Post by: 7mmfan on March 11, 2016, 06:18:12 PM
I'm making this switch with mainly elk in mind, and mainly for my nephew. He is 15 this year, has hunted 2 years with me here in WA and seen a ton of animals, including several beautiful bulls that we've had to let walk. He's got the want and the will, but I know that if there isn't any success in the near future, that could fade as he enters his later teen years. I want to give him an awesome hunting trip to really plant the seed.
If someone could PM me some thoughts on decent OTC units, that would be fantastic. I'm not interested in specific drainages/roads/ridges etc... I'll figure that out. I just know some of these units are ghost towns during the general season, and I'm trying to avoid that. I've looked at harvest stats and it appears that the Boise area up to McCall (so basically all of west central ID) has the best OTC success %.
I'd like to have the ability to get off road to avoid quads/dirt bikes. We don't mind hiking a few hours in the dark to get to where we hunt. But we will be truck camping.
Anything anyone has will be appreciated. Thanks guys.
Post by: vandeman17 on March 11, 2016, 06:35:14 PM
Post by: 7mmfan on March 11, 2016, 06:45:16 PM
Post by: BULLBLASTER on March 11, 2016, 09:18:33 PM
Good luck!
Post by: 7mmfan on March 11, 2016, 10:07:13 PM
Post by: idaho guy on March 14, 2016, 05:45:22 PM
Post by: 7mmfan on March 15, 2016, 04:46:53 PM
Post by: Mr Mykiss on March 16, 2016, 12:50:59 PM
Post by: BULLBLASTER on March 16, 2016, 03:12:12 PM
Ok I'm gonna do you a HUGE favor here. PM BLRman and ask him exactly where he hunted elk in Idaho last year. DO NOT GO THERE!!!!!!!!!:chuckle:
Post by: 7mmfan on March 17, 2016, 08:56:37 AM
Post by: Jonathan_S on March 17, 2016, 08:58:47 AM
Ok I'm gonna do you a HUGE favor here. PM BLRman and ask him exactly where he hunted elk in Idaho last year. DO NOT GO THERE!!!!!!!!!:chuckle:
Bahahah! That made me laugh... very funny American :chuckle:
Post by: Karl Blanchard on March 22, 2016, 05:40:48 PM
Ok I'm gonna do you a HUGE favor here. PM BLRman and ask him exactly where he hunted elk in Idaho last year. DO NOT GO THERE!!!!!!!!!Bro!!!!!!!! That cut me deep :'(
:chuckle:
Post by: 7mmfan on April 13, 2016, 09:23:36 AM
Post by: elkinrutdrivemenuts on April 13, 2016, 10:47:05 AM
Things to consider. Nearest road, nearest town, how remote is the area, and what type of tags are available there.
Post by: 7mmfan on April 13, 2016, 12:03:58 PM
Post by: elkinrutdrivemenuts on April 13, 2016, 01:08:37 PM
Post by: 7mmfan on April 13, 2016, 09:39:11 PM
Post by: 7mmfan on May 10, 2016, 09:44:36 AM
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on May 10, 2016, 10:04:15 AM
Post by: 7mmfan on May 10, 2016, 10:21:47 AM
Post by: elkinrutdrivemenuts on May 10, 2016, 11:21:01 AM
We're hunting the rifle season. The tag availability hasn't really changed much over the last couple months, but I expect as permit drawings happen around the west, that will begin to change for the OTC tags. While I'm not holding my breath to draw a bull or cow tag here in WA, I'd hate to invest the money into Idaho tags and draw one close to home.
2016 Capped tags go on sale for Residents 7/10/2016 and Nonresidents 12/1/2015.
Not sure when the results will be out for WA, but you should be fine. Although with the season length in WA, you should be fine to hunt both places if you got the time.
Post by: 7mmfan on May 10, 2016, 12:30:42 PM
Post by: andrew_in_idaho on May 10, 2016, 03:31:44 PM
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: 7mmfan on May 11, 2016, 02:08:43 PM
Post by: Jonathan_S on May 11, 2016, 09:35:19 PM
Want to hear a joke? It goes, "Frank Church in May"
Post by: Mr Mykiss on May 11, 2016, 10:10:10 PM
Post by: Jonathan_S on May 11, 2016, 10:12:43 PM
Da frank is only steep if'n you get off the main trail. We're you looking for a bear?
Yeah and just looking for adventure. Found plenty of it and also a good deal of snow. The Salmon zone is awesome. Someday I will graduate to it for elk
Post by: kentrek on May 11, 2016, 10:20:31 PM
Da frank is only steep if'n you get off the main trail. We're you looking for a bear?
Yeah and just looking for adventure. Found plenty of it and also a good deal of snow. The Salmon zone is awesome. Someday I will graduate to it for elk
Rite on that's cool....i was going to go for bear in there early this month but now it's looking like the end of the month :bash:
It's only steep until you've had steeper....idaho is good at showing the later
Post by: 7mmfan on May 12, 2016, 08:56:12 AM
Idaho is too steep. I just confirmed that the past four days. Don't waste your time.
