Elk, Mule Deer, Bear & Wolf Hunting Blog

Second Chance Draw for Idaho Elk and Deer Tags

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 06:00:00 GMT

Today, February 5, 2026, begins the second chance draw period for Idaho’s (formerly) over the counter elk and deer tags. Take advantage of applying in a state that has no points system because you at least know you have a chance of drawing a tag verses those states where points are so stacked against you that you simply “begin” the process of donating money to that state’s draw system for years until such time that you have accumulated enough points to even be in the running for a tag.

Please don’t be confused by this draw either as to whether it is about Sheep, Mountain Goat, Moose or controlled hunts for elk and deer. It is NOT! Those hunt draw processes begin at their usual times of April for trophy species and May for elk, deer and antelope controlled hunt draws.

Lest I forget, applications for controlled hunts for turkey and spring bear are also going on right now.

As usual, if you have any questions about our area, the process or even suggestions on where to apply, please contact us and we will do our best to help you get to hunt in one of the greatest western states to hunt in!

Finally, consider taking a kid hunting with you! They are the future of hunting and conservation!

Happy hunting!

Merry Christmas 2025

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 16:46:12 GMT

Merry Christmas from the gangs at Wild Idaho Outfitters and Castle Creek Outfitters. We hope you are getting to enjoy visits with family and friends, sharing good food, laughter and memories of this past year and dreams for the future!

We hope that some of those memories and many of those dreams involve getting out and exploring YOUR public lands. Outdoor adventures, especially on public lands, seem to always create lasting memories. We know they sure do for us.

Every year around this time, we are blessed to have a few moments to look back at our public land adventures with great people that we meet from all over the country, great guides, packers and cooks that enjoy serving our guests. We recognize during this reflection how grateful and blessed we are to work with all of our incredible guests and staff on the public lands we all love so much.

So, enjoy your holiday season this year and please remember how blessed we are in this country for such a concept as publics lands! Get out and enjoy them!

Merry Christmas!

Last Day to Apply for Idaho Nonresident Elk and Deer Tags

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 06:00:00 GMT

This is the first year that Idaho has made nonresidents put in for the formerly OTC (over the counter) general season elk and deer tags and now, today is the last day you can put in for those hunts.

Obviously, this is just the first “go round” but for sure, all the good and desirable areas will be gobbled up in this first draw period. Keep in mind that this first draw does not apply to trophy species: moose, mountain goat and bighorn sheep. That draw will still be in April as well as traditional controlled hunts draw will take place in May. This application process is simply for the general season elk and deer tags that you used to be able to buy over the counter.

So, if you are planning on hunting Idaho in a DIY capacity, be sure to log on to the IDFG website TODAY, so you can get your best chance at hunting Idaho elk or deer in 2026!

Good luck and good hunting!

Nonresidents Must Apply for Formerly OTC Tags this Year in Idaho

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 21:27:48 GMT

Seems the only constant in life is change and that adage seems to hold especially true in the hunting world. It seems to me that meetings are held and changes made “just because” every year and this year is no different!

Starting today, December 5, 2025, nonresidents who want to hunt elk and deer in formerly OTC units will need to apply for those tags. The application period runs from December 5 to 15, 2025 with results being posted in early January 2026.

We will be sending at least 3 emails in this period to remind you to get your entry submitted. Not to be a pain, but because we often get busy and say, “I’ll apply tomorrow”, then the 16th shows up and now you are stuck hunting with an outfitter who still has tags instead of being able to hunt on your own. So, think of these emails as simply “gentle reminders” to stop procrastinating and apply for those tags you think you want to be able to continue your tradition of hunting in some of the lower 48’s most amazing country…Idaho!

Finally, if you want help, advice or just to vent about the drawing process, please contact us and we will be happy to assist or simply listen.

Best of luck in the draw and most importantly, always remember to take a kid hunting with you!

Happy Thanksgiving 2025

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 20:00:00 GMT

Our 2025 season has officially ended and in keeping with a tradition that I am not sure who started, we flew “Old Glory” all the way off the mountain. She was flying high and proud all season in each of our camps!

