Idaho OTC desert terrain

[970_lly]

Long story short, I only ended up with one mule deer tag this year and wasn?t able to find a bull of my liking on my elk hunt in CO. So I'm now looking at a last minute trip to Idaho. My only question is what units should I be looking at if I want to hunt more ?desert? terrain such as sage brush, pi?on, juniper, cedar, oak brush type terrain. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Comules]

You might look at the area around Jackpot south of Twin Falls, I haven't hunted it in years but the year I did hunt there I killed a very good buck. Someone will probably chime in and say yes it's good or no it's not but like I said it has been years since I hunted that area. Also use to hunt out of Afton Wy but on the Idaho side also was good years ago.

 

[IdahoInfidel]

>You might look at the area
>around Jackpot south of Twin
>Falls, I haven't hunted it
>in years but the year
>I did hunt there I
>killed a very good buck.
>Someone will probably chime in
>and say yes it's good
>or no it's not but
>like I said it has
>been years since I hunted
>that area. Also use to
>hunt out of Afton Wy
>but on the Idaho side
>also was good years ago.
>


South of Twin Falls is all controlled hunts. I'd look toward the eastern part of the state.

 

[backcountryID]

By the wording of your post, it does not sound like you have an Idaho tag at this time.

I believe all non-res deer tags, including whitetail, are sold out, so you might want to call Fish and Game before spending the effort to get here.

 

[Outdoordan]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-21-19 AT 09:16AM (MST)[p]Yep, that area south of Twin is draw tags and has been for as long as I can remember.

 

[970_lly]

>By the wording of your post,
>it does not sound like
>you have an Idaho tag
>at this time.
>
>I believe all non-res deer tags,
>including whitetail, are sold out,
>so you might want to
>call Fish and Game before
>spending the effort to get
>here.


Yes I found that out after some more research. For some reason I didn't realize there were a limited amount of otc tags. Either way this post will help me plan for next year as I have wanted to hunt Idaho for a while.

 

[CactusPepper]

Some of the OTC units in Idaho are slim pickings. If I had a year to prepare that would be near the bottom of my list.

 

[Outdoordan]

Why do you think that Cactus?

 

[IdahoInfidel]

>Some of the OTC units in
>Idaho are slim pickings. If
>I had a year to
>prepare that would be near
>the bottom of my list.
>


I agree hunting Idaho is always the bottom of my list. Deer are few and far between. Definitely would look elsewhere.

 

[CactusPepper]

We hunted Idaho last year. I'll never go back. My gripe is aimed at Idaho Game and Fish. They have excellent resources but seem to put the almighty dollar first. Before what's best for herds and hunters. Plenty of Idaho residents I encountered felt the same. In fact, I commented on a buck in a bar and the bartender said that was from a different era. There's big bucks I'm sure. I'm spoiled in Arizona.

 

[CactusPepper]

In my opinion, you should consider applying for Arizona unit 12A early archery. That's a pretty easy tag to draw even for nonresident hunters. And you'll get stalks on the biggest bucks of your life. The area is thick with mule deer. The only downside is you have to hunt with archery equipment. I'm an old school rifle hunter and that's what I still prefer. However, I would rather chase huge bucks in mass quantities with a bow than experience a subpar rifle hunt.

 

[Outdoordan]

We've killed these 2 last week, and saw a monster (I took my buddy out and second one is my daughters). That's 2 bucks in 4 days. I am looking for something special and it will get better end of season. Fact is, Idaho is steep and hard hunting. Most people just can't handle 2000' vert climbs every day. There is also a steep learning curve to figuring out these mountain deer.

12A is good, I hunted it a couple times when it was OTC. I also know it take 5+ years to draw, meanwhile that's 5 years of hunting in Idaho.

 

[X7ahunter]

Jackpot is in Nevada, but along the border you can turn up a decent buck.

 

[Coyote_chaser]

Deer densities in Idaho are horrible. I live here and dont spend much time worrying about deer. Elk hunting is off the charts.

 

[Gpaw]

I could not resist commenting on this thread. I have hunted
Idaho deer since 1989, every year. Deer hunting in Idaho used to be very good. I want to say phenomenal. By the late 90's, it was over. Did not think it could continue to get worse, but it has.
IDFG, I believe is the biggest threat to deer herds in Idaho. It's either that or Sasquatch. (Yes, I believe in Sasquatch, and he believes in me, but I digress.)
I asked a biologist once about the deer here and he told me that deer are just looking for a reason to die. I think this attitude is part of the problem. I remember as a kid winters that were a lot more severe than they are now, and the deer did well. We had huge deer.
I can show you world class mule deer habitat in SE Idaho with hardly a deer track in it.

I believe IDFG is managing their state for elk and really don't give a hoot about deer. If they survive and thrive, great, but they are not going to get serious about deer. I was told to put in for a late hunt if I wanted to hunt a big deer. I see the chance for drawing that particular hunt has gone UP TO 2% in 2019 because, I am sure, people have given up.
I know I have.