Want to hear a joke? It goes, "Frank Church in May"
:chuckle: Good thing my new boots are coming next week. Ample time to break them in and get these legs in tip top.
Post by: elkinrutdrivemenuts on May 12, 2016, 10:18:04 AM
Idaho is too steep. I just confirmed that the past four days. Don't waste your time.
Want to hear a joke? It goes, "Frank Church in May"
LOL, could you even get up there? We have been trying to head up to the mountains north of the Church a ways, but as of a two weeks ago, there was still 10 ft of snow on the main road to get in. Im hoping by July we can get up there. Snow pack is pretty good this year
Post by: Jonathan_S on May 12, 2016, 11:12:36 AM
Idaho is too steep. I just confirmed that the past four days. Don't waste your time.
Want to hear a joke? It goes, "Frank Church in May"
LOL, could you even get up there? We have been trying to head up to the mountains north of the Church a ways, but as of a two weeks ago, there was still 10 ft of snow on the main road to get in. Im hoping by July we can get up there. Snow pack is pretty good this year
Yeah going through the metropolis of Yellow Pine, I could get within a few miles of the wilderness boundary. I hiked the rest of the way.
Post by: 7mmfan on June 14, 2016, 12:27:29 PM
Post by: 300rum on June 14, 2016, 02:07:32 PM
Hoping someone on here may have a good biologist contact for the Salmon Region. The guy I talked to a month or so ago was less than helpful. If you've talked with a guy in particular that you felt was knowledgeable and helpful from a hunters perspective, I'd love to talk with him. Feel free to pm if you like.
Post by: fishngamereaper on June 14, 2016, 02:27:59 PM
Idaho is too steep. I just confirmed that the past four days. Don't waste your time.
Want to hear a joke? It goes, "Frank Church in May"
LOL, could you even get up there? We have been trying to head up to the mountains north of the Church a ways, but as of a two weeks ago, there was still 10 ft of snow on the main road to get in. Im hoping by July we can get up there. Snow pack is pretty good this year
Yeah going through the metropolis of Yellow Pine, I could get within a few miles of the wilderness boundary. I hiked the rest of the way.
Did you lock your doors when you drove through yellow pine...last time I drove through all the locals where eye in me and I felt like I was in deliverance...but really its a nice town... :chuckle:
Post by: 7mmfan on June 16, 2016, 07:00:08 PM
I have some info, what are you looking for?Hoping someone on here may have a good biologist contact for the Salmon Region. The guy I talked to a month or so ago was less than helpful. If you've talked with a guy in particular that you felt was knowledgeable and helpful from a hunters perspective, I'd love to talk with him. Feel free to pm if you like.
Now that 2015 stats are out, I was hoping to bounce some areas off of him and get his opinion on how animals may have faired in those areas, and if they are seeing an uptick in populations in certain areas now that burns are regenerating well.
Post by: Jonathan_S on June 19, 2016, 08:07:26 AM
Idaho is too steep. I just confirmed that the past four days. Don't waste your time.
Want to hear a joke? It goes, "Frank Church in May"
LOL, could you even get up there? We have been trying to head up to the mountains north of the Church a ways, but as of a two weeks ago, there was still 10 ft of snow on the main road to get in. Im hoping by July we can get up there. Snow pack is pretty good this year
Yeah going through the metropolis of Yellow Pine, I could get within a few miles of the wilderness boundary. I hiked the rest of the way.
Did you lock your doors when you drove through yellow pine...last time I drove through all the locals where eye in me and I felt like I was in deliverance...but really its a nice town... :chuckle:
I usually time it to drive in at night haha
Post by: 7mmfan on June 20, 2016, 09:06:29 AM
Any thoughts/experience on hunting elk on the opener vs. the last week of the season?
Post by: 300rum on June 20, 2016, 09:13:30 AM
Post by: WA hunter14 on June 20, 2016, 09:14:12 AM
Post by: kentrek on June 20, 2016, 09:52:49 AM
So now we're considering doubling up on deer and elk tags and hunting the overlap, mainly so my nephew has a better opportunity at pulling the trigger on an animal. I like the idea of potentially finding bulls still rutting, but I also like the idea of hunting late when I may have weather on my side, and no deer hunters in the woods.
Any thoughts/experience on hunting elk on the opener vs. the last week of the season?
Go for the rut....over the last decade we've killed majority of our elk the first morning and the second morning....
Post by: 7mmfan on June 20, 2016, 11:00:22 AM
Post by: 7mmfan on June 24, 2016, 10:45:05 AM
Post by: The Fin on July 07, 2016, 08:23:44 PM
Post by: 7mmfan on September 08, 2016, 11:25:12 AM
Post by: 2MANY on September 09, 2016, 08:23:35 AM
One out across 93 from the airport.
Post by: 7mmfan on September 09, 2016, 05:17:19 PM