- Be aware of grizzlies
- Trout fishing in Hawley Creek
- Steelhead fishing in the nearby Salmon River
Species | General Size | Trophy Potential |
---|
Mule Deer | 140"-160" | 160"+ |
Whitetail Deer | 110"-130" | 130"+ |
Elk | 300"-330" | 330"+ |
Antelope | 60"-70" | 70"+ |
Bordering Montana on the Continental Divide, this unit holds mule deer, whitetail, elk and antelope. Tags are readily available for some seasons, but must be drawn for rifle and muzzleloader mule deer and elk seasons, plus a muzzleloader antelope season.
There are late controlled muzzleloader mule deer and elk seasons and limited rifle tags for mule deer and elk. There is no limit on archery antelope hunters.
Bordering Montana from Bannock Pass down to Eighteenmile Peak, this unit consists of land on the west side of Lemhi Valley south of Leadore. All of it drains into the Lemhi River. The valley portion is about 22 miles long and averages about 7 miles across and is filled with pastures, farm land, marshes and the Lemhi River bottoms. Some low, eroded foothills are in the middle of the valley in the south. The Beaverhead Mountains rise quickly from short, mostly grassy foothills to the Continental Divide on the Montana line.
Lowlands are mostly covered with grassy pastures with some sagebrush, river bottoms full of riparian plants such as willows, river birch, alders and berry bushes, farms planted mostly in alfalfa and some cattails and bulrushes in marshy ground. Above the Lemhi Valley are foothills, which are mostly open and grassy, especially on southern and western exposures. Sagebrush, serviceberries, bitterbrush and other low bushes grow on the foothills, and patches of trees grow in areas. Northern and eastern slopes above the foothills are mostly forested with conifers, such as Douglas fir, Engelmann spruce, ponderosa pine, subalpine fir, lodgepole pine and blue spruce. Above timberline, lichens, mosses, low shrubs, sparse and stunted trees, wildflowers and grasses grow. A lot of the high country is covered with rock in the form of rockslides, talus slopes and cliffs.
A good part of Lemhi Valley is private, but the southern part of the unit is mostly BLM and state land that is served by county and BLM roads, half a dozen of which climb into the Beaverhead Mountains. The northern part of the unit is a mixture of BLM and private land with the Salmon-Challis National Forest encompassing most of the mountains. Idaho Highway 28 runs down Lemhi Valley, and boundary road Idaho Highway 29, which branches from Highway 28, climbs the Beaverhead Mountains to the Continental Divide at Bannock Pass and drops into Montana, where it becomes Montana Highway 324. Several roads branch from these roads and provide access to some of the Salmon-Challis National Forest lands. Forest Road 6111 follows the divide for a short distance south of Bannock Pass, while Forest Road 130 leaves Highway 29 and climbs Cruikshank Creek before branching into roads west of Elk Mountain. Farther south county roads in Lemhi Valley lead to Forest Road 275, which goes up Hawley Creek. That road then branches into roads up Meadow Creek, Reservoir Creek and others.
Roughly 275 square miles
88% public land
Elevations from 6,300-10,100 feet
Hunters may drive ATVs only on roads built for full-size vehicles
Four-wheel-drive vehicles with tire chains are recommended
Get a map from the Leadore Ranger Station in Leadore
Hunters can camp along roads on public ground. Some hunters use no-fee campgrounds on national forest land along Hawley Creek. The BLM operates Smokey Cubs Campground northwest of Leadore along Highway 29. Lodging is available in Salmon, which is about 45 minutes north of Leadore. Hunter-friendly Sacajawea Inn has mounted animals in some rooms. Other choices include Syringa Lodge and Stagecoach Inn, which is next to the Salmon River.