willfrye027
Active Member
- Messages
- 392
This year (2024) was going to be bleak in terms of draw tags, so I decided to join the Idaho otc madness. Initially we wanted to get a group of us into the same unit and have a deer camp bachelor party, but only some of the group was able to get a tag in the same area. With a baby, moving, and a new job I decided not to do any summer scouting and plan a longer trip and just be patient. My initial goal was 170”, which I was told is totally unrealistic for this unit which is one of the busiest and “worst” mule deer units, apparently. No matter, this was my one big hunt for the year and I felt determined to enjoy it big bucks or not.
The good luck started in the controlled hunt draw when one of the guys pulled an early rifle bull tag for the same unit with very low odds! He has never killed a bull and this seemed like a great opportunity for that.
We decided to arrive in the unit a few days after his hunt started, in order to overlap with the deer hunt for a total of about 12 days of hunting. This was about the maximum we could swing schedule wise and still make it a combo hunt.
Rob arrived a day before me and did not turn up any elk; but caught a glimpse of what looked like a nice buck at 3 miles away. I arrived around midnight and slept in the bed of my truck near that glassing point to get a better look, while Rob had moved to another location looking for elk.
I turned up lots of small bucks and does; nothing that interested me. We think the buck he saw was about a 20”, tall framed deer that I also had a glimpse of heading into timber before sunrise. Not what I was looking for. Rob had turned up quite a few elk including several bulls he would be happy with. I drove a few hours to meet up with him and figure out a plan of attack.
We hemmed and hawed for an hour or two in the shade looking over maps. The elk were living in a tough spot to access across a canyon and the daytime highs were in the low 80s. The last thing we wanted was any meat spoilage..and physically the pack out would be quite bad. Thankfully Gaia GPS showed an old logging road that was not on OnX maps which would cut the distance down and make it possible. We packed our gear for an ultralight spike camp and started the hike under a brutal afternoon sun..
The good luck started in the controlled hunt draw when one of the guys pulled an early rifle bull tag for the same unit with very low odds! He has never killed a bull and this seemed like a great opportunity for that.
We decided to arrive in the unit a few days after his hunt started, in order to overlap with the deer hunt for a total of about 12 days of hunting. This was about the maximum we could swing schedule wise and still make it a combo hunt.
Rob arrived a day before me and did not turn up any elk; but caught a glimpse of what looked like a nice buck at 3 miles away. I arrived around midnight and slept in the bed of my truck near that glassing point to get a better look, while Rob had moved to another location looking for elk.
I turned up lots of small bucks and does; nothing that interested me. We think the buck he saw was about a 20”, tall framed deer that I also had a glimpse of heading into timber before sunrise. Not what I was looking for. Rob had turned up quite a few elk including several bulls he would be happy with. I drove a few hours to meet up with him and figure out a plan of attack.
We hemmed and hawed for an hour or two in the shade looking over maps. The elk were living in a tough spot to access across a canyon and the daytime highs were in the low 80s. The last thing we wanted was any meat spoilage..and physically the pack out would be quite bad. Thankfully Gaia GPS showed an old logging road that was not on OnX maps which would cut the distance down and make it possible. We packed our gear for an ultralight spike camp and started the hike under a brutal afternoon sun..