Idaho elk 2022

[Gencountyzeek]

230am, almost to Montana. I cant wait to sleep in my tent, sitting in this truck is getting old lol.

[Gencountyzeek]

Sunrise in Montana 

[Gencountyzeek]

[crappyice]

Thanks for "taking us along" on this adventure!!! Keep the updates coming!!!!


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[Gencountyzeek]

Just stopped for a shower at a KOA IN 3 Forks Montana. That was definitely needed. About 4 more hours of driving and we will be to our spot. I will most likely not have reception there so hope to fill this with pics in a week or so.

[BizCT]

Can you kindly remind us how many tags you have and what species? Shoot a lion!

[Gencountyzeek]

3 hours ago, BizCT said:

Can you kindly remind us how many tags you have and what species? Shoot a lion!

Elk, mule deer, and wolf. 

[Gencountyzeek]

Wont have reception much longer, so this will get updated in probably a week. 

We're goin in boys and girls!

[Lawdwaz]

Excellent Zeek, we’re all pulling for you.  
 

After a few days, you should drive down to civilization and get a report to us.   Just a thought……

[Pygmy]

8 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

Excellent Zeek, we’re all pulling for you.  
 

After a few days, you should drive down to civilization and get a report to us.   Just a thought……

Yeah...You'll need a shower by then anyway.....<<grin>>...

[Pygmy]

Keep your nose in the wind, and your eyes on the skyline.....

You really CAN smell elk if they are upwind of you, even at distances of 100 yds plus...That can make or break a hunt if you are hunting in timber...

[doebuck1234]

Awesome pics,can't wait for updates!!!!

[Arcade Hunter]

Good luck Dan!  Cant wait for some more updates!

[Gencountyzeek]

Well sitting at 9200ft of elevation and i have a better signal than i have back in my house lol. So id thought id update yall.

It is hot out here, not what we want obviously. First place we went was crazy driving up to it, definitely needs a serious truck to get up these single track dirt mountain roads. Thats spot didnt pan out, we did see elk and deer sign but the creeks were dried up. Which means the closest guaranteed water was a 3hr drive down the mountain to a stream we pasted. So that night we packed up and drove back into Salmon and slept in the truck in town. 

Formultated a plan for another spot I E scouted, was definitely going to be more crowded but appeared to have more water sources. So we got here yesterday setup camp and just glassed near by, talk to a few guys and we all have the same idea unfortunately. 

The plan this a.m. was get up and moving while still dark and get to the backside of these mountains were it appears there are some lakes. My buddy im with is...well he came out and told he never really trained to be in better shape for the hell we are getting into...so it has been slower moving than id like. Welp during the night we could here elk talkin on this mountain face, this a.m. as were ready to roll they start up again. No bugles but definitely elk. So we slip down from camp and setup in a spot where we can see this mt side. As daylight breaks i spot 2 elk up on its ridge. Switch from binos to my spotter, 2 cows estrus calling. Few hours later we circled to the side of a different mt were we can see the spot the cows were in and the likely pine thickets they are beded in. Now we wait for sun down when they will get on their feet again to go feed, hoping a bull is in tow. Cross your fingers for us!

[Gencountyzeek]

Last day here, back with cell coverage. Yesterday was our best day, saw 16 total elk and 6 mule deer. 1 spike muley is all that had antlers, but i did spot a 4x4 or 5x5 bull. He was around 1300 yards out with 2 cows and a spike. I formultated a plan and went with it. Dropped down about 1000 vertical feet to a semi flat pine thicket, booked it through there to were it met the face of the mountain he was on. I had the side covered well within range, problem is they never showed up. They were at the top and to me looked like they were feeding their way  down. Im thinking they went over the back side. However we are back in our same glassing spots as yesterday hoping he returns.

[BizCT]

14 minutes ago, Gencountyzeek said:

Last day here, back with cell coverage. Yesterday was our best day, saw 16 total elk and 6 mule deer. 1 spike muley is all that had antlers, but i did spot a 4x4 or 5x5 bull. He was around 1300 yards out with 2 cows and a spike. I formultated a plan and went with it. Dropped down about 1000 vertical feet to a semi flat pine thicket, booked it through there to were it met the face of the mountain he was on. I had the side covered well within range, problem is they never showed up. They were at the top and to me looked like they were feeding their way  down. Im thinking they went over the back side. However we are back in our same glassing spots as yesterday hoping he returns.

Good luck! It ain't over till it's over!

[Gencountyzeek]

Welp to wrap this up finally, last morning we saw more hunters then animals so we packed up and decided to drive some back roads glassing for mulies. End up seeing 6, unfortunately all does and fawns. 

