Need Help Planning a 2019 North Idaho Elk Hunt

[Cardwell]

Hey Gents, This may be a long post so I apologize.

To start out my hunting history is hunting Western Oregon (mostly the coast range) with my granddad when i was like 12 to 18. Due to some health issues my grandfather mostly did a lot of road hunting. Despite that i did harvest my first and only deer (blacktail) on Halloween when i was sixteen so 2010 or 2011. After graduating high school i left for the Marine Corps and didn't do any hunting for the 5 years i was in. I got out last April and moved up to the Spokane area.

Now myself and 2 other veterans want to do a big elk hunt in Idaho for the 2019 season. We are thinking Idaho because the Disabled Veteran tags are within our price range compared to other states. We will also have to vets with us who said that they wont have the money to hunt but they are planning on coming up to hike/call/hopefully pack our trophy bull out. I think we are leaning towards the panhandle area Units 1-9 i believe that way i can spend most of this year scouting because its close to my house and everyone else still lives in California. All of us are avid outdoors-men and do a lot of hiking and mountain climbing so i believe we will be in shape for hiking 8-10 miles a day if need be. We plan on setting up a base camp and day hunting from there.

My questions are if you guys have any general locations i showed look into? just a general idea i can scout from there. What sort of gear should be on the must have list and the would prefer to have list? Also due to me being the only person with a bow we are thinking the B tag so we can rifle hunt. So from looking at IDFW website it looks like Oct 10-24th. We are thinking maybe the first week of that to try and use calls to locate the bulls still. It also looks like we can grab a deer tag if we would like as well? I plan on checking with Fish and Wildlife just havent made it into their shop yet.

IF you guys have any other tips or suggestions please throw them my way. I have been listening to every hunting podcast and watching every hunting video i can get my hands on for years now so im just trying to narrow down some of the specific details so i can let the party know.

Thanks for any and all the help gents.

Phill

 

[pabearhunter]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Idhikker]

Sounds like an awesome trip with some great guys. Northern Idaho can be tough because it's so thick with vegetation. There's the possibility you might get some late bugling in Mid October but no guarantees. I'd read up on the Fish and Game website to get a feel for populations in different Idaho units. Plan to avoid the designated wilderness areas because of low animal density and very rough terrain. Scouting could be a real benefit for you guys so Northern Idaho could be good for you but I'd look elsewhere as well while you're deciding.

 

[bowhunterjae]

Thank You for your Service!
Rifle or Archery?
Look at:
Idaho hunt Planer.
Google Earth.
ONX Map
Talk to Unit Biologist with a map in your hand.
Scout as much as possible.
Like Idhikker stated, thick vegetation.
if you find tracks, food and water you will be good.

 

[Cardwell]

pabearhunter, Thanks for the welcome!

idhikker, We are planning on looking at a couple other places. Just thought panhandles might be easiest that way i can scout.

bowhunterjae, It will probably end up a rifle hunt, I plan to get a Onx here in the next couple months to help with my scouting. i am very used to the thick vegetation from hunting so the coast range.

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[westbranch]

Welcome!

I live in Coeur d'Alene, moved here in July 2017. I also hunt the panhandle due to ease of access from my front door. I got lucky shooting a bull in Sept 2018 so I like to pretend I somewhat know what I am doing. The thick vegetation combined with the ruggedness of the mountains took some getting used to, but it sounds like you should have experience with that. Start looking at Onx/google earth or other maps sooner than later and pick some spots to check out in the early summer. I have found decent elk sign in most areas I have gone looking for it. Look for an area that as some brush fields/grassy openings, dark timber, and creeks with water. The problem is this describes a big portion of the panhandle, so you just have to get out and cover some ground.

 

[Roughwater]

Hey Gents, This may be a long post so I apologize.

