Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: JBar on February 06, 2009, 06:48:01 AM
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With all of the crap Washington is doing with our mule deer late seasons, I am looking for a late mule deer rut hunt in Idaho for archery. Does anyone have some suggetions? I've been researching some of their hunts and they look good but any extra you guys might have without giving away your secrets would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!!
JBar
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unit 39 in the boise foothills
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39 is also the most hunted unit in the state... there's big deer there but they are few and far between... tons of quad hunters and people everywhere. There's also a ton of roads and you really have to work to get away from them...
I hunted unit 39 for 7 days in '07 and wasn't impressed and we hunted our asses off. Saw a few bucks but nothing that I wouldn't of found in WA outside of wenatchee....
Michael
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he asked for archery rut hunts, did you hunt archery or rifle season because the late archery is a totally different hunt, very few hunters and theyre bowhunters so they arent riding quads, and shooting at everything that moves and the bucks are starting to come down out of the high country so you see a lot more of em, other than that youve got unit 2, which isnt ideal mule deer country, units 53 and 63, which have low deer densities, then unit 55 which opens on the nov 25th so you might catch the tail end of the rut and unit 28 which opens on dec 1st and probably wouldnt see any rutting action at all by then
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From the research I've done I think you might also want to consider going for whitetails in Idaho, rather than Muleys. Just a thought, but apparently their mule deer aren't doing so well right now.
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I have hunted unit 39 during the last week of rifle a few years back and the quad thing is true. I guess I should clarify a bit, though the rut would be a bonus I am okay with post rut or a migration hunt. I think 39 would still fall into that and be pretty good!? I was eyeballing 55 but was also looking at some controlled hunts that have me baffled a bit. I left my research papers at work but they were any weapon hunts that looked like they had high success and also looked like they gave tags to all that applied plus some. Not sure how that works but I might be up for one of these hunts they ran from Nov.1 - Nov. 18. Does anyone know how these hunts work? Is there unlimited draw hunts? It would be nice to take a buck with my archery equipment but if it came down to the last day or two a rifle may come in handy. Has anyone had decent or consistant success on any of these hunts with archery equipment? I would like to stick with mulies as I think nothing beats a big mulie buck. Plus whitetails just piss me off, just when you have them figured out.... Well you know the story from there.
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I know the late hunts you're thinking of, one of them is 27 and I think there are a couple others, with the unlimited draw and a November season. These are all strictly wilderness units with basically no road access. Many people are flown into these and dropped off for a week. I don't believe any of these are well known for B&C muley bucks, but from what I've heard most hunters generally see a fair amount of deer but mostly smaller bucks. The lack of monster bucks is not because of excess hunting pressure but more due to not having the high quality habitat/feed that grows big antlers. If you want big antlers you're better off farther south.
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If you fly into 27 in November you will see a ton of deer. But I would shoot the first 160 I saw and maybe the first 150 I saw depending on the weather. If you have the weather you can see 200+ deer a day. Last time I flew in we averaged over 200 deer a day. But the biggest deer we saw was a mid 150 kind of deer. Tons of 18 -22 inch wide 3 and 4 points running around. If you want to do archery only go with 55. It's a pretty good hunt. You will see quit a few deer. I have heard the last couple of years that it has gotten pounded with hunters. With the lack of deer being killed in the general rifle season everyone that still has a tag goes and drives around 55. And in 55 a 190 deer is possible. Not likely but possible.
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Unit 39 is awesome. It's a huge unit with plenty of country to hunt. Plenty of that country is so rugged a quad is useless. There are some very nice deer. There's a lack of huge B&C bucks everywhere, not just Idaho.
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Thanks guys! Bobcat 27 was one of the units I was looking at but not into being flown in with the extra cost involved. I don't need a B&C buck but it would be nice to see some 150ish type deer. I will concentrate my efforts on 39 and 55 for the moment. I was also looking at another that was down on the Utah border but the area was mostly private lands so I'll check that one out further and see if I can find a public land honey hole. Next step is going to be maps of the units and phone calls to the biologists. Hopefully Idaho biologists are a little more hunter friendly.
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From the research I've done I think you might also want to consider going for whitetails in Idaho, rather than Muleys. Just a thought, but apparently their mule deer aren't doing so well right now.
Central Idaho and to the north had a 75% winterkill last year. Throw in the blue tongue that they also had and it will be a couple years before they rebound. That is assuming that the winters aren't as bad as the last.
