A coupe of Idaho bucks.

[MountainHunter]

I thought some might enjoy seeing pictures of bucks taken by friends of mine in Idaho. Most every year I rifle hunt in Idaho (unguided). My friend and I didn’t go this year because of Covid and having to quarantine upon coming back home. Unfortunately we ended up eating our non resident license and non resident whitetail tag costs, although we are hopeful for a partial refund.

[LouieM]

sounds like an awesome trip! Great bucks.  My best friend growing up lives in Northern Idaho now.  He doesn't hunt but interested and I was thinking of planning a trip. What style of hunting are you doing out there? Spot and stalk hunting, still hunting, stand hunting? 

[DXT]

Nice bucks! I gotta get out there sometime.

[jdbbowhunter]

Very nice deer!

[MountainHunter]

sounds like an awesome trip! Great bucks.  My best friend growing up lives in Northern Idaho now.  He doesn't hunt but interested and I was thinking of planning a trip. What style of hunting are you doing out there? Spot and stalk hunting, still hunting, stand hunting?

Northern Idaho is rugged and beautiful. The hunting is not as good as it was years ago because of wolves and because of over harvesting. It is hard to go out there cold and to be successful. It can be done of course but if attempted I would suggest as long a trip as you think you can comfortably take. I have been hunting out there since the mid 1990's. Ron's cousin has also hunted out there for many years, I am not sure if he still does. We had met up with he and his son for dinner out there a couple of times. Where he hunted and we hunted was about 45 minutes apart.
We hunt the woods/mountains out there and we will stand hunt or still hunt. There are plenty of clear cuts if someone wants to sit on a clear cut and glass for hours. I don't prefer to hunt that way.
We are on foot so we try hard to get to where it isn't easy access for ATV's. With some of the changes that are occurring out there in regard to non resident tag availability we may try to find a new area to travel to. There are other areas to travel to where the likelihood of very good bucks is better. We have continued to go there because of the friendships we have made and the familiarity we have with a decent amount of hunting area out there.

[Walnuts]

What area of Idaho?

[MountainHunter]

What area of Idaho?

The Panhandle.

[Yotehntr]

Both beauties, bottom one is slammer. I visited Idaho once, would love to go back.

[WEM144]

Great bucks

[walkabout]

Nice deer.. Rick didnt go this year for the first time in over 20 years.. Ive been there once with him waiting for him to invite me back

[LouieM]

sounds like an awesome trip! Great bucks.  My best friend growing up lives in Northern Idaho now.  He doesn't hunt but interested and I was thinking of planning a trip. What style of hunting are you doing out there? Spot and stalk hunting, still hunting, stand hunting?

Northern Idaho is rugged and beautiful. The hunting is not as good as it was years ago because of wolves and because of over harvesting. It is hard to go out there cold and to be successful. It can be done of course but if attempted I would suggest as long a trip as you think you can comfortably take. I have been hunting out there since the mid 1990's. Ron's cousin has also hunted out there for many years, I am not sure if he still does. We had met up with he and his son for dinner out there a couple of times. Where he hunted and we hunted was about 45 minutes apart.
We hunt the woods/mountains out there and we will stand hunt or still hunt. There are plenty of clear cuts if someone wants to sit on a clear cut and glass for hours. I don't prefer to hunt that way.
We are on foot so we try hard to get to where it isn't easy access for ATV's. With some of the changes that are occurring out there in regard to non resident tag availability we may try to find a new area to travel to. There are other areas to travel to where the likelihood of very good bucks is better. We have continued to go there because of the friendships we have made and the familiarity we have with a decent amount of hunting area out there.

Sounds like a great time, thanks for the response! I am definitely willing to put the work in, been brainstorming hunting plans for the future whether it be out west or up north.  May pull the trigger on a guided Maine Deer hunt for next year.  I really want to learn the ways of the Big Woods trackers in the snow and be able to utilize that knowledge for future seasons

[MountainHunter]

There is a lot that is going on out there now in regard to their perception of non resident hunters and what their Fish & Game department is doing to respond to the expressed concerns of the Idaho residents who are hunters. The sense that I have is that they are making non resident hunters scapegoats for the decline in the quality of their hunting. There are a lot of contributing factors such as the economic/money piece as non resident hunters drive a lot more revenue into the Fish & Game coffers than residents do and they take a lot less game than the residents do. The non resident hunters also drive a lot of money into the local economies out there. There is some complexity to it all but bottom line is that resident sentiment has gotten to the point where Fish & Game is responding by raising non resident license and tag costs and they are restricting how many non resident tags can be purchased in each individual Game unit.
It used to be you could wait until you went out there to buy your license and tag, not that I would ever risk that they hadn't sold out but for years they didn't sell out. They also permitted you to buy a second tag after a certain date if the non resident tags hadn't sold out.
So between not managing well and the explosion in the wolf population the quality of the hunting really dropped. What they are doing now will in time really improve the quality of the hunting but the downside is that the ability of a non resident to buy a tag will get harder and harder. I knew about the changes that were coming this year and I knew that I needed to buy my license and tag on the day they became available. It isn't great to have to confine my hunting to one unit, so I am not very happy about that and the unit that I selected sold out their non resident tags for whitetails in two days. I guarantee there will be a lot of non resident hunters on the outside looking in this coming year because they didn't know about the changes that were occurring.
For people like ourselves or Ron's cousin Rick who have hunted out there for decades in really stinks because I anticipate that it will become harder and harder to count on getting your tag each year. Or the tag in the unit you have many years experience hunting.

[goodorbit]

I am definitely willing to put the work in,,,,

Just remember, our mountains are molehills out there! Great time but definitely expect a requirement for a higher level of physical fitness. And like MtnHntr says it's getting harder to get tags. Sucks to be standing in the counter and hear "Elk tags are sold out"   

[RD&SONS]

I’ve been doing a self guided deer hunt in Idaho for over twenty years. l have taken my boys since they were twelve up to when they graduated from high school.  We would setup a wall tent and stay and sleep under the stars for as long as fourteen days. Now they have moved on and are doing their  own thing. Boy does time fly by. My older son lives in Michigan and works in the ER at University of Michigan as a RN Charge nurse . My youngest son did five years in the Air Force and now started his own business RRD Lawn & Landscape and next year he is heading out to Idaho to do a self guided   bow elk hunt with his friend. The only advice I can give anyone on this website is to beg, borrow and steal 😂 some how save up money and go hunt out west.  Don’t wait until you retire! Do it while you are young!! I can guarantee it would be a hunt of a lifetime. I now have been taking my friend and his boy since he was twelve, he is now fourteen and we we will be going this year. When I first started going to Idaho  I use to buy my tags when I got there, now you can’t wait, you need to buy them the year before you go. On December 1st all tags for non-residents  go on sale and now your tag is only good for one area. They sold out in a day and half. Things are changing every year. If you should go, do your homework!!! It will pay off !  Good luck!