Wildlife around Whipsaw Saddle Ranch

For Sale WHIPSAW SADDLE RANCH THE WILDLIFE
The House The Land Living Here Around the Area Contact Us Whipsaw Main Page	Wildlife opportunities are unlimited at Whipsaw Saddle. We see uncountable whitetails and mule deer, moose, bear, cougar, coyote, bobcat, badger and the occasional rattlesnake. We've witnessed some odd turnabouts, too—like a whitetail doe chasing a bobcat, other deer harrassing a couple of coyotes and another coyote being mobbed by magpies. Just when you think you know how wildlife act, they surprise you. I have spent a lot of time in the woods but I've never seen critters like I've seen them here. The open country interspersed with wooded draws is viewer-perfect.	Hummingbird and Whitetail from our porch

This one from the living room

I used to hunt a lot but now I mostly stalk the critters with my camera. I never leave the house without it. Jane and I do love venison, though, so I pop a little whitetail buck each fall. It's always a 3 or 4-point (you get to choose here). And I go chukar hunting with my friend once or twice a year. Mainly, though, it's just being able to see all the wildlife that makes this place so special for us. When we lived in Portland we enjoyed all the trees and so much green, but it was kind of claustrophobic. In Salmon River country, we delight in being able to see so much.

And this from our dining room

In early March, driving up the White Bird grade to Grangeville, I spotted six bull elk across the draw, each with 4-6 points on a side. Some were just chewing their cuds, the others wandered around browsing. I kicked myself for not bringing my long lens, but at least you can see that there's an elk in this photo.

There are a lot of elk around here. A herd winters a mile and a half from us. When we lived in White Bird, before building the house, we would see elk regularly on our recreational drives. Winter herds there number in the hundreds. March is the time to find fresh shed elk antlers. Deer drop theirs in January and early February.

Some of the other animals we see within a couple of miles of the house are moose, black bear, bobcats, cougars, wolves, river otters, marmots, and badgers.

Products of good habitat

Salmon River Steelies

The Salmon River is one of the finest steelhead streams anywhere. My friend nailed these two and my son-in-law the other one. This stretch of the Salmon boasts good public access because the BLM acquired a strip along both sides of the river. They have just improved the road on the uninhabited (east) side. Hammer Creek Park, on the way to Whipsaw Saddle, has a boat launch, picnic areas and some very productive steelhead water. I once watched a guy catch two good ones in about 15 minutes-on fly gear. The river also produces rainbow trout, smallmouth bass, sturgeon and chinook salmon. And don't forget white water rafting and the white sandy beaches for picnics. For more, it's a 17 mile drive to Hells Canyon and the Snake River.

Wild turkeys are a big success story in Idaho. Both fall and spring hunting seasons are now offered. One caution: Don't feed them. It's a bad idea to feed any wild animal, and turkeys that hang around make a big mess. A couple of years ago, after advancing their range a canyon north each year, wild turkeys arrived in our canyon (Diamond Drill). With all of the gobbling going on down there last spring, we thought they were here to stay. Later I found a broken nest about two hundred yards from the house, from which a hen and 6 eggs had become dinner for some varmint. Maybe they'll make it this year. You don't need the Discovery Channel when you live at Whipsaw Saddle.

Strutting? I'll show you strutting.

Prairie falcon in our yard

Bird life here is simply astounding here—interesting birds everywhere. Turkeys, 3 kinds of grouse, chukar, gray partridge, pheasant, quail, eagles (golden & bald), osprey, and many hawks, falcons and owls. Songbirds run the gamut, from the two native bluebirds to a northern shrike that hunts from the same rose twig when he shows up each winter. We've got other wildly colorful birds, as well: Stellers jays, Bullocks orioles, western tanagers, and Lazuli buntings. Elsewhere on Eye of Idaho, you may have seen the pileated woodpecker I snapped in our back yard. We've had unusual avian visitors, too: a pair of eastern blue jays and a barred owl, neither native here.

Chukar

Living at Whipsaw Saddle offers continual photo opportunities. You just have to keep your eyes open and have your camera ready. I snapped this normally drab blue grouse 200' from our house. The handsome devil was using every trick he knew to entice a hen down from her perch in a fir tree. Ruffed grouse are here too. We see them occasionally and hear them drumming.


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