Unit 18 deer Idaho

[oregonbighhorn]

Greetings it has been a while since I have posted but I drew my first rifle deer tag in 10 years in the area that the title states. I have a decent long range rifle and love shooting long range so I am looking forward to the hunt. I live close to the unit in NE Oregon so I am looking forward to learning and scouting the area out.

 

[kcebcj]

[FONT=&quot]I live and hunt in unit 13 right above unit 18. I used to hunt 18 a lot before it became a draw unit. If you have the time look around the top of Granite Creek on the 18 side and below the Devils on the Snake side.

The deer and elk will be where the water is. Pretty dry this year so may find them a bit lower....good luck.
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[oregonbighhorn]

[FONT=&quot]I live and hunt in unit 13 right above unit 18. I used to hunt 18 a lot before it became a draw unit. If you have the time look around the top of Granite Creek on the 18 side and below the Devils on the Snake side.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The deer and elk will be where the water is. Pretty dry this year so may find them a bit lower....good luck.[/FONT]

Thank you for the reply is there usually alot of snow in the area in November? We will have pack horses and just trying to figure out our options. THank you again.

 

[kcebcj]

The weather is the weather. You will be fine until the ground freezes even with snow. Once the ground gets cold the snow stays and can get quite difficult There is 4 different way's into the area I referenced above. When in there late I would use the trail up Deep Creek and the Oxbow Drainage from the Snake River. It's a lousy trail steep and hard on the stock but you could drop out of the high country fast if caught in a major storm. The two best routes are the Six Lake Basin and Rapid River trails. Six Lake Basin is in unit 22 but is a quick way into Granite Creek country.

 

[oregonbighhorn]

The weather is the weather. You will be fine until the ground freezes even with snow. Once the ground gets cold the snow stays and can get quite difficult There is 4 different way's into the area I referenced above. When in there late I would use the trail up Deep Creek and the Oxbow Drainage from the Snake River. It's a lousy trail steep and hard on the stock but you could drop out of the high country fast if caught in a major storm. The two best routes are the Six Lake Basin and Rapid River trails. Six Lake Basin is in unit 22 but is a quick way into Granite Creek country.

How many miles from the Six lake basin until you are in unit 18 or Granite creek?

 

[kcebcj]

Just before Six Lake Basin below Smith Mt lookout and right at the top of Deep Creek there is a trail head. That trail goes around Six lake Basin down through the headwaters of Granite Creek and up into Horse Heaven and ties into the Rapid River trail. It's about a 4-5 hour ride from that trail head to Horse Heaven. Granite Creek is the division between unit 18 and 22.

It's a little quicker from Six Lake Basin but then you are getting the trucks down in there and have to climb up and out and with a dump of snow could get crappie. Get a topo and look. There is a lot of country in there. There has been two bucks that I personally know of that have been in Monster Muley Magazine about 12-15 years ago, 3 years apart, taken at the top of Granite Creek. There has been 5 bucks over the years taken in this general area that have made the book. Everything is there. Steep rugged country minimum pressure so bucks can mature.

Don't overlook the Rapid River trail. It starts just south of Riggins and climbs into the same country. You would want to break off on the West Fork Rapid River trail after a few miles up the main trail. Quite a bit farther but the trucks would be safe down low.

Get a topo and look...lots o[FONT=&quot]f possibilities !!
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[oregonbighhorn]

Thank again for your help I am really looking forward to the hunt, I drew a muzzleloader deer tag in Oregon that is the last week of October so I will be deer hunting 2 weeks strait I would like to return the favor to you one day.

Just before Six Lake Basin below Smith Mt lookout and right at the top of Deep Creek there is a trail head. That trail goes around Six lake Basin down through the headwaters of Granite Creek and up into Horse Heaven and ties into the Rapid River trail. It's about a 4-5 hour ride from that trail head to Horse Heaven. Granite Creek is the division between unit 18 and 22.

It's a little quicker from Six Lake Basin but then you are getting the trucks down in there and have to climb up and out and with a dump of snow could get crappie. Get a topo and look. There is a lot of country in there. There has been two bucks that I personally know of that have been in Monster Muley Magazine about 12-15 years ago, 3 years apart, taken at the top of Granite Creek. There has been 5 bucks over the years taken in this general area that have made the book. Everything is there. Steep rugged country minimum pressure so bucks can mature.

Don't overlook the Rapid River trail. It starts just south of Riggins and climbs into the same country. You would want to break off on the West Fork Rapid River trail after a few miles up the main trail. Quite a bit farther but the trucks would be safe down low.

Get a topo and look...lots o[FONT=&quot]f possibilities !![/FONT]

 

[tt35]

kcbecj has probably forgotten more about that country than I will ever know but I've been going into that area since I was a kid. Granted, it's been quite a few years ago now but two of my brothers took horses down the Deep Creek trail to the river. Let's just say it was a looong several miles. The trail was unmaintained and non-existent in quite a few places. The periodic fires left snags falling across the trail that they had to excavate under to pass. And, eventually, not far above the Snake, the trail had slid completely off the hillside. They had to literally pack and stack rocks to build enough trail to get the horses across. What should have been a few hours turned out to be an overnight ordeal. Just because a sign or a map says there is a trail doesn't mean the trail is passable. lightbulb

kcbecj is also correct concerning the high country snow. The upper passes into the area approach 7000 ft. Be careful not to get your self in a jam up there. All that being said, I'm still jealous of your tag. That is some amazingly beautiful country. I hope you do well. I'd love to hear how your hunt goes.

Tim

 

[oregonbighhorn]

This hunt was a ton of fun having the horses was awesome thank you to all that helped I didn't take many pictures but I will post a few when I get off of work. Thank you again to all that helped it was fun being behind a rifle again instead of a bow.

 

[oregonbighhorn]

 

[oregonbighhorn]

I want to start off by thanking my hunting partner for everything he supplied the horses and I am a very green rider as in I had not rode before this hunt. He also spotted this buck the last couple of hours before I had to leave and graciously let me be the shooter, I met this man on another hunting forum and he is a class act all the way. David is a great hunter and just awesome person to be around. So to David, thanks for giving up this deer for me I really respect how giving you are. We passed on a ton of bucks but we just did not get the weather that we needed thank you for all of those who helped on this forum. David did not end up shooting a buck but not because he couln't have we just did not see the bucks that we were hoping for. Also, David's transmission went out in his truck just a few short hours before I shot this buck and he remained calm and positive. Great hunt with a great guy and we ended up shooting the second biggest buck that we seen.

 

[tt35]

Nice buck! It wasn't steep was it? Sorry about the transmission trouble. Sounds like you had a great partner and a good hunt.