Irrelevant
Well-known member
Dude those trees are about as wind sculpted as the come!
High Country Mule Deer Trip - Lessons Learned
- Thread starter tomengineer
- Start date
DouglasR
Well-known member
Wasn’t staked out, it got windy.
I don’t have the gram but it looked sendy on my snap.
NVDesertHunter
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Had the same plan as you back in 2017...planned to backpack for 7 days with 2 other people into the Frank Church for deer and elk. Camped at the trailhead the night before and it snowed 1.5 feet of snow overnight. We tried to day hunt the area but all the game tracks were leading in a straight line out of the country.
Lesson learned: Have a plan B in a completely different area that is "weather proof" or at least have an idea of low-elevation areas in case you are snowed out in the high country
MTLabrador
Well-known member
I was camped at Clark Canyon Reservoir south of Dillon with a friend and told him he might want to make sure his tent was guyed out, because it gets windy. He didn’t listen.
My tent
His tent
D
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MTLabrador
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I’m a little more conservative with where I pitch my tent when I’m actually hunting, but have to say your campsite looks more dope.
Huntnut60
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Have every expectation th
1. Plan for the worst
2. Expect the worst
3. Pray for the best
4. Never, EVER, put yourself in position to be lost or hurt. Help may not be a truck ride away.
5. Pay attention to the little things that can ruin your hunt: chopping wood, opening a can, ANYTHING with a knife.
6. Even if you only have a few months, do whatever you can to get in shape.
7. Most important of all, ENJOY every minute.
The list could go on for pages. GOOD LUCK!!!!!
Books can written from lessons learned on "remote" hunts.
1. Plan for the worst
2. Expect the worst
3. Pray for the best
4. Never, EVER, put yourself in position to be lost or hurt. Help may not be a truck ride away.
5. Pay attention to the little things that can ruin your hunt: chopping wood, opening a can, ANYTHING with a knife.
6. Even if you only have a few months, do whatever you can to get in shape.
7. Most important of all, ENJOY every minute.
The list could go on for pages. GOOD LUCK!!!!!
tomengineer
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- Jan 14, 2019
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Yes good call I'm definitely lacking here on a lower elevation backup plan. I'll look over onX as part of preparation for that. Thanks for the advice.
tomengineer
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Haha I appreciate the pragmatism of this post. Thanks for the advice.
Devilscrown
Well-known member
I am sure this seems obvious but make sure to purify any water you pull out of the creeks. Having grown up in the area I have watched a few people get giardia and one shigella after finding what they thought was a “clean” water source.
My other advice is that you will likely be shocked by the extreme changes in weather throughout the day. Dress in layers because you will constantly be adding or stripping layers.
Hope you have fun and enjoy your hunt!
- Assume you are renting a car/suv since flying from the east. Watch the roads, some places a decent two track can turn into a car-eater pretty quick. IDFG's web map can help a little, you can parse out the lower maintenance level roads. Google earth helps too.
- Give yourself some time to adjust to altitude, don't go hard the first day (I did this my first trip to ID and crashed from dehydration, Idaho Falls airport to mountains to backpacking was not good planning)
- For deer, glass, glass, glass, then hike.
- Good luck!
Huntin' Fool
Well-known member
The ways to hunt the Frank are:
A) If driving and backpack hunting, only hunt September 15th to mid Oct., at the latest.
B) For elk - with horses and someone who has hunted that area before. Sept can be good.
C) Float it with a guide or someone with the gear and who has floated it before. Late October to Nov 18th.
D) Fly in DIY into Indian Creek or the several other airstrips on the Salmon river and back pack hunt. Competition around the airstrips, out hike the others and get in great areas - Late Oct - Nov. 18th usually good for deer, elk tougher.
A) If driving and backpack hunting, only hunt September 15th to mid Oct., at the latest.
B) For elk - with horses and someone who has hunted that area before. Sept can be good.
C) Float it with a guide or someone with the gear and who has floated it before. Late October to Nov 18th.
D) Fly in DIY into Indian Creek or the several other airstrips on the Salmon river and back pack hunt. Competition around the airstrips, out hike the others and get in great areas - Late Oct - Nov. 18th usually good for deer, elk tougher.
TexAg09
Active member
There has been a moment on every hunt when I think "how TF am I going to get this done?" Just grind it out. Just be prepared to have a moment or two like this, and know that you can get it done. (Whatever task might make you think that, but it usually hits me with the thought of actually getting a deer with the hunting pressure or whatever is making it difficult and on the pack out.)
Over communicate with your hunting partners on decision making. It goes a lot smoother when everybody feels heard. Also, it can be difficult if they're not as prepared as you, but just know that rising tides lift all boats. I've had buddies forget gear and not be physically ready, but just help out however you can to make a good hunt. It goes a long way.
