McCall Unit

[huntnnw]

form my observation it was probably less crowded hunting within 200 yards of the road than 5 miles in! I saw over 40 horse trailers on the road and parking lots..it was insane

[Elknut1]

Son, that's a tough unit!! 18 would not be on my list, there's 225 rifle tags in that unit & 75 archery tags. The country is very steep & rough with lots of pressure. It was a very good unit the 1st year but it went to pot quickly! I had 4 friends draw that unit 18 last year & one elk was taken, it was a good bull but once you're in there 10-12 miles you are tied to that area & there are only a few entrances. There are HUGE draws there & once there that's what you hunt, the pressure from bow hunters pushes those elk quickly towards the bottoms. Lots of pressure & there's a guy in there guiding 12-15 hunters a year. Horses are just about a must in that unit!

  Hopefully your grandfather has a special spot, talk to him first before applying there are other units to consider that are much better & lots of access! Good Luck!

  ElkNut1

[colockumelk]

Man Elknut you Idaho hunters must be spoiled.    Only 75 hunters in a draw  unit sounds like paradise to me.  Or is it a small area? 

[trophyhunt]

Son, that's a tough unit!! 18 would not be on my list, there's 225 rifle tags in that unit & 75 archery tags. The country is very steep & rough with lots of pressure. It was a very good unit the 1st year but it went to pot quickly! I had 4 friends draw that unit 18 last year & one elk was taken, it was a good bull but once you're in there 10-12 miles you are tied to that area & there are only a few entrances. There are HUGE draws there & once there that's what you hunt, the pressure from bow hunters pushes those elk quickly towards the bottoms. Lots of pressure & there's a guy in there guiding 12-15 hunters a year. Horses are just about a must in that unit!

  Hopefully your grandfather has a special spot, talk to him first before applying there are other units to consider that are much better & lots of access! Good Luck!

  ElkNut1

great info and I believe you nailed it. I was in there 4 years ago and it was pretty darn good, but since then it's getting too much pressure. And you should have horses in the backcountry, luckily I found a local to pack my elk out for me otherwise I'd still be there packin!

[biggamehunter]

Thanks a ton guys, definately taking all of this into consideration. All this info will help me make a more educated decision. This is why i love this site, you can get great advice from complete strangers and so many of you guys are very helpful. thanks again everyone

[huntnnw]

Son, that's a tough unit!! 18 would not be on my list, there's 225 rifle tags in that unit & 75 archery tags. The country is very steep & rough with lots of pressure. It was a very good unit the 1st year but it went to pot quickly! I had 4 friends draw that unit 18 last year & one elk was taken, it was a good bull but once you're in there 10-12 miles you are tied to that area & there are only a few entrances. There are HUGE draws there & once there that's what you hunt, the pressure from bow hunters pushes those elk quickly towards the bottoms. Lots of pressure & there's a guy in there guiding 12-15 hunters a year. Horses are just about a must in that unit!

  Hopefully your grandfather has a special spot, talk to him first before applying there are other units to consider that are much better & lots of access! Good Luck!

  ElkNut1

some of this is true..I want divulge into the elk tho knowing what I know now

The country is MASSIVE... shooting a elk in 99% of 18  would require horses ..the draws and canyons are so huge that its not even a option to even get to what you see.

[Bonedar208]

Hunt and horn hunt the units listed...11 is a complete joke if you are looking for a trophy unit; the bulls are completely over harvested in my opinion  . If you want a cow tag or dont mind hiking really ruff country for an average rag horn then try it out...11 is completley over ran with out of staters in hunter orange in both the early and late draw. 18 has pretty good odds of a good bull and less people if you draw the early archery tag. The late draw is also a zoo in 18. Just some things to think about!

[huntnnw]

overrun with outta staters?? ID gives a MAX of 10% of the total tag numbers to non resident hunters ... 20 non resident hunters outta 200 tags thats alot

I coulda shot bull elk from the road in 18 while I was there deer hunting it and never saw a elk hunter around me

[Bonedar208]

haha valid point, maybe it appears over run by out of staters is cause the local boys are hiding in camo and the out of staters appear abundant cause they are sticking out like sore thumbs in blaze orange  . Spent two months in unit 11 this fall helping a guy with a mule deer tag and it seemed every hundred yards down the main road was an out of state licsense plate. Got to talk to a some people as well, its crazy how far people will travel to hunt a cow! 

If you take in account that they have the mule deer tags, cow tag, bull tag, plus whitetail hunters all open at once..the access fills up pretty quick!

I didnt get down to 18 this year but had several friends with the early and late tags so Im just saying what I heard bout down there this year..Heard the late one was packed and had pickups everywhere but had a friend hunting the early tag and said it was much nicer, he even managed to drop a dandy bull.

[huntnnw]

the archery hunt would be nice..only 75 tags and thats it..no other seasons running..be quite empty

[fishngamereaper]

Dont over look the middle fork. Have spent some time in Unit 26 up around Big Creek and have had good success. Over the counter bull tags, (while they last), hunt during the rut, and not alot of pressure. Also a good mix of elk, deer and lots of bear.