Idaho unit 45 help

[Bjon8912]

I'm having a hell of a time finding elk in unit 45. I've scouting the unit since September and as soon as the late elk season opened up dec 1st every Group of elk I had been watching dissappeared. I've only spotted one group of bulls and messed up when I had the chance. Does anyone have any tips and tricks for this unit?

 

[JREG19]

I've never hunted elk in 45 but have been in it a little bit. Last weekend I was in 14 and most of the elk I saw were <4000' (below snow line). I'm not sure what the snow looks like where you're at in 45 but at Bogus the base is 5790' with 38" of snow. If it's even close to that where you're hunting I would guess the elk moved down in elevation closer to Mt. Home, Glens Ferry, and Gooding areas. There is a lot of good winter range in 45, I imagine a good snow would move them farther south. Just my 2 cents

 

[Trap]

Good luck on getting information on 45 people are secretive in a weird way on that unit. I had the august tag a few years ago and the elk were all concentrated on private at that time in higher elevations mostly but concentrated on private throughout the unit. I had zero success getting access to any private but if you can I would go there first. I always thought December would be the best time to have that tag as there’s lots of BLM that’s prime winter habitat. Should be elk migrating into the unit right now.

 

[HuntInWild88]

Find the fields and watch them. Either look south of Bennet or north of bennet

 

[Bjon8912]

I've never hunted elk in 45 but have been in it a little bit. Last weekend I was in 14 and most of the elk I saw were <4000' (below snow line). I'm not sure what the snow looks like where you're at in 45 but at Bogus the base is 5790' with 38" of snow. If it's even close to that where you're hunting I would guess the elk moved down in elevation closer to Mt. Home, Glens Ferry, and Gooding areas. There is a lot of good winter range in 45, I imagine a good snow would move them farther south. Just my 2 cents

I'm from Mt. Home and hunt a lot of this side of bennett. Last year this time there were tons of good size bulls down here at 3500ft on blm land. That's what is making me think they got pushed onto private.

Good luck on getting information on 45 people are secretive in a weird way on that unit. I had the august tag a few years ago and the elk were all concentrated on private at that time in higher elevations mostly but concentrated on private throughout the unit. I had zero success getting access to any private but if you can I would go there first. I always thought December would be the best time to have that tag as there’s lots of BLM that’s prime winter habitat. Should be elk migrating into the unit right now.

I know, I know a ton of locals that are extremely tight lipped over this unit. Private is pretty much a no go down here. Story around this area is that the bigger farmers like to let the elk in their fields to get depredation hunting permits and crop loss money. They then sell the depredation tags after they take the bigger bulls. Who knows how true it is though. Yea, I specifically put in for this tag because of the amount of elk I saw here last year during and after the November cow hunt.

Find the fields and watch them. Either look south of Bennet or north of bennet

Hunting south of Bennett watching just about every field I can, evenings and nights. I'd assume their hast been enough snow for long enough to get them down this low yet.

 

[Trap]

How did your hunt end up?

 

[Bjon8912]

Got lots of good info from hunters I met and had a few offers on here from people with private land that I do appreciate but didn't feel right asking for so much around the holidays. Found out my backup area had a 375" bull killed the first day of the late season and was pressured enough to keep the bulls away. Most of the roads to hunting grounds I've been scouting got snowed out with 3ft of snow on the roads and more in the trails so I was effectively grounded to below 4,000 ft. Got onto a group at the base of Bennett that was being pushed around by 2 other hunters that had multiple people out scouting for them. Not saying its a bad thing but was kind of disgusting to watch 10 trucks and multiple 4 wheelers chasing elk all over. I got into a group of bulls 3 times and got a shot off at 250 yards and missed 2 shots the last day of the season. Not sure if it was my rifle or my nerves lol. All in all it was a great hunt and I've learned so much about this unit. I look forward to hunting it in the future.

 

[Trap]

Got lots of good info from hunters I met and had a few offers on here from people with private land that I do appreciate but didn't feel right asking for so much around the holidays. Found out my backup area had a 375" bull killed the first day of the late season and was pressured enough to keep the bulls away. Most of the roads to hunting grounds I've been scouting got snowed out with 3ft of snow on the roads and more in the trails so I was effectively grounded to below 4,000 ft. Got onto a group at the base of Bennett that was being pushed around by 2 other hunters that had multiple people out scouting for them. Not saying its a bad thing but was kind of disgusting to watch 10 trucks and multiple 4 wheelers chasing elk all over. I got into a group of bulls 3 times and got a shot off at 250 yards and missed 2 shots the last day of the season. Not sure if it was my rifle or my nerves lol. All in all it was a great hunt and I've learned so much about this unit. I look forward to hunting it in the future.

thanks for the update sounds like you had a good time

 

[sneaky]

JLHois has been all over unit 45, maybe you should ask him

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Ffblee]

Good to at least get on some

 

[Idaboy]

375 bull?....not many of those in Idaho

 

[Bjon8912]

375 bull?....not many of those in Idaho

Yup, don't know if its true but I have heard it from multiple sources.

 

[Idaboy]

That’s a giant

 

[WeiserBucks]

There's a few big ones in Idaho on any given year. I know a farmer who killed a 390 bull in his field a few years ago, OTC unit.

 

[mossyoak52]

idaho holds some big elk and deer

 

[Nick Muche]

We saw 84 bulls in two days on the December hunt this past year. Biggest was around 280-290”.