Idaho Elk 2021 Season

[fireman9500]

If your on the fence about an ATV I would not get one. Just find a road that has serious elevation right off of it. That keeps almost everyone out of there. Your gonna find tons more people at the end of an ATV trail. It concentrates hunters.

 

[Mike Hunt]

Hi. Going to hunt Beaverhead 2022 for multi species and will take any info u r willing to share. Going solo, due to my best friend deciding to die on me the day after getting tags. It was a huge shock as he was active and only 49. He had planned on hunting it for his 8th year in a row. Being a Disabled Veteran USMC, I was unsure about going alone, but I can still hold my own, well kinda lol. So I’m going in his honor, unfortunately without him or his knowledge of those units. Beaverhead newbie!!! Planning on 4 scouting trips prior to elk season. Pretty knowledgeable Outdoorsman, whitetail/turkey guide in IL and MO from 1996-2014. Bow, muzzle, rifle and shotgun hunter and love to fish. Lucky to have Hunting property in IL and MO, willing to trade hunts etc. Again any knowledge about hunting the Beaverhead would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Mike
[email protected]
6188300498

 

[Mike Hunt]

Thank you for the welcome and response.

Yes, that thought has crossed my mind to just head up there sans bow or gun, and just make it a camping/scouting trip. Like you said, it'd be a lot more fun than sitting at home!

I'm still studying the maps and imagery to pick out 5 -6 spots (or more) as if I were hunting, but would still appreciate any recommnedations anyone has, whether it's the Beaverhead Zone or elsewhere.

Best of luck on your hunt!

Semper Fi!!!

 

[swiftni]

Hi. Going to hunt Beaverhead 2022 for multi species and will take any info u r willing to share. Going solo, due to my best friend deciding to die on me the day after getting tags. It was a huge shock as he was active and only 49. He had planned on hunting it for his 8th year in a row. Being a Disabled Veteran USMC, I was unsure about going alone, but I can still hold my own, well kinda lol. So I’m going in his honor, unfortunately without him or his knowledge of those units. Beaverhead newbie!!! Planning on 4 scouting trips prior to elk season. Pretty knowledgeable Outdoorsman, whitetail/turkey guide in IL and MO from 1996-2014. Bow, muzzle, rifle and shotgun hunter and love to fish. Lucky to have Hunting property in IL and MO, willing to trade hunts etc. Again any knowledge about hunting the Beaverhead would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Mike
[email protected]
6188300498

Email sent

 

[Mike Hunt]

Semper Fi!!!

Let’s keep in touch. Mike

Hey guys -

I'm a FNG to RokSlide and this is my first post, but I'm not new to elk hunting. I screwed up this 2020 Idaho (non-resident) elk season first by missing the window to put in for the draws, then waiting too late for a OTC General tag while I tried to determine what zone to hunt (had heard the quota for General tags oftentimes sell out early but I never dreamed it would have been last week (June 17) and evidently the same evening I went online to buy my tag). Lesson learned, I'm DEFINITELY starting the tag process for the 2021 season when it opens up to non-residents this December...

Anyhow, after nearly 20 years of hunting Colorado elk and having grown tired of the politics, increasing tag prices, increasing hunter pressure and decreasing elk encounters (where we hunt, at least), I decided to look into Idaho. Not only do the stats look pretty good (I know, CO has the largest elk herd), but I nearly fell over when I found out about the great deal Idaho offers disabled veterans on their hunting licenses (check it out if you fall into this category).

Long story short, when looking at the available uncapped General Elk Zones, I eventually was led to choose the Beaverhead Zone for a solo archery hunt with the intent of focusing on Units 30A and 58. This conclusion was reached after much study of harvest data, herd stats, map study (GoogleEarth, HuntStand, onX), talking with the IDFG, the logistics involved, etc.

My main problem is, I haven't yet set foot on Idaho ground and, for me, that's the real truth-teller even with a butt-load of data/map study in my back pocket. My second concern is, this will be my first solo endeaver (I normally hunt with 2 - 3 other guys), though from what I can see at this point, the Beaverhead Zone would be relatively "tame" terrain-wise compared to my Colorado experiences (am I wrong?).

