Idaho Pioneer Zone Archery Elk

[mkelley12]

A buddy and I are looking to possible hunt the Pioneer Zone in Idaho for Archery Elk in 2019. We have Hunted Colorado wilderness a few times now and are looking for something different. Just seeing who else has hunted this area and what they thought. We are coming from Michigan so a scouting trip probably wont happen.

How is the terrain and is there decent elk herds in the 3 units that are part of Pioneer. Seems to be way ore open that the area we hunted in the past. Glassing has never been an option for our area.

Also i did some research and sound like there are no grizzly's, is that true? We like to backpack hunt and wold like to be prepared.
Thanks

 

[Chad.frank]

A buddy and I are looking to possible hunt the Pioneer Zone in Idaho for Archery Elk in 2019. We have Hunted Colorado wilderness a few times now and are looking for something different. Just seeing who else has hunted this area and what they thought. We are coming from Michigan so a scouting trip probably wont happen.

How is the terrain and is there decent elk herds in the 3 units that are part of Pioneer. Seems to be way ore open that the area we hunted in the past. Glassing has never been an option for our area.

Also i did some research and sound like there are no grizzly's, is that true? We like to backpack hunt and wold like to be prepared.
Thanks

Hey man I can tell you it’s steep and rugged. Hunted Idaho last year for two weeks and came back empty handed. Got a ton of cool photos though. I’ve spent tons of time in Colorado also.

Less people and less elk in Idaho.


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[Chad.frank]

A buddy and I are looking to possible hunt the Pioneer Zone in Idaho for Archery Elk in 2019. We have Hunted Colorado wilderness a few times now and are looking for something different. Just seeing who else has hunted this area and what they thought. We are coming from Michigan so a scouting trip probably wont happen.

How is the terrain and is there decent elk herds in the 3 units that are part of Pioneer. Seems to be way ore open that the area we hunted in the past. Glassing has never been an option for our area.

Also i did some research and sound like there are no grizzly's, is that true? We like to backpack hunt and wold like to be prepared.
Thanks

Saw five black bear. But no grizzly.


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[mkelley12]

I like the idea of less hunters, we don't mind working harder to find the elk.

 

[idahohikker]

Hunter density is pretty freakin high in that zone and the ones around it these days during archery. It's not like the Pioneer Zone has a ton of timber. Wonder where the elk hunters are going to be? Multiple outfitters running through each unit also. Good luck.

 

[westernarcher]

No Grizzlys that I know of. There are wolves.

 

[Justdecent]

Pioneer last season was a Zoo. I would never even consider hunting that zone again. We packed in on mules and still couldn’t get away from the other hunters.

 

[String&stick]

Multiple horse trailers and pickups at every trail head. If you found elk you found hunters as well.
It's steep and rugged and pretty busy

 

[HookUp]

This unit has gotten really popular, don't know more than that. A lot of pressure from the pan handle was shifted south when the northern populations collapsed.

 

[mathews8pt]

Ive hunted it the last 3 years. Middle of September has been busy the 2 years we went during that time. The year we went for opener i Killed a bull the 2nd day of season, and saw very few hunters compared to the other years. Last year was crazy busy in the area i hunt, possibly due to the fires. Trail heads we had planned to pack in from had multiple trucks and a couple horse trailers so we never bothered. Hunted within 2 miles of the car as the crow flies and saw elk everyday, but just never got a shot opportunity.

This is the only area ive ever hunted for elk, so i dont have much frame of reference but from some of the guys ive talked to this can be one of the steeper areas to hunt. I know we gain 1200-1500' of elevation every morning before we even get into good elk sign and it's normally a 4000' gain/loss day with 5-7 miles total hiked. There are not many big long ridges that you will find to run in the areas i hunt which means a lot of gain/loss to cover a lot of ground. 10 days of that will wear on a guy from Ohio. haha.

 

[IdahoHntr]

No grizzlies to deal with like has been mentioned. In my opinion the pioneer is pretty similar to most the other OTC archery hunts in the state. Everybody hunts with a bow these days, so just expect that you are going to have to figure out how to hunt an area with other people. I have been able to get away from a lot of traffic just by changing my approach a bit. Avoid trailheads and hunt the places most people drive by and you will see more elk than parking in the same parking lot 25 other people have circled on their map. If you hunt earlier in the month you might not have as much rut activity, but you will deal with less people.

