Round 1: Sawtooth Elk Zone vs. Teton Elk Zone

This is the seventh installment on a series of posts comparing Idaho's any-weapon, antlered, general season elk hunts. For an intro to this series, go here.

For the first post in this series, read Dworshak Elk Zone vs. Bear River Elk Zone.

For the second post in this series, read Snake River Elk Zone vs. Palisades Elk Zone.

For the third post in this series, read Palouse Elk Zone vs. McCall Elk Zone.

For the fourth post in this series, read Selway Elk Zone vs. Salmon Elk Zone.

For the fifth post in this series, read Panhandle Elk Zone vs.Tex Creek Elk Zone.

For the sixth post in this series, read Middle Fork Elk Zone vs. Dworshak Elk Zone.

Here we go comparing the Sawtooth Elk Zone to the Teton Elk Zone. First up, the Sawtooth.

The Hunt

The A-Tag for the Sawtooth Elk Zone is an archery only season that ran in 2011 from August 30 through September 30.  The B-Tag is what we're primarily  looking at here, as it is the only any-weapon, antlered-only tag.  In 2011, the B-Tag general season ran from October 15 through November 8.  So it is a good long season, just over 3 weeks long.  But there is a quota on the number of B-Tags sold.  The cap is 1,526 tags, and they went on sale to non-residents on 12/1/2010, and to residents on 7/10/2011.

Location

Located in the center of the state, the Sawtooth Elk Zone is a popular getaway for Boise and Twin Falls folks.  The Sawtooth Mountains are a state emblem right next to the potato.  The town of Stanley is the outpost in the middle of the Zone, and Garden Valley is the other one, located on the west end of the Zone.  Just a few hours drive from Boise or Twin Falls has made this a popular place to hunt.

Besides the Sawtooth Mountains, the Stanley Basin is known for its beauty, the Salmon River that runs through it, as do the Middle and South Forks of the Payette River.

The Zone consists of Game Management Units 33, 34, 35, and 36, covering 1,626,045 acres or 2,540 square miles.

Salmon River Area East of Stanley

Garden Valley Area

Unit 33 contains the small town of Garden Valley, with the Middle Fork of the Payette River running vertically through it.  Unit 34 holds Deadwood River and Reservoir on its western side, and the north east corner contains the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness roadless area.  Unit 35 has the South Fork of the Payette River running through it, as well as HWY 21, the main road from Boise to Stanley.  The Sawtooth Wilderness area is on the east side of the unit.  Unit 36 hosts the town of Stanley in its middle, with the Salmon River and HWY 75 extending to the eastern border of the Zone towards Challis.  Southbound HWY 75 goes through the basin to Galena Pass, and over the top towards Ketchum/Sun Valley.  The Sawtooth Wilderness sits on the southwest side of the unit, and the Frank Church Wilderness extends down into the northwest corner of the unit.

Terrain/Land Ownership

As for the terrain, you might generally call it mountainous.  The Sawtooth Mountains peak out at elevations above 10,000 ft.  Fingers extending west from the Sawtooths maintain 8,000 ft. on the ridge tops, and then dive down steepley to 6,000 ft. into the drainages.  East of the Sawtooths, across the basin, the terrain is a little more tame, but the further north you go, the mountains get more rugged, where elevations stick in the 7,000 - 8,000 ft. range.  The Garden Valley area sits a little less high in the 4,000 - 6,000 ft. range, but those elevations rise the further east you travel.

92% of the ground is considered forested, and 5% is considered rangeland.  Livestock grazing is minimal in the Zone.  Most of the Zone is mountainous, and well forested.  But there is a good continual mix of open and wooded areas that generally make this Zone pleasant to hunt.  Thus its popularity.  It is steep in areas, but more tame than the Middle Fork Elk Zone, and some of the wilder wilderness areas.

The wilderness areas are obviously more remote with their roadless areas, yet the area around Garden Valley has plenty of roads to get you around on.  The Zone really has a little bit for every kind of hunter.  If you are a do-it-yourself kind of person who likes to hike in several miles where there is guaranteed to be no other traffic, you can have it in the Sawtooth Zone.

If you like to road hunt, well, there's that too.  

94% of the land in the Zone is public, 3% is private, and the remainder is State of Idaho and BLM.  No issues finding a place to hunt and camp here.

Herd Health/Stats

Lots to talk about here.  In the mid to late 1800's trappers, hunters, and miners decimated the elk and deer population in this area.  In 1909, the Idaho Legislature decided to help the game population recover, and they established the South Fork Game Preserve in Unit 35.  No hunting occurred in the Zone until 1945, and the Preserve lasted until 1977.  The deer herd rebounded quickly, and by the late '70's, the elk herd had rebounded as well.  The elk numbers peaked in the early '90's at over 7,000 elk.  Less than half that exists now.

The desire is to manage this elk herd at relatively high numbers.  IF&G would love to have 750 bulls harvested from it every year.  That is a lofty goal.  Right now the sustainable bull harvest has to be equal or less than 250 bulls.  But IF&G wants to see the herd rebound again, balanced only by its concerns about winter feeding grounds.

The wintering areas are in a mess around the Garden Valley area, where rush skeleton weed has infested the south and west facing slopes, making those thousands of acres useless as winter feeding areas.  IF&G implements winter feeding programs approximately two years out of every five.

Bulls have been over-harvested in the past, and in 2010, the IF&G stated that more bulls are being harvested than are being recruited.  Calf recruitment has generally been in the dumps.  More on that in a minute.  Tag quotas are now a 46% reduction from the 2008 season.

As for predation issues, the Big 3 (bears, mt. lions, and wolves) are all well established in the Zone.  Bear and mountain lions most certainly are elk predators, but the extent of their predation is not known.  Wolves, however, are to blame for the declining elk herd in the Sawtooth Zone.  In many cases, such as with the Selway Elk Zone, the IF&G will acknowledge that wolves are present, that they are a threat to the elk population, but the extent of the damage done by wolves is not fully known.  But with the Sawtooth Zone, the IF&G makes no bones about it.  Wolves are a huge issue here.

In 2009 there were more than 12 packs that were well established.  And here's the bit on calf recruitment, and it appears to be tied with wolves.  In 2008 and 2009, calf recruitment rates were drastically low.  In 2010, the year following the first legal wolf hunt in Idaho, calf recruitment rates spiked up.  It will be interesting to compare calf recruitment rates after this wolf hunting season to see if 2010 was an anomaly, or if the wolf hunts may be helping in some way.  As of 2/9/2011, 20 wolves have been harvested in the Sawtooth Zone this season.

In 2008, a winter survey was taken.  2,696 cows were counted (objective is to have 3,050 - 4,550), and 251 bulls were counted (objective is to have 600 - 975).  Of those 251 bulls, 82 mature bulls were counted (objective is to have 355 - 575 mature bulls).  Objectives are not being met, and hunter numbers have consequently declined as well, from around 6,000 in 2006 to less than 3,000 in 2010.

Here's how the stats line up.  The only wrinkle in these stats is that Unit 34 has no data, as it was not surveyed.  Elk population survey used for this was 2008.  I think these numbers are fairly close to reality, however.

