Elk

Elk are the most popular big game animals our clients want to hunt. The Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest is home to healthy herds of elk, including countless mature bulls. Until you see these magnificent creatures up close, it is hard to describe just how large and impressive they are. Perhaps what is most amazing is how seemingly effortless they walk up and down steep mountainsides. For their size, elk are incredibly agile.

Archery during the Rut

Guided elk hunts are conducted out of our base camp as well as our various backcountry camps. Archery elk hunting is in September during the rut. Our guides are experts in calling elk, and we have had successful self-guided hunting clients too. Based on client feedback after their hunts, most people recognize that calling elk is a practiced skill acquired over years of experience. If you have never called elk before, your chances of success are significantly lower than letting one of our experienced guides show you how it’s done.

Calling in a large bull elk during the rut is a game of flirtation and deception. Much like humans flirt with each other, you could say the non-verbal calling is just as important–if not more important–than vocalizing elk sounds. No amount of YouTube research compares to being in the field and calling elk in real life. It’s an adrenaline-pumping experience that is difficult to describe.

Rifle hunting elk (mid season/late season)

Rifle hunting is primarily done in October, and is more of a spot-and-stalk method (glassing hillsides with binoculars and/or spotting scopes, then moving quietly to get in range for an ethical shot). Compared to hunting during the rut, spot-and-stalk hunting is a game of patience and vigilance behind binoculars. It may take hours–if not days–to finally find a bull elk worth shooting. They are here, but they are stealthy. These majestic creatures blend into their surroundings and only move when they want to.

Whichever type of hunting you choose, our 130 square miles of Idaho mountain wilderness has plenty of elk to pick from.

What types of rifle calibers can be used for Idaho Elk hunting?

This question is one that you can find tons of articles and videos online debating. We do not pretend to be ballistics experts, but we have been doing this a very long time out here in the Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest. We know what works and what doesn’t. It is our preference that you stick to large enough rounds that will ethically harvest the animal with less risk of just wounding it. We prefer chamberings such as:

• 30-06 Springfield 
• .308 Win
• 300 Win mag
• 300 WSM
• 7mm Rem mag
• 6.8 Western
• .280 Ackley improved
• 300 Weatherby magnum

We strongly advise against using smaller rounds. Unless you are an experienced marksman in a mountainous environment, AND you are using appropriate bullets designed for elk, stick with these rounds or larger. Smaller chamberings can sometimes work, but they do not deliver the foot-pounds of energy we believe are necessary to ethically harvest an elk in this type of terrain. And also, you want to be prepared in case of a surprise bear or wolf encounter.

All that is to say, you should invest the time in shooting practice, and be sure to zero your rifle before arriving. Here’s a video that may help you consider factors about your rifle you may not have thought of:

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What happens after harvesting an elk?

The thrill of the hunt is why people come back for more. But the moment the hunt ends with a successful harvest, the real work begins. What do you do with a 500-1000 pound animal on the ground?

This is where physical fitness becomes essential. Sure, you need to be in good cardio shape to hike the steep mountains and cover ground each day…but that’s just with the weight of your pack, weapon, and food for the day. When you have several hundred pounds of fresh meat to haul out of the woods, that’s where the men are separated from the boys, so to speak. The clock is ticking and the sun won’t stay up all night for you.

So what do you do?

Our guides are experts in field-dressing elk. Anatomically speaking, elk are basically enormous deer. If you are familiar with field-dressing a whitetail deer, it’s the same process, except for the massive difference in weight and volume of meat. While one or two men can move a deer carcass to a more convenient spot, that’s simply not an option with an elk that could weigh upwards of 1000 pounds. Cow elk range from about 300-500 pounds, while mature bull elk are typically over 600 pounds (living weight, commonly referred to as “on the hoof”). According to sources that know far more than we do about the biology of elk, the average mature bull weighs around 750 pounds.

So regardless of the terrain, your tagged animal needs to be dressed out where it falls.

Physical preparation and determination

Our best advice is to be prepared for heavy lifting. Be prepared for long hours. The average pack-out time is over six (6) hours of hard work. We offer pack mules and horses to help you carry out the meat, but these animals are limited to terrain they can safely walk on. You and the guide will still need to pack the meat out to where the pack mules are. More often than not, they are uphill from where your elk is on the ground. So be prepared to climb with weight on your back.

Even the fittest of our clients tell us they were shocked at just how steep and challenging the terrain is out here. It doesn’t bother the elk, but it tends to exhaust and demoralize the unprepared. So be prepared.

In our opinion, some of the best physical exercises you can do to prepare for Idaho elk hunting are done with your actual hunting pack with weight in it. We suggest adding 45-60 pounds to your pack, then doing the following exercises at the gym:

• Stair climbers
• Walking lunges (feel the burn, and embrace it!)
• Box or bench step-ups
• Split squats
• Bulgarian split squats
• Versa climber
• Jacob’s Ladder

Here’s a great video demonstrating some practical exercises that will prepare you in a big way.

What happens with the meat?

Perhaps the most important question we are asked is how to handle the elk meat after the harvest. After it is packed out from the field, how is it preserved? Do we have a butcher that processes elk meat? What do elk hunters in Idaho do, vs. elk hunters from out-of-state?

Our clients have shown us a few clever ways to manage taking home their meat. Remember, unlike a whitetail deer, which typically can yield about 40-60 pounds of meat, even small elk yield more than three times that. According to various sources online, cow elk yield an average of 48-50% of their living weight, which would be around 160 pounds of de-boned meat. A mature bull elk can yield well over 200 pounds of deboned meat.

Meat yield, of course, depends on how much meat you decide to take off the animal. In the interest of time and physical limitations of our hunters and guides, many of our clients decide to leave behind certain cuts of meat that are less desirable. Sometimes they want to take it all, but doing so is physically impossible. We do our best to harvest as much meat as possible, out of respect for the animal harvested. We do not believe in trophy hunting without harvesting the meat.

Due to their size, elk need to be quartered, then de-boned. This process takes several hours, even with our most experienced guides. Be prepared to help as much as you can. The more you help, the faster the process goes. Clients who rely on the guide to “do the hard part” inevitably get less meat (due to the phyiscal limitations of the guide alone). If you’ve come all this way to hunt an elk, the hard work is part of it.

How to get elk meat home

After the meat is packed out, it is brought to base camp. We have chest freezers powered by generators that will freeze the meat and store it for the duration of your trip. There are local butcher shops within an hour or so drive of base camp, but they are not always available to process elk. For instance, in the chaos of COVID, local butchers were overwhelmed with cattle, and they were unable to handle elk. In this case, you may be stuck taking your meat home prior to having it butchered.

Here are a few ways you can get your elk meat home, and each method varies widely in cost:

• Pack the meat in a cooler that can be checked as luggage on a flight home. It is likely to exceed 50 pounds, so be prepared to pay extra with your airline ($$$)
• Have the butcher ship the meat in freezer boxes overnight ($$$$$)
• Drive to Idaho and bring coolers, then drive it home ($$)
• Take the meat you want, and donate the rest to the locals

Depending on where you live, driving is usually the best option. But if you live on the east coast, for example, it may be too far. In any event, Ridgerunner clients have a high degree of success when elk hunting, so be prepared for how you are going to handle the meat.