Hoytxl2009
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- May 28, 2017
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That's a good point. Im Sure however they have closed these types of loopholes.
Fly in frank church wilderness elk/deer hunt
- Thread starter Hoytxl2009
- Start date
That's a good point. Im Sure however they have closed these types of loopholes.
HunterRebellion
New member
Wilderness Areas have to be flown over by 2000ft per FAA FLIP, but there are some lower minimums and exemptions as listed above. The good thing is, that in the Frank 2000ft above, could mean that you are only 500ft horizontally from what you want to look at.
I too am hunting the Frank this fall; November though. Using McCall Avn. via Cabin Creek. It will be my first Frank experience, but going with a Frank vet. Good luck to you.
Update: IDFG Regs: prohibited to use helicopters to transport hunters, gear or game except at established airfields.
FLIP shows no prohibition of helicopters at the Wilderness Airstrips.
It appears as if it's legal. My guess would be the high density altitude operating environment of the Frank doesn't make it monetarily feasible to transport heavy hunters, gear and game from there. Planes are cheaper. I think that's all it boils down to.
I too am hunting the Frank this fall; November though. Using McCall Avn. via Cabin Creek. It will be my first Frank experience, but going with a Frank vet. Good luck to you.
Update: IDFG Regs: prohibited to use helicopters to transport hunters, gear or game except at established airfields.
FLIP shows no prohibition of helicopters at the Wilderness Airstrips.
It appears as if it's legal. My guess would be the high density altitude operating environment of the Frank doesn't make it monetarily feasible to transport heavy hunters, gear and game from there. Planes are cheaper. I think that's all it boils down to.
Last edited:
Josh Kuntz
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- Nov 26, 2013
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Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner Blake Fischer had a sheep hunt in the Frank a fee years ago. He might be a good guy to chat with about this area. All commissioner's phone numbers are on the IDFG website.
Hoytxl2009
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Awesome I will have to look him up. Thank you.
rmyoung1
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How'd this hunt go? Any updates?
Duck-Slayer
Well-known member
Yea I am curious on how your hunt went as well.
Matt
Matt
The Frank is rough for hunting, man. I've hunted it early and late. I've talked to at least twenty guys who've hunted it. Low game density and the uncontrolled nonresident rut tags and wolves took a serious toll. Success rates are skewed by 7 outfitters in unit 27 alone and lots of resident horse guys who have their spots. Amazing country though if you care more for adventure and pushing yourself in incredibly rugged terrain than the hunting. It's worth checking out via backpacking in the summer or a fall hunt sometime.
Every time that I hunt the Frank I tell myself that I am never doing it again. Then I get home and I return to my regular routines of doing this or that for work and my mind starts to drift off and always lands square on the memories that I have made in the Frank. Then I catch myself making plans to return. Then I get on google earth and I look at the cliffs that I could not get around last time and I am almost sure that there is a goat path or an entrance that I am somehow missing. Then I am asking my wife for permission to go on an adventure and I am packing all of my gear and making sure that it is going to perform in the way that it is supposed to because if it does not then it could be life or death in that area. Then I am driving toward the Frank. Once I set foot on the Frank I feel like a high school senior stepping on the green of a football field on homecoming week.
Then I am climbing up all kinds of steep faces and thinking that one misstep and I am going to have to reach and scrape my way back up to my feet. No amount of air in my lungs will be enough. My calves are burning and I know I am going to have cramps. The water that I have is barely enough the food that I have is barely enough.. I don't want to pack weight in this type of terrain. I usually sleep on the ground without a tent. Ants crawl all over me all night long. I wake up and I either harvest a bear, deer, elk, wolf or mountain lion (they are all open in the fall) that puts an end to my hunt. I am then skinning, quartering and gutting whatever animal I have just harvested and my legs and back are killing me because I can 100% guarantee that I am not on level ground and I am fighting to stay up on 2 feet because the steepness of the terrain where the animal has decided to fall. The gruesome pack out ensues and every corner and turn of my return has to be paced out in 10 step increments. Every step of the way I am back to telling myself "I am never coming back here"
Then I am climbing up all kinds of steep faces and thinking that one misstep and I am going to have to reach and scrape my way back up to my feet. No amount of air in my lungs will be enough. My calves are burning and I know I am going to have cramps. The water that I have is barely enough the food that I have is barely enough.. I don't want to pack weight in this type of terrain. I usually sleep on the ground without a tent. Ants crawl all over me all night long. I wake up and I either harvest a bear, deer, elk, wolf or mountain lion (they are all open in the fall) that puts an end to my hunt. I am then skinning, quartering and gutting whatever animal I have just harvested and my legs and back are killing me because I can 100% guarantee that I am not on level ground and I am fighting to stay up on 2 feet because the steepness of the terrain where the animal has decided to fall. The gruesome pack out ensues and every corner and turn of my return has to be paced out in 10 step increments. Every step of the way I am back to telling myself "I am never coming back here"
I have never hunted that country, but I have floated through it. Here are some pics from two summers ago of the area you are talking about. It is very steep and nasty, but beautiful country.
This is looking upriver from below the Bridge that crosses from the Thomas Creek Strip to the Little Creek Guard Station.
There is a ton of really neat history in this area. The Sheepeater Tribe called this place home, and left numerous reminders that we are the latest in the long line of hunters that have frequented those mountains. This is the Cameron Creek Panel which is directly across the river from Little Loon Creek. If you look closely, you can see bowhunters and their quarry.
Looking upriver from the White Creek Bridge.
Not exactly sure where on the river I was when I took these next two, but they are from that general area.
As you can see that is some rough country. If you are at all interested in the history of the area, there are some really good river guide books full of interesting info, maps, and photos.
This is my favorite of the three guides I have read:
www.nrs.com
Oh, and if you decide to cross the Middle Fork in a little raft, be very careful. That river is fast and has a lot of big rapids. I wouldn't want to go in that time of year without a life vest and a waterproof way to get warm and dry quickly once you get back to shore.
This is looking upriver from below the Bridge that crosses from the Thomas Creek Strip to the Little Creek Guard Station.
There is a ton of really neat history in this area. The Sheepeater Tribe called this place home, and left numerous reminders that we are the latest in the long line of hunters that have frequented those mountains. This is the Cameron Creek Panel which is directly across the river from Little Loon Creek. If you look closely, you can see bowhunters and their quarry.
Looking upriver from the White Creek Bridge.
Not exactly sure where on the river I was when I took these next two, but they are from that general area.
As you can see that is some rough country. If you are at all interested in the history of the area, there are some really good river guide books full of interesting info, maps, and photos.
This is my favorite of the three guides I have read:
Middle Fork of the Salmon River Guide Book 4th Ed. (Previous Model) | NRS
Previous Model: The 4th Edition of Matt Leidecker's Middle Fork of the Salmon River Guide Book delivers mile-by-mile rapid descriptions with detailed maps and photos all printed on waterproof paper.
www.nrs.com
Oh, and if you decide to cross the Middle Fork in a little raft, be very careful. That river is fast and has a lot of big rapids. I wouldn't want to go in that time of year without a life vest and a waterproof way to get warm and dry quickly once you get back to shore.
I know a guy who's a member of a private ranch in there. He flys in. He said that the juice isn't worth the squeeze. Meaning you absolutely hike your *** off to find low game numbers with little trophy quality. There's basically unanimous agreement on those points from the four biologists and 20+ hunters I've talked to that hit the area. I agree to some extent on the squeeze comment but after hunting there for a few years it calls me back some like Nambaster. If nothing else, it's very neat country.
