Idaho: Unit 39 Anybody Have Any Success?

[LandDiver]

Has the rut come and gone? I'm seeing lots of bucks, some nice 4 points and 3 points, but I haven't seen them "rutting". On Sunday I saw a little 2 point push some does around but that's it regarding that kind of behavior.

Again I am new to hunting, and picked this late season archery to get my feet wet. The deer seem really alert. I'm only guessing the previous rifle season has them jumpy. Speaking of jumping it sucks to see their white but jump away lol! I couldn't break 80 yards on any deer today. Just a quick hunt to work up the appetite for tonight's dinner. I'm not blaming it all on the deer, my stalking skills do need major attention lol!

How's everybody doing in 39?

Happy Thanksgiving HT!

 

[Maxxis31]

I was not far from Mtn. Home from the 13-20th, rut was defiantly on, weekend are tough over there will all of the weekend warriors from Boise and Mtn. Home. We saw several nice bucks and a couple of whoppers, lots of smaller 2 1/2 year old deer also. We were seeing lots of does too. Hope you were able to have some success, I love hunting over there and if i can talk my wife into it i will be back next weekend to hunt one last time before i put my bow away. The deer are very skittish and it is a very tough hunt but a fun one, the guy i was hunting with ended up shooting a doe and another kid shot a nice 3 1/2 or 4 1/2 year old 3x4 with eye guards.

 

[Josh Kuntz]

I spent 3 days hunting the archery in 39 and ended up shooting a tiny forky just to put meat in the freezer. There were plenty of deer and hunters. We saw a few real nice bucks and plenty of smaller ones and some rutting activity but nothing crazy. I got my deer by watching a group of 4 bucks and 2 does bed down. They were basically in an impossible spot to try a stalk, so my buddy looped around behind them and intentionally let them get his scent. I covered a likely escape route. The best buck and the 2 does of course took a different escape route. Thankfully 3 small bucks only ran a little ways and re-bedded. My buddy signaled me with trekking poles to move uphill and when he saw I was at a good elevation, he spooked the small bucks again and they trotted right at me. 16 yard frontal shot.

 

[Elkmagnet]

Those are the most alert rutting mule deer I have ever seen. Even more jumpy than deer who are rifle hunted during the rut.
I assume that most have had numerous stalks on them every week.
That's the only way the big ones survived.

I did the whitetail tag so no report from me.

 

[Maxxis31]

This is very true, they are always on high alert, if you skyline a mile away you will clear the country. We set up to glass a few areas and the deer were watching our vehicle from a very long distance, as soon as you stepped out they would split. We had some decent success but IMO it is much easier to hunt velvet bucks during late Aug.-Sept. than to hunt the late seasons in ID, I really like it because its one more hunt I get to do before putting my bow away. How's the whitetail hunting?

Those are the most alert rutting mule deer I have ever seen. Even more jumpy than deer who are rifle hunted during the rut.
I assume that most have had numerous stalks on them every week.
That's the only way the big ones survived.

I did the whitetail tag so no report from me.

 

[Elkmagnet]

How's the whitetail hunting?

We had fun despite tuff hunting.We left before Thanksgiving and it was a little warmer than we would have liked no snow to speak of so the deer weren't concentrated. We passed on a few younger bucks a friend shot a smallish 4x5, another friend took a last day doe. Saw a couple of good bucks who put me in my place. Full freezer this year so I left my tag intact.

 

[LandDiver]

I was not far from Mtn. Home from the 13-20th, rut was defiantly on, weekend are tough over there will all of the weekend warriors from Boise and Mtn. Home. We saw several nice bucks and a couple of whoppers, lots of smaller 2 1/2 year old deer also. We were seeing lots of does too. Hope you were able to have some success, I love hunting over there and if i can talk my wife into it i will be back next weekend to hunt one last time before i put my bow away. The deer are very skittish and it is a very tough hunt but a fun one, the guy i was hunting with ended up shooting a doe and another kid shot a nice 3 1/2 or 4 1/2 year old 3x4 with eye guards.

I must have read your old thread at least once a week since I was directed to look up anything related to Unit 39 on this site. It was motivating, but unfortunately I did not get the chance to release an arrow. I told my myself whatever I can get in range of I'm going to take that opportunity. Couldn't get in range of anything lol! I did learn a lot for my first time out. Didn't know where to go really, but thankful for the couple of members who gave me some places to start.

I spent 3 days hunting the archery in 39 and ended up shooting a tiny forky just to put meat in the freezer. There were plenty of deer and hunters. We saw a few real nice bucks and plenty of smaller ones and some rutting activity but nothing crazy. I got my deer by watching a group of 4 bucks and 2 does bed down. They were basically in an impossible spot to try a stalk, so my buddy looped around behind them and intentionally let them get his scent. I covered a likely escape route. The best buck and the 2 does of course took a different escape route. Thankfully 3 small bucks only ran a little ways and re-bedded. My buddy signaled me with trekking poles to move uphill and when he saw I was at a good elevation, he spooked the small bucks again and they trotted right at me. 16 yard frontal shot.

That's one thing I think hunting with a partner helps with. There were a few times where I attempted a stalk, slowly taking my time, only to find out the deer where no longer there when I peeked over lol!

Those are the most alert rutting mule deer I have ever seen. Even more jumpy than deer who are rifle hunted during the rut.
I assume that most have had numerous stalks on them every week.
That's the only way the big ones survived.

I did the whitetail tag so no report from me.

I haven't looked into it much, but deer must have some damn good eye sight. It was really hard for me to get close. I even tried waiting for an ambush as I seen them side hilling this trail. I figured there is no way the saw me, and wind was in my favor. After a while of sitting I took a peak only to see them running away lol! Damn them lol!

 

[ida homer]

I've only taken a button buck on this hunt, but I always have a blast. I don't know of any other hunts where you can see that many quality bucks in one day of hunting, despite the ridiculous difficulty level.

I actually like the hunt early in November, before all of the deer have migrated down with less eye balls to fool and no crunchy snow. The deer seem slightly less spooky the first week of the hunt I think.

 

[IdahoBugler]

I lucked out on the last day again. To be honest I thought the number of mature bucks was way down. I think the early snow helped out the rifle hunters a lot this year. The buck to doe ratio was as low as I've ever seen. With that said, still a very fun hunt and time to be in the hills.

 

[TripleJ]

Great buck IB!

 

[LandDiver]

Very nice buck! Congrats!

 

[Elkmagnet]

IB, your modesty is not fooling anyone.
Congratulations!
Hopefully the numbers you observed were due to the weather and not a long term trend. Because if IB can't find a buck with good g2's then there just isn't any there

 

[Duck-Slayer]

Congrats on a good buck IB,
Matt

 

[choc dogs]

Nice Buck IB. I don't know anyone who consistantly does what you do with a bow. I had an early blackpowder deer tag, and filled it with a doe of opportunity. Now We're headed to arco to look for a cow elk. Good times will be had.

 

[Esau]

i got lucky on the 2nd to last day!

 

[LandDiver]

Congrats to you guys who were successful!

 

[brock_barron]

I lucked out on the last day again. To be honest I thought the number of mature bucks was way down. I think the early snow helped out the rifle hunters a lot this year. The buck to doe ratio was as low as I've ever seen. With that said, still a very fun hunt and time to be in the hills.

View attachment 65219

Heck of a buck for archery equipment!! Was that in the late archery season?