Where to hunt

[redroket]

I need some help!
I did not draw any special hunt tags which I guess is normal? I put in for East side hunting. I am not able to get away for the early season so I am looking at hunting the late season. From what I am told the units that are open in the late season are mostly deer units that have little to no Elk in them? Can anyone enlighten me on where I should at least try and get an Elk?
This is my first try at Muzzleloader and I was really looking forward to it! I would appreciate any help on finding a decent location to hunt.

[bobcat]

If you have an eastside muzzleloader elk tag, you need to hunt the early season or plan on not hunting at all. What you heard is right. There isn't anything open for late season that is any good.

[rb2506]

eastside tag

[ML_Hunter]

And if you put in for special hunts on the Eastside, you can NOT switch your tag over to Westside.

[lonedave]

I've seen a very few during the early archery, muzzleloader, and general deer seasons in the Snake River breaks (unit 142), but if you look at the harvest statistics, unit 130 is the clear winner in total numbers and success rates.  That doesn't guarantee anything, but it does say there are probably more elk in that unit than the others.  I know 130 is near Turnbull and there are several adjacent landowners who charge a good bit to hunt, so that probably skews the numbers some, but if you could put in the miles and hours scouting, you may come up with an area to try anyway.  It also may open up some good deer hunting too.  The elk in all of the late eastern muzzleloader units are pretty scattered and move around a good bit too, so I'd probably gravitate to where the most elk are and scout from there.  I know that's not a lot of help, but at least it may cut down the area a bit.  Good luck.

Dave