November 23 was our last day pulling camp at our high camp, 8300’ above sea level, looking out over “the Frank”. It is always a melancholy moment as a lot has happened in the last 3 ½ months. Memories were made, friends revisited, new friends made, excitement, disappointment, opportunities gained or lost, all the emotions that come with hunting camp.

We are unbelievably grateful for an outstanding team of guides, cooks, and pack support. And we are especially thankful to all the hunters that joined us this year.

We are blessed to be able to operate on “our” public lands. Grateful, barely scratches the surface. With all the political B.S. that consumes our nation today, one thing that is so RIGHT with America is our public lands system! These are YOUR lands and my lands…they are all OUR lands and meant to be explored and enjoyed. We are simply grateful to be a part of it all!

As you gather with family and friends over this holiday weekend, reliving memories from wherever you hunted this year, be grateful for the time you have with family and friends and enjoy your time with them because next week it’s time to get serious about planning next year’s adventures. If they include Idaho, drawing applications begin December 5th.

Happy Thanksgiving.

(Photo: Ruth Albrecht)

Got Tags?

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 20:03:01 GMT

Idaho draw results came out last week and I imagine most western states have drawn by now and most people drew the all too familiar “unsuccessful” tag.

If that is the case, come check us out in Central Idaho’s Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area. We still have a few openings and tags available.

Wild Idaho Outfitters will be guiding hunters and packing drop camps in our 21st season in ”The Frank”. It is an experience you will either love or hate. There seems to be no in between. So, you may as well give it a try if you were unsuccessful in the hunt draws. If not with us, maybe there are other Idaho outfitters still holding some tags and spots. Give ‘em a call.

Don’t sit on the couch this year “wishing” you could hunt. Get out and do it!

Good hunting and as usual, take a kid with you!

Final Week to Apply for Idaho Big Game Hunts

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Most western states draw results are out by now and we know this because we are already getting the call of “do you have any openings, because we didn’t draw in (my preferred) state”.

Idaho seems to be a bit behind and their deadline for applications is June 5.

So, if you know of some “trophy” area you want to apply for in Idaho, be sure to get your application in before the deadline on June 5 and good luck to you!

Happy application season and remember to put a kid in the draw with you!

Remember, if you don’t draw, you can still reach out to an Idaho outfitter to see about last minute cancellations or remaining opportunities for this year or following years’ hunts!

2025 Idaho Trophy Species Application Season

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 21:27:26 GMT

It wasn’t just another April Fool’s Day this April 1st. No, it was the official opener of “Trophy Species” application season. You know, the season that comes every year. The one we all anticipate, get excited about, talk to our friends about, seek the public’s help with on social media and then finally decide for ourselves what unit we are going to put in for the chance to hunt moose, big horn sheep, or mountain goat, only to get that letter or email simply stating “unsuccessful”.

Not to be too much of a downer, a wise man once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”.

I have to believe that is every hunter’s motto, so we still faithfully apply.

So, get out your Idaho 2025 Trophy Species Rule book, scan social media, talk to booking agents, friends or even complete strangers and maybe as a last resort, consult an Idaho outfitter about which unit they believe is the best for your chosen target, and by golly, take that shot and put in your application!

Remember that Trophy Species application season ends April 30, so best get started on that research journey now!

Good luck in the draw this year and hope to see you on the mountain!

Hunting Application Season is in Full Swing

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

It seems like hunting has evolved from planning an outdoor excursion with your family and friends that revolves around a hunting camp full of close friends and family to an exercise in becoming a Vegas odds statistician so you have the best chance at even drawing a tag.

Gone are the “good old days” of working all year to that last minute trip to the local hardware store to get your tag, go home to pack your hunting gear and then head out to your favorite camping spot with family and friends for opening day of hunting season. The younger generation probably doesn’t remember this, and it is truly unfortunate.

Now, it seems that “hunting season” is a year-round exercise in hunt applications in multiple states hoping to draw one somewhere, just so you can hunt. Now, obviously, if you are the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, you can always resort to a farm/high fence hunt, but it turns out that there are only about 500 of those folks, so for those of us in the cheap seats, we must rely on luck of the draw. Or do we?

As for us “normal” folks, we just want to hunt. I don’t know about all of you that are reading this, but I truly just want to hunt. Application season seems like just a way to put a little hope in our souls that we “might” get to go hunting in our home state and in our favorite spot, but sadly, when the draw results come out, obviously more of us get a lump of coal than a coveted tag.

