heading to idaho tomorrow

[Zpd307]

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[Zpd307]

hope you enjoy the pics. we headed out to Idaho with the two families. the wives and 3 of the 5 kids stayed back at the cabin. i took my 2 youngest with so the girls wouldn\'t be stuck in the cabin. the plan was to drive all the way up into the mtn, 5 miles passed the trailhead, which closes up during hunting season. we could then scout a couple of promising drainages that only would have been a couple mile hikes. but, the road was permanently closed 2 miles from the trailhead and there was a killer drop into the canyon. so it would have been an 18 mile hike roundtrip. and it was hot..... the boys, let alone me, wouldn\'t have handled it. we also heard from some locals that the outfitter using the canyon are dicks and like to bully diy hunters. so we checked around the north side of the plan a canyon. we found no new sign. but there was plenty of old sign in various ages. we found some seeps and green grass in some aspen/timber stands. the area looked very elky. we did run into a cow and calf moose. numerous mulies with 1 buck that would go on anyones wall. unfortunately this area has easy access from the road. the new plan is to hunt from camp at the truck. but have our spike camp supplies with if we need to move into the plan a canyon if need be and brave the outfitter if there are hunters at our camp or if the elk are ay back in.
all in all, i am definitely glad to have been able to see the area in person. even though it didn\'t go as planned and i didn\'t get everything accomplished that i wanted. it definitely would have been an eye opener if we would have found this out come hunting season. there were several atv trails that got us lost that were not listed on the trail map.....

 

[cohunter14]

Gary, glad you had a safe trip. It\'s funny, but typically those first scouting trips never do go as planned It\'s good that you were able to make it out there and get a decent feel for everything beforehand. Otherwise, your first day or two of the hunt might have been spent the same way. BTW, I love the pics of you and your sons. I can\'t wait until mine are old enough to be hiking through the woods with me!

 

[Zpd307]

thanks Derek! I feel exactly that same way, on both accounts. I glad my boys are finally old enough to be able to go with, but I still wish they were a bit bigger so we could go farther and faster. but I am getting them started! it is still going to take 3 more years before my oldest can hunt antelope in Wyoming... hes not in the pics as he stayed back with mom and my buddies son, they are bffs... also, I feel that come hunting time, it would have been a cluster f@@@. I looked at ge last night and can actually put the pieces together from what I see on the map and too what we saw while out there...

 

[cohunter14]

Good to hear! GE is very helpful, but even more so when you know what everything really looks like in person, what roads are open, etc.