Idaho Elk, Mule Deer and Black Bear Blog

One Door Opens, Another One Closes

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 10:00:00 GMT

It’s that time of year again when most states big game draw results are out and, as usual, most people statistically draw the proverbial “lump of coal”. As mentioned in another blog, Idaho’s application season ends this week, so there is still one more chance to draw a coveted tag in some “trophy” areas.

Or you could reach out to an outfitter…an Idaho outfitter specifically, who has guaranteed tags, purchase a hunt with them and actually go hunting this year verses sitting on the couch another year, “waiting to draw” a tag.

To be clear, are these “trophy” areas? Possibly not in the realm of Fish and Game modeling, but any place you can actually get out and hunt in the west, A) can produce a trophy; B) hunting itself is the goal more so than a trophy; and C) beats the heck out of NOT hunting!

All that blather leads me up to the point of this conversation. We had a cancellation on one of our most popular hunts in Castle Creek Outfitters allowing for room for 4 hunters opening week of our combo hunt (deer, elk, and bear) in unit 28. The dates for this hunt are October 14 – 20, 2025.

This is a horseback hunt with a drive in camp, so typical weight restrictions on what to bring are negated because of the drive in aspect, but most all the hunting the week you are there is done from horseback. Now, most people believe that horseback hunts are less physically demanding and nothing could be further from the truth. If you don’t believe me, step up on a chair about 20 times today and see if you can still walk tomorrow.

Horseback hunts are physically demanding, but also very rewarding in the shear tradition of a horseback hunt from wall tent camp. It is the essence of elk hunting in the west in my mind.

So, if you haven’t drawn that coveted tag, and still have 1 to 3 additional guys (hunts are 2 hunters:1 guide ratio) that are willing to spend a week with you in the back country, contact us and see if a horseback combo hunt may be right for you this year!

Happy hunting, and as always, remember to take a kid hunting with you!

Controlled Hunt Results Got You Down?

Fri, 15 May 2020 05:00:00 GMT

The results for controlled hunts are out for most western states now, or they will be shortly. Hunters are either jumping up and down in exultation that they drew their coveted tag, or they’re staring out the window with a long face because they ended up with a chunk of coal in their stocking. There’s still time to apply for great hunts however, in the 2 states that hold out the longest with their application deadline—Wyoming and Idaho; Wyoming’s deadline being June 1st, for deer and pronghorn, and Idaho’s deadline being June 5th, for elk, deer, and pronghorn.

Castle Creek Outfitters operates in Unit 28, where there is an excellent, late-season, controlled-hunt for mule deer, which runs all the way through the rut in November (Hunt 1018). There are only 5 tags available however, and competition is fierce. There are no controlled-hunt, elk tags for Unit 28 (Salmon B), as they are sold over the counter; however, nonresident elk tags for Salmon B sold out this year in just 3 days (Dec. 1–3, 2019), and resident tags sold out within a week of that. Castle Creek Outfitters still has some “outfitter allocated” elk tags left for Salmon B, which are obtainable directly from the outfitter. These tags offer the opportunity for a great hunt, without having to roll the dice for a tag.

Good hunting,

Joe Cavanaugh

Castle Creek Outfitters Welcomes Joe Cavanaugh: Our New Blog Writer

Wed, 08 Apr 2020 05:00:00 GMT

If you hadn’t already noticed, Joe’s been writing our blogs since the January 31st post. Cavanaugh comes to us with a wide range of experience in the outdoors, and he’s also a graduate of Boise State University, with a BA in English/writing. He worked professionally as a copywriter for Bass Pro Shops before joining us, and his book The Jungle Hunter was published by Safari Press in 2000 (now out of print). Cavanaugh started guiding big game hunts in Idaho in 2013, and he will be guiding for Castle Creek Outfitters and Wild Idaho Outfitters this year, full time.

