Just starting the begining phases of planning a trip out west. I am pondering several locations with Idaho ranking at the top due to the amount of OTC tags the give to non residents every year with no lottery. Looking at zones 16A and 17 in Sept of the 2012 season. This is a massive area and I completely understand that on a DIY hunt it is possible I may not get on a nice bull elk. That said, I think that being out in the wilderness for a week and away from the stress of everyday life is the #1 goal followed by taking a respectable bull elk at #2. The area I am looking at is approximently 5 miles west and slightly south of tin cup lake in Montana (Tin Cup lake is southwest of Darby, Montana close to the Idaho border). I have contacted the Montana DNR and there is a several mile dirt road used only to maintain the dam to the lake but the next 5 miles would be rough through the mountains. If you look on Google maps the location we plan to set up camp is around 4 small lakes that are clustered together. The lake that is furthest west kind of resembles a key that points at the other 3. At the given moment I am no where near outfitted for this type of hunt so I have some stuff to get together. I have Rifles capable of taking a large elk but they are to heavy to pack so I will build another. Considering several calibers from 6.5 Win Mag to 300WSM. I have basic camping gear but will need to ugrade several aspects of that also including a nice pack frame and bag. We have talked about possibly making this a combo hunt with deer and will more than likely buy a black bear tag just due to the fact that they are $28 so if a situation would present itself we would be legal. We will also spend a little time in the afternoons fishing in the mountain lakes. I am looking for some general advice all around please, from caliber selection to gear and how to be best prepared for the climate. I do understand that the terrain is rugged and there is risk involved with rapidly changing climates that I am not used to in Ohio. Given that I will spend a significant amount of money and time planning this I am trying to get all my ducks in a row early get the best idea of what to expect. My Uncle is a forest fireman and was on a fire call out there years ago. He is the one that turned me onto this location with his pics and descriptions of how beautiful the area is. Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Brett
Brett
