Best public land for DIY elk in Idaho

[Stalker1881]

Hi everyone,

This my first post and I am new to Elk hunting, the questions I have are where is the best areas to hunt for elk during Archery in Idaho and oregon on public land for a DIY backcountry hunt. I am a seasoned Archer and Deer hunter but I want to start Elk hunting and these are the two states i,m looking to hunt.


Thanks!

[POk3s]

Good luck . Nobody is going to give you "their" areas. Do some research and try to figure it out yourself like most everybody has. Again, Good Luck!

[Lefty]

Maybe I can help. But you need to use your definitions.
So far you have a few answers, which states, public land, DIY.

However "best" is your definition,
What is your definition of back country? wilderness designation? or somewhere it is too far to walk in and out and hunt in a day. Or a drop site from a few days horse pack, or a plane drop?
Is" best" an opportunity to experience a back county camp and hunt? or is best a chance to kill a bull? Get in and work elk? A chance to kill any elk?
How many days ?
I know if I had 7-10 days "best" would be defined differently than 16-20 days.

Check out the draw odds at the top right of the page, that might be a start With all that said I need only one elk a year.
I would start by deciding how far in I want to go, looking at wilderness areas from each state before looking at kill statistics,..
How do I want to hunt, I hunt turkeys in an area that I go up and down 1000 feet 2-4 times in a day, Are you willing to hunt elk where you may need to change elevation 2000, 3000 feet once, twice maybe three times a day?

[zpd307]

Idaho has an awesome web site with a ton of info. I picked my spot because of it. they have hunter density and success rates listed per unit. figure out how you want to hunt first and go from there. higher hunter density equals easier access. when you find a unit with lower hunter density, chances are its a rough unit to hunt. correlate a unit with google earth to give you an idea what you are getting into.