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Elk, Mule Deer, Bear & Wolf Hunting Blog

Here you will find information about our hunts, our area as well as special offers and issues that affect us or are important to us.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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.

Happy Presidents’ Day

Kids today are getting short-changed! When I was a kid we had 2 days off from school in February: one for Lincoln’s Birthday, and then another just 10 days later for Washington’s Birthday. That was great for me, because the holidays coincided with tobogganing season. Now there’s just one national holiday in February, which pays respect to all of our nation’s presidents.

Paperwork season is upon us (me)

Finally getting my office put back together after a hasty move that took place back in March. I have been having to live with chaos since we got the notice “you have 13 days to move”. Don’t misinterpret that, as we were not being evicted in the formal sense for “not paying the rent”. We had been caretaking a ranch while we were remodeling our own, knowing there was no rush as this place had been for sale for 6 years. Well, we were wrong. It sold and we had to move…quickly!

“Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Me” or “Preseason Hunt Planning Part 1!”

Even though this sounds directed to me and possibly self-serving, it is anything but that. If it were about me, I would be posing on this rig taking a big smiling selfie to tell the world how wonderful I am. Well, I assure you, there ain’t nothin’ sexy about a 54 year old chubby guy climbing up on his new elliptical trying to shed a few of those post hunting, pre- and post-Holiday calories, so all you get to see is an empty elliptical as a symbol of potential for memories to be made. Just like our public lands stand as a symbol to that same ideal. It is honestly directed towards all of us who find ourselves somewhat vertically challenged and girth blessed with each New Year’s Day that passes and wonder if we are alone in this journey from “healthy” holiday sofa surfer to healthy mountain man/explorer looking to scale that peak ahead to look for a trophy animal on the other side.

NO MORE WILDERNESS!

Wilderness is beautiful, we can all agree on that, but not being able to access that beauty is one of the problems with creating MORE wilderness. The current wilderness in Idaho is not being managed properly to allow access so how do they think they can create more and keep up with its management? If you are reading this, I can only assume you either hunt and/or fish or at least condone those acts and if you do participate, you probably use public lands. The Salmon-Challis National Forest is in the midst of a forest plan revision.

Legacy makers (builders)

Today was the beginning of a new legacy. Bold words you say? Let me explain. It seems like an outfitter’s life is ruled by seasons. Now you would recognize the easy ones like spring bear, spring turkey, fall bear, elk, deer, etc. The seasons that most people don’t recognize are all of the “behind the scene” seasons.

Investing in Trail Work

Wild Idaho Outfitters invested some serious time, money and effort into trail work this summer. We hired a crew of four young men who worked long hours and cleared over 30 miles of trail in the “Frank” by cutting or moving 1,985 logs from the trails over a 4-week period. All this work was done with hand tools.