Looking to buy property in Idaho. Where to start looking

[Rsnk61]

Idaho s#cks tell all your friends.... Seriously when you get around the big ski resorts the land will start getting a little spendy. I agree with an earlier post with Swan Valley ID. It is close to Jackson WY and it's ski resorts with Grand Targee on the other side neither are far. You are right on the South Fork of the Snake River, Teton River, and Palisades Res. So if fishing isn't your thing it would soon be. You are close to Yellowstone National Park. I grew up in Idaho Falls and there are plenty of places to hunt both elk and mulies. Like others have said you will have to work to get a trophy but they are there.

 

[FitToHunt]

one thing to prepare for, if you do move to a rural area, is. wages are not that good. It helps to have a good job already secured or have the ability to start your own business. We just don't have the big city wages in Idaho.

This is strictly a vacation property that could possibly turn into my retirement spot. I'm not changing residences.

 

[FitToHunt]

If you have any questions about missoula feel free to pm me, I've grown up and live here so I would be glad to help.

The positives about Missoula is its a great town that is close to both national parks. The closest lakes are within a 2 hour drive and hunting can be out your backdoor if you choose the right property. Whitefish mountain is a 3 hr drive and big sky ski resort is 4 but there are smaller resorts close to town that are <2 hour drive from town with snowbowl being 20 minutes. It's got a great local atmosphere and tons of local breweries!
A few down sides are property can be fairly spendy even on the outer skirts of town. And missoula is very liberal,
One area of MT that may be worth checking out is farther south down by Butte, in smaller areas such as Phillipsburg, Georgetown, and Anaconda. There is a nice ski resort on georgetown and a lake. And theres great hunting too. You'll be right in the middle of both larger towns (butte and missoula) but still far enough away to get that small town experience.

As of right now, I think this is our first choice of areas to look. We're gonna head to Missoula this Spring and look at as many properties as we can in 4 or 5 days. I've already found several south of Missoula around units 261 and 270 I believe, but it looks like those are draw only units for Mule Deer, so maybe we'll focus more north and west towards the Idaho side.

Also, a point of clarity about "trophy hunts". I'm aware you cannot have a true trophy area for any species without being in a limited draw area anywhere. So, I guess saying an "excellent opportunity area" would be more accurate. I definitely have no interest in only being able to hunt once every 5 to 10 yrs. Being an OTC area is a deal breaker.

 

[FitToHunt]

Areas around Salmon, and Lemhi Valley... THoughts?

 

[mntnguide]

Great areas...But no high quality ski resorts within hours..if that still matters.

 

[FitToHunt]

Great areas...But no high quality ski resorts within hours..if that still matters.

It does. I did find a website for a ski resort south of Missoula about an hour or so. It looked pretty nice, but I'm not a skier. Can't remember the name. Salmon isn't too far from Sun Valley I believe. Maybe more than a few hours in the winter though....

 

[mntnguide]

I would say it's a solid 3 and a half hours if the roads are in good condition from sun valley. ..and that's not to common that the roads are good. .I do believe there is a small resort north of salmon on the idaho/mt border, but I don't know anything about it. During the summer you can get to sun valley quicker through a route that is not open during winter unfortunately

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[tim]

lost trail pass ski area is on the idaho montana border south of darby and north of gibbonsville. south of missoula and north of salmon.

 

[ivorytip]

lost trail is a nice ski hill too with great snow, and salmon is an awesome town, ive thought about moving there several times.

 

[tim]

if you don't mind brown and hick, salmon would be a great place to live. Me personally I have always had a hard on for gibbonsville. just south of the border on 93 in Idaho below the pass, north fork is just south of you there. But I am river runner and lots of good big rivers in that part of the state. Gibbonsville is still in the trees, where salmon is brown with not many trees.

 

[tim]

fit

the bitterroot valley south of Missoula kicks ass, but if I was you, check out seeley lake, Montana. About 45 minutes north of Missoula. Personally one of my favorite places. I have only been there a couple of times, but the mission mountains on one side of the valley and the swans on another side is awesome. small resort, lumber town, roughly 4,000 people. Whitefish is less than 2 hours away.

 

[FitToHunt]

fit

the bitterroot valley south of Missoula kicks ass, but if I was you, check out seeley lake, Montana. About 45 minutes north of Missoula. Personally one of my favorite places. I have only been there a couple of times, but the mission mountains on one side of the valley and the swans on another side is awesome. small resort, lumber town, roughly 4,000 people. Whitefish is less than 2 hours away.

OK. I have seen some interesting properties in that area. Have you ever hunted around there? Any input on the Elk herd? size of bulls, hunting pressure? Are there any mulies up there, or is it whitetail country?

I've talked to a couple local agents. They are helpful, but of course they just tell me how amazing all there areas are for hunting cuz they wanna sell.

 

[tim]

Never hunted there, but yes they have elk, mulies, white tails, black bears, grizzly bears, wolf etc.

I have only snowmobiled there. I can not talk about the hunting situation, wether draw, general or anything for that matter. It is just a cool place 3 hours from my home in CDA. Very beautiful place.

 

[missjordan]

OK. I have seen some interesting properties in that area. Have you ever hunted around there? Any input on the Elk herd? size of bulls, hunting pressure? Are there any mulies up there, or is it whitetail country?

I've talked to a couple local agents. They are helpful, but of course they just tell me how amazing all there areas are for hunting cuz they wanna sell.

It's got a great whitetail deer and bear population but has lacked elk in the recent years because of the wolves. The bob marshall wilderness is right out your backdoor too!

 

[FitToHunt]

Found a couple interesting properties in the Cambridge ID area. I believe that is near the Payette national forest.... and not too far from the Hells Canyon Region. I do believe that area is a special draw for ELK. Not sure if the ones I saw are within those units or not.

Anyone know that country?

 

[87TT]

I was looking in that general area too. I was reading the regs on elk hunting and I was confused. They say that the area inside the National Forest boundary is closed to elk??? Not sure if I read it right or what that means?