Speaking of the “good old days”, do any of you remember when you would buy your tag, go out opening weekend and harvest a “nice” 2-point buck, or even better a nice “4 by 4”. Man, you were on cloud nine and called (you couldn’t text a pic, you had to actually draw a visual picture in your friend’s mind with words) all your friends, relatives, and really anyone that would listen to hear your story about the “great” buck that you got.

Today, you know what we celebrate? That we even got a stinking tag! Check out social media in the spring and it is loaded with people who are so excited that they even got a tag. Kind of a sad commentary on our “hunting lifestyle” these days and painful reminder that there truly were “good old days” of hunting.

So as not to be too negative in my approach about this subject, there is still one small glimmer of hope, and that is Idaho outfitter allocation. If you are interested in booking with an Idaho hunting outfitter, us or any others who have an allocation, you can be assured that you will be going hunting the year you book. You will have a guaranteed tag and an opportunity to go out (hopefully with family and friends) and explore Idaho’s amazing backcountry real estate and big game.

Allocation, like anything worth while and regulated by government is on the chopping block this legislative session in Idaho. It seems that some don’t like outfitters having guaranteed tags so that nonresident people like you can come to rural Idaho, spend money locally and truly make a contribution to small town America. That’s right. You coming to rural Idaho towns with your sportsman dollars really does make a difference and us small town residents are truly grateful for your contribution.

So, get out there and play the “tag application game” in all those states (including Idaho), but be sure to visit with an Idaho outfitter as, at the very least, a “back up” plan to hunt this year.

Good luck in the draws!

Happy hunting, and as always, be sure to take a kid hunting!

Guides, Packers and Cooks Wanted

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 21:00:00 GMT

Have you ever just dreamed, okay, wondered, okay, fine, was curious about what it takes to be a guide, packer or cook with a backcountry hunting outfit, but just knew you couldn’t quit your “day job’ to find out. Well, curiously enough, we are looking for people interested in doing any or all these jobs and we are not looking for career-minded people! That’s right. We are NOT looking for full-time help.

Over the course of outfitting for the past 20 seasons and guiding 5 more on top of that, I have discovered that some of our best guides, packers and cooks are what I like to call our “celebrity guides”. They blow into town from whatever part of the world that that they call home, work their guts out like they own the place for 2 weeks and then they are off to places far, far away from Idaho, leaving with stories of adventures that could have only happened in “The Frank”.

If this sounds like something that you might enjoy trying for a season or 20, contact us and let’s see what and how you might want to contribute as part of our team!

I have always joked with potential clients that every outfitter thinks they have the best staff of guides, cooks and packers, but we really do! I believe it is because of the passion that our staff brings to their respective positions. Most, if not all, do leave their (substantially higher paying jobs) on “vacation” to work in the outdoors simply out of a love for this particular piece of real estate in Idaho and a passion for sharing it with others. Then they have to return to their regular jobs just to rest up for next season. These folks are truly amazing and want to share this place with others.

I believe that we have assembled an amazing group of “celebrity guides” over the years and are very proud of each and every one of them and what they have contributed to sharing our public lands with others. But, as in life, there oftentimes comes a moving on phase, knowing we can look back with pride about what we have accomplished and contributed. With this in mind, we are always looking for new team members who would like to contribute, be it for a season or, as for some, 20 seasons. It is up to you to decide.

The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area is truly a one-of-a-kind place that lends itself to adventures unlike any other place that I am familiar with. It is one of the only places I know of in the lower 48 where you can truly partake in a “combo” hunt where you have the opportunity to pursue elk, deer, bear, wolf and mountain lion all during the same season. Plus, it is truly one of the most rugged pieces of real estate you will ever be able to experience in the lower 48.

So, if sharing this place with others sounds, at the very least, “interesting” to you contact us and let’s visit about what opportunities exist in sharing these public lands with others!

Happy “public lands” recreating!