Elk/Square Mile: 1.2

Hunters/Square Mile: 0.9

Bulls/Square Mile: 0.10

Average Hunter Days: 5.24

Bull Harvest Percentage:  12%

Percent Spikes Harvested: 42%

Percent 6+ points Harvested: 20%

Teton Elk Zone

The Hunt

The any-weapon, antlered-only hunt for the Teton Zone ran from October 15, 2011 to October 21, 2011 on the B-Tag.  Archery seasons lasted from 8/30 - 9/30, and the A-Tag also had an any-weapon, anterless-only season from 10/22 - 11/15.  We will only be focusing on the B-Tag here.

Location

The Teton Zone is squeezed in between the Island Park Elk Zone on the north, and the Palisades Elk Zone on the south.  Starting in Sugar City, the border follows HWY 20 up to Ashton, then northeast up through Warm River and to Yellowstone National Park's boundary.  The border then goes south on the Wyoming - Idaho border down to HWY 31, and then jogs up to the town of Victor.  From Victor the border follows HWY 31 west out of town until it decides to cut off a chunk of the Big Hole Mountains from the Palisades Zone.  After taking that watershed for itself, it meets up with HWY 33, and heads west back to Sugar City.

The Teton Zone is located northeast of Idaho Falls, a roughly 45 minute drive from Idaho Falls to Ashton on HWY 20.  Home to rolling malt barley and seed potato fields (Ashton is the seed potato capital of the world), the rolling hills give way to the foothills of the Tetons on the east.  Waking up to sunrise over the Tetons is just one bonus to hunting here.

Terrain/Land Ownership

First, let's talk about where you can hunt in this Zone.  75% of the land here is private, and 24% is BLM and USFS.  In a Zone that consists of just 457,617 acres (715 square miles), only about 112,000 acres are on public ground.

There are two primary places to hunt in the Teton Zone.
The first one is in the USFS land along the Wyoming border.  Basically, unlike the east side of the Tetons where the mountains rise straight up 15 million feet from the valley floor, the west side has foothills that gently rise up to where the rocky crags of the Tetons take over.  Those foothills spill across the Idaho border for several miles.  But it isn't far.  Several miles might be generous.  This strip of USFS land that is huntable stretches from Warm River on the north down nearly to Driggs.

Believe me, it doesn't take long to find yourself in Wyoming, so do take caution.  Those foothills spilling into Idaho are essentially canyons running east-west with creeks in the bottom.  And they are well timbered.  It is pretty thick in there.  That's not to say that there isn't any breathing room at all; there are meadows here and there.  But be prepared for hunting dark timber.

The second area to hunt in this Zone is in the mountains west of Victor and Driggs, as well as in the tiny corner south of HWY 31, east of Victor.  This area of USFS land adds an element of variety.  On the whole, it is probably steeper than the area along the Wyoming border, but it is a good mix of open sagebrush, dark timber, and aspen stands.  The terrain is very similar to the Palisades Elk Zone, which borders the Teton Zone just to the south.

Herd Health/Stats

Herd health.  Herd health?  What herd?  Yeah, there's sort of a

herd here.  There has always been an elk presence in the Zone.  There has to be.  It just looks like an elky kind of place.  But the elk presence is really dependent upon weather.  Elk summer in the high elevations of the Big Hole Mountains, and work there way down as fall and winter approach.  On the north and eastern parts of the Zone, the elk have to be pushed into the area by lots of snow where they summer in Wyoming and in Yellowstone National Park.

Weather and winter range are the two factors that determine elk presence.  There is very little winter range for the elk.  The elevation in the Teton Valley is about 6,000 ft., and huntable areas on USFS land generally rise to about 7,000 ft.  So this is a high elevation Zone that gets a lot of snowfall, and often extreme temperatures.

Winter feeding stations are no longer in use, but have consistently been used in the past.  This has created dependent elk, too many elk for the real habitat during the winter.  Agricultural expansion in the past century, and recent residential development near Victor and Driggs have also taken up rare wintering areas.  What wintering areas are left are usually ran over by recreational snowmobiles in the winter.  Elk like the woods to be a quiet place.  Snowmobiles aren't quiet.

The most recent winter survey in 2006 counted 173 cows, 125 bulls (of which, 95 were mature bulls).  Objectives are to maintain 150-250 cows, 35-55 bulls (of which, 15-35 should be mature).  Just not a lot of action here.  Approximately 50-60 elk winter SE of Victor, and they usually show up late-winter.  Approximately 130 elk retreat from the Big Hole Mts. west of Victor and Driggs, and winter along the Teton River in the basin.  Then there's usually a couple of other small groups that descend from Yellowstone.  All of this movement is generally after the Oct. 15 - Oct. 21 general season hunt.

Predation probably is insignificant compared to the weather issues.  IF&G says there is a moderate and stable black bear population.  I have a hard time believing that it is anything but a high population, especially in the timbered areas.  Mt. Lions are rare.  Grizzlies are increasing in population, and spreading.  Several attacks happened near Driggs/Victor/Jackson in the past year.  There are 3 established wolf packs that call the Teton Zone part of their territory, and undoubtedly do have some affect on the elk, but how much exactly is unknown.

So, the stats; brace yourself:

Elk/Square Mile: 0.42

Hunters/Square Mile: 0.15

Bulls/Square Mile: 0.17

Average Hunter Days: 5.2

Bull Harvest Percentage:  5%

Percent Spikes Harvested: 0%

Percent 6+ points Harvested: 50%

Analysis & The Winner 

The winner is the Sawtooth Zone.  But this was an exercise in comparing two of Idaho's dud Elk Zones.  Wolves have made the Sawtooth Zone pretty tough to hunt, especially if you head very far east of Garden Valley.  There just isn't the herd that there once was.  Hopefully a successful wolf season will help calf recruitment there.

The Teton Zone could be doable.  It's the kind of place that is weather-depending.  If the high elevations get heavy snow in early October, the elk will start heading down.  Some big bulls have been harvested here, and the cow to bull ratio from surveys shows that a lot of big bulls come down.  So there is a chance.  But it's too chancy.  If I had to plan a hunt, and had to choose between these two, I would take the Sawtooth Zone, get away from where the elk are heavily pressured, and roll the dice.  At least there I wouldn't have to worry about turning the corner and finding some mama grizzly glaring at me.

~ J. Bunch

Read More

Round 1: Middle Fork Elk Zone vs. Dworshak Elk Zone

This is the sixth installment on a series of posts comparing Idaho's any-weapon, antlered, general season elk hunts. For an intro to this series, go here.

For the first post in this series, read Dworshak Elk Zone vs. Bear River Elk Zone.

For the second post in this series, read Snake River Elk Zone vs. Palisades Elk Zone.

For the third post in this series, read Palouse Elk Zone vs. McCall Elk Zone.

For the fourth post in this series, read Selway Elk Zone vs. Salmon Elk Zone.

For the fifth post in this series, read Panhandle Elk Zone vs.Tex Creek Elk Zone.

Here we go comparing the Middle Fork Elk Zone to the Dworshak Elk Zone. First up, the The Middle Fork.

