Flatlander

What year?

We will also be hunting the 10 rifle lope hunt for my son who is 11. We will be hunting on and off the Bo. My son is over the moon excited, this is the hunt he has always wanted more than any other and he’s got it in just his second year. Should be exciting.

Good price

Hopefully this thread provides a road map for you and others. Its way more do-able than I thought it would be, at least so far.

That pic is rad. What badass way to pack a moose. Did you do any calling on your hunt?

Nope. This is a general hunt. I am kicking around the idea of hunting with my bow as calling is an option and most of the moose encounters I have had were at pretty close range. I am reconciling that in my mind with the fact that the surface ownership is pretty mixed and I could be potentially be trying to capitalize in brief windows when the moose is on accessible land. We will see, but in the meantime I am working on getting both the rifle and the bow set for a moose size opportunity.

Since this tag is once-in-a-lifetime and I will likely never experience this again, I want to share my experience with those who might be interested in following along. For those who do not know, Idaho is a pretty well kept secret when it comes to trophy species. What I mean by that is not that they have a lot of trophy caliber animals, but when it comes to their once-in-a-lifetime species, they have a unique combination of circumstances that keep their draw odds curiously reasonable in a time when point creep, draw strategies and ever-slimming odds are the norm. There are three factors at work here that keep this phenomena intact: First; although Idaho is growing rapidly it is still one of the least densely populated states in the west. Second; There are no bonus points, your odds today are very likely going to be your odds a few years from now. In the ten years since I left Rexburg, the resident draw percentage for this hunt has only reduced from 20% to 18% despite a consistent success rate above 90% and maintaining an average bull spread near 40". Third; Idaho requires applicants to choose to either apply for any one of the three O-I-L species (Moose, Mt Goat, Sheep) or to apply for a limited entry for deer, elk and antelope. Because deer and elk both have OTC general seasons in much of the state residents can be guaranteed plenty of hunting without a special draw, but Idaho is as much mule deer country as it is potato country. So many residents are reluctant to pass up a chance at a rut/migration carp tag to apply for other tags many residents consider a novelty. Just as impressive as the draw odds are the resources that ID has available on their website. Along with harvest data and draw odds there are also interactive unit maps with surface management layers and boundaries. They do a top notch job of making it super easy to research and explore your options, even if you aren't previously acquainted with their regulations and systems. After calling some family and friends, I wasted no time in reaching out to an old friend who was the wildlife manager for this unit when I lived there. It didn't take long to find our that he was still in the area and happy to help get me pointed in the right direction. He even gave me the address of a bull he knew of in the unit. With that connection made its time now to start the process of figuring out gear, times, methods and locations for the hunt. I will likely only get one scouting trip in July, other than that I will be running off of what I can remember from a decade ago and a few dropped pins from my game warden buddy. So if you are interested in seeing how this turns out, check back and I will update the thread with gear prep, e-scouting, and other updates along the way. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and experience if you have any. Thanks for checking in.

I have a buddy who is a dentist. I go to him because he’s straight up and doesn’t try to sell me a bunch of extra work that I don’t really need. I hate dentists that are always telling me I need every filling replaced or some special cleaning or other treatment. His name is Karl Baker and his practice is Ujique Dental. You can tell Him Andrew sent you. He will at least give you an idea of what you are looking at. If it’s an emergency he’ll get you in right away.

Anybody put in for the Idaho Once-In-A-Lifetime draw? I’ve been wanting to hunt moose since college. Finally started applying this year. The odds are better than most archery bull hunts right here in AZ. Crazy. Hopefully draw results soon, I am getting anxious.

I don’t know what Montana’s odds are for moose, but my tag in ID for non-residents runs about 8%. I have the benefit of a lifetime license so I don’t have to contend with the NR cap. For Moose, Sheep, Mt Goat ID’s draw odds are about the best there are. In my experience there are far more moose in the areas of Idaho I have been to than in areas of Montana (I lived in Pocatello and Rexburg, ID and my parents have a summer home in Clancy, MT)

I remember this thread, it actually made me decide to start applying. I had always told my self someday, when I have all the time in the world and the kids don’t have so much going on and this and that. This year I said screw it, it’s time to stop making excuses. I drew unit 64, close to yours, but it’s not a river hunt. It will be dry farms and National Forest. Thanks for posting the pics, I’ll be looking at a lot of those the next few months.

Seem like legit questions to me. I don’t have any spots to share nor would I put them on the internet if I did. But to answer your questions yes there are a ton of tags and yes the hunt can get crowded. But like others have said there are ways to escape it. As far as quality, this is more of a quantity unit than a quality but some big bulls can and do come out every year. My advice would be shoot the first bull that makes him happy. The only other thing I would add is to just try and enjoy the hunt for what it is. Taking a bull is a nice conclusion but the fun is in the hunting. Make the most of it. He didn’t ask for crap from you. There is no need to be a peckerhead. The dude wants to know if it gets crowded with all the tags in the unit and what caliber of bulls to expect. He even goes to the extent of saying HE IS NOT ASKING FOR SPOTS. Seems pretty fair to me. No need to belittle the guy for asking some simple questions.

Bull Moose? What unit?

Can’t believe it. I drew.

Ranching family with land in Holbrook and Queen Creek as well. Bet they are all very proud of this particular branch on the family tree.

I remember this, just had to bust them a little bit.

Brilliant

Dude, aren’t you a little long in the tooth to have a toddler?! free bump

But they already used that bait to get people to sign up for their portal. I am not opposed to a license increase. But I think this could be a compromise and raise funds. I also think it could be fun. It couldn’t stay in its current format, they would need to tailor it to viewership, but if they want more money they need to provide more goods or services.

With AZGFD looking for new ways to create revenue and the next draw coming up I had a thought. How many of you guys would pay to watch the draw process? Or even better what if it was an event like the NFL draft where they had an expo and banquet and made the selection process public? I’d go for sure at least 2x per year.

Couldn’t they do a bunch of it simultaneously instead of one tag at a time? I have to believe they could go through the process of issuing the random numbers and then dividing up the hunts by 1st and second choice relatively quickly. I get it if you don’t like banquets, but it seems logistically possible.

Cool stuff. Thanks for sharing.

It actually might be too perfect for archery tag holders. Lots of water will spread the goats out and they won’t be as reliant on established waterholes. I know, always the pessimist, just starting to think things through. It looks like my 11 year old will be sitting water with a crossbow in unit 10.

Construction faces statutory barriers to entry. I grew up working the trades for cash. It’s the only job I wanted. But OSHA restricts anyone under 18 from working with any power tools, even a 12v drill. That makes it tough to recruit kids into the industry.

The AZGFD starting points are good recommendations. The southern portion of the unit will have higher densities but the northern portion of the unit has some good bulls. Bring glass because a lot of the unit can be glasses from high points which may save you a lot of walking. As far as AZ goes, this is not a trophy unit. Anywhere else in the country it probably would be. Good luck and enjoy.