Nonresident Outfitter Allocated Hunting Tags May be on the Chopping Block

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 20:00:00 GMT

Hunt Idaho While You Know You Can Still Get Allocated Outfitter Tags

The winds of change are blowing, and in many western states they are reaching gale force. Sadly, Idaho is no different. What do I mean? With the amazing population growth that the west is experiencing, it may be good for those city type businesses that rely on sheer numbers to survive, but out here in rural Idaho, it is simply putting a pinch on an already limited resource, our public land system, most importantly on our public lands hunting opportunities.

Idaho has seen such population growth and with no restriction on resident tags, residents are screaming for a reduction in nonresident tags. They are screaming at such a fever pitch that the governor has assigned a special committee to explore nonresident tag options. Sadly, one of those options is to eliminate outfitter allocated tags.

How would that affect the nonresident hunter? It would make it so every year, like all other states, even if you booked with an outfitter, it would be up to “the luck of the draw” as to whether or not you were going hunting that year.

As of now, because of allocation, Idaho outfitters and by default, their hunters are very blessed in the knowledge that if you book with an Idaho outfitter (obviously, hopefully us, but any outfitter with allocated tags) you are guaranteed to at least be able to get out and pursue your favorite big game animal in Idaho. Don’t let that chance pass you by. We (seriously) have no idea how much longer allocation will be around, hopefully it will become a permanent institution in Idaho big game hunting as everyone knows in rural Idaho how much and how greatly that, YOU, the nonresident hunter, contribute to small town Idaho and most all of us are incredibly grateful!

So, as you are applying to hunt in other western states, at least consider actually hunting in Idaho with an Idaho outfitter. Whether it be with us or another outfitter, be it fully guided or a simply a DIY drop camp, we truly wish you the adventure of a lifetime in our favorite hunting grounds…Idaho!

As always, happy hunting and remember to take a kid hunting!

Rut Mule Deer Hunt Opportunity

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 20:49:00 GMT

By some strange twist of fate, oversight, or whatever you might want to call it we are down to the wire and find ourselves with 2 tags for a 2024 Controlled Mule Deer Hunt for 2 in November.

If you and a hunting companion have the time and desire to hunt mule deer during the rut in Idaho, please reach out to us ASAP and let’s get you set up to hunt with Wild Idaho Outfitters in the “Frank” this year.

This 2x1 hunt must be booked by Monday, September 9 and is offered first come-first served so don’t delay, book today!

Available dates for a 2x1 guided hunt are October 31st – November 6th or November 7th – November 13th. Or you can do a DIY Drop Camp hunt on your choice of dates between November 1st and 18th.

Fall Bear Season Is Looking Good

Wed, 03 Jul 2024 09:00:00 GMT

If you haven’t made plans for fall yet, maybe a fall bear hunt in Idaho’s famous Frank Church Wilderness Area is just the ticket. Cameras on our spring bear bait sites were loaded with color phase bears this year.

We weren’t sure if it was the mild winter or simply the bear population just continues to grow, but the fact is, the numbers and color variety both on camera and killed this spring was incredible. The bears were out and hungry. We left far more on camera than were harvested so fall is looking extra good this year as well.

We have room for just a few fall bear hunters this year. Could it be you? Contact us to book your hunt.

Happy Hunting and as always, take a kid along!

One Door Closes, Another One Opens

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 09:00:00 GMT

It’s July already. Besides being the month with probably the second most important holiday celebration of the year, it’s the month when most western states hunting tag draw results are out (except maybe some antlerless tags) and, as usual, you drew tag soup. Nothing, zilch, nada. What to do about hunting this fall now?

No worries, there is still hope. Idaho outfitters are incredibly blessed to have what are called “outfitter allocated tags” available to most Idaho hunting outfitters and oddly we still have a few tags left as do as some other outfitters we have spoken with.

Is it the economy, poor marketing, election year, COVID over so back to work? Is that why some tags are still left?

Who cares? Regardless of the reason there is still a chance to be able to hunt Idaho this fall. Now, obviously, to get outfitter allocated tags would mean you would need to hunt with an outfitter, but I would think it would beat sofa surfing all fall and staring at FB pics of all your buddies who did draw tags out enjoying the woods.

If you are a sportsman who simply lives to hunt, Idaho may be your next great adventure. The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, in central Idaho, is simply the crown jewel of the American public lands system and worth a visit at least once in your lifetime. If you are able to carry a rifle and some tags while exploring “the Frank”, all the better!

