Sawtooth Elk Rut

Muleyfanatic · Sep 24, 2018

Wanted to check in with you guys that have the archery elk tag. Hows the rut doing up there? I have the rifle tag and the spots I generally archery hunt seems to have a late rut from what I can tell helping family/friends. Hoping it is the same over there and can get some bugling action the first part of the season. Last year I was up there for rifle deer and had a handful of bulls screaming which motivated me to get the tag in the first place. Been counting down the days til season, been a long time since I've had a rifle elk tag.

Appreciate any input you guys have!

Thanks

jetsled · Sep 25, 2018

Always hollering during deer season. It's a rat race once the sun comes up opening morning on the 15th. I wouldn't count on any bugling past opening morning at best. Super dry this year. If you can find some un touched areas deep you might have light bugling action opening morning.

twsnow18 · Sep 25, 2018

Myself and Idahoron were up scouting this weekend for a couple days.

Did not hear a bugle or lay eyes on an elk actually. Quiet and no fresh sign. I think we were too high. The bulls that we had on our trail cameras throughout June and July appear to have left and went lower. I think that they dropped down to find cows in the thicker timber. That's a summary of my rut experience in the Sawtooth Zone over the past 6-7 years.

I shot a bull with that B tag on 10/15 in 2014 that was bugling. I got into a draw with some hot cows and had 4 bulls bugling back and forth to eachother. Was able to sneak in on them quietly.

I don't know if it's a late rut, as I had bulls bugling on 8/30 and 9/8 this year in different spots, 15 miles apart. I don't think the full moon and hot weather is helping. I also noticed that creeks that usually have water in them in some of my spots up high, were 95% dry this month. Drier than I've ever seen. I could barely filter water.

I've gotten into vocal bulls during deer season 10/10 - 10/14 a hand full of times, however in my experience, relying upon vocal bulls after about 10/7 or so is luck. Cows can certainly have some later cycles, but I think that's the exception and those areas are pretty isolated.

spotnstalkID · Sep 25, 2018

I spent the day up there today calling and hoping to get some videoing in. Covered a decent amount of ground, three good sized canyons overall at approx. 6500-7000'. I bugled in an attempt to locate bulls starting at 6:30 this morning up until about 10:30 and never got a single bugle back. Saw two bucks and a single cow elk that we jumped out of her bed the entire day. There was fresh sign EVERYWHERE. The amount of sign around, I was surprised I didn't at least stumble onto something more throughout the day. It was everywhere but literally not a single bugle with a lot of ground covered. And a cow elk by herself at this time of year?? So I don't know... I know the elk were there with the sign but never heard a single bull. Last year in this same place I had an elk bugling opening day of the elk season (Oct. 15th) but never got on him.

SpotnStalkID

HalfAce · Sep 25, 2018

I just got back home in SoCal after spending six day?s solo archery hunting up there.

Brutally dry.

The guys I talked to that have hunted it for years said it's the worst rut they have seen there, ever. A game warden said it's the worst he has seen it in the 5 years he has worked that area. I wouldn't know the difference because this was my first archery season up there.

I hiked 58 miles and did 15,000+ feet elevation gain and came home with my tag intact.

Of the six days hunted, I got into bugling bulls on two of those days. I never saw a bull the first time around. When I got into the bugling the second time around, I got a look at 3 different bulls. I had one opportunity at a 6pt bull at only 25 yards, but one small branch in the lane did me no favors. I tried to get around it and the bull noticed something wasn?t right and took off.

I never saw a dead elk in any camps or in any truck.

Muleyfanatic · Sep 27, 2018

Crazy to think just a couple years ago success was 40% for both archery and rifle in some spots. If you dont mind me asking what unit were you roaming around in?

jetsled · Sep 27, 2018

Never been 40% success, that's an extreme exaggeration for one unit 1 year. Hunted it for 20 years. Some years better than others, but on average (on the good years...pre wolves and after it opened for hunting), it hovers around 20% success rate for archery and 15% success rate for rifle. Very similar to many general uncapped areas. Way to many morons who think because this hunt sells out fast that it must be a slam dunk. Cant tell you how many folks I've met in the past few years that have no idea about the zone and why they got a tag other than it sold out fast so they "got to have it." Mediocre genetics at best, rugged country, and relatively low elk and deer numbers compared to surrounding areas. Beautiful country no doubt, but certainly nothing extra ordinary.

