Wapiti Talk | Elk Hunting Forum | Elk Hunting Tips
 

Idaho B Tag Notched

Moderators: Swede, Tigger, Lefty, Indian Summer, WapitiTalk1

Idaho B Tag Notched

Postby MTLongdraw » 10 21, 2018 •  [Post 1]

It's been a few days but I wanted to type up a quick re-cap of my Idaho Rifle Hunt. For starters, I was pretty bummed when I went to buy my out of state tag in late March. It had been sold out for several weeks! It's great to see people taking the plunge and coming out West to hunt, but it is starting to make it much harder to get tags! I had been hunting that particular area the last two years and was really starting to get the unit figured out.

I ended up settling on a unit that was relatively close to my home state. It was a place I've always looked at, but have been apprehensive to hunt for several different reasons. However, when you don't have many options, it makes taking the plunge a little bit easier.

I was fortunate enough to scout the unit (driving roads) two days over the summer. Other than that there was literally no useful information I could turn up about the unit. What I did turn up was more or less just negative talk that left me more frustrated than before. I was beginning to wonder if I had bitten off more than I could chew. All I knew from my scouting is the country was big, thick, steep, and had very few elk. I quickly made up my mind that any branch antler bull would be a trophy. As time went on I also learned that due to work I was only going to have 4-5 days to hunt. It just didn't seem like it was going to be enough! I ended up getting a hold of a game warden late in the summer who confirmed my hunch that it would be a tough hunt, but he also left me with some new found optimism. With some eyes on the land and some local intell, all I had left to do was hunt

I was joined by my buddy JJ who had a deer tag. Due to work schedules we were actually able to arrive on the 7th, 3 days before the season started. This was a new phenomenon to both of us. On the 7th we arrived and were able to get our camp set up. On the 8th we headed into a spot we suspected could be good for deer. Unfortunately upon our arrival all we found was a huge 5 point bull. It was great to see a bull of that caliber but it was also frustrating because we didn't see any elk or deer sign or deer. So all we could do was watch. It's great to actually see an elk but if there's not other sign it just makes you think it was a coincidence. That accompanied with the fact the warden said the elk only "pass through there once in a while."

The second night a storm rolled in and dumped a pretty decent amount of snow around our camp. We ended up going to a new area later in the day (9th) and found lots of elk tracks in the snow. The bad new is it was super thick and steep country and every elk track had several wolf tracks in it...With the following day being opener we were stuck between hunting the open country where we had seen one elk but no sign or hunt the thick steep country that had tracks, wolves, and no visibility. We ended up heading to the more open stuff. Mostly because we knew there was at least one bull close by and we both had deer tags. We just felt like glassing in deer country was going to be more beneficial.

Opening day didn't turn up much until late afternoon. As we were on our way out we spotted a buck of 10,000 lifetimes. A true giant. JJ was able to get a shot off on him and shot just under. We tracked him into a nasty canyon and ended up hunting our way back to camp. We were restless that night and optimistic for the next day.

Day two of actual hunting (day 4 in the woods) found us back in that canyon attempting to turn up that buck. We turned up two more bucks but not the one we wanted. Even though it was only day two I was getting frustrated. That's the downside of two days of scouting before season. We had literally put our eyes on thousands of acres and couldn't turn up anything...Nothing. Tons of fresh wolf sign but we couldn't even find them. As we headed back to camp (riding 4 wheelers) we stopped to glass every burn we could hoping to find something. As we hit one of the last burns before we got to camp we jumped off the wheelers and climbed up the bank a few yards. Within seconds I spotted a bull down in a canyon feeding through an opening. It was bout 5:30 and we figured we had a little over an hour to get to the bull before dark. It was a steep and nasty canyon but that's why we came to Idaho. After unloading as much unnecessary weight as possible, we headed down the ridge towards the bottom of the canyon. We got about 400 yards down the ridge and started glassing the opposing hill side. Nothing! Literally an entire open hillside and the one elk we had laid eyes on in 3 days was gone. I was frustrated to say the least. We sat there for about 15 minutes. I tried bugling and cow calling to no avail. After about 15 minutes I thought I heard something coming up the ridge to my right, but then the squirrels started chirping so I just assumed it was a squirrel fight. I was getting ready to stand up and head back towards the truck believing the bull had headed down canyon into the thick timber. As soon as I started walking I heard some rustling coming from just over the ridge. As I peered over I saw him headed up the ridge. I couldn't believe it! I quickly shuffled around a tree and got a quick shot off. I saw him hunch and pack his shoulder as he headed over the ridge. We watched the opposing hill side but he never came up. It was getting dark quickly so we headed to the place the bull was standing when I shot. My best assumption is he headed back down the drainage towards where he came from. As soon as I cleared the ridge I saw him piled up on the opposing hillside. Not only had the bull come down the opposing hillside about 100 yards and up our ridge about 300 yards, after I shot him he ran even closer to the truck. I never officially ranged it but I think my rifle bull was a closer shot than my archery bull :D

