Hunting unit 43

B

bradjcar91

Guest
Hey everyone, I got stationed mountain home air force base last year and couldn't hunt last year but I am about to hit it as hard as I can. I am looking into hunting unit 43 but I just can't seem to find where they are. I'm not looking for your honey holes just more of a good starting point. I know that house mountain get hunted hard every year and i would prefer to stay away from the more crowded areas. i will be hunting general season. I come from arkansas so hunting the mountain is really new to me so any advice yall could give would be welcome with open arms. Thanks in advance!!
 
First off, thanks for your service, and i know MtHome AFB is not on every bodies wish list!!!
I can't help you on 43, but for sure there are deer in the unit. having been raised in Idaho, in that area, I know it's not what it used to be. But that is the same for the whole west. IF you have the time to spend, and can look at all parts of the unit, you will find a few. Don't give up because you don't see them right off. Especially right now, with the heat and full moon.
I wish you luck. Most of the fun is seeing new country.
I'm a 20yr AF vet myself. It was a long 20, but sure worth it in the long run!!
 
Hunted it quite a bit and will be there for opener. I love the country but the hunting is not that great anymore. I use it as a back up plan when I dont draw anything, more of a fun hunt for me that a serious trophy hunt. I have had ok success on 24"-26" bucks but most i see hanging in camps are much smaller. Have you expectations set correct if you are looking for an ok four point get up high and glass as much as possible but if your looking for a 160" or better buck good luck. We do kill a few but there just are not that many. Dont really have a honey hole i just glass as much as I can til I find one I like and some times I dont find one I want in a week of hunting.
 
hey thanks for the info. i am not looking for anything to crazy as i want to learn how to hunt the mountain ranges. i like i said i am a flat lander so glassing is new to me. you wouldn't happen to know how trinity mountain is looking right now do you....i believe that is area 39?
 
I want to thank you for your service as well. i am really looking forward to just getting out there and exploring. my hunting buddy and i are going to hike in and camp opening weekend and hopefully get on them at first light.
 
Being several miles from any road or pack trail at first light is huge. Be up high but stay off the sky line. you don't have to go 6 miles in but at least two gets you away from most hunters. Look at maps and google earth and find holes away from trails and roads. The steeper the better. Wolves and people don't like the steep stuff. But be careful on the rock slides. Don't forget to look around at the beautiful world when you are up there.

DZ
 
"High" is really relative to where you are at, but generally speaking 7000 ft + is a good start in unit 43. However, that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be at that elevation to find deer. There are deer all over that unit, you just have to put in the effort to find them.

Wherever you are at, just find a point that gives you a good vantage of a lot of country and glass away.

Good luck.
 
The deer are somewhat hard to spot this time of year because their hide blends in with the vegetation. Take your time and glass and you will find deer anywhere in the unit like others have said. Good luck!
 
Is it true that the deer bail out of 43 soon after the shooting starts and head to 44 because it is controlled hunts only? That is what the biologist for that area tried to tell me when talking to him this week.
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-04-15 AT 12:23PM (MST)[p]I am sure that some do but obviously not all of them. 43 is a large unit and to think that the smart bucks all go on a migration to 44 is crazy. If that were the case you could sit on a trail and watch deer pass you all day long heading towards 44. 43 does get quite a bit of hunting pressure. There are people cruising on 4 wheelers everywhere. If you want a buck you better be in there a few miles on a glassing point the first and last 30 minutes of light.
 
so me an my roommate hiked it a little over a mile camped and then hike further in the morning opening weekend. We saw so many does it wasnt even funny. we only saw one buck just didnt have time to get a shot on him. i guess it just wasnt our weekend. going back out this weekend same spot and see if we can catch a buck or 2 moving through. just thought i would keep yall updated on how things were going with my first idaho hunting experince
 
So here is another update. I officially had the worst hunting experience of my life on Sunday. We hiked up to the top of my ridge that i had been hunting. it was just barely light enough to see. I turned to my right and about 35 yards there was a Spike standing there looking at us, but before i could realize it was a spike it took off. we followed it for a little bit but deer can get around alot better than i can so we head back to the top of the ridge and walk it for about 5 mins when my hunting partner spooked up 3 more bucks with one of them being the biggest deer i have seen in a long time. the shot opportunity i got from him was a 216 quartering away shot while he doing that mule deer bouncing up and down #####. I didnt even try to make the shot cause i would have rather have not injured it and never see it again then risk getting a clean kill. So my question do mule deer come back to an area if they have been spooked up?
 
