Elk hunt unit 45 and 52 idaho

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Cody96056

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So I just got off the phone with the Jerome office I told him I where I was going to plan on starting and he said the rancher below where were going to start will probably harass us. He said just use onx and maps and prepare for some nasty encounters which doesnt sound fun at all. But he really didn't give me much he basically said good luck thanks for the money lol.
Also the reason I didnt know they were giving out 2500 tags is cause when i purchased the tags their were only 14 non resident tags left. It wont show
Keep to basics. They need food, water, and cover. Just don't fix on trees being the only definition of cover. There's elk living out in the desert year round with very few trees around. They show up in weird places. Those weird places is where you'll find them more often when they're getting tons of pressure.
sounds good I really appreciate that. You guys have already been more help than anything or anyone so far.
 
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Some good info here...(not necessarily hunting-wise but access) :

 

87TT

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Never hunted that zone but have spent some time there. Mostly up in 48.. A few weeks ago during the last days of archery season, I watched a herd of maybe 20-30 half bedded and half feeding. This was no where near private and less than a mile from the highway. There are a lot of places to hunt. You have to be ready to move a lot. Where they are now or November 1st is not where they will be when the circus rolls into town.

Oh yeah;
B Tag
Any weapon — antlerless only Units 45 & 52 only Nov 1 – Nov 30
Note: 2,500 B Tag Quota Available First-Come, First-Served
 
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Cody96056

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Some good info here...(not necessarily hunting-wise but access) :

Thankyou I read that article a couple months back just read it again. It does have alot of good insight on access.
 
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Cody96056

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Never hunted that zone but have spent some time there. Mostly up in 48.. A few weeks ago during the last days of archery season, I watched a herd of maybe 20-30 half bedded and half feeding. This was no where near private and less than a mile from the highway. There are a lot of places to hunt. You have to be ready to move a lot. Where they are now or November 1st is not where they will be when the circus rolls into town.

Oh yeah;
B Tag
Any weapon — antlerless only Units 45 & 52 only Nov 1 – Nov 30
Note: 2,500 B Tag Quota Available First-Come, First-Served
Yea I'm starting to realize this so my strategy Is changing for sure. We were planning on hiking into an area and setting up a camp then hunting the surrounding 2 to 3 mile perimeter but it sounds like I'm better off hiking 2 to 3 miles in on different areas and staying more mobile.
 
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Yea I'm starting to realize this so my strategy Is changing for sure. We were planning on hiking into an area and setting up a camp then hunting the surrounding 2 to 3 mile perimeter but it sounds like I'm better off hiking 2 to 3 miles in on different areas and staying more mobile.

Yes. And learn the big picture of the units. You’ve been told good info. I don’t think your plan is too great right now, just IME and trying to help.

Don’t PM me because I don’t know a lot about the units but I know enough to say you’ve received good advice.
 

kiddogy

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Yes. And learn the big picture of the units. You’ve been told good info. I don’t think your plan is too great right now, just IME and trying to help.

Don’t PM me because I don’t know a lot about the units but I know enough to say you’ve received good advice.
I will only say , good luck trying to get away from roads on the public land in 45
 
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Cody96056

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Yes. And learn the big picture of the units. You’ve been told good info. I don’t think your plan is too great right now, just IME and trying to help.

Don’t PM me because I don’t know a lot about the units but I know enough to say you’ve received good advice.
Yea my plan sucks lol. I figure we will be doing alot of glassing. I wont pm anyone unless I'm asked to. I have stumbled across info on different places. But if you have any advice on how I can improve my plan or articles I can read on developing an elk hunting strategy I'd greatly appreciate it. But in reality I need to get boots on the ground. I have over 40 places between unit 45 and 52 that looked decent on onx and Google earth so I'm hoping eventually we stumble on some.
 
