Hunter’sAlmanac North Central Idaho
OCTOBER 2016
Clearwater Region
PHOTO COURTESY ROBERT MILLAGE, KAMIAH ID
Remote possibilities Few places on the planet are much more than a day’s travel away from Earth’s biggest cities, but the remote parts of North Central Idaho are far off the beaten paths that criss-cross the contiguous United States. That makes this area a boon to anyone who wants to get away from the cities for a spell. An Englishman could jump on a flight out of Heathrow but would find it difficult to land much more than 24 hours away from a major city. Even a rock star with airfare to spare — say, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger — would need about as much time to get from London to Lewiston by jet plane as it’d take him to tour Hells Canyon Dam by jet boat. And that’s the point: covering great distance at high speed separates a person from the modern world far less than a walk in the woods. • Though deeper woods than those of the Nez PerceClearwater National Forests can hardly be found in the Lower 48, easy access is a large part of the Clearwater Region’s appeal. Two local game units — 8A and 10A — reliably feature among the state’s most hunting ground. The largest whitetail deer harvest in Idaho history went off last year. Despite a run of forest fires that cast shadows over the region that lingered longer even than the smoke, both
of these units — which neighbor Dworshak Reservoir — ranked once again in the state’s top 10 by total harvest. Unit 12 — which centers on the Lochsa River and U.S. Highway 12 — posted the state’s highest deer hunting success rate (52 percent), while 8, 10A, 11A, 15, 16, 17 and 18 all ranked in the top 10 by success rate. With nearly 7,000 deer hunters tagging nearly 3,600 deer, 10A ranked third in the state
by overall count. Unit 8A deer hunters — more than 5,300 of them — tagged more than 2,000 deer. • We left Mick Jagger on a boat farther to the south, in Snake River country above the Salmon River confluence. That area is as remote as can be found. Unit 13 is a mostly-private riddle of canyons southwest of Cottonwood and due west of White Bird. The Forest Service manages land
on both sides of the Unit 18 boundary at Pittsburg Landing; farther south, the ground is mostly public and includes nearly 58,000 acres of wilderness. The archery hunter who draws a Unit 18 elk tag has a chance to tag one very large bull. The Lolo Zone (Units 10 and 12) and the Selway Zone (Units 16A, 17, 19 and 20) used to be known for their elk hunting. Idaho Fish and Game and partners are planning habitat restoration fires. IDFG’s wolf control operations continue. Despite the troubles, IDFG is forecasting a banner year for elk hunters around the state, and has announced a 25,000 elk season — a rarity the past four decades — may be possible. All who seek deep wilderness hunti n g maylook no farther than t h e southeast corner of t h e Clearwater Region, w h e r e much of the Selway Zone has been hunted sparsely, if at all, in recent years. Those looking to go nonmotorized closer to town can look to the Craig Mountain Wildlife Management Area, south of Lewiston.
Inside: A unit-by-unit look at the Clearwater Region Money$aver • The Shopper • IDAHO COUNTY FREE PRESS