I've read several other threads on the Beaverhead Zone as well as Units 30A and 58, but they're several years old at this point and I'm hoping to find some fresher info.

I'd be greatly appreciative if someone would be willing to give me their recent experience in Beaverhead Zone and if it's as specific as Units 30A and 58, all the better. I'm not looking to horn in on anyone's honey hole, just hoping to hear whether a first-time solo archery trip to that area would be worth my while or whether another Zone/Unit would be recommended moreso.

Many thanks in advance to any responders. I look forward to hearing from you!

 

[RetiredMarine]

Hey Mike,

Congrats on getting a tag! I struck out this year with the DAV cap and "virtual waiting room" and its randomly assigned queue number system in place, so it looks like I'll be sitting it out this year, for Idaho, at least.

I've only hunted Idaho the past 2 seasons, there in the Beaverhead Zone, and only during archery elk. All my previous years were spent hunting in Colorado. The first year in Beaverhead, as with you, was my first ever solo backcountry hunt, and I missed one during the mid-September rut period. And last year I FINALLY got my first archery bull during the opening week. You say you'll be hunting multiple species, so I'll assume elk is among them.

My first season in the Beaverhead was largely a scouting/hunting trip, with heavy emphasis on the scouting aspect, as I'd never set foot in Idaho. Leading into the hunt, I spent MANY, MANY hours on Google Earth and onX identifying potential areas I thought might be worthwhile checking out. With that information, I then put together 2 dozen "areas of interest" (many more than I could ever see in the amount of time I had to hunt) and spent 2 weeks exploring and hunting each of the 5 units.

What I found, with boots on the ground, is the terrain and cover within Beaverhead can vary dramatically. The southern portions of units 58 and 59A are what I'd call high desert with a lot of open sage flats and fairly arid with VERY LIMITED water resources. In fact, procuring water was one of my biggest concerns and issues due to the lack of running streams where I was, at least. The openness of the terrain was also a huge change from what I was used to with Colorado's dark timber but it was really nice to be able to glass for animals. On the other hand, most the areas I hunted in units 30, 30A and 59 were more likened to what I hunted in Colorado (more forested and riparian). And for all the units, in my opinion, I found the terrain to be a bit steeper compared to where I hunted in Colorado but the elevations weren't as high (though you can certainly get to higher elevations, if you want to).

All said, with only 2 Idaho Beaverhead seasons under my belt, I ended up gravitating to unit 58. Where I hunted, I won't say the elk density is all that great, but I was easily able to pattern the elk I ran into and it paid off for me last season.

You say you'll be going solo on this hunt. Not sure if this will be your first time doing so, but I'd advise you to put in as much time or more to that aspect of your hunt over the hunt itself. For me, cell coverage (T-Mobile) was non-existent except for when I came out of the mountains and got close to a hard-top highway. For my second hunt, I bought and used a Garmin In-Reach mini to check in with family and friends. Having it put my family (and me, I admit) at ease.

I've already mentioned the water issue. You don't mention whether you're backpacking in, as I did, or truck/trailhead camping. If the latter, obviously you can just use water you've brought and leave it at camp. If backpacking in, you'll have to keep your fingers crossed that the water sources depicted on the maps are actually producing (I found most to be dry, where I was) and have a filtration kit or purification pills. In my case in the area of unit 58 I hunted, I only found one VERY small spring coming out of a hillside that I was able to use (trickle was about the size of a pencil after digging into the hillside). All the rest were ground seeps that were pretty meager and that cattle/animals had thoroughly trashed by crapping and pissing in them (did find some decent wallows, though).

Bears are another consideration and potentially grizzlies, depending on where you are. So I kept bear spray on my side, something I never did in Colorado. Only have seen one black bear and one mountain lion over my last two hunts, but you never know.

I'm throwing all this out on the forum just as general info for anyone who might have an interest, without getting into any details of exactly where I've been hunting. I'll give you a call (I assume "6188300498" is your phone number) and get into more details, if you'd like.

Semper Fi,
Brad