Backcountry · Elk
Sawtooth Wilderness, Idaho — out of Grandjean
A seven-day guided elk hunt in 250 square miles of central Idaho that SWO holds exclusively for deer and elk. Ranging on horseback between camps rather than working one, in archery or rifle season.
This trip is guided by
Sawtooth Wilderness Outfitters
Josh Thurber
Lead Guide & Outfitter | Experience Director
Two hundred and fifty square miles of central Idaho that SWO holds exclusively for deer and elk, hunted on horseback over seven days.
SWO refuse to work one fixed camp. They move with horses and mules between multiple backcountry camps and a front-country cabin base at Grandjean, so a hunt can chase the animals instead of the infrastructure. Backcountry camps are wall tents, cots and wood stoves; the Grandjean cabins have a bed, a shower and internet; and ultralight tents go in when the hunt demands country neither will reach.
They are explicit about what they will and will not promise: "Unlike guaranteed trophy hunts, we believe in the intrinsic value of earned success." They control the food, the guides, the stock and the camps, and they do not claim to control the weather or the animals.
Seasons and weapons
- Archery: late August into September, from $6,500 per hunter
- Rifle: October into November, from $6,500 per hunter
A drop camp option is available in the same country at $3,200, two hunters minimum, if you would rather hunt it unguided.
Elk
Mule Deer
Rifle, Compound Bow
Backcountry, Horseback
Wilderness / backcountry, Public / leased units
Free-range (fair chase)
Not included
Approximate area, not an exact location.
Sawtooth Wilderness Outfitters
Sawtooth Wilderness Outfitters runs out of Grandjean, Idaho, on the south fork of the Payette River at the edge of the Sawtooth Wilderness.
Josh Thurber
Lead Guide & Outfitter | Experience Director
Josh Thurber
Lead Guide & Outfitter | Experience Director
“Roving horseback hunts and pack trips out of Grandjean, in 250 square miles of the Sawtooth Wilderness they hold exclusively.”
Trips from
$6,500 / person
Set by the outfitter and subject to change. Confirm current rates directly.
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Sawtooth Wilderness, Idaho — out of Grandjean · 7 days
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