Now, speaking of central Idaho hunting, last winter was one of the mildest winters we have seen in many years and the fawn survival rate, along with buck survival, seems to be at a peak! I am no biologist, but based on the bucks we are seeing down in the hay fields (front range to the Frank), there are going to be plenty of nice bucks to go around. We are even thinking the mild winter is what drove the bears to baits so early and in such volume this spring based on our camera photos from our spring bear season that just ended June 30.

So, if you are one of the (many) unlucky people who didn’t draw a tag for elk or deer in your favorite western state or hunting unit, maybe it is time to give Idaho a try? Contact us or any of several Idaho elk or deer hunting outfitters so you can check off that “see central Idaho’s famous backcountry” item on your lifetime “to do list”! And, as always, take a kid hunting!

Happy hunting and get out and enjoy those public lands!

Grizzly Bear Reintroduction Comments Sought

Thu, 14 Mar 2024 23:06:00 GMT

It would seem that the geniuses behind the “save everything but humans green movement” are back at it again and wanting to transplant Grizzlies into what could (almost) already be described as a predator pit and certainly a large risk for human interactions (read: death of humans in contact with grizzlies)

Sadly, I just learned about this myself and there are only a few days left to act. Whether you are for or against grizzly bear reintroduction (a species not even close to extinction), now is your time to comment.

Click here to submit your comments today.

Save Big on Idaho Spring Bear Hunts

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 09:00:00 GMT

This year marks our twentieth season here in Idaho and we are celebrating with 20 percent off on our Idaho spring bear hunts!

We love what we do and love sharing the woods with hunters from all over and hope to continue for another 20 plus years of guiding bear hunters. Can you even imagine saving 40 percent on a bear hunt to celebrate 40 years when that happens? Ha ha

We truly love spring bear season because after driving tracked machines in a sea of white all winter chasing wolves and mountain lions, the woods finally begin to come to life with signs of remerging plant life, early wildflowers beginning to bloom, the river opening up as the bank ice recedes and we get the horses off winter pasture to begin the bear baiting process.

As we get out and set the baits in April, we get to see all that nature has to offer and truly enjoy the experience as we look forward to sharing our love of the backcountry with those willing to invest in an Idaho spring bear hunt with us.

If you have been considering a spring bear hunt, but have just been waiting for the right time, maybe now is that right time to join us here in Idaho and save 20 percent!

Contact us today and let’s get you scheduled for your Idaho spring bear hunt! We still have some openings in May and June of this year.

Happy Hunting!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 22:40:00 GMT

From the “catch and hold” gang along with the guide and packing crew at Wild Idaho Outfitters and Castle Creek Outfitters, we would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We genuinely hope that as you gather around with family and friends during this Holiday season, that you will have time to reflect on many or all of your past public land excursions while possibly dreaming and planning towards your next outdoor adventure on public land.

At this time of year, it only seems appropriate to be grateful for the many good things in our lives and we here in Idaho believe that our public lands system is one of the great things in our lives! We are in the midst of a very mild winter, and it appears the wildlife so far are getting a respite from the deep snow they dealt with last year, so we are optimistic as we look ahead to the 2024 Idaho big game hunting seasons.

If you already have made plans to join us, Thank you! If you are considering joining us, we hope you do. Either way, we sincerely hope that you get outdoors and get to enjoy our country’s incredible and vast public lands in 2024!

Happy hunting!

Celebrating 20 Years Making Memories in Idaho

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 00:17:00 GMT

By hook or by crook, we have made it to our twentieth year in business. We just finished our 19th season here at Wild Idaho Outfitters and as we head into our twentieth season in the “Frank” I may have to suggest that it was probably more possible by the grace of God and the many wonderful hunters that we have met along the way that we have reached this milestone.

We feel grateful and incredibly blessed to have made it this far. We have assembled an amazing team; from the administrative staff to the trail crew and the guides and even the packers, we believe we have some of the best in the business! Question is, what does this mean to you? The ones reading this blog/email? So what, we have made it 20 years, what is in it for you?

