29 February Phase 2 in Planning Your 2020 Hunts February 29, 2020By Joe Cavanaugh Announcements, General Information Elk Hunts, Guided Hunts, Guided-Hunts, Idaho Hunts, Idaho wilderness hunts, Mule Deer Hunts 0 Dates to keep in mind this month while planning your 2020 hunts are March 5th, the controlled-hunt application deadline for all species in Utah; and April 1st, the controlled-hunt application deadline for elk and deer tags in Montana. Utah offers some outstanding tags as far as trophy and overall quality are concerned. Though all I can say is, if you want to experience Utah’s high-quality hunts you better start applying for bonus/preference points while you’re still young, because it’s going to take a generation or more to accumulate enough points to draw one. I, for one, consider myself too old to start applying for points in Utah for the first time (I’ll never live long enough to draw one.) Nonresidents have a much better chance of drawing elk and deer tags in Montana, though the overall quality of the hunts are nowhere near that of Utah. Of course, there will always be exceptions. Both states have rather detailed tag-allotment systems that demand hours of study. A nice option to Utah’s rare, high-quality tags and Montana’s opportunity-based tags are simple-to-obtain, Idaho OTC elk and deer tags. If you’re willing to put in the effort to get off the beaten path you really can have a quality, wilderness hunt in Idaho, with realistic expectations of bagging a trophy-class animal, with nothing more than a OTC tag. Outfitters also have guaranteed elk tags and set-aside OTC deer tags. All of these tags offer the opportunity for a great hunt, without having to wait years to draw a tag. OTC tags also offer the opportunity of hunting the same area year after year in Idaho, all the while increasing your familiarity with game movements, and hopefully increasing your success as the years go by. Note on spring bear hunts:Slots for Spring 2020 bear season are almost filled. As of today there are only 3 hunts left with availability: May 17 – May 22 for 2 hunter, May 31 – June 5 for 2 hunters and June 7 – June 12 for 1 hunters.Good hunting,Joe Cavanaugh Related Posts 2020 Salmon B Tags already sold out Idaho nonresident hunting tags went on sale December 1, 2019 and in only 9 short days the Salmon B Elk Tags were sold out. Wow! Seems that Idaho is being rediscovered as a place to hunt. I have often said that Idaho is the best kept secret in the hunting world, and it appears the secret is getting out. With OTC tags and good game populations, it is no wonder. If you had your sights set on hunting the Salmon B region this year (B tag is rifle tag), you still have the option to book with an outfitter. In Idaho, thankfully and gratefully, outfitters are guaranteed elk tags and have a certain amount of set aside deer tags for the hunting public that want to use the services of an outfitter. The End of Winter and the beginning of Spring Bear Hunts Anybody else getting antsy yet? I sure as hell am. Stuck working in the cold and watching the weather roll in everyday, just daydreaming of spring. Down here in Texas we don't get “spring fever” the same as our friends up north. The grass has been green mostly all year, and we have only had a few days that dropped below 30. But I still get worked up being stuck down here in the mud. I want to be in the mountains. It’s Easier to Find Your Favorite When There’s Lots of Choices Hi, my name is Tia Hansen (daughter of Kelly Swingruber and George McQuiston). Mom is the head packer and George is the owner of Wild Idaho Outfitters and Castle Creek Outfitters. Mom and I ride about 2,000 miles a year from packing bear bait to taking people for a joy ride and to getting people with their gear to drop camps and back plus packing dead animals. Got Tags? It seems these days that the first, and often times largest, obstacle to hunting elk out west is getting a tag. Well, thanks to bad planning on our part, we find ourselves with 4 extra tags to hunt in a unit that sold out in only 3 days for residents and months ago for nonresidents. We know all the results of the draws are out for the west and finding someone with actual tags and openings to be able to hunt, and at a discounted rate, is nearly impossible so we believe these will go fast: we have exactly 4 tags left for elk in area 28 in central Idaho and we are even discounting this hunt opportunity. Spring Bear Drop Camps With Idaho’s 2021 spring bear season beginning this week, we are grateful that we are pretty much booked up on our guided hunts, but new for 2021, we are offering spring bear drop camps for those DIY hunters who to prefer the challenge of hunting on their own and more of the spot and stalk element of bear hunting. This is a more affordable option over guiding, puts you in charge of your own schedule and may just be the ticket for that pent up wintertime cabin fever! Castle Creek Outfitters Welcomes Joe Cavanaugh: Our New Blog Writer 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. Comment (0) Comments are closed.