest FFL grade shipping facility.

 

[srb]

Great pictures!That looks like great place to hunt and visit.

 

[Rabun]

God's country! Beautiful! Thanks for sharing and I sure hope you get a tag or two and share the hunt with us. You get around that's for sure!

 

[sea trout]

Great pictures!That looks like great place to hunt and visit.

Thanks! Yes it is facinating over there!

 

[sea trout]

God's country! Beautiful! Thanks for sharing and I sure hope you get a tag or two and share the hunt with us. You get around that's for sure!

Yes I hope we get a tag, that will be awesome! Physically hard but very awesome!
You bet I try to get around and experience everything! I always wanted to hook up with you and follow your Robalo with my Robalo and get a feel for captaining offshore and fishing offshore one summer. Now that it looks like a fisherman can't even keep anything for the cooler anymore down there it seems a little discouraging