Picking Brains on Selway Zone Early October Hunt 8-10 days!!

[Gaines033]

Hey everyone,

So myself, dad and uncle all decided to go in and purchase a few game tags for the Selway zone that include deer, bear, wolf and an elk tag.. Are main objective is Elk but aren't going to pass up on any of the above listed. This will be our first hunt in the area and you could say first real western big game hunt. We are coming from Georgia and plan to haul a trailer and a couple ATV's with a King Ranch. The hopes were to come in off Magruder Corridor from Darby and hunt a few different locations off of the road --hiking back, up to 7ish miles. I have yet to contact any biologists/wardens on areas but was hoping that I could find out some input on the tactics anyone may have used or heard of to tag out! There is so much information out there as regards to hunting elk such as some folks bugle at every drainage and mountain side and if they hear no response they continue to move on (I see how you could put many miles a day in doing this) but then I also see people that claim elk in this unit and other heavily pressured units, whether hunted by human or wolf, do not always bugle.. So would suggestions be to sit still, glass the area and hope to glimpse an elk or continue moving. I've narrowed down a lot of areas that I think would hold elk, glassing spots etc but all that is up for change based on any information that you all provide or biologists etc. I would love to hear anyone's suggestion that has hunted the area or know someone that has. Also any information as to the conditions of the road, weather and such in early October and what I could expect or be prepared for. I know this hunt I going to be pretty grueling but we are all in good physical condition and every day are preparing for this. The way we are looking at this is ultimate backcountry experience, with plans to backpack and camp off the trail, fish lakes and streams and just take in the beautiful country as we bust our ass trying to fill our tags on a couple animals.

Thanks again for any information given, we definitely could use it!

 

[jdmaxwell]

Welcome. Good luck.

 

[Rob5589]

Welcome! OnX, Google Earth, and the IDFG website are great starts. Most would recommend scouting as well prior to the hunt. Use the search above or Google something like "selway :rokslide:" and you are bound to find some information. Good luck!

 

[Gaines033]

Welcome! OnX, Google Earth, and the IDFG website are great starts. Most would recommend scouting as well prior to the hunt. Use the search above or Google something like "selway :rokslide:" and you are bound to find some information. Good luck!

Thank you, I should say that I have been on OnX, google earth and IDFG website quite a bit. Probably collectively over 15 hours worth. I've also looked at food source and migration corridor maps from IDFG. I've picked out spots based on food sources (which Randy Newberg says during this time if you can locate good feeding areas you'll locate cows, then bulls shouldn't be too far behind), close water (which seems to be everywhere in this unit and also cover (more so on north facing slopes). Most of my spots are at least a mile away from trails! Oh, and unfortunately we will be unable to scout preseason due to distance and time.

 

[Dvidos]

Welcome

 

[Indian Summer]

You’re in for a tough hunt. The road back is fine. Elk numbers are low. I’d recommend hiking until you find fresh sign in a feeding area. Once you do treat those elk like gold. Lay low and set up where you can glass. Wait it out for days if you have to and be ready to shoot. You could hunt as soon as you hit the Idaho border. Or you could drive all the way to Paradise and hunt up White Cap Creek. But either way you’ll need to get way up high to see and find elk. Good luck.

 

[Gaines033]

You’re in for a tough hunt. The road back is fine. Elk numbers are low. I’d recommend hiking until you find fresh sign in a feeding area. Once you do treat those elk like gold. Lay low and set up where you can glass. Wait it out for days if you have to and be ready to shoot. You could hunt as soon as you hit the Idaho border. Or you could drive all the way to Paradise and hunt up White Cap Creek. But either way you’ll need to get way up high to see and find elk. Good luck.

So potentially hiking in a feeding area, look and hopefully find fresh sign then falling back to a vantage point to glass and watch them come back in to feed? The areas I've narrowed down are actually on the south side of the road past Paradise some ways but if you suggest any areas up that way I'd be willing to spend a couple days in the area.

 

[Elktaco]

If this is your first trip to the mountains I would cross hiking in 7 miles off your list right now.

