Back from MT and ID

[MountainWalk]

Well guys, I'm back from Montana.
My hunt in Idaho's Selway unit 17 was kind of hit and miss. I started up the trail, trail 13, the old Nez Perce ridge trail past Deep Creek. I hunted BeaverJack mt, Cayuse mt, all the way over to Nez Perce Peak, Indian Hill, then eventually down to the pass. Not a whole lot of elk, which is to be expected, as its a wilderness area. Few spikes, mostly all cows and calves. Nothing out of the ordinary. Hunted just about every watercourse, north and south along that ridgeline, to no avail. Great country, and not too pressured, just the weather kind of sucked. The last few days, I came out of the hills and hunted the other side of the road on Roundtop mt, amognst the 07 burns and and came close to killing a mighty fine bull. You know how it goes, glass till bout ten, nothing doing, so I sucked it up and worked some north side timber.

Well, after awhile of creeping, I smelled that good sweet familiar smell of elk. Uh-oh! So I slow down and the smell gets stronger. You know when you smell it and no wind is blowing, your close. So I slow down and start working it with a fine tooth comb. Well before I know it, the smell gets stronger and before too long, I pick out a cow, then another, and another. Right in the middle of a dang herd. Elk in front of me, the side and behind. One by one, Im seeing elk all over. Then the wind makes a little shift and soon it's brown blurs everywhere, elk I hadnt seen getting up and shaking and I'm looking for a bull.All the cows are streaming past me and I see a bull! Flicking off the safety of my Ruger, I shoulder and for the life of me, I can't get a clear shot! Too many trees, poor light, a speeding bull and frazzled nerves. Well, all I can do is watch this bull put two counties between him and I. When they are all gone, I take a few minutes to gather myself, and swing back and around towards the probable route. I never caught back up to them. I'm still thinking of what I could have done different, or if I could have maybe loosed a shot at the bull. Who knows? Well, that was that.

I did see several moose, including one BC head, and several whitetails, but no mule deer.

Over in MT, on a semi guided hunt during the archery season, I put a guy onto a five point bull and he kills it. Once the gun season starts, things start heading down hill fast. No snow, hot weather and uncopoerating elk. Guided a 23 yr old kid from CA to his first kill ever, a pretty little 3x3, which was pretty rewarding. He had never hunted before, and I was proud to get a hunter started in the right direction. Maybe despite his geographic handicap, he will be a proud hunter who will contribute to the sport. Second hunt I guided some lousy ass French Canadians. One blows two shots at two 4x4's, and gives up on a stalk after another one. The other one hardly ever left his tent. I also guided a 16 yr old girl to her first mule deer, a 4x3. During pack out, we got away with murder, considering we were working in shirt sleeves. So all in all, it wasn't too great of a year for elk hunting, at least in our area. And it wasn't just us. At the check station at the time I left, three thousand something hunters had killed 266 elk, including cows. This was from units 250,270 and 260. Hope everyone had a better season than I did.

[Machias]

Welcome back, sorry your weren't able to connect.  Any photos of that country?

[MountainWalk]

Yeah, I do. I should put a few up I guess. Thanks for the kind words Machias. Means a lot.

[MountainWalk]

Beaver Jack mt, ID

[MountainWalk]

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[MountainWalk]

deer

[Machias]

Great photos!!  Thanks

[trophyelk6x6]

I hunted the exact same area last year and ran into wolves in each drainage. Wondering if you did? One outfitter told me they ran two wolves off a dead 5x5 and when they got back from dropping off hay, the wolves returned and chewed 1\3 of the right side rack down.

[Hornseeker]

Welcome Back Man! I bet you had a great time! Did you guide in ID or just hunt it for yourself? Did you run into Clinkenbeards outfit up there in White Cap?

Things have been awfully slow in rifle season here in MT...that is for sure!

Ernie

[MountainWalk]

Thanks Horn, glad some folks noticed I was gone. I had a great time, most of the time. Nah, I didnt guide in there, just packed in a camp for my boss for his own hunting, and hunted for myself in ID. Yeah, ran into a few of his guys, and do have a kind of gripe against him, or more rather, scott boulanger, but oh well. Ran into a kid I went to guide school, packing for him. Thats was nice. That White Cap country is something else. The head of it is some awesome country, thats for sure. Tons of moose also.

Yeah, MT elk hunting has been pretty slow, for most areas.

[MagKarl]

One of my brothers lives in SW MT, he says this elk season has been the worst he's seen.  He has been skunked so far this year as well and that's not normal for him.