The Hunt

The season dates for the general season elk hunts in the Middle Fork Zone (Units 20A, 26, and 27) are pretty exciting.  Like the Selway Zone, there is an early season when the bulls are dead in the middle of their rut.  In 2011, you had to choose between the  A-tag or the B-tag.  

The A-tag ran from Oct. 1 - Oct. 31, and was any antlered elk in Units 20A & 26.  In Unit 27, only brow-tined bulls may have been harvested.  There were only 647 tags available for this hunt, and they went on sale as a first-come-first-served basis, first for non-residents on 12/1/10 and for residents on 7/10/11.

The B-tag ran from Sep. 15 - Sep. 30, and the rules were the same as described above for the A-tag: any antlered bull in Units 20A & 26, and brow-tined only in Unit 27.  The B-tag also had a second season, Nov. 1 - Nov. 18, with the same rules as above.  1,636 B-tags was the quota, and they were first-come-first-served as described above.

Location

The Middle Fork Zone sits sandwiched between the Selway Wilderness on the north, the Salmon Elk Zone on the east, the Sawtooth Elk Zone to the south, and the McCall Elk Zone on the west.  This is primitive Idaho at its finest.  Wanting to get away from it all?  This is big and wild country, and it rivals

the Selway Elk Zone in that regard.  36% of the Zone lies within the Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness.

Access to the Zone is limited.  While it is not all designated wilderness area, roads are not plenteous going in or out.  You can access the area by going through Yellowpine or Challis, and a few other places on Forest Service roads.  But a big part of planning to go hunt the Middle Fork Zone is determining where you want to go, and how to get in and out.  Most folks will suggest horses, at least.  Flying in is also an option, along with choosing the right guide and/or outfitter.  Backpacking in is also an option, but, as we shall see shortly, this is rugged territory.

Terrain/Land Ownership

The terrain is mountainous.  River bottoms will be found at 4,000 - 4,500 ft. in elevation, and mountain tops will easily peak out above 9,000 ft.  I would say that the average draw to ridgetop elevations will be between 6,000 ft. to
8,000 ft., and it is mostly ridge after ridge after ridge of the same beautiful, remote country, over and over again.  Bring a compass.  You will feel small.

As I said earlier, a big chunk (36%) of the Zone is wilderness.  The remainder is USFS.  There is virtually no private ground here, and very little of it is used for livestock grazing.  Once you get in, the only thing limiting where or how you hunt will be your own legs (or your horse's).  But don't let me scare you off entirely.  This hunt is doable, and exciting.  It offers hunts during the peak of the rut, but you must be able to track down that bull that you heard bugle over the next ridge.  It's tough, but for the guys who are in good shape, the terrain can be more of a

motivating challenge.  Even if you pack in on horses, you'll have to leave the horses to stalk elk, and when you do, there will be some serious uphill-downhill hiking.

The Zone consists of 1,846,323 acres, or 2,885 square miles.

Heard Health/Stats

Earlier in the 20th Century, elk were not very numerous here.  It wasn't until the 1970's that the elk population really took off and established itself.  The population continued to grow until about 10-15 years ago.  Many will point out immediately that wolf introduction happened at about the same time.  This is true, and the wolves definitely have had an impact on the heard health.  But habitat is just as much, and probably much more, of a factor.

Fire suppression management is the big one.  The Forest Service manages virtually 100% of this Zone, so they are the ones to blame one way or another.  As we all know, forest fires produce excellent elk habitat.  Efforts to minimize the fires hurt the elk habitat.  Specifically in this Zone, elk populations have risen and fallen in direct parallel to fire activity.  

Units 20A & 26 have seen their elk herds decrease dramatically in the last 10-15 years, but Unit 27 hasn't been as drastic.  Herds there increased up until 8-10 years ago, and since then there has been a steady decrease.  In Unit 27, bull to cow ratios are very low, and this has been a result of poor calf production.  Yes, the habitat is a big issue, but the observed herd health in Unit 27 shows that predators are taking a toll as well.

Black bear numbers are low and steady.  Mountain lion populations are high.  Wolves are well established.  IF&G managers see the wolves as being potentially very helpful to the herd's health by keeping elk populations below habitat capacity.  But that's not a point you'd want to try to prove at the bar in Challis while talking with other hunters.  It's debatable.  On the issue of wolves, I believe the truth is somewhere in the middle.  The wolves are hurting the elk, no doubt.  But there is a perfect storm right now of decreasing habitat and increasing wolves.  The ideal, for the hunter, is increasing habitat and decreasing wolves - obviously.

Objectives are to maintain between 3,850 - 5,750 cows, 950 - 1,550 bulls (of which 600 - 900 should be mature bulls).  The 2006 survey counted 5,137 cows, and 834 bulls (of which 450 were mature bulls).  2010 was the last year that anterless elk hunts were conducted in the Zone.  But antleress harvests were minimal, and it had no significant impact on the herd health.  The main

objective is to increase cows in Units 20A and 26, and to increase bull numbers in all of the Zone.

Here's the stats.  2006 survey data was used, and I have little doubt that the population levels have decreased since then.  2010 data was used for the harvest records.  So the stats below are probably a little optimistic, but well within reason.

Elk/Square Mile: 2.0

Hunters/Square Mile: 0.4

Bulls/Square Mile: 0.29

Average Hunter Days: 5.9

Bull Harvest Percentage:  13%

Percent Spikes Harvested: 5%

Percent 6+ points Harvested: 57%

Dworshak Elk Zone

I've described the Dworshak Elk Zone here.  So go there and read about it, and then come back here to see which Zone I think gives you the better chance at harvesting a bull.

Analysis & The Winner

Elk per square mile is basically the same for both the Dworshak and the Middle Fork.  Hunters per square mile is much different, however.  There is considerably less pressure in the Middle Fork's remote wilderness, with 0.4 hunters per square mile there compared to 1.4 in the Dworshak Zone.  Bulls per square mile is similar between the two Zones, with Dworhak only being slightly higher.  

The kinds of bulls harvested finds the two Zones on opposite ends, and much of that has to do with the brow-tined only restrictions in Unit 27.  In the Middle Fork, 5% of the harvest is spikes, while 57% are 6-pointers or better.  In the Dworshak Zone, 42% are spikes, while only 15% have six points or better.  In the end, however, the bottom line stat is this.  In the Middle Fork, you have a 13% chance of filling your tag, while in the Dworshak Zone, that decreases to 7%.

Bull numbers are down in both Zones.  But the odds of you finding a really decent one reside in the Middle Fork.  The Middle Fork's terrain is certainly more difficult to hunt in, but on the other hand, it offers a lot more glassing/spot and stalk opportunities.  

In the end, as difficult as it may be to get into the Middle Fork's wilderness, the odds of harvesting a bull are greater there.  The vistas are rewarding too.  And if you make an elk trip there, I'm certain it will be an adventure to remember.  Middle Fork Elk Zone is the winner!

~ J. Bunch

Read More

Round 1: Panhandle Elk Zone vs. Tex Creek Elk Zone

This is the fifth installment on a series of posts comparing Idaho's any-weapon, antlered, general season elk hunts. For an intro to this series, go here.

