Idaho Tag dilema

[Elk Fire]

That section of river is not tame at all! There are numerous class 4 rapids in that area, a couple of which you can not cheat.
Also, it would be possible to find some elk from the river, but you will have to climb at least 2,000 vertical to even start the game.
There lots of guys with jet boats in there as well.
I have an archery tag this year and my boy has the rifle tag. And we both have mule deer tags. I have a jet boat, I have hunted this unit a lot, and I am not thinking About coming up from the river.
I have done that 3-4 times for the late xtra cow tags, and that is brutal

 

[JJMoody]

C'mon fellas... cowboy up!!
In all seriousness, if you ain't comfortable with that kind of water, don't "F"with it. Spent a couple weeks about 4 years ago looking for 2 buddies who wanted a challenging bear hunt on the Salmon. Granted, they were in a canoe in the spring, but people can die quick experienced or not. If it shakes out, give em both a go, be smart and prepare.

 

[BULLBLASTER]

You don't have to hunt from the river in that unit. Like said it will severely limit your huntable area and you will need to climb 2000+ feet up to where the elk are.

 

[skookum]

Good to know guys thank you. No river trips for this guy. I can't wait to get down there and get boots on the ground.

 

[wboregon]

I don't know much about Idaho, but I will say this. Unit 18 is right there on the border with Oregon, and I believe is part of the wallowa-Whitman national forest. I believe Oregon Snake & Imnaha units on the other side of the state line. This IS GREAT elk country. But the elk are under serious pressure from both hunters and wolves. Prepare to go DEEP and STEEP. I hunted the Minam unit last year for first season rifle elk and saw nothing but many month old sign. the elk there don't come out of the deep stuff until the snow comes down, so if you hunt lines up with the first heavy snows you might luck out. other than that if its warm and dry then get your self a horse team and head away from any roads MANY miles.

This was where we unfortunately ended our Minam hunt last year after giving up on the deep back country. was pretty low pressure as the road in was pretty insane and the other side was gated private property. The lower elevation stuff was a serious zoo, I've never seen 100s of people camping next to each other hoping to hunt something before...