Take more pictures and videos than you plan to.
Over communicate with your hunting partners on decision making. It goes a lot smoother when everybody feels heard. Also, it can be difficult if they're not as prepared as you, but just know that rising tides lift all boats. I've had buddies forget gear and not be physically ready, but just help out however you can to make a good hunt. It goes a long way.
Take more pictures and videos than you plan to.
Justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
I would add that anything with a blade is orders of magnitude more dangerous when you are working in the dark, and exhausted from a long day's hunt. I really try not to handle anything with a blade at the end of the day if I can help it. All my suppers are zip-top baggies. Burning myself with boiling water is probably the most risk I take there.
jymarine24
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- May 7, 2020
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See if your doctor can get you some free samples of Viagra. In higher elevations it’s one of the best meds you can take. It will get oxygen in your blood stream quicker then altitude pills. My doctor shakes his head every September when I ask for some, hell even laughed when I first asked about it. But, after he did some checking he was like dang your right.
MTLabrador
Well-known member
Just cant shot prone after
jymarine24
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BrianID
Active member
I agree it is always a good idea to check your rifles zero. For shots less than 300 yard, your zero probably won't shift more than a couple inches and won't be a big factor. If you want to shoot at extended ranges, knowing your exact zero is critical. There are way to many guys out hunting that think they are capable of 500 yard or even 1000 yard shots just because they have a scope with a turret and a computer calculated drop. I believe many hunters with a turret on their scope aren't even capable of making a 300 yard shot under field conditions with even a 50% success rate and have absolutely no business trying to shoot at 500+ yards. Every hunter that is capable of shooting a deer at 500+ yards has extensive practice shooting under field conditions at extended ranges. It isn't something you can learn to do shooting from a bench. Being able to quickly get a solid rest in field conditions and factoring in wind, elevation, angle and bullet drop all take extensive practice to learn. Learn your limits on range and stick to it. Shooting beyond your limit is just going to waste ammo (best case scenario) or result in a wounded animal that your don't recover (worse case scenario).
There is no need to sign your tag after harvest in Idaho like most Western States but it is a good idea for both you and your friends to read the regulations multiple times to make sure you understand them. You could also put a copy of the regulations on your phone to reference while in the field. An easy error to make in Idaho is not leaving "evidence of sex" naturally attached to boned out meat.
Just don't tell your wife that you and your hunting buddies are taking viagra for your "hunting trip". LOL
Viagra was originally developed for pulmonary hypertension and may help some for altitude sickness but camping at 8000 feet isn't going to result in severe altitude sickness. I think the risks outweigh the benefits of viagra for your trip. All medications can have side effects. If you take your first viagra a 3 hour walk from your vehicle and a 2 hour drive to the hospital, calling your doctor for an erection lasting more than 4 hours won't do you much good. LOL
Slowly transitioning to higher elevations is the best thing you can do to prevent altitude sickness. Getting to lower elevations is the best thing you can do to treat altitude sickness. Camping at 8000 feet and even hunting up to 10,000 feet during the day is very unlikely to cause altitude sickness. After arriving in Idaho, plan on camping at 5000-6000 ft the first night before hiking to camp at higher elevations will help with the transition. I don't really notice the air getting thinner until I get around 9000 feet but I live at 4000 feet of elevation. Just expect your time to hike at higher elevations to be much slower than you think it will. In steep high country, I plan on it taking me at least an hour to hike 1 mile on the map. 5 miles on the map without a trail could easily take more than a day in tough high country. It will likely be much more physically and mentally challenging than you and your friends expect. Blisters on your feet are one of the biggest risks for messing up your hunt plans. Being in top physical shape and making sure your boots don't cause blisters will make your hunt much more enjoyable.
Be prepared for any kind of weather. Hypothermia is a real risk while backpack hunting in the mountains in October. I've had my water bottles freeze in my pack while hiking mid day hunting Idaho in October. I've also had many days that are 70 or even 80 degrees in the Idaho mountains in October. If the weather forecast isn't favorable, I wouldn't recommend camping too far from your vehicle if you are not an experienced backpack hunter.
Expected other hunters to have legal and illegal motorized access to places you don't expect. I've had this happen so many times in new places. There are many "two track roads" and 4 wheeler trails that don't show up on maps.
Idaho general season isn't an easy tag to kill any buck, let alone a mature buck. In most areas, there are very few 5+ year old mule deer bucks. Hunters are just too effective at killing them with general season tags before they get old enough to grow really big antlers. Every 5+ year old buck in Idaho's general season units have found a way to avoid getting killed. (living on private land, becoming more nocturnal, staying in thick cover, etc) Even if you don't find any big bucks, the scenery and experience will make this trip worth it to most hunters. Expect this trip to be more of a learning experience than a hunt that you and your friends all kill big bucks and you will have a good time.