By no means a monster but a trophy to me. This bull represents persistence and the ability to go into a unit I knew nothing about and harvest a branch antler bull. This was my goal and I couldn't be more happy.

Ended up getting half out the night of the shot and the next morning we took out the other half. It was a steep grind! Headed back in for one more day looking for deer but couldn't turn anything up. We're going to try and head back in this weekend and fill our deer tags in another area. It's been another great year in the West. If I've learned anything this year its that grinding and persistence is very deadly! It's easy to get frustrated when things aren't going well. I think that's human...but going back day after day and believing that it can and will happen is deadly medicine.

Ill post a picture in a minute.
Attachments
Idaho 2018.jpg
Idaho 2018.jpg (277.48 KiB) Viewed 3245 times
User avatar
MTLongdraw
Rank: Rag Horn
 
Posts: 281
Joined: 08 13, 2012
Location: Florence, MT
First Name: Josh
Last Name: Volinkaty

Re: Idaho B Tag Notched

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 10 21, 2018 •  [Post 2]

Sweet. Congrats!
User avatar
WapitiTalk1
 
Posts: 8732
Joined: 06 10, 2012
Location: WA State
First Name: RJ

Re: Idaho B Tag Notched

Postby Elkhunttoo » 10 21, 2018 •  [Post 3]

Nice! Congrats
Elkhunttoo
Rank: An Elk Nut
 
Posts: 1160
Joined: 05 23, 2016

Re: Idaho B Tag Notched

Postby Indian Summer » 10 22, 2018 •  [Post 4]

Nice Job! Idaho isn’t easy. You’ve had a great season.
User avatar
Indian Summer
Wapiti Hunting Consultant
 
Posts: 5247
Joined: 06 14, 2012
Location: Pennsylvania
First Name: Joe
Last Name: Ferraro

Re: Idaho B Tag Notched

Postby ElkNut1 » 10 22, 2018 •  [Post 5]

Way to go Josh, well done sir!

ElkNut/Paul
ElkNut1
ElkNut/Paul
 
Posts: 4673
Joined: 05 11, 2012
Location: Idaho

Re: Idaho B Tag Notched

Postby Fridaythe13th » 10 22, 2018 •  [Post 6]

Looks like a good bull to me, nice job. Great write up.
User avatar
Fridaythe13th
Rank: An Elk Nut
 
Posts: 1014
Joined: 10 24, 2013
Location: Minnesota
First Name: Eric
Last Name: S

Re: Idaho B Tag Notched

Postby Swede » 10 22, 2018 •  [Post 7]

Excellent story to read, and a fine bull.
Persistence and patience are deadly. I have killed a couple of elk the same afternoon that my friends had returned home after giving up. Hunting is often as good the last day of the season as the first. I have killed elk the last days and the last hour of the season.
Swede
Wapiti Hunting - Tree Stand Tactics
 
Posts: 10215
Joined: 06 16, 2012

Re: Idaho B Tag Notched

Postby Tigger » 10 22, 2018 •  [Post 8]

Nicely done. Congrats on a well deserved bull!
User avatar
Tigger
Rank: An Elk Nut
 
Posts: 2420
Joined: 01 12, 2015
Location: Minnesota

Re: Idaho B Tag Notched

Postby Lefty » 10 22, 2018 •  [Post 9]

Nice
They come so many different ways!!!
User avatar
Lefty
Wapiti Hunting - Strategy and Tactics
 
Posts: 6926
Joined: 06 25, 2012
Location: Pocatello Idaho
First Name: Dennis
Last Name: H

Re: Idaho B Tag Notched

Postby MTLongdraw » 10 22, 2018 •  [Post 10]

Thank you all!
User avatar
MTLongdraw
Rank: Rag Horn
 
Posts: 281
Joined: 08 13, 2012
Location: Florence, MT
First Name: Josh
Last Name: Volinkaty


cron