For the first post in this series, read Dworshak Elk Zone vs. Bear River Elk Zone.

For the second post in this series, read Snake River Elk Zone vs. Palisades Elk Zone.

For the third post in this series, read Palouse Elk Zone vs. McCall Elk Zone.

For the fourth post in this series, read Selway Elk Zone v. Salmon Elk Zone.

Here we go comparing the Panhandle Elk Zone to the Tex Creek Elk Zone. First up, the Panhandle.

The Hunt

Idaho has two types of over-the-counter elk tags that can be chosen.  An A-tag and the B-tag are usually offered for each elk zone.  The difference between the two will differ from elk zone to elk zone, but the differences usually lie in season dates, weapon options, or sex of animal to hunt.

The Panhandle Zone offers OTC, any-weapon, antlered hunts on both the A-tag and the B-tag.  Here's the breakdown.  On the 2011 A-tag you could hunt Unit 1, 2, 3, 4, 4A & 5 from Oct. 25 - Oct. 31.  You could also hunt Unit 6, 7 & 9 from Oct. 25 - Oct. 29.  So, mark that - that is the A-tag.

The B-tag begins a little earlier, and adds some variety.  You could hunt Unit 1, 2, 3, 4, 4A & 5 from Oct. 10 - Oct. 31.  And in those you Units you had the option of harvesting any elk on Oct. 15 - Oct. 19.  Also on the B-tag: you could hunt Unit 6, 7 & 9 from Oct. 10 - Oct. 24, and you could harvest any elk in Unit 6 on Oct. 15 - Oct. 16.

Got it?

As I look at the options for any-weapon hunters, I don't know why you would purchase anything beside the B-tag.  The B-tag has longer seasons, they begin earlier, and there is a brief window where you can fill your freezer with a cow if you haven't chased down the monster bull.  Archers will probably find the A-tag more interesting, as it allows for a late season archery hunt in December.  Muzzleloaders will also probably find the A-tag more attractive as well.

As far as when hunters will first be in the woods in the Zone, early archery dates began August 30 and lasted until September 30.  Then there's a break until the any-weapon seasons begin on Oct. 10.

Location

This Zone basically encompasses the entirety of the northern Idaho panhandle.  The north boundary is the Canadian border.  The west boundary is the State of Washington.  On the east, Montana.  The southern part of the Zone is the only somewhat tricky part.  From east to west, the boundary follows the divide between the St. Joe River and the N. Fork of the Clearwater River.  From there... well, I could bore you with all of the other watershed divides as the boundary makes its way from Montana to Washington, but I'd rather spend my time giving you a link to the maps so that you can see for yourself.

This is a big area; probably only second in size to the large Owyhee - South Hills Elk Zone in Southern Idaho.  To be precise, the Panhandle Zone is 4,978,871 acres, or 7,780 square miles.

Terrain/Land Ownership

Most of the Zone contains the Coeur d'Alene Mountains, the Selkirk Mountains, and the Cabinet Mountain range.  This is the "Northern Woods" of Idaho, and if you're traveling to them from the south, you'll see the habitat change in short order from Lewiston on up to Sandpoint.  It's one of the reasons that Idaho is a great state - there's a lot of variety here, and that should become clear when comparing the Panhandle Zone to Southeast Idaho's Tex Creek Zone.

It is wooded here.  And it is thick.  In an earlier post in this series, I mentioned that the Dworshak Zone is like hunting in a rainforest.  It is even more so in the great north of the Panhandle.  This is thick and brushy terrain, and only for those who know what they're getting themselves into, because what you're getting yourself into is something difficult to get yourself out of.  The brush is always thicker when climbing out.

It is hilly and mountainous, and very wooded.  I can't emphasize enough that this is a different world than the semi-open nature of some of the other Zones we've looked at so far, such as the Salmon or Snake River Zones.  I am tempted to say that the Panhandle Zone is more archery friendly, but maybe that's just my terrain bias coming out.  It just seems that the archers might have quite an edge by getting a good setup, and then calling a rutting bull in.  Rifle hunters are on the tail end of the rut, at best, and aren't getting any animals coming their way.  That is, of course, generally speaking, and I'm sure there's plenty of rifle hunters who could show me wrong.

Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 4A & 5 are 43% private, 44% Forest Service, and 9% State of Idaho.  It is 72% forested, 19% of it is designated as dryland agriculture.  Units 6, 7 & 9 are 32% private, 60% Forest Service, and 6% State of Idaho.  It is 89% forested, and 9% is designated as rangeland.  Some of that private ground is corporate timber ground, and open for hunting.  Lack of finding ground to hunt is not an issue in this Zone.  If you don't want to rough it, Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint, and Coeur d'Alene are all big enough to have chain hotels.  If you really don't want to rough it, then stay at the Coeur d'Alene Resort & Casino and play golf.

But as with most or all places in Idaho, getting deep into the woods is the name of the game.  And this is the kind of area where scouting can really pay off.  If you're looking at coming to Idaho to hunt, this Zone might be a good choice if you're accustomed to hunting in this kind of terrain, or you can adjust easily.  Otherwise, you can easily be swallowed up in the forested mountains of the Panhandle.

Herd Health & Stats

The goal for the Panhandle Zone is to maintain 2,900-3,900 cows and 600-800 bulls (of which 350-475 are mature bulls).  2009 surveys showed that the elk population is exceeding those objectives in every category, but there is reason to be concerned for decline.  The 2009 survey showed there were 4,339 cows and 1,256 bulls (of which 538 were mature bulls).  However, no data was collected for Units 1, 2, 3, 4A & 5.  Units 1, 3 & 5 are some of the more successful areas to hunt in the Panhandle Zone, so the stats given below are heavily skewed, as they depend on this data.  The elk/square mile and bulls/square mile should probably be doubled, at the very least.

In the early 1900's there were very low numbers of elk in this area.  After 1910 some massive forest fires created excellent elk habitat, and the population began to grow.  In the 1940's some elk were translocated to Units 1, 4 & 6 from Yellowstone, and the population continued to grow steadily.  Elk habitat in the wake of the fires was excellent through the 1950's & 1960's, and then started to decline again as thick underbrush took over.  Extensive logging helped the herd's cause in the 1980's & 1990's, but now the habitat decline is steady, and will not be significantly helped until or unless another big fire comes along.

Another major factor for the herd's current health is the impact that the winters of 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 had.  These were record setting snowfall years, and the snow piled up, even at the lowest elevations.  That first winter was so wild that nobody could have predicted that '08-'09 could be worse.  This led to big worries over calf recruitment rates, which were appearing to be low following those winters.  However, the next winter was milder, and recruitment rates began to improve.

And while logging activities helped elk habitat in the short term, in the long term they left logging roads that are still accessible to vehicles.  That, of course, reduces the amount of land that the elk would otherwise tromp around in more freely.

And I haven't even gotten to wolves yet.  There's over 20 established packs in the Panhandle region.  As of January 11, 2012, 29 wolves were harvested with a firearm, and 9 more have been trapped.  There are a lot of wolves in this area, and the bears and mountain lions are other effective predators.