That is a very good question, we are glad you asked. We believe we have come up with a suitable answer. Twenty years is obviously a milestone. One that must be celebrated and so we are. For all spring or fall Idaho bear hunts and predator hunts booked with Wild Idaho Outfitters or our sister company Castle Creek Outfitters for the 2024 season, we are offering 20% off our regular list prices* (which I (George) believe are already the lowest in the business). That is a savings of up to $650 dollars per hunter!!!!

Now obviously we have no control over the price of tags, licenses or taxes, but over our prices we do, and we are so grateful that we have come this far and we want to celebrate our twentieth year with as many hunters as possible. That is why we are doing our best to make hunting in 2024 affordable. Won't you join us?

So for our twentieth year of making memories, we want to sincerely say, "Thank You!" for supporting us and creating memories along the way.

Avoid the December 1 Black Friday Idaho Nonresident Tag Sale: Book with an Idaho Outfitter

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 18:00:00 GMT

If you have hunted Idaho in recent years or are intending to this year, you probably know that Idaho’s nonresident deer and elk tags go on sale December 1. This year it just happens to fall on a Friday.

We have heard from hunters and some Idaho Fish and Game personnel that it can be quite the “Black Friday” adventure trying to get in line (online or in person) to get your chance at an Idaho nonresident elk or deer tag.

This year, why don’t you simply avoid all that? Sleep in, cuddle your wife a little longer, have a relaxing breakfast with your kids, start that workout program, read a good book, or simply do your usual routine and show up to work on time with a smile and ready to work knowing you had the foresight to contact an Idaho outfitter (or fully intend to) and have your spot for an Idaho nonresident elk and/or deer tag already secured.

Probably one of the second-best things about being an Idaho outfitter, besides simply “getting” to work in this great state, is the fact that we have guaranteed elk and deer hunting tags for hunters wanting to hunt in Idaho. It is not just us either. Almost every Idaho hunting outfitter who happens to have had “historical use” when capped and controlled hunts went into effect in their assigned outfitting area, has at least some guaranteed tags and the good ones are always working on ways to get more so that we (all Idaho hunting outfitters) have the ability to provide a service to those who want to employ the services of an Idaho hunting outfitter for their next Idaho elk or deer hunt.

So, remember, turn off that “rise early to TRY and buy an Idaho nonresident tag today” alarm and rest peacefully knowing you have or intend to call an Idaho outfitter so that you KNOW that you are going hunting in Idaho next year!

Happy hunting and good luck on December 1 for those who choose to brave it alone!

Ode to the Good Ones

Mon, 03 Apr 2023 13:00:00 GMT

Sally was found dead with her head in the feeder on March 24, 2023. Jack had to be put down a week and a day later. He had been having trouble getting up for a while but with his sister Sally gone, he apparently lost his will to stand.

When George bought Wild Idaho Outfitters in 2005, included in the purchase was livestock (horses and mules). Part of this livestock was a pair of Percheron mules named Jack and Sally. They were supposedly around the age of 20 at that time. If Jack and Sally had been horses, retirement would have probably been happening back then, but being that they were mules, they were just getting great!

The kids and I moved to Challis in 2014 and that's when we became acquainted with Jack and Sally. Jack had just been retired from the outfitting business because his old bones couldn’t handle the steep country anymore, but Sally was still going strong! My fond memories of Jack and Sally for this reason are mostly of Sally but both were memory makers. They are the unsung heroes of the back country and the outfitting world. Seems like every return or visiting client looked up Jack and Sally to scratch them, feed them a special treat and relay a story of riding one of them, telling how Sally or Jack took good care of them.

Sally had been in that country longer than any of us. She had old-timer wisdom. She knew the country, she knew her job, and she knew each client as soon as they climbed on her back. Although she knew with each individual how much she could get away with, she always took good care of them and got them safely to their destination and back! She also packed a lot of gear; Sally could do it all. Jack and Sally were giants in personality and stature. They stood almost 16 hands and probably weighed around 1400 to 1500 pounds - gentle giants. Sally packed not only all the big guys but kids, too.

Sally was our river crosser. When Camas Creek was raging in the spring, Ole Sally knew her job. She got clients and us across time after time. She’d take a step, get her footing, take another step, get her footing, on and on till she made it across. When we moved to Challis, my daughter Tia was only 8 and my boy Wyley was 10. I remember Wyley, then Tia, hugging on tightly behind George crossing raging Camas in the spring, my heart pounding, Sally taking care of my family as well as all the others.