 

[bivouaclarry]

Pioneer last season was a Zoo. I would never even consider hunting that zone again. We packed in on mules and still couldn’t get away from the other hunters.

I was going to say circus. I have been hunting various parts of the Pioneer zone for the last 9 - 10 years and have NEVER seen it busier. It honestly reminded me of general season rifle openers in 39!! One morning driving into an area I liked to hunt, I counted 6 horse trailer rigs at one trailhead. That didn't include the numerous rigs with ATV trailers or just trucks. I spoke with two different groups of hunters that had seen wolves and I personally cut tracks. I talked to two ranchers looking for access that had seen wolves as well. This season was my last in the Pioneer zone. Beautiful scenery but combat hunting and wolf predation.

 

[Mosby]

My nephew and I found elk but never could get away from other hunters. We moved three different times. Don't know that I will hunt that unit again but who knows. One guy I ran into talked about wolves and said he found a wolf kill. I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or it was bs. Popular trail heads aren't the answer there. Just too many guys, horses, mules and llamas. At least for me. The hunters I talked too were nice guys though. We enjoyed the hunt but I am already working on some ideas for next year.

 

[Justdecent]

We were packed in on horses, 6 miles in. From there I spiked out all the way to 10k and still had other hunters. The problem with that unit specifically is just it’s size. When an area is only so big, you start to hit the other access points on the other side so I was basically in the middle of the unit as high as I could get. Yet there were still hunters rippin on bugles and hoochie mamas ALL DAY LONG. Never again.

 

[Stilpr]

what time frame/weapon were you guys running into all that hunter traffic?

 

[Mosby]

I was there for the third week of archery. I was told the week before was just as crowded.

 

[String&stick]

Hunted the 14th-21st met guys leaving when we got there and guys coming when we left. Moved once to get away from pressure mid week and found the same thing. Talked to a guy that had been there from Sept 1 on scouting and hunting. He said the first week wasn't as bad but just got worse from there.

He has hunted the same area for 8 years. He said the last 2 years the unit has gotten progressively more crowded. Trail heads are the worst which is normal but even back in we ran into guys. Camped high on the Thursday before we pulled out. We were 4.5 miles in and counted 5 camps in our drainage. Didn't bother with how many you could count scanning farther out.

Can you find elk. . . Yes, but they are pressured and you may have to get to them before the competition. Success rates recently have pushed more hunters into the area. We will head to a different unit with lower success rates and find the elk in the future.

 

[theleo91386]

September OTC archery.

No grizz, quite a few black bears, and wolves are present. I go in fairly deep with mules and still bump hunters, so don't expect to get away from the masses.

 

[Idahohillboy]

I was going to say circus. I have been hunting various parts of the Pioneer zone for the last 9 - 10 years and have NEVER seen it busier. It honestly reminded me of general season rifle openers in 39!! One morning driving into an area I liked to hunt, I counted 6 horse trailer rigs at one trailhead. That didn't include the numerous rigs with ATV trailers or just trucks. I spoke with two different groups of hunters that had seen wolves and I personally cut tracks. I talked to two ranchers looking for access that had seen wolves as well. This season was my last in the Pioneer zone. Beautiful scenery but combat hunting and wolf predation.

This place has been ruined I grew up here. along with The Smokey zone. Thanks to social media, Eastmans, Hunting Fool, poor hunter management by IDF&G and TV episodes. It's like a zoo circus carnival shit show.. 5 years ago it was amazing last year it was hell along with the zone across highway 75 which used to be my favorite. Idaho needs to put tag caps on all the zones to spread the hunters out more evenly. This would preserve the overall experience for all the hunters non res and res. This would make it better not saying limit the amount of state tags just how many people can hammer a certain zone.

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[Arbutusbucks]

I hunted the unit in 2014, 2015 and again this past fall 2018. I will agree that it was a zoo in 2018 compared to 2014 and 2015. I am not sure the reason or what the answer is but I don't think Ill be back. It is one of the most gorgeous landscapes I have ever seen though, incredible.