Idaho Whitetail Hunt 2017

FreeRange

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Aug 11, 2014
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N. ID
Just got back from an amazing 7 days in Idaho. This hunt had it all, easy success, hard success and an amazing time in the mountains. I'd done this hunt 2 years ago and had been hoping to go back. After some fun mule deer and elk hunting last year and a lot of success this winter convinced me this would be a good year to shift my focus back to whitetail as the areas I hunted last year got hit pretty hard by the winter.

My dad and brother in law and I hit the road at 10PM from Southern California and drove all night, picked up a rental car for my dad in Boise and with fading light worked out a spot well south of our intended area to get in a quick evening hunt the first night. Without high hopes and in an area I was sure got a lot of pressure we found the least roaded chunk of public land we could, a few hours from Boise and hit the trail 15 minutes before sunset. We made one quick stand along the edge of a 5 year old clearcut, seeing lots of sign but nothing came in. With fading light we worked up a ridge another 1/4 mile, got set up in some thick timber and I did a quick rattle for a minute. A few minutes later I see my dad perk up and bring his gun up to his shoulder. Minutes pass, I can tell he see's something something but he's not shooting. A few minutes later I hear the safety click off and boom! I was in disbelief, having never successfully rattled in a buck here we are 30 minutes into the hunt and the deer is definitely down. It was a 2.5 year old 8 point, nothing big but his first deer ever after many unsuccessful trips covering many miles in CA I was esctatic to get him his first deer and on my birthday! To have called it in for him was icing on the cake.

IMG_2559 by stephen miller, on Flickr


An easy 1/2 mile downhill hike and we already had meat in the freezer. It stormed hard that night and we woke up early to be 2 hours north in our old haunts the next morning. We'd seen over 100 deer and took 3 bucks in three days on our previous trip but this year we were just not seeing the same activity, despite this hunt being a few days later in November than the previous trip. We saw and heard a lot of wolf sign though I really doubt that was the issue. We hunted from 4000' to 5800' and saw a handful of deer and one buck about like the one already killed but that was it. We also saw a few bull elk and 6 mule deer down lower who had obviously migrated a long ways from where I expect mule deer could be found in this unit on summer range.

IMG_2565 by stephen miller, on Flickr

IMG_2607 by stephen miller, on Flickr
 
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FreeRange

FreeRange

WKR
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Aug 11, 2014
Messages
433
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N. ID
After a few days of hunting the area and covering lots of ground we decided to move further north. My dad had a flight to catch so we got him back to the rental car and the next morning headed to logging country. Early on we could tell it was the right move. Mid morning that first day in the new unit while slowly moving through a recent clearcut and glassing I spotted a nice buck chasing does at 420 yards. Comfortable at that range but knowing I could close the distance, I dropped into a small canyon and got up to the other side as the deer started out the back of the draw I'd seen them in. At 220 yards I got the buck in my scope and shot him, a little far back but I knew he was going down. He disappeared in a brush patch with a doe and a few minutes later she ran out and he came out walking slow and hurt. I put another one in him and he dropped instantly. Walking up on him I was overjoyed, this was the buck I'd wanted to take on this trip. He was old and big bodied, not a great scoring buck probably but he showed his age and had lived a long life in a beautiful place.

IMG_2617 by stephen miller, on Flickr

IMG_2657 by stephen miller, on Flickr
 
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FreeRange

FreeRange

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N. ID
The weather turned after that day and got pretty warm and really wet. It hampered the hunting it seemed, we were seeing a lot of sign but not many deer moving in the pouring rain. We tried to go higher where it was colder and snowing but stopped seeing much sign. We sat some heavily trafficked trails for naught and only saw a few does here and there. It was 33 degrees and miserable but still great to be out hunting.
IMG_2613 by stephen miller, on Flickr

The last day came and with it a break in the weather. I hiked in to a new area and with one tag still in my pocket was hoping for a doe to put some more meat in the freezer. As luck would have it a small buck showed himself half an hour into the sit and I closed the distance and killed him, packed him out a mile up out of the canyon in a building storm and went to pick up my brother in law.
IMG_2700 by stephen miller, on Flickr

He'd missed an opportunity on a nice buck and with the pouring rain was ready to kill a doe to avoid going home empty handed. He was pretty down on himself for the missed opportunity but knew it was time to fill that tag. We went back to where I'd killed my buck and with dwindling daylight killed a doe a mile from the truck. We broke her down in the rain and got out of there as the storm really started rolling in. For only having a couple of half days to hunt this new area with decent weather we felt pretty fortunate to have killed 3 deer so easily and to have plenty of meat to bring home.
IMG_2686 by stephen miller, on Flickr
 
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FreeRange

FreeRange

WKR
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N. ID
I was pleasantly surprised to see how much of the private logging company land was closed to ATV use, I'd not expected that and those areas were by far where we found the best hunting. I'm thankful they manage their land with a bit of opportunity for everyone. Super thankful to get to take a great buck with some of my favorite hunting partners and to get to spend a week in such beautiful country. I learned a lot more about hunting these mountain whitetail and despite our early success, never had another deer come in to the rattles though we definitely tried. I also learned I have little patience for sitting and waiting on deer trails in thick cover though from people we were talking to that's what worked for them. Doing it the way I like, spot and stalk, was a whole lot of fun and I'm already planning to be back next year. Thanks to all on here who provide such great feedback and info for those of us still trying to figure out the game. This is just my 4th year hunting big game and I'm constantly realizing how much more I have to learn.
 

realunlucky

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Love how the antlers blade out on your buck. Nothing better than hunting with family

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TheTone

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Mar 4, 2012
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I was pleasantly surprised to see how much of the private logging company land was closed to ATV use, I'd not expected that and those areas were by far where we found the best hunting. I'm thankful they manage their land with a bit of opportunity for everyone.

Definitely the exception and from my experience the locals usually do little to obey gates with ATV's. Glad you were able to have a good time
 
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FreeRange

FreeRange

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Joined
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N. ID
Definitely the exception and from my experience the locals usually do little to obey gates with ATV's. Glad you were able to have a good time

I should say percentage wise a whole lot was open to ATV use but there was a lot of land to hunt and we did a lot of driving around at night checking gates and marking on the GPS those that were not only not open to ATV use but situated such that no one was bypassing the gates. Probably half of the gates we saw that were designed to not allow ATV's by were still being bypassed, so yeah I know what you mean about people not obeying the rules. It was a lot better than I've seen on USFS land in other units where a lot of roads are "closed" and you'll get ticketed for being on them but there is no gate or anything to keep someone from being on the roads and a complete lack of enforcement.
 

dihardhunter

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Dec 5, 2012
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Awesome, awesome write up. That is a great buck you took and rattling in a buck for your dad will be a memory you both cherish for a loonnggg time.
 

TripleJ

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Apr 12, 2016
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Congrats on a great hunt with your dad! I did that hunt last year for the 1st time...I had a blast and I look forward to doing it again soon.
 
Joined
Apr 4, 2013
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Congrats and good post, Hope I get to hunt some whiteys this fall as mentioned above TASTY yummm!! Thanks again for the post to get me thinking of whiteys again!!
 

OXN939

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Jun 28, 2018
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VA
Thread necromancing a bit here, but that looks awesome! Currently planning out whitetail season here in VA, and it's pretty crazy to see the same species pursued in such a different environment. Congrats again!
 
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