My bud and me are tired of playing the lottery game for elk tags. I went to NM on a cow hunt in '02 and we did not draw at all in '03. We have decided that we are going to hunt in ID in '04. We want to start an annual camp while we are still young and can hit the mountains running. We want to hunt and not have to worry if we are going to draw or not. Our plans are to buy general season tags and put in for controlled hunts as well. If we draw the controlled hunts we will exchange the general season tags for the controlled hunt tags.

I would like to pick the brains of any fellow ID hunters that could advise in some of the logistics. I am not asking for your secret spot's way points or any other of your secrets. What info. that would be helpful is horse/mule rental places, processors (if we get lucky) and such. Any help would be appreciated. ID is a long way from the Carolinas.


Thanks,

C-ROY

C-Roy,

I am from the southeastern part of the State. If you would like some specific help I would be more than happy to try and answer your questions. I will tell you this; We are having a normal winter here this year. What that means is that we will have some mortality in some areas. If we get much more snow and extreme cold combined we will have alot of mortality.

Also, are you looking for any elk, or are you predominantly looking to shoot bulls?

Another option to look at is Wyoming. Better hurry though because the non-resident deadline for elk is January 31. Good elk hunting and you don't have to buy a license, just a conservation stamp and your elk license. In Idaho you have to buy the license to apply.

Just some thoughts.

Roy, I think you probably want to come out this summer, and just look at places.

In general, though, I can offer some suggestions. First off, stay away from any outfitter territory. Bull ratios are just about universally worst in the wilderness areas where the outfitters run. They are just too efficient, and the seasons too long.

Second, you want to take a look at some of the areas that have burnt, oh, about 3 to 10 years ago. Generally speaking, populations there will be increasing as the burns recover. Over time, those areas will get better and better.

Third, I'd go to the "end of the road". The higher up you go, the fewer camps you will see. The trend is to drag the 30 foot camper trailers into the valley, and then drive the 4 wheeler or truck up to "a hunt area". If you are already up there, you'll have the advantage in time and distance. You'll get to know the terrain, and that'll pay off in spades.

Fourth, go to the border. For some reason, people like to be "in the middle". Areas bordering wilderness units, state borders, etc have been good to me. HTH, Dutch.

Here is the Idaho fish and game web-site. Hope this helps some..... www2.state.id.us/fishgame/ web page