The trip was a amazing experience. If I could do it all over again the only thing i would change is getting back into where we ended up last, to be  the first stop. We wouldve been in early enough to beat the crowd. 

Gear wise everything worked really well. I do plan on probably building a rifle of larger caliber. The thought of getting closer to that bull but out of realistic 308 range woulda killed  me. After hiking miles and miles, if the best i could do was 650 yards, I  want to be able to take advantage of that opportunity. I dont advocate "long range hunting" but I will be proficient if needed. This new 7mm PRC that just came out intrigues me. So any lefties out there that may be interested in a couple nice rifles watch the 4 sale section.

[BizCT]

Sounds like you enjoyed the experience at least and stayed safe.

[Gencountyzeek]

7 minutes ago, BizCT said:

Sounds like you enjoyed the experience at least and stayed safe.

Loved every minute of. Hoping to try again in a few years. Purchased points for wyoming too yesterday lol

[Lawdwaz]

Good deal Zeek.   It’s tough doing a DIY hunt out west but surely tons of fun.  

[wolc123]

You did it at the right time (when you are relatively young).  I did it once, when I was in my 30’s.  I don’t regret going that one time, but that was enough for me.  Now that I am in my late 50’s, I’d only hunt west of the Mississippi for elk again, if it was free.  I would need to be paid a small fee to hunt mule deer again.
 

  I remember the first day at high altitude was sort of tough on me.  After that, it didn’t seem too bad.  I even managed to drag out my spike mule deer buck, 5 miles thru the Rockies, on the last day that I hunted, completely unassisted.  
 

Big mistake that was.  It tasted like crap, compared to NY whitetail.  Maybe that one actually did taste ok, but I never actually got to try any of it.  We butchered the (3) that we killed out there together, mine was a 1.5 yr, and the others were a 2.5 yr 4x4 and a big 4.5 yr plus 6 x 5, that our local “host” killed, but didn’t want to keep any of the meat from.   

He still loves coming back to NY for our “tastey” white-tails, but he could not load that big muley’s meat into our coolers fast enough, when we left for home.  

The year that I took that trip to CO with my buddies was the only year that no one got any elk.  They shared some of that with me, from their prior and later trips, and I thought it tasted just as good or slightly better than your average NY whitetail.  I always wondered why the mule deer, from the same general area, tasted so much worse.  I also think that they have goofy-looking antlers and hides compared to whitetails.  
 

What do the Idaho OTC mule deer and elk tags cost now ?  Back when I went, CO elk tags were $ 375, and mule deer were $ 125.  

My favorite thing about that trip out west was the appreciation that it gave me for the raw beauty of NY’s Adirondack mountains.  In my opinion, they are much more attractive that all that “high desert” out west.  

[Dinsdale]

Doing something many just talk about, thanks for bringing us along.

 

[Gencountyzeek]

@wolc123

Tags in Idaho are 650 for elk and 350 for muley's I believe. Id trade NY in a heartbeat to be out there, absolutely beautiful. I turn 40 in a a month, i plan i doing this as long as i can.

[Dinsdale]

28 minutes ago, Gencountyzeek said:

@wolc123

Tags in Idaho are 650 for elk and 350 for muley's I believe. Id trade NY in a heartbeat to be out there, absolutely beautiful. I turn 40 in a a month, i plan i doing this as long as i can.

Go for it; after years of fishing trips in my 20’s, I started adding hunting trips in my mid 30’s. 

I wish I started earlier. You never know when life will put a few bumps in the road, and am glad I spent the time then, and didnt wait til now that I’m hec of a lot closer to 60.

[Pygmy]

1 hour ago, Gencountyzeek said:

@wolc123

Tags in Idaho are 650 for elk and 350 for muley's I believe. Id trade NY in a heartbeat to be out there, absolutely beautiful. I turn 40 in a a month, i plan i doing this as long as i can.

I did my first one ( Alaska float trip for moose  and caribou)  in 1989, when I was 39....Over the next 20 years I hunted  New Mexico  and Colorado for elk,  Colorado for elk and mule deer, Wyoming for pronghorn, New Brunswick and Newfoundland for moose and deer,  Northwest Territories (Ca)  for caribou, and northern Quebec for caribou... I also did four more Alaska hunts , for caribou mostly...

If my moldy memory doesn.t fail me, I've shot  2 moose, 2 elk, 2mule deer, two pronghorns, and 13 caribou.....And I dont regret a penny that I spent on my hunts....