Unit 27 Idaho

[kylemahon13]

Me and 3 friends have A tags for unit 27 planning on hiking in and camping out awhile 2 have deer tags while me and another have Elk how is this unit to hunt? i’ve never been
(we are all well prepared for the ruggedness of it)

 

[Mica Man]

One of the roughest units geographically speaking with pockets of elk separated by miles of rugged country in between. An awesome place that will test you to the core. Best of luck and relish your time in Church!

 

[kylemahon13]

first 10 days of october was the plan

 

[Nambaster]

There are a lot of expanses of what I call dead zones where you will only encounter very few tracks or sign. In the Frank the animals can wander wherever they want to go and the skill set to find them is identifying what specifically calls the animals to a specific location. If you have ever seen false horizons that you think touch the sky only to find that the hillside reaches back for miles and miles this is what you will encounter consistently. The Frank is land that is untamed by man, you will find ticks, rattlesnakes,mine shafts filled in by water and salamanders, and sights only absorbed by individuals from centuries ago. If you need rescue you will have to be patient and getting bailed out will be minimal based on the infrequent bush planes or horseback riders. Every time I go there, I wish I was back home lying in the comfort of my bed with my wife and within only a few days, I am planning my next trip back in. The deer there are like the pine trees. They grow slow. Genetically they are inferior to managed units, but they have a high probability of reaching full maturity and dying of old age. Their antler growth has real character. The elk there are very predator aware. Cows will always alarm bark if they detect your presence. A really really really good bull for up there is about 300” I have seen some 360” bulls but they are very rare.

The terrain is so steep that I strategically plan my shots in an effort to anchor the animals where they won’t roll down off a cliff where recovery will be dismal. Even with my invested efforts most of the deer and elk that I have harvested end up breaking their antlers from falling. One bull that I harvested was gritty due to earth smashing and penetrating the hide from drastic falls. This post is going really long but one last thing that I will add is every single buck deer and bull elk that I have harvested has both ear canals completely occupied and filled by ticks with soft flesh. One poke of a knife and black juice ooozes from them. They completely fill the ear canals.

 

[1_pointer]

Me and 3 friends have A tags for unit 27 planning on hiking in and camping out awhile 2 have deer tags while me and another have Elk how is this unit to hunt? i’ve never been
(we are all well prepared for the ruggedness of it)

You sure about that? . Big, mean, beautiful country

 

[BAKPAKR]

I hunted in unit 27 a couple of times. I saw more bighorn sheep and goats than deer and elk, and I didn’t see many sheep or goats. However, even if you don’t fill a lot of tags, it is beautiful, rugged country and it will be a memorable experience.

BTW - GoogleEarth does not do justice to the ruggedness or vastness of that area.

 

[JohnCushman]

Welcome to HT

 

[Hawk Tuah]

I would try something else unless you are prepared for a long, hard beautiful hike with little to no game seen. These posts appear every other week. Everyone underestimates these units. There are many places out west to hunt OTC and actually see elk.

Hunting the Frank is always a little funny to me in some respects: people all seem to either hike in from a limited amount access points, ending in the same spot or fly in to the same few airstrips and end up on top of each other....all in the name of hunting "untouched" wilderness.

 

[SummersOff]

How is this unit for mule deer?

 

[JLS]

How is this unit for mule deer?

Tough

 

[jdf]

Lol. Beautiful place.
Buy some wolf tags to have in your pocket.

 

[Elkmagnet]

@kylemahon13 how did the hunt go?

 

[MarvB]

@kylemahon13 how did the hunt go?

I think this probably answers that question…

 

[Elkmagnet]

Maybe he just needs a little poke in the email. Curious if I'm a wuss and he actually was prepared

 

[IEATELK]

Haha

 

[44hunter45]

Aww Come on. It's not that steep.

 

[TheTone]

Aww Come on. It's not that steep.


View attachment 205967

I’ve thought of hunting it multiple times. After rafting it I questioned that thought. It’s really easy to see why most hunters stick to the airstrips and maintained trails

 

[Elkmagnet]

Pretty cool little story.

www.deseret.com/platform/amp/2019/10/6/20899359/discovery-channel-river-of-no-return-alaska-the-last-frontier-utah-frank-church-wilderness-idaho

 

[SummersOff]

Lol. Beautiful place.
Buy some wolf tags to have in your pocket.

Yep. I’m a flat lander but I’ve hunted out west in past but never in Idaho. I’ll be out hiking camping and scouting for two weeks in August. Looking forward to hunting in Idaho. Wish wolf season was open then.

 

[Elkmagnet]

Yep. I’m a flat lander but I’ve hunted out west in past but never in Idaho. I’ll be out hiking camping and scouting for two weeks in August. Looking forward to hunting in Idaho. Wish wolf season was open then.

Just go enjoy it. It is wonderful country and you just might find a good deer.