So right now the herd is in a precarious position.  It has seen growth and decline, and the balance is figured by a lot of complex factors - predators, weather, and habitat.  I see the herd as being fair, number-wise, right now.  But I do not see it improving in the short term, unless we have some big fires and serious reduction of wolves.

Here's the stats, but let me qualify these. In previous posts I've felt that my stats were within reason, even if there was some creative, yet informed, guesswork involved.  I'm a little hesitant to even put numbers to the Panhandle Zone because I'm not confident with the info I have.  So having said that, I'll slap these numbers down as the best I could do without sitting down with a biologist for a couple of hours.  I would appreciate any feedback if others have better guesses.

Elk/Square Mile: 0.72 (See above comments.)

Hunters/Square Mile: 1.0

Bulls/Square Mile: 0.16 (See above comments.)

Average Hunter Days: 6.6

Bull Harvest Percentage: 13%

Percent Spikes Harvested: 28%

Percent 6+ points Harvested: 25%

Tex Creek Elk Zone

The Hunt

In 2011, archery seasons preceded the any-weapon seasons from August 30 - September 30.  The A-tag any-weapon season is a cow only hunt that lasts from Oct. 22 - Nov. 30.  The B-tag is the one we'll be focusing on here because it's the one that offers the any-weapon antlered tag.  That season lasted from Oct. 15 - Oct. 21.

Location

The southwest corner of the Tex Creek Zone starts at Fort Hall.  The border then follows I-15 north to the junction with HWY 91.  From there, the border follows HWY 91 north to Shelley, where it basically becomes HWY 26.  HWY 26 continues north through Idaho Falls, right past a Forest Service station in case you need some last minute maps, and then curls east towards the metropolis of Ririe.  After Ririe, the north border of the Zone changes from HWY 26 to the South Fork of the Snake River.  The South Fork is a fly-fishing destination, so plan a few extra days with your fly rod.  You'll regret it if you don't, especially once you see it for the first time.  The north border follows the South Fork through Palisades Reservoir to the Wyoming border.

The south borders get a little tricky with numerous Forest Service roads and watershed divides.  The Tex Creek Zone is made up of Unit 66 and 69.  To the south are the Diamond Creek Zone and the Bannock Zone.  The Snake River Zone is on the east, and the Palisades Zone is to the north.  There are 1,149,591 acres, or 1,796 square miles.

Terrain/Land Ownership

As you can see on this land ownership map, the Caribou National Forest Service ground (shaded green) is located in the northeast corner of the Tex Creek Zone.  State of Idaho owned ground is checkered in the middle (shaded blue) among the private ground (shaded white).  The Fort Hall Indian Reservation (shaded pink) is located in the southwest corner of the Zone.

49% of the ground in the Zone is private, 19% is Forest Service, 15% is Indian Reservation, and 12% is State of Idaho.  Do not hunt on the Reservation unless or until you get permission.  I'm unsure of the hunting rules that the Tribe has, but I would not want to be caught dead trespassing with a gun in hand.  I know that the tribe issues spendy waterfowl hunting permits, but I don't know about big game.  Call ahead. 

The Forest Service land just south of the South Fork is where the exciting terrain is.  The closer you get to Palisades Reservoir, the more mountainous it becomes.  Peaks approach 9,000 ft. in elevation, but most of the canyons in the area will range from 6,400 ft. up to 7,000 or 8,000 ft.  The rest of the Zone has an average elevation somewhere between 6,000 and 6,500 ft., but the steepest areas to hunt are in the Forest Service ground.

The terrain is semi-open, as can be seen in the aerial photo above.  In the mountains, the north slopes will be timbered, and the south facing slopes will be open.  As you go in and out of drainages, you go in and out of the woods.  It is plenty open to spend time glassing before chasing.  Outside of the Forest Service ground, the Zone really opens up.  It is hilly, and the creeks and canyons in those hills will hold aspens and shrubs.  If you hunt here, you'll find it's excellent moose habitat just about all over.

Access to happy hunting grounds is not difficult.  There are plenty of Forest Service roads to take you where you want to go.  This, of course, makes it a popular unit.  There's plenty of hunters with their ATV's here.

Heard Health/Stats

I really can't report any bad news about the Tex Creek Zone herd health.  The habitat here holds elk well, and there's plenty of wintering ground.  People will report mixed reports on how many elk they see, but all indications are that the herd is strong.  A factor that determines elk visibility is the weather.  Many Tex Creek elk spend the summer to the south in Unit 66A, which is in the Diamond Creek Zone, and then winter back in the Tex Creek Zone.  So to a certain extent, this is a weather depending hunt.  If there aren't early snows, many of the elk may hang up in the Diamond Creek Zone.  Note that the Diamond Creek Zone does not have a general season, any-weapon hunt.

The objectives are to winter 2,000-3,000 cows and 425-625 bulls (of which 250-350 mature bulls are desired).  The 2010 survey counted 2,277 cows and 577 bulls (of which 325 were mature).  That all sounds good, but the numbers won't be as good during the Oct. 15-21 time period, as some of those may still be in the Diamond Creek Zone.  The IF&G has hinted that it makes more sense to manage this herd by including Unit 66A (Diamond Creek Zone) with the Tex Creek Zone.  However, I suspect that there are other reasons ($) that will prevent that from happening, as the Diamond Creek Zone draws a lot of non-resident archery hunters.

The bear density is low and steady, and mountain lions are present.  Wolves are not a huge factor here.  Yes, they are seen occasionally in the Tex Creek Zone, but the only established pack in the Zone was annihilated in 2009 due to depradation complaints.  No wolves have been harvested in the 2011-2012 wolf hunting season in either the Tex Creek Zone or the Diamond Creek Zone.

Overall, the herd is healthy.  Typically, bulls have been over-harvested and cows have been under-harvested here.  Thus, we have a lengthy cow tag on the A-tag, and only a week-long antlered tag on the B-tag.

Here's the stats:

Elk/Square Mile: 1.6

Hunters/Square Mile: 1.6

Bulls/Square Mile: 0.32

Average Hunter Days: 4.2

Bull Harvest Percentage: 7%

Percent Spikes Harvested: 24%

Percent 6+ points Harvested: 25%

Analysis & The Winner

This is not purely about comparing the stats, as my Panhandle Elk Zone stats are not scientific enough (I should be pretty close with the Tex Creek stats).  Both Zones are popular hunting grounds.  If you're the kind of person that just wants to get away from other hunters, then the Panhandle Zone should be your choice.  In the Panhandle it won't take long for you to hike a few miles up a gated logging road, and it will be just you and the wild.  Not so with the Tex Creek Zone.  There you will find a ton of road hunters, and just when you think you've left it all behind, somebody will be zipping atop the opposite canyon on their four-wheeler.  It would not be fair to categorize the entire Tex Creek Zone that way, but when you hunt there, you will see other hunters.

The biggest difference between the two Zones is terrain.  These Zones are on complete opposite sides of the state, and it takes two opposite styles of hunting.  In Tex Creek you can glass - spot and stalk.  No such thing in the Panhandle.  In the Panhandle you have to be ready to beat the brush, literally.  Tex Creek is easier hunting, no doubt about it.

