Idaho Deer Unit

Catahoula....it is on 30° here Pocatello area,last,couple of,days....betcha its kind of cold up there in the flats....
 
It was 12 years ago when some dude from DC asked if there were any decent deer/elk spots in Idaho.

I responded and started a conversation. Ended up directing him to a couple of decent areas. Yellow Jack/Shovel Creek/Middle/Panther Creek and North Fork.

The dude headed out for a Long Range hunt. Spent time in WY filling coolers with speed goat and stumbled on a spot on Colson Creek off of the North Fork of the Salmon.

It was spud harvest and I couldn't get away to spot for him. Darn good hard work and patience plus being a darned good shot he down'd a nice bull elk with two shots within about 0.6 MOA at 996 yards with his 7mm Allen.

I was out in a field and I saw his Tacoma coming down I-15 by Shelley. Met him in Blackfoot. Had a nice chat and made plans for next year.

Next year found both of us back at Colson Creek. Spent 31 days glassing and traipsing. I wasn't much good. Was sicker than I've ever been. Something about a spleen going bad. Still logged 26 miles by the GPS tracker.

Saw lots of cows and zero bulls except for one about 1400 yards away that wasn't retrievable by us. We being old.

Finally on day 30 a herd appears in a choice spot we had scouted and ranged the day before.

Finally a bull steps out. Due to an excessive LRF beam size the dope was 1 MOA too short. My Leica 1200 would reach and the one miler he had painted the whole hill. Well at least the lone lodge pole about 40 some yards short.

At the shot absolutely nothing happened except the lead cow ushered the herd to another draining.

After some head scratching and scientific calculation plus reference to my range chart showed error in range. The bullet may have touched hair under the chest if it did anything. Can't recall the exact distance but the 40 yard difference was good for the 14 inch error.

Next day he put 3 shots on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper at 1500 yards across the same canyon.

I can say that after spending 31 days with Jim Collier (Buffalo Bob). He being a special forces Viet Vet I can say I spent time with one of our nations silent heroes.

Good men are welcome anywhere.
 
Holy cow, I can't believe this debate is still going on! I have been rebuilding some fence on my property & don't have time to sit in front of my laptop all day. Hope to get time to mount a scope on a 243 I just bought!!!
Anyway Mr. broomd, you go right on hating people & I will keep helping other hunters that are respectful. Maybe you need to go build some fence. Hee, hee.
I keep thinking back on a govt hunter who taught me how to shoot & trap squirrels when I was a kid. My dad was a cowboy/range rider & despised hunting. Then later in life 2 other govt hunters taught me trapping, snaring & calling. A friend that taught the police snipers where I used to live in Utah helped me a lot with my shooting. All this has turned me into a pretty good hunter. I am very thankful for the time other hunters have spent to make me better at something I absolutely live for.
Well, daylight is breaking so I better get back on my fence project.
Thanks, Kirk
Just posted our acreage and all of the local neighbors have given the okay to do several hundred of theirs. .......Carry on..
 
Just posted our acreage and all of the local neighbors have given the okay to do several hundred of theirs. .......Carry on..

The OP came to this website asking about information for public land hunting in Idaho. It's his right to do so and it's everyone's right to agree or disagree with it. But man, stay on track and respect his thread.

No one gives a **** about you posting your private property and several hundred acres of your friends property.

You stated your dislike of it which wasn't even relevant to the thread now go post the rest of the private property that he wasn't asking about.

Now to get it back on track, prepare yourself for a rough, elevated hunt. Put in your time on google earth, maps and learn the area before you even get there. Gona few days early and put reality to your maps and google earth. Plan on a lot of hiking to get it done. What I can't stress more is, take someone with you.
 
I agree with Korhil78. Bring someone with you, even in southeast Idaho where I am from, there are/has been a great deal of predators come about. Wolves for sure, and lions. We had a lion stalk us last year on our hunting trip. I can deal with wolves, but lions are too quiet for me to take a chance.

Like he said above, get ready to hike. Last season we parked our truck across a field from the mountain we were going to get up in. We went from 5200ft in elevation to 8000 ft in 2 hours with 60+ lbs in our packs. We ended up hunting right around the 8500 mark. Beautiful area but rough country.

I hear a ton of people saying the mulies took a beating in the winter of last year and to be honest I don't know what they mean. In the area we were hunting we seen 10 different bucks and countless does/fawns throughout the season. One monster we could not get to that was definitely pushing 200. I have a blurry pic of him.

You'll have to get high if you are to get into decent size deer I will say. There are a HUGE amount of road hunters where I'm at. I would say, if you can go into central Idaho or apply for a draw unit for your best chance and a good Muley. And definitely bring someone.
 
Definitely saw less NR presence around here this past year; less out-of-state road hunters endlessly driving back and forth, less shooting onto others property, less shooting overall. The people that actually live here are filling their tags--welcome sight.

Suspect that the new trespass regs and local property postings are doing the trick.
 
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