Sally only stayed in a fence because she wanted to. If we weren’t using her in camp, she had to be tied up when we rode away, or she’d jump out and go along with us. There was no leaving Sally out of the action! Time after time, we'd awake in camp to Sally out peacefully munching hay off the haystack. We finally hauled panels in to corral the hay and to keep her from consuming all the feed! Our bucket of treats had to be in a Sally proof container and the oats had to be tied tight and hid behind saddles in the tack tent. But she figured that out too. We’d go out in the mornings to find her standing in the tack tent, head out the door eating away!

Our hunters often wear big hiking or pack boots. We have oversized stirrups and instruct clients how to safely dismount without hanging up in the stirrups. But clients tend to forget and get in a hurry to dismount for various reasons. An older gentleman hurried off Sally one day and hung his boot up in the left stirrup and landed with a thud under her back legs. Steadfast Sally never moved a muscle while George got his foot out of the stirrup and helped him up.

I’ve seen grown men scared and clinging to Sally on a perceived steep trail like a mother clings to her infant at perceived danger, and Sally nonchalantly reaching down for a tasty morsel of grass on the downhill side, never coming close to missing a step but scaring the ever-living hell out of her rider.

My most vivid memory of Sally was in the November of 2014. Right before the end of the season we had unseasonably cold temperatures and the rivers and creeks froze. We had a remote drop camp we had to get to, to get clients out. We had to go in with waders and an axe to chop every crossing for 8 miles to meet up with our guides bringing them another 10-12 miles from the other direction. For whatever reason that day, Sally was a packer not a rider. After the ice was chopped, the horses still didn’t want to step off the ledges of ice into the freezing water, but it didn’t bother Ole Sally and the others would follow her. After a long day we finally got the clients and the string back to the last crossing on Camas Creek after dark. Creeks just don’t merely freeze; they freeze and swell. Camas Creek was huge that night. It took George somewhere around an hour to chop a path across the creek wide enough to cross the clients on the horses and the mules. George was out in the creek up to his waist, chopping by headlamp. He got a swath chopped, but there was still a hell of a ledge of ice to step off and plunge into icy water in the dark, with steam rising and ice chunks floating. The horses didn’t want any part of it, but Sally never hesitated, stepped off into the water and the string followed. Thanks to Sally it was a great end to a long grueling day!

Another great mule came with the livestock when George bought Wild Idaho Outfitters. His name was Foster. He is another whole story. He was only about 5 or so and waspy. Finally, after about 10 years of packing and getting to be an “A-team” pack mule, he started getting rode. He took care of clients too but wasn’t that happy about it. Tia started riding him in 2016 and Foster loved her. He loved that she didn’t pull on his mouth constantly with the bit, he loved her scratches and pets and he loved that she had pockets full of treats for him ALL THE TIME! He was a great mule in a quiet sort of way. He didn’t have the fame with the clients like Jack and Sally, but we knew he was one of our best. Sadly, in the fall of 2021, his health suddenly failed and mid-season we had to have him put down.

Foster thankfully went fast. Jack and Sally thankfully had a great retirement home for the last five years of their lives. They got to stay in the family. Larry Oliver started Wild Idaho Outfitters with George. Monica Oliver, Larry’s wife, answers the phones for Wild Idaho Outfitters as well as Castle Creek Outfitters, books all the clients and SO much more. Christina is their daughter and her husband used to guide for Wild Idaho. When we were looking for a retirement home for Jack and Sally, Christina stepped up because she wanted to keep them “in the family”. I will ever be grateful for her generosity even though she says she is the lucky one.

There is a saying that goes something like, “If you have one good horse, one good dog, and one good woman (or man) in your lifetime, you are doing well”. Folks that use a lot of horses and mules are lucky to be blessed with having several greats. Jack and Sally and Foster are past greats. We have more greats out in our pasture right now that are getting older and with their passing, we will be able to relate more stories of greatness. We have little mules and foals arriving this spring that hopefully walk into the halls of fame for us and others, also. A high bar has been set!

Contributed by Kelly Swingruber (Wrangler)