unit 33,34 and 35 idaho deer

[mdbrown]

i drew a units 33,34 and parts of 35 , the lowman, garden valley area. its a muzzleloader hunt. november 10 -30 th. anyone know the buck potental of the area that time of year? i live 1 1/2 hr drive north so ill get in some serious scouting time. im just wondering how big of buck should i hold out for in this area. thanks. Larry

 

[SwitchbackMuley]

Had two buddies draw that tag last year and tagged a 186" buck. I'd say a killing 170" buck is definitely doable in that area. I drew the muzzleloader elk hunt up there for the same time this year. The only reason I would scout that area is to learn the terrain and find good areas because the deer don't show up until we get some weather. Not too many resident animals, they winter down there in 33 and 35 after the snow pushes them down. Pray for a big storm to push those bucks down low. I would personally concentrate closer to Lowman myself.

 

[mdbrown]

switchbackmuley
im planning on hunting there the first 5 days of the season , then the last 10 days also. maybe we should keep track of each other while were there. im sure ill see all of the elk and you will be into the big bucks. did your friends see quite a few deer? any more in the same class as the one he got?

 

[huntnrich]

I had the tag a years ago. It was awesome, but it is totally controlled by the weather. We've had it several times, and if the weather is good with no snow, there's nothing there. No resident bucks. The bucks there have awesome genes. There horns are real tall, and heavy and dark brown. Beautiful bucks there. The hills are steep, but when there rutting, there right off the roads. I hope you have an awesome hunt. Pray for snow!

Rich

 

[SwitchbackMuley]

Md
Said they got on six bucks above 170. I heard the same thing as was just stated-- the animals tend to be right of the highway most of the time. I've seen guys glassing drainages from the shoulder of the road before heading up after animals. We should definitely touch base sometime during that hunt. My co-worker has the buck tag too and he's going to be giving me updates as well on where he's seeing elk. Hopefully passing around some info will help us all out.