Muleyfanatic · Sep 27, 2018

"Extreme exaggeration" of a solid .6% in 36. Unit 35 and unit 33 were both over 30% success in 2016 as well.

Not saying the tag is worth a controlled hunt application but from what I saw last year deer hunting, seeing a handful of bulls while elk was open made me get wish I had a tag in my pocket.

jetsled · Sep 27, 2018

LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-18 AT 07:51PM (MST)[p]Good luck. Go deep.

twsnow18 · Sep 28, 2018

Not to be negative, but jetsled is pretty spot on.

Many, many empty hillsides in the Sawtooth Zone. Poor deer numbers and habitat in many areas (batholith, etc).

Mediocre bull genetics. Smoky, Lemhi, Pioneer and even some areas in 39 have much cleaner 6x6?s with better tine length.

A lot of raghorns and smaller get killed. Which is fine. The notoriety, history, scenery and the ?want what yah can't have? is why it sells out quickly. IMO, it's not worth a draw application, but it's certainly still a fun general hunt.

Why I hunt it sometimes? Very few tags for how large the zone is! You can go days without seeing a boot track, which is very rare these days.

And if you scout and learn the isolated areas that do hold critters, you can have a great hunt and have the place to yourself. Solitude isn't something I've found in the zones I've mentioned above. I don't think I'll burn an application on the Sawtooth B tag though, when it goes to draw. Not large enough bulls or sheer numbers on average.

jetsled · Sep 28, 2018

Well put tw...I try to keep the negativity low myself, but I think keeping it realistic might give people a better of idea what to expect....and on that note, what not to expect.

GSJ · Sep 28, 2018

LAST EDITED ON Sep-28-18 AT 01:25PM (MST)[p]Jet sled in post number six is spot on. I'm 46 I've hunted that zone since age of 19. My father and his group years before that. Very little has changed up there over the years from my observation...if you bust your ass you will most likely get a chance/kill your bull. If not you won't. I've watched camps come and go I could count the bulls they took on one hand...I've heard all the campfire gripes about wolves and too many hunters blah blah blah. Meanwhile we got three bulls hanging in camp...what F&G is doing with that zone is a sad joke. I literally just spoke with a bio for that area he blames it 100% on population growth in the treasure valley. When those tags were originally capped they blamed it 100% on wolves. Bottom line once they take something away you will never get it back. More of the same is coming from them so we ?might as well get used to it?...

the artist formerly known as "gemstatejake".

Mallards_Only · Sep 29, 2018

Jetsled is spot on based on my observations as well. I've often wondered why these tags sell out so quickly because, in my experience, there are way better places in ID to hunt with better success rates. I haven't been hunting the unit as long as some and perhaps it used to be better. But 40% success??? NO WAY!

Muleyfanatic · Sep 29, 2018

Guess everybody must be lying when they fill out their harvest report and say they killed a bull.

Or sounds like you guys must have had a poor experience because you didn't get into the pockets of animals that are in there.

idhikker · Sep 29, 2018

They explained the Sawtooth zone to a T. There have been a couple of jumps in success rates here and there the past few years but sometimes it dips real low too. It has helped that the tag numbers have been low but don't expect big bulls or a lot of them. The Sawtooth didn't just start randomly getting good the past five years. It's just a popular place to hunt because it's scenic and close to town and as stated people falsely assume demand means quality.

Ex. Unit 34 had high archery rates last year. Well sometimes there archery rate is like 10%. The rifle success rate was low. Success rates fluctuate greatly based on the year, randomness, and how many new hunters hit an area as well as out of state use.

It'll be interesting to see what the Sawtooth controlled hunts are like and how that affects other draw odds and OTC hunts.