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So Elkstuffer what are you saying? It sucks for mule deer AND whitetail in Idaho? Yeah that's kinda what I figured.
I may hunt unit 28 or 29 next year, just because my wife's grandparent's live there, and since the wife and I, and the kids are going to go visit them anyway, I think I may as well do a little hunting while I'm there. Hopefully there are a couple of little bucks left after this winter.
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I hunt the Panhandle during the rut. Most immediately think, :drool: but I would imagine that alot of folks never see a deer. I am not kidding when I say its tough $hit in there. I have sent two members of this board to right where I hunt, actually three I guess, but I won't send anymore, sorry. I have eyeballed around the snake just because I know the genetics are there, but the hunts haven't been very good there on dates for me. I have seen some sheds though that would make your jaw drop. If you go controlled, it depends how much you want to hunt. I always put in for the southern border areas, but have never been drawn. I am back to applying for OIL tags again. Goodluck!
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Thanks Bone, I am not looking for or asking for honey holes just unit numbers if that's possible as I would like to do most of the research and scouting myself. Please, if I came off that way that was not my intention. Trust me when I say I have been burnt on showing and sharing my honey holes but with today's economy any info that will save me some time and fuel is helpful. I plan on putting in for controlled hunts but also want a back up area to start hunting until if/when I draw. I'm just starting the research and planning a summer scouting / family camping trip. Thanks again for everyones input it's been helpful so far.
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No you didn't come off bad at all. Just being up front. I try to help folks as specifically as I can. If someone has shared it with me, its a secret. If I found out about it myself, then sometimes I am more than willing, depending on the circumstances.
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Cool thanks again Bone!
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I am in the same boat you are. I am going to take my 13 year old son over there next year and have been doing a lot of research myself. I would love to take him to unit 27 but wife said no airplane rides... :bash:. Unit 39 is one of the ones with the highest success, but its does have a lot of hunters from what i have heard. From what i have gathered over the last three months is that anywhere over there will be better than most places in washington, so who knows where we will end up. Anyone hunt unit 72 on the wyoming border, this is the area i am leaning towards :dunno:
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Make sure and get ur boy there while he's still a youth! Its dirt cheap for non res youths! Wish I would've known about it earlier in life! lol
Michael
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That is the main reason we are going, it is under 20 bucks i think for the kids. We are gonna go after mulies i think, he likes the big horns :) don't blame him there. I have to buy a tag too to mentor an out of state youth, darn ;). I guess i will finally get to hunt out of state.
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That was one of the main reason for me choosing Idaho, I'll be taking my son with me and for the 15 or 20 bucks! Hell yes! Idaho has the youth thing figured out.
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What is the minimum age for youth hunters in ID?
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So Elkstuffer what are you saying? It sucks for mule deer AND whitetail in Idaho? Yeah that's kinda what I figured.
I was just talking about the whitetails. I don't know much about the mulies in the central part. I'd stick to the units in the SW and S Central part of the state. They are all draw areas however. Good Luck.
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What is the minimum age for youth hunters in ID?
12
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grrr... same as Montana and Wyoming. I guess we'll keep "practicing" here in WA until he turns 12...
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Question for anyone who knows. It looks to me like a large portion of the southeast corner of Idaho is OTC, first come first served for mule deer tags. Anyone have any experience with this? Specifically, when do they go on sale, and when do they sell out. And if you went, how was the hunting?
I know they will be sold out this year. I am thinking for 2010.
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I THINK they go on sale December 1st, and usually sell out in a couple of days. But I'm sure somebody more familiar will post on here and confirm (or not confirm) that.
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I THINK they go on sale December 1st, and usually sell out in a couple of days. But I'm sure somebody more familiar will post on here and confirm (or not confirm) that.
Idaho no longer has a tag "set-aside" for the southeast region. For deer, there are either regular deer tags or whitetail deer tags. If you want to hunt mule deer in OTC units, you need to buy a regular deer tag. Back in the day, there were regular deer tags, clearwater deer tags, and southeast deer tags. This is back when the southeast region was pumping out BIG deer consistently. I believe there were 1500 tags and they sold out FAST. As the trophy quality continued to decline in the southeast region, these tags were available into the middle of summer - not exactly flying off the shelves.
