Archery elk Smokey Bennett unit 43/48 Idaho

[ndbuck09]

Don't come to my unit when you leave this one lol
I remember looking at various units in Idaho in 2014 and called the biologists...they directed me to these units due to their population counts being good back then. Likely I wasn't the only one told that...

 

[Idahohillboy]

I will go to what ever unit in Idaho I choose being that I was born there n raised there in 79. Here is a current bull in 48 area posted today by a friend..

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[Idahohillboy]

Winter did them dirty along with idfag this elk unit is headed for bad times along with the deer heard.

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[3pointer]

Man o man , that doesn’t look good , last year was the toughest deer hunt I’ve had in This unit, idk if can get any worse! I hope not

 

[ndbuck09]

Hey Idahohillboy, I was saying don't come to my unit tongue in cheek because naturally, people will go where they want to go

 

[Idahohillboy]

3pointer to be real the area used to be great when they capped the tags. The removed the cap. Wolves and winter did the elk real bad. Here us the aftermath. Again this is 2018/2019 winter area got hit hard w a 50% winter kill ratio on the deer. According to my buddy who owns the archery shop in twin and is a volunter for the winter feeding program.

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[MikeG]

What a shame!

 

[sneaky]

3pointer to be real the area used to be great when they capped the tags. The removed the cap. Wolves and winter did the elk real bad. Here us the aftermath. Again this is 2018/2019 winter area got hit hard w a 50% winter kill ratio on the deer. According to my buddy who owns the archery shop in twin and is a volunter for the winter feeding program.

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Advantage Archery in Twin? I was in there just the other day.

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[3pointer]

Thanks to all who contributed some info on this unit , but you will have a couple less non residents in the elk woods this year , plan A came through , drew New Mexico elk , Might make it up there for last week of rifle deer . Best of luck to everyone this fall , shoot straight

 

[jmcd22]

Thanks to all who contributed some info on this unit , but you will have a couple less non residents in the elk woods this year , plan A came through , drew New Mexico elk , Might make it up there for last week of rifle deer . Best of luck to everyone this fall , shoot straight

You luck duck! All I saw this morning was a bunch of red haha! Good luck!

 

[nphunter]

Thanks to all who contributed some info on this unit , but you will have a couple less non residents in the elk woods this year , plan A came through , drew New Mexico elk , Might make it up there for last week of rifle deer . Best of luck to everyone this fall , shoot straight

Awesome good luck!

 

[Spencer Lillywhite]

I'm also a non-resident toying with hunting unit 48 this September. As far as winter kill, IDFAG makes it sound like the majority of the elk migrate out of the Sun Valley area. How much do you think that winter will really affect them?

 

[jmcd22]

I'm also a non-resident toying with hunting unit 48 this September. As far as winter kill, IDFAG makes it sound like the majority of the elk migrate out of the Sun Valley area. How much do you think that winter will really affect them?

According to others on this thread, saying anything useful is a no go so all I will say is that the F&G will say anything to sell tags. Animals in that area migrate down into the valleys...which also got hit hard. If it were me, I would either go with the expectation that there will be less animals due to winter kill, or find a new area.

 

[Spencer Lillywhite]

According to others on this thread, saying anything useful is a no go so all I will say is that the F&G will say anything to sell tags. Animals in that area migrate down into the valleys...which also got hit hard. If it were me, I would either go with the expectation that there will be less animals due to winter kill, or find a new area.

Hahaha, fair enough.

 

[idahohikker]

I'm also a non-resident toying with hunting unit 48 this September. As far as winter kill, IDFAG makes it sound like the majority of the elk migrate out of the Sun Valley area. How much do you think that winter will really affect them?

There's a good chunk of animals that stay around 48/49. Expect some significant winter kill in these units because the Wood River Valley got nailed this winter. Fish and Game and valley residents disagree on winter animal issues so there will be somewhat of a disconnect. Residents I've spoken with saw grim conditions for game that stick around the valley over the winter.

 

[sneaky]

I was in the valley multiple times these past few months. February set records for snowfall, and normally where I would see tons of elk and deer, I saw very few. It definitely has affected numbers in that area. Up until that point it wasn't a terribly bad winter, but February swung the pendulum hard the other way. You can make your own decision on where to hunt, animals will be in every unit, along with pressure from other hunters. Welcome to Idaho elk hunting.

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[FLAK]

I've hunted it and like others have said, it is ROUGH.
I cant imagine getting an elk out of that country.

 

[IdahoElk]

Are there Elk here? yes,without a doubt BUT get ready to play chess with the local hunters and expect a majority of bulls to be call shy because they were already gone through by others before you got here.
After 30yrs of hunting this zone I've picked up and moved to greener pastures with less pressure.
Oh,and I would take F&G statistics with a grain of salt,it has become obvious to the locals that F&G has made this a sacrificial zone due to the proximity to Sun Valley, airport, the need for tourist dollars and the ever increasing Elk/homeowner/car situation in the winter,they want Elk numbers knocked down and are managing for that,not quality.

 

[Idahohillboy]

Again it was a really bad winter and the numbers have been down since the last bad winter.

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[Usi05]

Again it was a really bad winter and the numbers have been down since the last bad winter.

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Thanks for sharing the pics! It’s a few weeks yet before I can get out to Idaho and this was helpful!


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