In the end, I'm going to declare the Tex Creek Elk Zone as the winner here.  I think it is easier to kill a bull there.  Unless you have trail cams set up over wallows in the Panhandle's timber, or you have time to hit the trails on multiple scouting trips, or you are a logger who knows where the elk are, then you can have a tough time of it.  That's not to say you can't be successful by hitting the Panhandle cold, it's just a lot harder, and expectations of success should be kept in check.  On the other hand, anybody can hunt Tex Creek, and it's a matter of hunters pushing the elk around.  And it's a matter of weather.

~ J. Bunch

Read More

Round 1: Selway Elk Zone vs. Salmon Elk Zone

This is the fourth installment on a series of posts comparing Idaho's any-weapon, antlered, general season elk hunts. For an intro to this series, go here.

For the first post in this series, read Dworshak Elk Zone vs. Bear River Elk Zone.

For the second post in this series, read Snake River Elk Zone vs. Palisades Elk Zone.

For the third post in this series, read Palouse Elk Zone vs. McCall Elk Zone.

Here we go comparing the Selway Elk Zone to the Salmon Elk Zone. First up, the Selway.

The Hunt

There are three any-weapon, antlered-only elk hunts in the Selway Zone.  One is on the A-tag, and ran from October1 - October 31 in 2011.  This over the counter tag had a quota of 647 tags.  These capped tags went on sale for non-residents on 12/1/2010, and for residents on 7/10/2011.  Those dates should be the same for the 2012 hunts.  In fact, the non-resident tags are probably already on sale.

The B-tag has two hunts, an early one and a late one.  The first ran from September 15-30, and the second from November 1 - 11.  In 2011, there were only 1,067 tags in the quota.  The beginning sale dates for these capped tags are the same as what was described above.

This has traditionally been a very popular hunt, so if you are planning on doing it, don't waste much time deciding to buy the tag, or else you may find that they've all sold out.

Location

Location: middle of nowhere.  And that is why some people love it.  This is wilderness.  You either hike or ride a horse in.  There are folks who will guide you in and set you up with a camp.  But that, of course, will cost some money.  Before you half-hazardly decide to hunt the Selway, you need to have a plan of attack.  How will you get in?  How will you get out?  How will you get a downed animal out?  There are three hunts to choose from: September, October, and November.  But expect to encounter any kind of weather in any of those months.  You can access the Selway Zone from the Montana side as well.

The Selway Zone sits south of the Lolo Zone and HWY 12, which runs from Kooskia up to Lolo Pass.  The east boundary is the Montana-Idaho border.  To the south is the Middle Fork Elk Zone (also a very isolated wilderness area).  To the west is the Elk City Elk Zone and HWY 95, which runs from Riggins on north up to Grangeville.

The Zone consists of game Unit 16A, 17, 19, and 20.

Terrain/Land Ownership

This is virtually 100% U.S. Forest Service and designated wilderness land.  You will not have a problem finding a place to camp, but there will be no road to that camp.  Maybe a back country airstrip, though.  The Zone consists of 1,617,051 acres or 2,526 square miles.  With only 647 tags available for the A-tag, and 1,067 B-tags, there is a lot of space.  You might be more likely to run into a wolf than you would another hunter.  Oops, you didn't want to hear that.  I mean you might be more likely to run into an elk than another hunter.  More on wolves later...

As for the terrain, it is rugged, plain and simple.  The eastern border of the Zone will have you on the divide, where the mountains generally peak somewhere around 8,000 ft. in elevation.  Typical elevations will see the drainage bottoms between 2,000 - 4,000 ft, and the ridge tops from 5,000 - 7,000 ft.  And it is one beautiful peak right after another, a wilderness we're grateful to have here in Idaho.

There's a good mix of timber and open country here.  Some sections to the north appear to be more timbered, with more open areas found in the southern and western sections.  The terrain does change from high precipitation forests along certain reaches of the Selway River, to drier, Pondorosa pined ridges and grassland habitat along the Salmon River.  This has been a popular place to hunt for its scenery, solitude, and its elk habitat.  If you want the rugged elk hunt, this is it.

Some areas of the Zone have been burned in recent years, creating good elk habitat.  Other areas are over grown, and have choked out the elk forage.  Researching burn areas before the hunt can give you hints on places that might be better feeding grounds than others.

Herd Health/Stats

When Lewis & Clark came through, there weren't many elk in this area that was once a more unadulterated forest.  Since then, fires and other human activity have mixed up the terrain quite a bit, offering better habitat for the elk population.  Populations continued to grow, and peaked in the '50's.  It then started to go downhill from there due to a lack of fires, hunting pressure, and other environmental factors.  By the '70's the elk population had decreased substantially, and the IF&G changed the hunt to antlered-only.  Unfortunately, the elk population has continued to decline.  Some of that is due to unfavorable habitat change, and some of it is predation - primarily wolves.

Wolves are well established in the Zone.  Current harvest reports show that 4 wolves have been harvested by firearms, and 4 have been trapped.  The Selway wolf hunting season started August 2011, and will continue through June 2012.  There is no quota on the number of wolves that can be harvested in the Zone, but it isn't a piece of cake to harvest wolves here.  It is clear that the IF&G wants to see the elk population rebound, and a lower wolf population is one of the primary keys to that objective.  Local reports have stated that the elk stick close to the timber - a quick hiding place when they need one.

The objectives are to have 4,900-7,300 cows, 1,325-1,950 bulls (of which they want to see 750-1,175 mature bulls).  The 2007 survey counted 3,381 cows, 934 bulls (of which there were 726 mature bulls).

A couple of observation hits, for what they're worth.  77% of the bulls counted were mature.  All categories are below objective.  Hmmm.

The calf retention has been horrible here, due mainly, I think, to wolves.  But no doubt winters have taken a toll the past 15 years.  There's been some tough ones that did some major damage.  There are no cow hunts in the Selway Zone.

On to the stats:

Elk/square mile: 1.7

Hunters/square mile: 0.46

Bulls/square mile: 0.37

Average hunter days: 6.73

Bull Harvest Percentage: 12%

Percent Spikes Harvested: 15%

Percent 6+ points Harvested: 55%

The Salmon Elk Zone

The Hunt

The antlered, any-weapon hunt for the Salmon Zone is found on the B-tag, and ran from October 15 - November 8.  The A-tag is for archery-only, and is for any elk.  The archery season for the Zone runs from August 30 - September 30 (in Units 21, 21A, and 36B only), and December 1 - 31 (in Unit 28 only).  For the any-weapon B-tag, there is a quota of 2,507 tags.  They go on sale on 12/1/2011 for non-residents, and on 7/1/2012 for residents.  Once they are gone, they're gone.

Location

The Salmon Zone starts at the little town of Clayton, and the eastern boundary of the Zone is HWY 93 as it zig zags north along the river to the relatively larger metropolis of Salmon.  From there, the boundary bolts away from the highway over to the convenient boundary that is the Montana-Idaho border.  It follows the border north, until it decides to break away from Montana, and heads west and south, defined by watersheds back down to Clayton.  There's cheap beer at the watering hole in Clayton (FYI).