 

[Gaines033]

If this is your first trip to the mountains I would cross hiking in 7 miles off your list right now.

thanks for the reply. We all have backpacked and hiked the Appalachian mountains many times before and are in good physical condition. My most recent outing was a little over 8.5 miles in 3.5 hours with over 3k elevation gain and a 40lb pack. Albeit over here on the east coast we don't have the altitude just heat and humidity. Oh and I should say 7 miles back isn't fully loaded --we'd drop camp in a central location to our hunting areas and hike the rest with daypacks and such.

 

[Salmon River Solutions]

Its steeper than you think. That's my best advice.

 

[Indian Summer]

Elk make their loops. If you see sign you might never see the same elk that made it. You might see different ones that make their way through the same area. It could take many days for that to happen. But it’s better than bumping them. In the Selway the canyon walls are steeeep! You don’t just hop the top from one drainage to the next. If you push elk out of the one you’re in it’s all over there for awhile. You need to think like a sniper. Keep in mind that the B tag hunters have already been there in September so be sneaky. If you see elk do whatever you can to kill them but if the situation isn’t right hold off and come up with a plan for later that day or the next morning.

 

[WeiserBucks]

If this is your first trip to the mountains I would cross hiking in 7 miles off your list right now.

This is the best advice you'll get ^^^^^^^^^^^^^


The last bull elk kill I participated in was down in Hells Canyon, similar to the Selway in many ways. The bull was killed 3 miles from an ATV trail and it took 4 of us 18 hours to pack it out. The terrain is steep, deep and nasty. Take it seriously when you're planning on packing out hundreds of pounds of meat and horns. A 40 lb pack is child's play compared to packing out a bull, and the Appalachian mountains aren't going to prepare you for what you'll be up against. Good luck and enjoy the time in the mountains.

 

[bobr1]

classic post.....

 

[Indian Summer]

Just out of curiosity why did you pick the Selway to hunt and why didn’t you get the tag to hunt during September?

 

[GregB]

thanks for the reply. We all have backpacked and hiked the Appalachian mountains many times before and are in good physical condition. My most recent outing was a little over 8.5 miles in 3.5 hours with over 3k elevation gain and a 40lb pack. Albeit over here on the east coast we don't have the altitude just heat and humidity. Oh and I should say 7 miles back isn't fully loaded --we'd drop camp in a central location to our hunting areas and hike the rest with daypacks and such.

You can pick up that 2-3k in elevation over the first couple of mile up there. And then there is all the dead fall to get around and over.

 

[Wrench]

7 miles, if you woke up, shot it on the spot and it died where you stand is still a minimum of 56 miles, half of them pushing 90 pound loads.

Ever done that?

 

[KHNC]

Please come back on here after your trip and update everyone on the results! We will need some good reading at the end of October. Especially the part about the 7 miles in. Idaho has some of the nastiest terrain out there. And you should expect plenty of snow in October on top of that. That state gets deep snow starting in mid september usually. makes it all but impossible to cover any distance in the mountains.

 

[P Carter]

You will have company...good-looking areas within hiking distance from the Magruder will be full of folks doing just as you are. (And even more if posted on the internet.) This does sound like a way for you and your dad to get started though; it's really the only way to figure out what's going on. You are certain to have a backcountry experience and see some cool country so long as you check the weather and drive carefully.

 

[sneaky]

thanks for the reply. We all have backpacked and hiked the Appalachian mountains many times before and are in good physical condition. My most recent outing was a little over 8.5 miles in 3.5 hours with over 3k elevation gain and a 40lb pack. Albeit over here on the east coast we don't have the altitude just heat and humidity. Oh and I should say 7 miles back isn't fully loaded --we'd drop camp in a central location to our hunting areas and hike the rest with daypacks and such.

I grew up in the Appalachian mountains. They aren't even comparable to Idaho mountains and you are in for a rude awakening. There's not a mountain in the entire Appalachian chain that is as steep as the foothills are here, and the Selway is way above that level. If you kill an elk 7 miles from the truck you'll absolutely regret it in that country.

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[sneaky]

My best advice if you guys want to enjoy a good hunt... exchange those elk tags for a different zone and don't run yourselves in to the ground. I know the bear tag was a reduced price tag, but the deer tag is good statewide and so are the wolf tags. The Selway is graduate level country.

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