Cavanaugh’s hunting experience started in the north woods of Minnesota, hunting whitetail bucks and black bear. At the age of 20, he traveled to Central America where local hunters introduced him to hunting in the jungle. He expanded his range to the jungles of South America, where he organized a series of DIY hunting trips, always in the company of local market hunters, Indians, or cowboys, into some of the largest expanses of wilderness left on Earth. These DIY hunts resulted in taking 3 jaguars, numerous tapirs, all 3 species of peccary, 5 species of South American deer, water buffalo, and numerous species of birds and medium-size game that most people would only see in zoos.

During the 1980s, Cavanaugh embedded with the Guatemalan Army as a photojournalist in the mountains of Quiche province. He also lived in an Indian village in Eastern Bolivia for 3 years, where he fished for the local market; and later he worked as a fishing guide in the same area. In Bolivia he survived a severe case of malaria, which took him 10 years to recover from. The bushcraft and survival skills Cavanaugh has picked up along the way would be difficult to match.

Joe Cavanaugh did not grow-up hunting the West—he came here as an adult and started from scratch. Since then he’s learned the terrain, the habitats of our game animals, and the license/tag process. George McQuiston, owner of Wild Idaho Outfitters and co-owner of Castle Creek Outfitters, met Cavanaugh in a remote corner of the Frank Church Wilderness, where he had backpacked in all alone and shot a bull. We’re sure Cavanaugh’s insight on going West and learning to hunt new species in new habitats will be beneficial to all our readers. Cavanaugh offers practical advice, based on years of hands-on experience. He values woodsmanship and an understanding of nature over high-tech equipment. Castle Creek Outfitters hopes you enjoy reading Cavanaugh’s blog posts, and that his advice helps you enhance your hunting success.

Good hunting,
Castle Creek staff

Analyzing Controlled-Hunt Statistics: Priorities First

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 10:00:00 GMT

We’re well into controlled-hunt application season throughout most of the West. If you’re not already analyzing harvest statistics, draw odds, and overall scores and ratings on specific game units and seasons, you still have time to start. Facets that figure into the equation of best-choice-in-tags to apply for include: potential trophy quality; past success rates; hunting pressure; difficulty of terrain; accessibility of accommodations; and of course—draw odds. The place to start is to first analyze what you consider the most important components of a quality hunt, and rate them according to your personal priorities. Look for a realistic balance of what you consider most important for a good hunt and tag availability.

State fish and game departments provide statistics to aid hunters in making a choice in which tag(s) to apply for. The Idaho Fish and Game website, https://idfg.idaho.gov/hunt/big-game, offers information on the total number of tags per controlled-hunt, the overall success rate, total hunter days afield, and draw odds for residents and nonresidents. As a gauge of trophy quality, the site provides the percentage of bulls harvested with 6+ points, and the percentage of bucks harvested with 4+ points and 5+ points.

There are also some very useful websites and printed material from sources such as Eastmans’ Hunting and Top Rut that take game department statistics and crunch them with more statistics to come up with a rating system for each individual controlled-hunt. These sources can speed up your research time considerably. Keep in mind though, many of these second-source ratings weigh heavily on Boone & Crockett trophy standards. Again, tag-application selection really boils down to your priorities.

My personal priorities in the tag selection process start with minimal hunting pressure, as long as the hunt is balanced with a realistic opportunity at a mature bull or buck. Whether or not the mature bull or buck measures up to B&C trophy standards is less of a concern, though I’ll take it if it comes my way. Difficult terrain, to me, equates to less hunting pressure and better odds of mature animals. For elk and deer tags I’m willing to gamble with up to 1:15 draw odds, though 1:5 is much better; and I always have OTC opportunities in mind for backup, as I greatly cherish hunting each and every year.

The application deadline for Idaho trophy species tags (sheep/moose/goat) is April 30th. The deadline for elk/deer/antelope controlled-hunt tags in Idaho is June 30th.

Good hunting,

Joe Cavanaugh