Topic: Anybody know where to find elk in Unit 24?

[fj40mojo]

Wife got an extra cow tag for hunt 24-1.  Don't know the area at all, so any help would be useful.  Don't even know where to begin looking.  Was thinking about trying Brush Cr/Pearl Cr areas on the North Fork of the Payette.

[fj40mojo]

Thanks. Any idea how long it takes to drive therefrom Boise?  Trying to figure out what time we need to get out of here in order to be there at shooting light.

[fj40mojo]

Thanks RG.  That is pretty much what I was thinking for time.  How high up is the "good hunting"?

[fj40mojo]

Pearl Cr. was a bust!  Mobs of people mostly out of staters.  Drive in looked like a remake of Convoy.  Lots of Washington and California plates on fancy trucks and SUVs.  Did see some sign and heard 4 shots throughout the course of the morning, but didn't even see a single deer let alone an elk.  I bailed out of the parade at the first opportunity, so maybe we weren't high enough, but all we saw were orange vests everywhere we looked.

[fj40mojo]

I hate the way F&G does these descriptions as about half the time I feel like I should be looking for some imaginary line painted on the ground out in the woods.  With all the application fees that they collect you'd think that they could issue detailed maps to the folks that actually draw a tag.  I purchased a Boise Nat Forest map that includes boundaries for big game units but doesn't cover the northern portion of 24.  That portion is part of the Payette Nat forest, but oddly enough this portion of 24 doesn't appear on the Payette map either.  Near as I could tell the northern border of 24 is the summit between the N Fork of the Payette and the ridgeline that separates that drainage from the neighboring drainages.This is right off of F&G's web site:

Hunt Area 24-1 — That portion of Unit 24 within the
following boundary: Beginning at the junction of State
Highway 55 and the Warm Lake Road, then east along WarmLake Road to the Unit 24/25 boundary, then north along the Unit 24/25/19A boundary to the intersection of the
Unit 24/19A/23 boundaries, then south along the Unit
24/23/32A boundary to Forest Service Road 186 at No
Business Saddle, then southeast on Forest Service Road
186 to West Mountain Road, then south on West Mountain
Road to Tamarack Falls Road, then east on Tamarack Falls
Road to Norwood Road, then north on Norwood Road to
West Roseberry Road, then east on West Roseberry Road
to State Highway 55, then south on State Highway 55 to the
point of beginning. Except Short Range Weapons only in
that portion within the following boundary: Beginning in
McCall at the junction of State Highway 55 and Boydstun
Street, then south on Boydstun Street to West Valley
Road, then west and south along West Valley Road and
west Mountain Road to Tamarack Falls Road, then east
on Tamarack Falls Road to Norwood Road, then north on
Norwood Road to West Roseberry Road, then east on West
Roseberry Road to State Highway 55, then south on State
Highway 55 to Farm-to-Market Road then north on Farmto-
Market Road, to Elo Road, then west on Elo Road to
State Highway 55, then north on State Highway 55 to the
point of beginning.

What line of work were you in RG?

[Orbital-Burn]

I'm considering LoLo next year, they only sold like 1/3 of the allotted elk tags this year

[fj40mojo]

I'm considering LoLo next year, they only sold like 1/3 of the allotted elk tags this year

Heard that the wolves have played hell with the elk population in that country along the Lochsa.

[fj40mojo]

A large portion of that area is pretty hard to access without horses too.  Looking up from highway 12 I don't believe that I'd enjoy hoofin it in there on my LPCs too much.  Steep nasty country and for the most part only accessable by trail.  I've spent a considerable amount of time hunting units 15 and 16 for whitetails, but never saw too many elk in those areas.  The breaks leading down to the river are steeper than the back of my head, but country up top is not too bad.  Keep in mind this is coming from someone that grew up in the Salmon country.  I've been accused of being something of a goat by some.

[kill-9]

The area around Yellow Pine was a bust.  We found some older deer and elk sign but much more, and more recent, wolf tracks.  None of the many hunters we talked to had seen any elk or deer, but those tent camping reported howling wolves each night.

 

[Jeff]

I hunted once up around Big Creek maybe 10 years ago and heard wolves back then.  I gave up on that area then.

I hope you guys find something somewhere.