Lost Cabin Creek Hunts

General season hunting begins in the last week of October and ends the last week of November. All of our general season hunts are in the Scapegoat Wilderness portion of area 422. For the hunter who is looking for the “Western Classic Combo”, this is the best time and place.

About the Area

Lost Cabin Creek is located on the Dearborn River about five miles from the head of the river and about six miles from the Continental Divide. Our ride begins on the Smith Creek trail. We ride up Smith Creek five miles before we cross the river and go up Jakie Creek. The ride crosses over Welcome Pass and down to Welcome Creek and the Dearborn. Once we hit the river it is only another 15 minutes to camp. The ride is a total of ten miles.

The area we hunt in Lost Cabin Creek was burned in 1988 in a wilderness fire. This has greatly improved vegetation, visibility, and hunting. Since the burn, this has become one of the best wilderness hunts available. We see very few other hunters in the area, only occasionally when we hunt the lower country out towards the front. Hunting areas include Bald Bear Creek, Lost Cabin Creek, Cave Creek, Red Slide Mountain, Moudess Creek, Dry Lake, Jakie Creek, Weasel Creek and Starr Creek. All of these locations are usually a full day’s hunt. There is no shortage of country in Lost Cabin Creek. On most hunts if the weather permits we will hunt up to the Continental Divide at least once.

About the Hunts

Fully guided and semi-guided hunts are available out of this camp. We guide 6 to 8 hunters per trip, depending upon how many are guided and how many are semi-guided. Fully guided hunts are 1 guide per 2 hunters, and of course makes the opportunity rate higher. For a more experienced hunter, or a hunter who wishes to hunt more independently, a semi-guided hunt would be more suitable.

This area is open for either sex elk and there is no brow tine rule. In other words any elk you see is legal. Over the years most of the elk we have bagged in Lost Cabin Creek have been bulls. This is after the rut for elk and the bulls are usually gathering together for the winter. It is not unusual to see a group of bulls together. These groups can be as large as fifteen or as small as two. The groups of cows and calves like to gather in certain areas, and almost always have a bull in the bunch. As is always the case, weather is an important factor in hunting elk in Lost Cabin Creek. We usually have a nice snow cover which improves our ability to track elk, but occasionally we get more than we need.

Mule deer generally start their rut any time after the first week of November (weather dependent). This entire area can be excellent hunting, with some very nice bucks working the rut. In Lost Cabin Creek most hunters will get an opportunity at a buck. Mule deer hunting in the area is legal for any antlered buck, although we discourage shooting small buck, such as fork horns. The reasoning behind this is that the chances of finding something better are good. Our day by day hunt plan is generally made to hunt elk, but we also run into deer. If a desirable deer is spotted, we will work on bagging it.

In Lost Cabin Creek we offer fully guided, semi-guided and drop camp options. The recommended hunting gear list may be viewed on this site. For more details on semi-guided and drop camps call for details.