Newbie from Texas

[smokingunz]

Hey Guys,
I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Jeff. I'm from Texas. I've been hunting just about everything there is to hunt in Texas for 30+ years. I really enjoy bow hunting and this year will be my first year to try my luck at hunting Elk. I'm leaving Thursday to head to the Idaho panhandle. I can't wait to get out there. I'm going with a cousin and one of his friends that have hunted the last few years in unit 4a in Idaho. We noticed about a week ago that most all of 4a is shut down because of the wildfires. Go figure. Just my luck!!! So now it looks like we will just have to go up there and wing it. We will probably spend our first day just driving around looking at differnt areas in hopes of finding a descent place to setup. I'm not very optimistic. It seems more and more like it is going to endup being an expensive camping trip. None the less it will just be great to get out of this Texas heat for a week or so.
I've been reading in your forum and watching elknut's videos for the last few months and have learned a great deal from you guys. I really appreciate all the information yall have posted. If anyone has any info about the Idaho panhandle they would like to share shoot me a pm. Thanks guys and good luck to you this season. God Bless - Jeff

[ElkNut1]

Jeff, welcome to the forum sir! Great to have you! It's nothing new to see Idaho wildfires, they burn here every year, it's sorta expected these days! Have you studied the intended areas to hunt via Topo maps? If not get the 1-24000 USGS UTM Grid maps, they are the best for ground navigation & can really help quickly to locate potential areas that hold elk. Have a plan! Good luck!

ElkNut1

[smokingunz]

I have the trimble outdoors 24k gps maps on my phone and have been checking out google earth. Im out of time to order maps. I figured I would try to stop somewhere in Idaho and pickup some hard copies. Are the USGS maps available in stores? We are thinking about looking in unit 1 east of lake priest and also north east of lake pend oreille. Thanks for your help elknut.