Salmon, ID tips

[Country Bumpkin]

Camo colors will absolutely not affect the outcome of your hunt.

Get into the best shape possible. Do buy some quality clothing that will dry quickly and keep you warm and comfortable. Kuiu, Sitka, whatever floats your boat.

Don't pack too much stuff. Have an experienced buddy go through your pack and make sure you don't have too much packed.

Get a lightweight (but quality) pack, sleeping bag, a sleeping pad, tent. These items plus clothing will account for the most weight in your pack.

Shoot for total pack weight with food, water, gun, etc 50lbs or less. Otherwise you will be spent by the time you reach camp and have a tough time actually hunting from there.

What he said, this is the best advice I've seen in a long time. I've hunted around salmon, it's steep and you will be very acquainted with sore legs/feet… get in shape and look at performance clothing (look at some of the backpacking stuff too, some of that stuff either performs better or is of equal performance for less $$ than any of the hunting clothing options). Camo is unnecessary in my opinion, I stopped buying camo years ago for ID rifle hunting, focus your time and money on a relationship with a heavy pack and the steepest hill in your region.

 

[Will83]

Camo is for looking good to other PEOPLE. Unless you're turkey hunting or early season archery elk or is utterly meaningless. I typically hunt in a black Grundens jacket
I've had moose at 20 feet, deer stare at me coyotes come into the call... do not sweat the small stuff. I work for an air taxi in Alaska. I get to see hundreds of hunters a year. It's a Kuiu and Sitka fashion show. Camo is a huge money industry. All of my Kuiu, Sitka and First lite is solid colors. I hate walking into a restaurant wearing camo.

I see your point. I've killed my share of whitetails in just dark clothing. I've got to buy lighter gear anyways for the mountainous terrain, just figured it couldn't hurt to try and break up my outline and color shades since I was buying anyway.

 

[Will83]

All the above points are noted. It appears every single one of you have some great points. To @Country Bumpkin, do you mind sharing some of the lesser $$ brands that you refer to that also work well? Thank you all. It is much appreciated, and as always, keep it coming!

 

[Huntnful]

Like stated before, camo is the absolute least important thing you'll need on that hunt dude. Anything will work. But to actually answer your question, the kuiu valo is the best all around pattern I've found. But Kuiu has been having some crappy business practices lately, so I'll probably stop buying their stuff and slowly transition to something else. Plan on hiking 1000 verticle feet, per 1 mile in that country. Deer populations aren't anything special at all. My hunting partner and I would normally see 5 mature bucks during a 6 day backpack hunt. But stay persistent and you'll find them!

 

[30378wbymag]

What he said, this is the best advice I've seen in a long time. I've hunted around salmon, it's steep and you will be very acquainted with sore legs/feet… get in shape and look at performance clothing (look at some of the backpacking stuff too, some of that stuff either performs better or is of equal performance for less $$ than any of the hunting clothing options). Camo is unnecessary in my opinion, I stopped buying camo years ago for ID rifle hunting, focus your time and money on a relationship with a heavy pack and the steepest hill in your region.

Yup, if Idaho was flat it'd be as big as Texas!!!

 

[cohunt]

I don't know how these guys ever got any game wearing their wool red & black pendleton jackets ( I still have one)

Stay downwind, move slow and quiet -- and the game will never know. Heck I often times hunt in a tan or dark brown carhart's jackets and blue jeans.

I only wear camo for turkey or archery hunts now--- the thing to think of more would be the weather. If it's gonna rain-- make sure you have good rain gear-- if it's cold, get good insulated gear--- in early season, make sure you've got lightweight gear that wicks sweat.. buy the best fitting boots you can get- spare no expense on those!!! If you want cheap camo that will last for a few season try store brand stuff from places like cabelas- bass pro- sportsmans- scheels- even walmart -- but the camo patern pr brand isn't gonna get you an animal.

Take the $ you would spend on camo and take a few more days off work to scout the area before your hunt.

Good luck -- no need to buy "gucci-flage" (remember what movie that was from?)

 

[WeiserBucks]

Good luck -- no need to buy "gucci-flage" (remember what movie that was from?)

Sniper

 

[dennisinaz]

I bought some Kings snow camo recently for a lynx hunting trip since i needed warm stuff anyway. Very good value. Good stuff

 

[Wallrat]

Mule deer aren't very smart…but I'm pretty sure they've figured out that every guy wearing camouflage is there to kill them. Whereas that rancher over there in his Carhartts is not.

 

[BHP9]

Please enlighten me. I've also considered solid colors such as tan.

You don't want to wear the same, or similar colour, as your quarry.

Where I'm from there's an expression, " If it's brown, it's down."

There are hunters out there that only look at the colour and not the intended target. I wear a Hunter Orange coat, and depending on the temperature (colder) Hunter Orange pants.

 

[BrentM]

Open country and brown for the most part. Rugged terrain. Camo…..literally doesn't matter. I've switched to solids in earth tones, because I like it, and can wear it hiking etc and not look full redneck. Keep in mind, I'm mainly a bow hunter. If I want ultimate concealment I wear a ghillie

 

[quandary]

In CO we are in orange for rifle hunting. Camo? What camo? Mule deer are stupid. As an example this year we were out in 4th season so no Muleys. We had them in abundance. Feeding within 10 yrds. Video'd 2 bucks doing a little jousting. Walked up on them to within 30 yrds. They never ran off. This happens year after year. This buck was no more than 30 yrds.

 

[Sobewan]

I never understood the folks who need to wear camo covered in deer urine and hide in blind to ambush a deer over a pile of corn. I put on a pair of tan Carhartt bibs that I wear every day and a hunter's orange coat and go stand by a tree near a deer path. You all must be trying to hide from your wives or something. Seriously though, that camo looks pretty cool and wearing it into the store to pick up some snacks lets everyone know the mighty hunter has arrived. (All in jest folks - happy hunting and may you see them before they see you!)

 

[shooter7]

I live in Salmon Idaho. Here's my take. I shot my deer this year in open sage brush/pondo country at 65 yards. I was wearing tan pants and a olive/black plaid flannel. Camo doesn't matter much. What does matter in this area is your ability to hike and get away from people. I've hunted Colorado, far west Texas, Montana, Wyoming. There are very few places as rugged as the Salmon area. Access to public land isn't difficult but a lot of places it can mean hiking straight up a 70-80 percent slope. Definitely focus on keeping weight down to stay mobile. Spend plenty of time on the stair stepper or rucking up hills and spend a lot of quality range time. I saw lots of potential opportunities for 600 to 800 yard cross canyon shots.