In accordance with the mule deer initiative, many of the SE units that have the genetics to produce the mega Non-typicals that made Idaho famous have gone back to limited entry. A few that come to mind are 70, 78 and 66. These units are already starting to see the benefits of limited pressure.
I have hunted Idaho every year since since I was 18......this year will be my 11th season. There is a reason I keep going back :)
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Thanks JJ. I put in for Idaho a few years ago, and I know they were still doing the SE region by first come first served, and selling out fast. I was just on IDFG's site and couldn't find any mention of it, so I thought I'd ask. Thanks for the intel. Are those region 5 tags hard to draw? A buddy of mine from Boise and I put in for Unit 45 before, but our chances of drawing were super slim.
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Ahhh, the 45 bug. I have it as well. I put in for the muzzleloader tag as it has excellent odds. I am yet to draw, but this year will be interesting as they went back to the old 45-3 hunt which divides the unit east and west of the Bliss City Hill Road. 75 tags this year, but there may be an influx of applications for this hunt as the number of 45 rifle tags has decreased.
I was really torn between this hunt and the unit 70 hunt. Last year, there odds were about 1 in 2, but after an excellent year and word-of-mouth, Huntin Fool, etc, I expect unit 70 to become harder to draw. This would be an excellent opportunity IMO if you are looking at a fairly easy-to-draw hunt and a legitimate chance at a 180+ buck or something really exceptional. I would personally not hunt any of the southern units on anything other than a limited entry permit as the cost outweighs the benefits IMO. I have hunted 43 and 39 OTC and there are a lot of deer and decent 22 -24" bucks are pretty easy to find - but I can shoot those out my back door :twocents:
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If any of you guys end up hunting 27 I suggest flying out of McCall. McCall Aviation has great service and a fair price. I've gone twice now. I also suggest bringing two tents. Leave one at the airstrip and pack the other one up the mountain. The first year we went we probably wasted three to four hours a day hiking to and from where we wanted to hunt. Steep country.
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If you do look at 39, keep in mind of the winter ranges that are closed to bowhunting. I know it takes up a good chunk of it and some good country.
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Ahhh, the 45 bug. I have it as well. I put in for the muzzleloader tag as it has excellent odds. I am yet to draw, but this year will be interesting as they went back to the old 45-3 hunt which divides the unit east and west of the Bliss City Hill Road. 75 tags this year, but there may be an influx of applications for this hunt as the number of 45 rifle tags has decreased.
I was really torn between this hunt and the unit 70 hunt. Last year, there odds were about 1 in 2, but after an excellent year and word-of-mouth, Huntin Fool, etc, I expect unit 70 to become harder to draw. This would be an excellent opportunity IMO if you are looking at a fairly easy-to-draw hunt and a legitimate chance at a 180+ buck or something really exceptional. I would personally not hunt any of the southern units on anything other than a limited entry permit as the cost outweighs the benefits IMO. I have hunted 43 and 39 OTC and there are a lot of deer and decent 22 -24" bucks are pretty easy to find - but I can shoot those out my back door :twocents:
Thanks for the info jj. Like I said, I have a buddy in Boise. He called me up a few years ago, I guess his boss shot a real hawg out of unit 45 and brought the rack into work. So he phones me, all bug-eyed wanting us to put in for this tag. I did a little research and found that we had about a gazillion-in-one chance of being drawn, but I put in for him with it anyway. Of course we weren't drawn, and I never got a chance to make it down his way for the regular season, so I wasted the license that year... :bash:
I got drawn for Montana this year, so I won't be putting in for Idaho in 09, but was thinking about a hunt there next year. I will keep 70 in mind, also 39 and 43, since I wouldn't mind a 24" mulie, and I can't kill one of those out my backdoor here in SE WA (plenty of mulies, but I can't seem to find one over 18"). We just don't have the age class down here, too much pressure I guess, and I don't have any good private land to hunt on.
good luck in the draws this fall...
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I got offered a 44 tag for 5k last week...........best archery tag is 55 late.
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Just got off the phone for ID controlled... Can't wait for October! (Or november if I draw my buck/bull tag!!!)
Michael
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Did you draw michael? What unit?
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Did you draw michael? What unit?
No I didn't get drawn, I meant that I had put in for deer/elk tags! lol sorry Any ideas when the results will be out?
Michael
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:o
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I thought the drawing is the 20th, not 100% on that.
I was wondering when my money from the OIL drawing is coming back?
