Caribou Gear

Seeking backpack hunt advice for Nov Frank Church Wilderness

Joined
Jul 15, 2015
Messages
35
Location
SW Montana
Hey fellow HuntTalkers, I am graduating from college this year and am rewarding myself with a solo backpack hunt for elk and mule deer in Idaho unit 27 from November 3-18. I plan on flying in to one of the airstrips in the unit, but I am trying to decide which one would be conducive to backpack hunting (from a main basecamp at the airstrip) while at the same time putting me in a good area to target mule deer during this time of year. Having never been there before I have no idea about which airstrip would be best for a November mule deer hunt, and since this is probably a once in a lifetime hunt I want to make an informed decision. I cannot afford a drop camp so I am trying to reach out to people who may have some knowledge to share with me.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and I would be more than happy to return the favor by offering any advice I can on hunting in my home state here in Oregon.

P.S. if anyone else has dreamed of hunting the Frank Church and wants to join me for part of the time I would more than welcome the extra set of eyes and help planning my hunt!

Thanks in advance!
 
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I too will be new to Frank Church this year. My son 17 and younger daughters are planning to explore the area, and maybe bring home a trophy or two. I do think I am getting a little over my head though. Everything I have read, tells me that there isn't enough game, that game is spread out, and that you can't travel very far off the trail on foot. Yet, I think this is the exact kind of challenge we need. I am over weight, had a wreck on a horse last year that I am still only 50% back from, but again, this is what I think I need. I put my son in for the one Bull Moose tag in 27, hope he wins it.

We are not going there to successfully kill everything, we are going there for the experience what the Church will give us.

I would like to stay in touch and share plans with you if you would like. It would be fun to share the experience with others who are actually hunting in there. So if you would like to do this, message me, and we can keep in touch.

We do have horses, but again like I said, I have a lot of work to be ready for September. I have dropped 32 lbs since Mid-February, and am back in the gym for the first time in a year. Actually, tomorrow will be the year anniversary for my loosing battle with the underside of a bucking 1200 lb horse. With all this said, I think this place is worth committing a Sportsman's Package to. We will have our wolf, bear, mule, elk and hopefully one moose tag(s) dedicated to this zone.

As far as the experience goes, I haven't read anything yet that says how bad it was for other hunters, only advice on how the writer wouldn't recommend this area because it big and steep. I wonder if that is because they want to keep it secret;) To be honest, I know what it is like to hunting steep and big in Idaho, but I do think this is even bigger. Our usual stomping grounds are 30, 30a, 64, 66, 66a, 69 and 67. So we know what it is like to hunt in the goats. However, I think hiking a mile down one mountain and a mile up another to sneak in on a bedded anything will wipe out twice the man I am. This sounds fun to me.
 

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