Anyone hunt the Middle Fork Zone in Idaho??

[Mike]

Mike,

Did you buy your Middle Fork Elk Tag. There were only about 90 left this morning.

Six,

Thanks for reminding me about this thread. Actually, my hunting group ended up buying tags for Unit 18 in Colorado. We put in for the first season drawing and if that doesn't pan out we'll take tags for second season in the same unit. We've got an outfitter to pack our gear in to base camp and then bring it (and hopefully some elk) back out at the conclusion of our hunt.

Idaho is still very high on our list, but after a lot of thought and discussion we decided that Colorado might be a better place for us to get some experience hunting elk. Middle Fork will most likely be the destination for our next adventure.

[zon]

This has been an awesome thread,, pretty much the only thread Google has found with specifics on hunting 20a. However, I still have a few questions I hope someone with local knowledge can answer.
So this year we decided to hunt somewhere different. Typically we hunt unit 23 and 43 so the terrain and access for 20a is vastly different and we hope to get some insight here.
We plan on doing our hunting on foot, no horses, boats or planes for access, so we need to get into the unit as far as possible with vehicles. It being wilderness there does not appear to be a lot of road access though. What I can find on maps is in the southern end of the unit on Smith Creek Road, Big Creek Road and Elk Summit Road, that is about it. And I dont even know if these roads are open to vehicles.
Does anyone know if you can get into 20a via these roads? Is there areas off these roads that would be good for elk? We don't mind hoofing it into the boonies and the way we hunt is by hiking as far in as we can go in half a day, hunt, and get out before dark so we work for our game and have no problem with difficult terrain.
Thanks in advance for any advice given.

[sixshooter]

Zon,

The forest service provides a travel plan that tells you where you can drive and where you cant. It costs about $10 and is a good reference. It is sometimes available for free on line. I have not spent much time on that side but I belive some of those old roads are open but not maintained. There is a reason its called roadless wilderness though and so the penetrations are pretty minimal. Try the travel plan and see if it answeres your questions.