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Yea my plan sucks lol. I figure we will be doing alot of glassing. I wont pm anyone unless I'm asked to. I have stumbled across info on different places. But if you have any advice on how I can improve my plan or articles I can read on developing an elk hunting strategy I'd greatly appreciate it. But in reality I need to get boots on the ground. I have over 40 places between unit 45 and 52 that looked decent on onx and Google earth so I'm hoping eventually we stumble on some.

My last point to try to help: in units where they’re relatively evenly spread, then the approach you’re talking is good. If there’s some other factors affecting distribution, you should probably focus on those factors. I’d be calling the bios.
 

IdahoHntr

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Yea my plan sucks lol. I figure we will be doing alot of glassing. I wont pm anyone unless I'm asked to. I have stumbled across info on different places. But if you have any advice on how I can improve my plan or articles I can read on developing an elk hunting strategy I'd greatly appreciate it. But in reality I need to get boots on the ground. I have over 40 places between unit 45 and 52 that looked decent on onx and Google earth so I'm hoping eventually we stumble on some.

I've hunted it mostly for deer, but seem to always turn up some elk. Like has been said, they turn up in places you wouldn't expect. There are more trees and cover in that country in all the hidden ravines than it looks like at first glance and the elk will hole up in that stuff. Especially with the amount of tags, I think your better off thinking outside of the box and covering country than trying to find places that look like traditional elk country. There isn't a lot of that in those two units and you will definitely have a lot of company in those areas. I have ran into a lot of elk hunters in the earlier seasons when there a far less tags than there is now, so I can only imagine that the unit is going to be pretty packed with the 2500 tags all at once.

I would definitely stay more mobile. Their are A LOT of roads in that country and backpacking just doesn't make a ton of sense cause their isn't enough country to get away from the roads in. The select places that don't have as many roads tend to have a lot of horse hunters, so you won't be alone their either.

You can definitely kill an elk on public land out there, but those elk are being hunted like never before this year, so I would say you're definitely going to work for it. Good luck!
 

kiddogy

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but don't let this info get you down . there are an abundance of elk there to be killed . I might even consider telling you where but I also have a tag.😁
 
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Cody96056

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My last point to try to help: in units where they’re relatively evenly spread, then the approach you’re talking is good. If there’s some other factors affecting distribution, you should probably focus on those factors. I’d be calling the bios.
I really appreciate that. I've talked to 2 local biologists and they gave me info that will help the first 3 days but they also said because of the huge amount of hunting pressure they will get during this hunt that things are going to change. So be mobile that doesnt mean road hunt but be prepared to run bac
I've hunted it mostly for deer, but seem to always turn up some elk. Like has been said, they turn up in places you wouldn't expect. There are more trees and cover in that country in all the hidden ravines than it looks like at first glance and the elk will hole up in that stuff. Especially with the amount of tags, I think your better off thinking outside of the box and covering country than trying to find places that look like traditional elk country. There isn't a lot of that in those two units and you will definitely have a lot of company in those areas. I have ran into a lot of elk hunters in the earlier seasons when there a far less tags than there is now, so I can only imagine that the unit is going to be pretty packed with the 2500 tags all at once.

I would definitely stay more mobile. Their are A LOT of roads in that country and backpacking just doesn't make a ton of sense cause their isn't enough country to get away from the roads in. The select places that don't have as many roads tend to have a lot of horse hunters, so you won't be alone their either.

You can definitely kill an elk on public land out there, but those elk are being hunted like never before this year, so I would say you're definitely going to work for it. Good luck!
That's why they call it hunting not killing. But thankyou for the info. Were going to basically spend opening weekend getting to know the country. And do day trips. I'm hoping during the week things wont be as hectic. So are plan is to find places that are deep enough from roads that most road hunters wont hunt and not back country enough to were maybe horse hunters will stay away from. Besides that lots of glassing and hunting every canon we can.
 
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Cody96056

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but don't let this info get you down . there are an abundance of elk there to be killed . I might even consider telling you where but I also have a tag.😁
Lol it's all good when you get one post a pic. I like the hunting part I dont want it to be easy plus i have two weeks of complete freedom if i kill one to soon I'll have to go back to work early lol.
 
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