Frank Church

[wazzu99]

Buddies and I are doing some research on the Frank Church for this year.  Going to fly in.  Looking for anyone who has any general info on areas, pilots, landing strips to stay away from, ect.  Looking to hunt mainly deer but might pickup an elk tag as well

Wazzu

[ANDERWAGON]

Tag... I want to follow this one.... Buddy of mine is working on his pilots license and this is on the top of our list.

[300rum]

Are you planning on backpacking from an airstrip?

I will assume so.  The first thing is that you need to be in the best physical shape possible and then work out twice as hard after that.  I would suggest a blend of p90x/insanity with an emphasis on insanity and squats with weight.  You also need to be in the best mental shape possible, don't go with anyone who whines, if they complain down here they will break down up there.  Those mountains can be bad, bad.   

Water can be tough to come by, very, very, tough.  The problem can be that you will find a spring/water chance on a USGS map but it will be on an ultra steep slope a mile down in a hole.  Water on the top of the ridges is very hard to come by.  There is lots of water but it is just so far away and brutal steep to get to.  On top of that you can be anywhere from 6k-10k feet and if you don't drink you will be locking up at night with the worst cramps you have ever had in your life. 

During the regular season, plan on being in a tee shirt one minute and then a blizzard the next.  Two years in a row now we have been in the 60's and then in the teens and snow at some point.  The bad stuff doesn't usually last too long that time of year though. 

I like hunting the last week or so of the season and would suggest it.  You will see rutting activity early up there, say around the 22nd or so.  Bucks swelled up even pushing/lip curling on does with satellite bucks watching the action.  I haven't watched one breed this early but they were doing everything but!  The next ridge over you may find a bachelor group of 4-5 bucks together, kinda weird but I have seen it now a few times.

A .22 pistol is nice (if your buddy packs it like mine does) as there are lots of grouse up there.  Every year we run into multiple grouse and multiple courses of fresh protein!  We almost count on it now. 

There are wolves so grab a wolf tag as it is $35 or so, dirt cheap!  I haven't seen one but we heard them last year.  You have to call into IDFG like 3 days after you shoot one but for some reason there is cell phone service on some of those ridges (U.S. Cellular). 

As far as Elk goes, we see bulls every single year and good ones too.  I just don't want to pack them out.     

You may not see many deer, let alone bucks.  Those bucks have pretty nice mass and a 24" 4 point is a pretty respectable buck up there.  One year we only saw a half dozen or so with hard, hard hunting.  There are nice bucks in there but the airstrips are like the forest service roads around here, you still have to get away from them.       

[fishngamereaper]

Ive flown into the Big Creek area..big country. You better be in shape. I would get an elk tag, alot more elk than deer from my experiences.

Check with Mcall Air, they where pretty good. I think there is one called Joe's as well, but that was a few years ago. Its pretty straight forward, you pay them, tell them how long you are staying in for. They drop you off and tell you they will try and pick you up on the selected date. They also tell you that if the weather is bad they could be anywhere from 1 day to who knows how many days late to get you.

You also cannot be even slightly afraid of flying, the plane ride is an experience in itself.

Any other questions just hollor.

[Bigshooter]

Pick a strip and get in very good shape. Dont expect a monster buck. But a 22-24" 4x4 is very doable. I would put in for and draw the november unlimited tag.  Hope for cold weather.  If its warm you want see alot of deer. But once the cold weather comes you will start to see a lot more deer. I have seen 300+ deer in a day on foot. If you want to hunt elk you will have one helluva a pack out.  I have only flown out of McCall but I have had friends fly out of Cascade and Stanely.

[wazzu99]

Appreciate the feedback.  Already hitting the gym.  Heard of people loosing up to 10 lbs in a solid week of hunting.

[Killmore]

The saying ,you sit down standing up comes to mind

[huntnnw]

I love the guys preaching fitness...sorry its all about what the drive of the individual..I know guys who are in amazing shape, but lack the drive to get after hunting.

[deerslyr]

I love the guys preaching fitness...sorry its all about what the drive of the individual..I know guys who are in amazing shape, but lack the drive to get after hunting.

I know guys who have the drive but are lacking the fitness that I pass up all day and just cant compete in big country....to be a good back country hunter you need both.
BTW brocka on here did this hunt last year, I know he doesnt like to post on here much but maybe he'll chime in

[kentrek]

I love the guys preaching fitness...sorry its all about what the drive of the individual..I know guys who are in amazing shape, but lack the drive to get after hunting.

I know guys who have the drive but are lacking the fitness that I pass up all day and just cant compete in big country....to be a good back country hunter you need both.
BTW brocka on here did this hunt last year, I know he doesnt like to post on here much but maybe he'll chime in

ive been "out marched" by a "unfit" 63 year  old not too far from the frankchurch..id been doing 40 mile days through out september bike hunting..i thought i was in shape ? mental is 90% of it...thats def one thing ive come to relize after hunting 
with an old vet...its only bad till he brings up a story from vietnam...

[huntnnw]

I agree its a combo of both....but the guy that has that drive and wants something bad enough will do anything to achieve it

[deerslyr]

Ill agree to that. I hunted with an old cowboy in the crazy mountains this year (fairly comparable to the church imo) that could dam near keep up with me, and he was smoking a marb red the entire time. Dam near went through an entire pack on each of our jaunts. With that said around day three he wasnt as fresh as I was, but he was also over twice as old. Quit wasnt in his vocabulary.

[Bigshooter]

I love the guys preaching fitness...sorry its all about what the drive of the individual..I know guys who are in amazing shape, but lack the drive to get after hunting.

You bet.   

[brocka]

I love the guys preaching fitness...sorry its all about what the drive of the individual..I know guys who are in amazing shape, but lack the drive to get after hunting.

I know guys who have the drive but are lacking the fitness that I pass up all day and just cant compete in big country....to be a good back country hunter you need both.
BTW brocka on here did this hunt last year, I know he doesnt like to post on here much but maybe he'll chime in

We planned this hunt out all the way, all we needed was to pay but ended up putting it off for a year. The weather & fires in there kept us from spending the extra cash on the fly in. We ended up just doing a backcountry hunt from a trailhead in a different unit. Its still on the list though.

Mental drive is alot of it I will agree, but being fit makes it more enjoyable & easier. A 100 lb backpack is pretty heavy when its on your back. Especially on day 5. And your out of water.

[Mr Mykiss]

Go with McCall Air. We fly in and out half a dozen times a year for work.
Oh and the guy who's buddy is getting his pilots license... and you're gonna then fly into the Church on one of your first flights... I'd rather walk. Seriously I think there is a backcountry flying course that you have to take first.
I get nervous as hell flying having the experts fly me in there.
Don't worry buddy you'll be fine, just remember to turn around in the widest part of the canyon and let your right wing come within 10' of the right rock wall and then within 10' of the other cliff wall as you make a 180 deep in the canyon and don't forget that you need to loose 600' of elevation while doing this... you want to hear about the landing...