It's always an awesome day of hunting when you see bucks. I like your hunting ethics. I think a worse day would be tracking a wounded buck ridge over ridge.
 
It's hunting and not killing, so you had a good hunt in my opinion since you saw some deer and especially bucks. Any day in the mountains is a blessing. And I agree...you did the ethical thing, no shot opportunity so no reason to try and shoot. I also admire that. Keep at it and eventually it will all come together and you will connect and harvest a good animal. Hard to say it that particular buck will be back but at least you found an area where they spend time.
 
The hunter in me keeps telling myself i did the right thing but the kid (24) in me keeps telling myself i should have at least tried a shot. But i was raised that you get rewarded if you practice patience. So I am headed back out weds morning and see if i can catch them again. i do feel like i am getting good experience out of all this and that if it doesnt happen this year that i will get it done next year. I do have to say hunting up here without my cornfields from back home is alot harder. thanks again for all the help and support. i hope that one day i can return the favor!! I'll keep y'all updated on how the rest of my season goes!! thanks again
 
You saw game & sounds like u had fun sounds like a Successful hunt !! I was in 43 this past weekend as well HOLY CRAP I have never seen so many fricking road hunters !! we usually go in from a different area . But were told about another big canyon to check out !! motorcycles 4 wheelers trucks on Every single road & side road . we hiked in about a mile & had guys on motorcycles blow past us . we did get one nice 4 point that was the Only mature buck we saw .. Pretty sad out of over 60 camps we saw 3 animals hanging !!! only heard a few shots all weekend .
 
>You saw game & sounds like
>u had fun sounds like
>a Successful hunt !!
> I was in 43
>this past weekend as well
>HOLY CRAP I have
>never seen so many fricking
>road hunters !! we
>usually go in from a
>different area . But were
>told about another big canyon
>to check out !! motorcycles
>4 wheelers trucks on Every
>single road & side road
>. we hiked in about
>a mile & had guys
>on motorcycles blow past us
>. we did get
>one nice 4 point that
>was the Only mature buck
>we saw .. Pretty sad
> out of over 60
>camps we saw 3 animals
>hanging !!! only heard
>a few shots all weekend
>.

Interesting. I was in that unit Sunday passing through and there were deer hanging in over half of the camps (most looked like forkies). You must be in the wrong areas, actually I know you are, considering how many road hunters your seeing. I heard plenty of shots as well down low.

Kinda funny how every time I go out, regardless of the unit, I literally see the mirror opposite of the comments I read on here. LOL And I'm not that great at glassing, nor have even close to all of the honey holes figured out.
 
yes Funny indeed I was up out of Pine & there were literally camps every where . we saw a total of 3 maybe 4 hanging we did see 2 guys on 4 wheelers one had a 3x2 the other was a small 4 point we ran into the fish cope & there said the same thing lots of does & forkies . they also said they were seeing more animals being taken down Low !!!
 
I was also in 43. I saw a lot more guys with motorcycles in there this year then in years passed. Seems like everyone with a bike was there. Pine ws full of hunters and every campground was full. As far as deer success, I have no idea. I saw one decent 4 point packing out and one hanging in a camp but I was not looking that hard.

I heard from some guys that I consider to be exceptional hunters, and have hunted the area for 30 years. They said it was slow. I think the warm weather had a major impact.


Mike Henne
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-28-15 AT 02:47PM (MST)[p]We were hunting 43 and once that weather hit and cooled down the deer were moving a lot. Saying that we had to go at least 2 miles from the trailhead to start seeing a lot of deer. We put down 2 bucks on the morning of the 18th. There were 8 bucks total in the canyon we were hunting that morning.
 
Good for you guys. I know they are there. I just had a bad time. Went alone and just could not get too into it. Glad you were successful.

Mike Henne
 

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