Advice on Hunting Idaho

remington77 · Mar 17, 2005

Three of us are planning on rifle hunting mule deer in the Salmon ,Idaho area this fall. Any advice would be much appreciated .

wehunt · Mar 17, 2005

I hunted on the salmon, just below cottonwood three years in a row. Seen more big rattlesnakes then I did big bucks. I have friends that hunt the snake just south of where I was and they have shot a couple of decent 26" bucks. One of the largest non typicals from Idaho was found dead in this area years ago, I've had my hands on it and it is a great buck.
Good Luck.

idhunters · Mar 17, 2005

I think your going to have a hard time finding a mature mule deer buck in that area. The whitetail hunting is much better but that is mostly private land. Unless you are going elk hunting and just want to pack a deer tag there are better areas for deer hunting. Check out the IDFG website for harvest stats on each unit.

spotnstalkID · Mar 18, 2005

Ditto on the above post. Much better areas for muleys than the salmon area. Not that they aren't there, but if that is what you are after there are much better areas to look for them.

Jaxon

OutdoorsChick · Mar 18, 2005

Hmmm... Well Robert and I were thinking about hunting there, but we keep hearing how bad it is..Guess we are not hunting salmon area

Bob D. · Mar 18, 2005

I think it can be a good area for elk though.

IDkTm · Mar 18, 2005

I think there are two different Salmons being discussed here. The main salmon river area, which would be the area below Cottonwood as referenced in a reply and the town of Salmon, ID. Correct? Seems to be some confusion.

remington77 · Mar 18, 2005

I believe you are correct. I am wanting to hunt south of the city of Salmon . Unit 30 &30A. Not looking to kill a new record. Just want to have a good self-guided hunt with a chance to take a decent mule deer.

wehunt · Mar 19, 2005

I have also hunted south of Salmon, in the elk bend area. The year after the bad winter kill in south idaho we went to salmon, looking for new area that didn't have a bad winter kill the season before. What we found was great hunting, opening morning I shot a 30" 4x5 and my hunting pals all got decent bucks. That first trip there, we were hearing people talking about the wolfs they were releasing in the area and one of my hunting partners seen two wolfs that trip. Well I never went back to that area but two of my friends did and within about five years the deer, elk and antelope herds were all gone. As soon as the feds turn the wolf management over to the state this would be a great place to get your wolf.