Terrain/Land Ownership

The Salmon Elk Zone consists of 1,696,926 acres, or 2,651 square miles.  Of that, 83% is Forest Service, 12% is BLM, and the rest is private.  A great deal of the land is used for grazing, and there are some mining activities as well.  

I could go on and on about the terrain here, but there's nothing like seeing it for yourself.  I found this video representative of the terrain as a whole.  This was taken on the north end of the Zone.  Further south you will find steep, more open country around Challis.

 

Elevations range from 5,000 ft. to 8,000 ft.

Herd Health/Stats

Elk have always been in this area, but it held pretty low densities through much of the 20th Century.  Elk were translocated to the area from Yellowstone back in the 1930's in order to boost the population.  By the 1970's there was a stable herd, and numbers peaked in the 1990's.

The elk have a few habitat issues that demand management by the IF&G.  This zone has a healthy mule deer population, and the competition with the elk is a concern.  IF&G wants both species to maintain the highest numbers as possible.  There was a big fire in Unit 28 back 2000, and those kind of fires create excellent elk habitat.  But then on the predation side, wolves have taken care of business.  There are 4 well established packs in Unit 28 alone, and other packs wandering around the other units.  There is a careful balance between letting the herd get so big that it extends the carrying capacity of the Zone, and making sure it doesn't get destroyed by predators.  

There is a harvest limit of 40 in the Salmon Zone for the wolf season, and so far 19 have been killed.  The season lasts until March 31, 2012.  IF&G believes that wolves may provide some service to the elk herd here, keeping the herd within objectives, and within the carrying capacity of the habitat that they share with the mule deer.  I would rather let hunters take on that task than wolves, but that's just my opinion.

Objectives are for 4,600-7,000 cows, 975-1,425 bulls (of which 550-850 mature bulls are wanted).  2008 Surveys showed there were 6,182 cows, 884 bulls (of which 512 were mature).

A couple of notes on that: 1. 58% of the bulls were mature bulls, and 2. cows are within objective.

Now for the rest of the stats:

Elk/square mile: 2.67

Hunters/square mile: 0.99

Bulls/square mile: 0.33

Average hunter days: 5.9

Bull Harvest Percentage: 18%

Percent Spikes Harvested: 37%

Percent 6+ points Harvested: 26%

Analysis

It all depends on the experience that you want.  If you want the back country experience with a good shot at a mature bull, then the Selway Zone is your choice.  If you care most about just harvesting something, then it would appear that the odds are better in the Salmon Zone.

If your priorities are low hunter density and opportunities at mature bulls, then pick Selway.  If you don't mind seeing more hunters, and want a really good chance at getting a spike, then pick Salmon.

The Winner

There is no question in my mind that I would pick the Selway Zone if I had the choice between the two.  Don't take that wrong - I think the Salmon Zone is an excellent choice for a hunt.  But the Selway experience would sway me.  Both Zones have wolf problems.  But elk are still there for the taking, and hopefully if you go to one of these Zones you can harvest a wolf too.  

But in the end, this little exercise was to determine the best place for harvesting an elk, not for finding the best experiences, and not for trophy hunting.  Because of that, the Salmon Zone takes the prize.

~ J. Bunch

Read More

Round 1: Palouse Elk Zone vs. McCall Elk Zone

This is the third installment on a series of posts comparing Idaho's any-weapon, antlered, general season elk hunts. For an intro to this series, go here.

For the first post in this series, read Dworshak Elk Zone vs. Bear River Elk Zone.

For the second post in this series, read Snake River Elk Zone vs. Palisades Elk Zone.

Here we go comparing the Palouse Elk Zone to the McCall Elk Zone. First up, the Palouse.

The Hunt

There's just a plethora of hunts available in the Palouse Zone, and that should speak something to the elk population here.  But more on that later.  In the middle of early and late season anterless elk hunts sits the antlered, any-weapon, general season hunt, which is all that we're interested with in these articles.  That hunt is on the Palouse Zone B-tag, and runs from October 10 - October 24.  As an added bonus, any elk may be harvested with this tag from October 15 - 17, but only on private lands, excluding corporate timber lands.  So it is a good long 2 week season, with an opportunity to fill your tag with a cow, if you haven't harvested a bull within the first several days of the season.

Location

The Palouse Zone consists of Units 8, 8A, and 11A.  From the map you can see that the Washington border is the Zone boundary on the west, but then drops down with HWY 95 down to Grangeville.  From Grangeville, the boundary heads north along HWY 12 up to Elk River, with the Dworshak Zone to the east.  North of Elk River, the boundary gets a little funky as it jogs back west toward the Idaho-Washington state line.  Essentially, the north boundary line follows watersheds, so a good map is necessary.

Terrain/Land Ownership

Units 8 and 8A are generally known as the Palouse Region in Idaho.  Famous for the high, rolling hills, the Palouse is mostly dry land agriculture.  The north and east portion of Unit 8A gets into National Forest land, and a Clearwater National Forest map is handy.  Unit 11A consists mostly of the agricultural ground in the Camas Prairie, known by locals as "the prairie." The hills aren't as rolling here, but like the Palouse, the fields are spotted with small, scattered pine and fir forests.  The Palouse Zone consists of 1,486,933 acres, or 2.323 square miles.

The Clearwater River runs from east to west, and essentially divides the Zone in two.  The river then turns south at the town of Orofino, following HWY 12 and the east boundary of the Zone.  Think of Units 8 and 8A being the north half, and 11A being the south half.  The Palouse agricultural prairie sits at around 2500 - 3500 ft. in elevation, and deep canyons and gorges break down into the Clearwater River.  The Camas Prairie does essentially the same.

This Zone is 80% private land, 4% Indian Reservation, 9% Forest Service, and the State of Idaho owns 5%.  Some of the 80% private land belongs to corporate timber companies, which are generally okay to hunt on.  But 77% of the land is dry land agriculture, with 22% being forest (timber company land & forest service land).

All in all, the Zone is excellent elk habitat.  The dry land agricultural areas are often bordered by small, isolated forests, or are adjacent to canyons that consist of timber and brush, or sit against forest service land.  Lewis & Clark did not find a large elk herd in this area because at that time, this area was largely forest.  By the early part of the 20th Century, wildfires had turned those forests into large areas of grassy elk paradise.  The elk population grew steadily through the century until the 1970's.  Agricultural improvements and elk began fighting for the same ground, and that battle continues today, with depradation complaints and elk populations both on the rise.

The terrain itself is fairly tame, except for the deep gorges that carry down into the Clearwater River, where it doesn't take long to descend 2,000 to 3,000 ft. in elevation.  While the Palouse Region is quite hilly, it gives way to typical forested foothills and mountains to the east.  The Camas Prairie is flatter by comparison, except for breaks near the river.

Herd Health/Stats

The elk population here is very stable, and growing despite efforts to curb it.  The general season A-tag includes an any-weapon antlerless only hunt near cultivated fields ouside National Forest boundaries, and runs from August 1 - September 15.  There is also a late season extra anterless controlled hunt in January.  These liberal hunts are in response to depradation problems.  The farmers do suffer from elk depredation.  Elk love lentils. 

