Cancellation Hunt Somebody must have drawn some lucky tag somewhere because we had a last-minute cancellation. We have room for 3 to 4 hunters opening week of our combo season. We have 3 elk and 4 deer tags available for October 14-20, 2025 June 24, 2025By Monica Oliver Announcements, General Information, Guided Hunts, Idaho Elk Hunts, Idaho Mule Deer Hunts Deer Hunts, Elk Hunts, Elk-Hunts, Guided Hunts, Guided-Hunts, Idaho hunting, Idaho Hunts, Mule Deer Hunts, Mule-Deer-Hunts 0 0 Comment Read More »
One Door Opens, Another One Closes 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. June 3, 2025By Monica Oliver Announcements, General Information, Guided Hunts Controlled Hunts, Elk Hunts, Elk-Hunts, Guided Hunts, Mule Deer Hunts, Mule-Deer-Hunts 0 0 Comment Read More »
Aaaand They’re Gone! As has been the case for many a year, Idaho put their nonresident big game hunting licenses and tags up for sale on December 1, 2020 at 10 am. It didn’t take long for those who logged on to the fish and game website to buy them that day to realize that it was going to take a little effort and a great measure of patience as there were literally thousands upon thousands of would-be nonresident Idaho hunters with great hopes and anticipation of getting an early Christmas present in the form of an elk and/or deer tag of their choosing. Sadly, for many, their dreams of hunting this great state of Idaho were dashed at checkout when the tags were sold out more rapidly than one could enter their credit card number in the checkout cart. December 4, 2020By Monica Oliver Announcements, General Information Deer Hunts, Drop Camps, Elk Hunts, Idaho Black Bear Hunts, Idaho wilderness hunts, Mule Deer Hunts, Spring Black Bear Hunts 0 0 Comment Read More »
Hunting with GPS/Map-Devices: Seeing Outside the Box Don’t get me wrong, modern GPS/map-devices, or map apps that make smartphones function like GPS/map-devices, are wonderful tools for the hunter. Being somewhat device challenged, I can only wish I knew how to use them. Some tech-savvy hunters I have run into recently manage to get around in the woods quite well with them. August 3, 2020By Joe Cavanaugh Announcements, General Information Black Bear Hunts, Elk Hunts, Guided Hunts, Guided-Hunts, Idaho Hunts, Mule Deer Hunts 0 0 Comment Read More »
Last Chance for Idaho Controlled Hunt Tags Time is running out to apply for elk, deer, and pronghorn controlled hunts in Idaho—the deadline being June 5th. Idaho does not use a bonus/preference point system for controlled hunts, so you have just as good of a chance at drawing a tag as anyone else. May 29, 2020By Joe Cavanaugh Announcements, General Information Elk Hunts, Idaho Hunts, Mule Deer Hunts 0 0 Comment Read More »
Happy Memorial Day Memorial Day is here again, signaling the unofficial start of summer. There’s much more to it however, than picnics and beaches. Memorial Day is an official Federal Holiday in honor of military personnel who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. May 22, 2020By Joe Cavanaugh Announcements, General Information Black Bear Hunts, Drop Camps, Elk Hunts, Idaho Black Bear Hunts, Idaho Hunts, Mule Deer Hunts 0 0 Comment Read More »
Controlled Hunt Results Got You Down? 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. May 15, 2020By Joe Cavanaugh Announcements, General Information Black Bear Hunts, Controlled Hunts, Elk Hunts, Idaho Hunts, Mule Deer Hunts 0 0 Comment Read More »
All-American Birthday of the Month: Mountain Man James Beckwourth When I had the idea to acknowledge birthdays of early trappers and explorers of the American West, I quickly found that very few of them had recorded birth dates. Most were born in log cabins to frontier parents, who were more worried about survival than traveling back East to find a courthouse. April 26, 2020By Joe Cavanaugh Announcements, General Information #WIOAdventures, American West, Elk Hunts, Idaho Black Bear Hunts, Idaho Hunts, Idaho wilderness hunts, Mountain Man, Mule Deer Hunts 0 0 Comment Read More »
Fine-Tuning Last Year’s Gear List I imagine most people who prepare for outdoor adventures make a list of gear and clothing to take before they pack, that way they don’t forget any critical items like toilet paper. I make my lists in spiral notebooks, the younger generation probably makes their lists on smartphones. Years ago, I started saving my gear lists to make trip-prep more efficient the next time around. April 15, 2020By Joe Cavanaugh Announcements, General Information Black Bear Hunts, Drop Camps, Elk Hunts, Guided Hunts, idah, Idaho Hunts, Mule Deer Hunts 0 0 Comment Read More »
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. April 8, 2020By Monica Oliver Announcements, General Information Black Bear Hunts, Controlled Hunts, DIY Hunt, Drop Camp, Elk Hunts, Guided Hunts, Idaho Hunts, Idaho wilderness hunts, Mule Deer Hunts, Spring Black Bear Hunts 0 0 Comment Read More »