Oregon - Adult onset hunter

Good luck. You picked an extremely steep, rugged unit for your first hunt. Any buck you take out of there will be well earned.
Edit. I was going off the pictures that I id'ed as Snake River Unit. Imnaha is tough but not quite Snake River tough.
 
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Welcome to the forum man. That’s cool country you’ll be in this fall. I’m just over in Portland.
 
Best of luck on the hunt. Pretty country. I suggest doing some research on quartering the animal and even de-boning the quarters in the field. Assuming you shoot something, you'll then need to figure out how to get it back to your rig. That can be intimidating if you haven't done it before, although it's much easier with deer than elk.
 
Best of luck on the hunt. Pretty country. I suggest doing some research on quartering the animal and even de-boning the quarters in the field. Assuming you shoot something, you'll then need to figure out how to get it back to your rig. That can be intimidating if you haven't done it before, although it's much easier with deer than elk.
Definitely! I've been driving my wife nuts by watching field dressing videos on the laptop before bedtime! I also bought Steve Rinella's book on hunting, butchering, and cooking. No substitute for experience though.
 
Good luck with scouting and your hunt. You're in for a big surprise if you haven't been there before. If you're at the Snake River ridge line you may not be in your unit anymore. Here's a link to a useful ODFW Map: ODFW Access Map . If I were 50 again and in good shape, I'd definitely spend a couple of days near Indian Crossing campground and hike into the upper Imnaha drainage. Put this in Google Maps and check it out: 45°08'07.8"N 117°09'24.2"W . I'm not fit enough to make it there anymore but wish you good luck and hope for an update if you do scout it out.
 
Good luck with scouting and your hunt. You're in for a big surprise if you haven't been there before. If you're at the Snake River ridge line you may not be in your unit anymore. Here's a link to a useful ODFW Map: ODFW Access Map . If I were 50 again and in good shape, I'd definitely spend a couple of days near Indian Crossing campground and hike into the upper Imnaha drainage. Put this in Google Maps and check it out: 45°08'07.8"N 117°09'24.2"W . I'm not fit enough to make it there anymore but wish you good luck and hope for an update if you do scout it out.
This is incredibly helpful. Another person suggested Dead Horse Ridge also. I'll be sure to spend a few days camping and glassing in both areas. I expect to cover a lot of ground but I also ultralight backpack and not unaccustomed to doing 10-15 miles a day so hopefully even with extra gear (waders, spotting scope, and tripod) I'll be able to cover a lot of ground. I will definitely post photos over the summer when I get out to scout. Thank you, everyone, for the help.
 
This is incredibly helpful. Another person suggested Dead Horse Ridge also. I'll be sure to spend a few days camping and glassing in both areas. I expect to cover a lot of ground but I also ultralight backpack and not unaccustomed to doing 10-15 miles a day so hopefully even with extra gear (waders, spotting scope, and tripod) I'll be able to cover a lot of ground. I will definitely post photos over the summer when I get out to scout. Thank you, everyone, for the help.

Waders? Not worth the extra weight for that area. Bring an extra pair of wool socks and cross in those with no pants on. As someone who’s backpacked several times with waders—trust me, it sucks.
 
Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

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