The objective elk population for the Zone is as follows: 1,325 cows, and 275 bulls (of which IF&G wants 180 mature bulls).  IF&G wants this to remain a sizeable herd, but are doing what they can to keep depredeation complaints at a minimum.

Objectives are being met for the most part.  The most recent survey, taken in 2009, showed that the Zone has 2,153 cows, and 411 bulls (of which, 151 were mature bulls).  It should be noted that most of the elk are in the upper half of the Zone in the Palouse.  Only 157 elk were counted in Unit 11A, of which 45 were bulls, including 32 mature bulls.  While Unit 11A may have a good bull to cow ratio, there is considerably less elk per square mile.  Further, Unit 11A is almost entirely private, and where it is not, it is likely Indian Reservation ground.  So take that info for what it's worth.

Overall, here's some stats, with a little tinkering on my part where full information was not available.  These are conservative numbers:

Elk/square mile: 1.10

Hunters/square mile: 0.60

Bulls/square mile: 0.18

Average hunter days: 5.11

Bull Harvest Percentage: 21%

Percent Spikes Harvested: 32%

Percent 6+ points Harvested: 17%

Notes:  Some guesswork had to be done in regard to the number of hunters going after bulls only in the Palouse Zone.  I used IF&G numbers for 2010 to try to get reasonably close estimates of how many people were hunting with the A-tag vs. the B-tag.  I believe that the bull harvest percentage could even possibly be higher, but I tried to stay on the conservative side.

The McCall Zone

The Hunt

The general season, antlered-only, any-weapon hunt is with the B-tag for this Zone, and ran from October 15, 2011 - November 3, 2011.  The hunt was preceded by a spike-only hunt that ran from October 5 - Octover 14, by a short-range weapon only, anterless hunt in Units 23 & 24 outside of Forest Service land, from August 15 - September 30, and finally by an archery hunt from August 30 - September 30.

Location

The McCall Zone consists of Units 19A, 23, 24, and 25.  The boundary lines for these units are detailed on the IF&G website.  This west-central Zone in Idaho has the town of McCall as its centerpiece, and it is important to note the circle in this map.  This circle within Unit 24 that stretches from McCall down south past the town of Cascade is short range weapons only.  The Zone consists of 1,909,599 acres, or 2,983 square miles.

Terrain/Land Ownership

This is some of Idaho's typical mountainous back country.  74% of the McCall Zone is the Payette National Forest.  Steep mountains, where the pines grow thick on the north sides, and the south sides are bare.  18% of this Zone is private property, but it is mostly contained to the Little Salmon River and Payette River valley bottoms.  89% of the Zone is considered forested.  Lots of public land here to hunt on, and lots of access points.

McCall sits at around 5,000 ft. in elevation, and the peaks in this Zone generally top out somewhere near 8,000 ft.  This is rugged Central Idaho at some of its best - one canyon after another, and many of them look the same.  A lot of tough walking and glassing opportunities here.  Bring a map and a compass.  I've heard stories of guys hunting in this Zone that trailed elk up and over a few ridges, and were easily lost.  It's beautiful country, but most of it looks the same.

This Zone can suit a variety of hunter preferences.  While heavily wooded in some areas, there are other areas that quite open.  It is a good Zone for the spot and stalk types.  Just remember that you'll be stalking in some rough terrain, or at least steep terrain, at times.

Herd Health/Stats

This was once an elk haven, but the gold rush of the 19th Century almost completely eliminated the herd.  Elk meat was a staple in the mining camps, until the elk were gone.  Elk were reintroduced to the area from places like Yellowstone in the 1930's, and again elk found the habitat to be suitable.  Elk numbers grew fast, and liberal hunting took place until 1976, when the tag for the Zone went from being "any elk" to "antlered only."  The elk has restabilized since then, and has remained steady.

Other habitat features: extensive cattle and domestic sheep graze here, particularly on the west side of the Zone.  Grazing at the river valley bottoms are a favorite pastime for the elk, and of course this is on private property.  And the prescribed burns by the Forest Service, particularly on the eastern side of the Zone provide excellent habitat for the elk.  The elk primarily winter in the forests.  Basically, this is good habitat for the elk in general, and there is nothing holding them back, except for...

Wolves.  I haven't talked too much about predators in this series to this point.  Wolves across the state are doing some damage.  Some people say the damage is extremely high, and environmentalists say it is next to nil.  The truth is somewhere in the middle.  However, it does appear to be noteworthy that I believe wolves are to blame for a low cow to calf ratio in this Zone.  IF&G may not say specifically so, but they will acknowledge that there is an established wolf population here.  Still, as the numbers will show, there are plenty of elk in this Zone.  It should not be written off as a hunting opportunity.  In fact, it may be even more so because some have written it off.

Elk population objectives are this: 2,450 - 3,700 cows, 525 - 800 bulls, of which IF&G would like to see 300 - 450 mature bulls.  The 2010 survey counted 3,292 cows, 616 bulls, of which 474 were mature bulls.  Mature bulls is the only category above objective.  All others are within objective.  For some reason, no data is available for Unit 24, so these numbers are just for the other Units in this Zone.

Now, the stats:

Elk/square mile: 1.31

Hunters/square mile: 0.81

Bulls/square mile: 0.21

Average hunter days: 7.35

Bull Harvest Percentage: 13%

Percent Spikes Harvested: 28%

Percent 6+ points Harvested: 30%

Notes: 2009 data was used to estimate hunter numbers for 2010.  Harvest numbers were taken from 2010 statistics.  A total of 92 six points, or better, were harvested.  Only 88 spikes were harvested.

Analysis

The Palouse Zone can be a challenge for many hunters because so much of it is private land.  Even when private land is accessed, you're often competing with other hunters in areas were the elk are at.  There are plenty of elk in the forested areas of the Palouse Zone, and access is easy to get to.  But again, you'll run into other hunters, as forest land is limited.  Just as with almost any other Zone, you can get away from the hunters if you work harder, and your chances of getting an elk are good.  But in this Zone, it really pays off to know landowners.  Some hunting success happens south of the Clearwater River, but most of the elk are north of it.  Some of the forested land is very similar to the Dworshak Zone.

The McCall Zone, on the other hand, is mostly public ground.  It is a heavily hunted unit, as it is a stone's throw from the Boise metropolis.  Many Treasure Valley folks make this Zone their happy hunting grounds.  Forest Service roads can take you many places here, but nothing beats getting away from other hunters than parking, and getting out to walk over ridges.  Despite the number of other hunters, there's lots of elk here, and the mature bull ratios are high, which is attractive.

The Winner

The McCall Zone.  In the end, the public land vs. private land issue takes the most consideration.  The McCall Zone just has so much land to offer the general season hunter.  Elk numbers appear to be good now, but that could change in the future due to wolves and hunting pressure, among other factors.  But if I had to choose today where I would hunt tomorrow, I would take a week off of work, and head to the McCall Zone.

~ J. Bunch

Read More