To start out my hunting history is hunting Western Oregon (mostly the coast range) with my granddad when i was like 12 to 18. Due to some health issues my grandfather mostly did a lot of road hunting. Despite that i did harvest my first and only deer (blacktail) on Halloween when i was sixteen so 2010 or 2011. After graduating high school i left for the Marine Corps and didn't do any hunting for the 5 years i was in. I got out last April and moved up to the Spokane area.

Now myself and 2 other veterans want to do a big elk hunt in Idaho for the 2019 season. We are thinking Idaho because the Disabled Veteran tags are within our price range compared to other states. We will also have to vets with us who said that they wont have the money to hunt but they are planning on coming up to hike/call/hopefully pack our trophy bull out. I think we are leaning towards the panhandle area Units 1-9 i believe that way i can spend most of this year scouting because its close to my house and everyone else still lives in California. All of us are avid outdoors-men and do a lot of hiking and mountain climbing so i believe we will be in shape for hiking 8-10 miles a day if need be. We plan on setting up a base camp and day hunting from there.

My questions are if you guys have any general locations i showed look into? just a general idea i can scout from there. What sort of gear should be on the must have list and the would prefer to have list? Also due to me being the only person with a bow we are thinking the B tag so we can rifle hunt. So from looking at IDFW website it looks like Oct 10-24th. We are thinking maybe the first week of that to try and use calls to locate the bulls still. It also looks like we can grab a deer tag if we would like as well? I plan on checking with Fish and Wildlife just havent made it into their shop yet.

IF you guys have any other tips or suggestions please throw them my way. I have been listening to every hunting podcast and watching every hunting video i can get my hands on for years now so im just trying to narrow down some of the specific details so i can let the party know.

Thanks for any and all the help gents.

Phill

Phil,

I'm a Vet too, but an older one. I did a bow hunt in the Lolo (unit 10 and 12) in 2017. I would not recommend unit 10 for sure based on my expeirence as I never saw an Elk though I did hear one bugle a couple times toward the end of my hunt. There is a state wildlife area near the border of Unit 9 and 10 that looked interesting to me. I had originally drove into unit 9 and dropped down into unit 10 to hunt and saw some good sign there at the border of 9 and 10 but the forest service ran us all out of there suppoedly due to wild fire threat. I thought it really strange though as I was able to hunt farther south in the same unit 10) and was actually much closer to the wildfires where they allowed us to hunt than where they ran me out of.
So you might check that area out on a map. You may also be able to pick up a bear tag real cheap along with an Elk tag. I think it's really awesome what you all are doing and I'm impressed some vets would join you in the hunt just to help and be part of it all. It's all well and good that some give you advice but it's even better if you are able to find a local that will actually point out a spot in a unit where Elk are frequently found. My best advice short of someone local giving you first hand info on where to go is to scout the best you can on Xmaps and get there a couple days early and scout. If several of you are there go different directions and try not to push the Elk. Spot them and quietly move away till opening day. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[ntodwild]

My hunting partner and myself have been planning an Idaho hunt as well. We are also from Washington state. I have done "some" research and some scouting. I spent a 7 day period last summer in the St. Joe river valley and scouted South of St. Joe. The road FS road systems are extensive to say the least. In the past this area was painfully taken hold of by the wolf population but it is making a comeback with the elk population. I did see several herds of elk while running some of the dirt road system on ATVs. The area is a rifle hunters paradise with clearcuts in almost every bowl (I am primarily a bow hunter) but plan on hunting Washington for archery and jumping the boarder to Idaho for rifle non resident bull tag. I did speak with a couple of long time residents of St. Maries Idaho as well as the Dept of Fish and Wildlife and the elk population is making a comeback. Numbers have been better. It may be an area to check out if your looking at a rifle hunt. I believe it's panhandle area 6?? Don't hold me to that.

 

[ntodwild]

Here is a link to the 2017 Hunt numbers.
https://idfg.idaho.gov/ifwis/huntplanner/stats/?season=general&game=elk&yr=2017