You may consider this a wolf bashing thread. So be it.
I've visited a specific HD ground in the P-burg, MT area since '03. I Know it well... I've hunted, fished, scouted and simply backpacked this area frequently while I lived in the Missoula area. I now drive the distance from Whitefish because it's tough to leave the trained area though scouting is simply a thing of the past due to time constraints and just out of weekend enjoyment range.
I've observed over the course of this short stint of 15 years a significant transformation due to that *terror of terrors, the big bad wolf.
Originally, I never heard from a wolf. My harvest rate for filling the freezer had been good though diminished to the disappointing truth of yearly increased wolf pressure. I need to move on and walk away from the archery wallows, draws and coolies located over time - honeyholes. My friendships with land owners and simply the incredible seclusion within our public lands.
I'm bummed though it is what it is.
I've just returned from my annual 6 day archery hunt - skunked again. Over the course of this recent trek to the various sucessful locations within this district we managed to call in two separate packs of wolves or maybe the same pack though roughly ten miles separating the two locations days apart. The picture above, my partner and I called for elk and after routing to different favored draws that filter into the meadow, we had a pack that howled their heads off. As we spotted what we believe was the alpha, the barking alerts began. We heard from both sides of our position. It was eerie. We made our way out and back to camp as the sun dropped.
Two days later we moved a good distance, roughly ten miles and again, our calls brought in another wolf. We didn't hear the pack mentality mentioned above though the one wolf howl made it clear the reason we had yet to hear a single bull bugle or a cow to call.
'03, - '11 freezer valued elk meat. '12 injury took me out of archery. '13 - present, wolves became more and more prevalent and elk became less and less.
People claim various predators cause elk loss and I agree it's always been the case. That was and is a constant normal factor, however the wolves have made a significant return to the detriment of the elk population, imo.
Here is the source side of their significant rebound... Our hunts are not keeping up with effective management of their advancing growth. I'm not and many of my friends and contacts are not wolf hunters. Most are opportunistic wolf tag owners though it costs $$$ to taxi the hides, skulls, or make mounts of, etc. ***Mostly we hunt for big game freezer filling meat and some are quite adept to trophy big game.
I believe the wolf growth is exceeding the dedicated predator hunters ability to keep them within a reasonable population. I believe we need alternatives to maintaining a healthy, yet controlled population. Be it, additional paid hunters, etc. I don't believe this is a MT issue only. I've heard it from friends in ID and imagine it's the same in WY.
Wolf rant over. Off to deal with wolves closer to my area and restart the search for, "fresh tracks".
Cheers all.
Edit: Oh, BTW... I found a GPS unit along a game trail to a favored set of wallows in HD 211. Seems we share a spot that once held value. I believe we also cross called our bugles while I hit an area close to the wallows as I heard your calls from that general area. You may have a white Chevy p/u. If you know of or you personally lost your GPS, PM me the usual details and I'll ship it to ya. Once I unpack, I'll check it for a *home waypoint and see if I can reach out to you while respecting your personal hunt waypoints.
I've visited a specific HD ground in the P-burg, MT area since '03. I Know it well... I've hunted, fished, scouted and simply backpacked this area frequently while I lived in the Missoula area. I now drive the distance from Whitefish because it's tough to leave the trained area though scouting is simply a thing of the past due to time constraints and just out of weekend enjoyment range.
I've observed over the course of this short stint of 15 years a significant transformation due to that *terror of terrors, the big bad wolf.
Originally, I never heard from a wolf. My harvest rate for filling the freezer had been good though diminished to the disappointing truth of yearly increased wolf pressure. I need to move on and walk away from the archery wallows, draws and coolies located over time - honeyholes. My friendships with land owners and simply the incredible seclusion within our public lands.
I'm bummed though it is what it is.
I've just returned from my annual 6 day archery hunt - skunked again. Over the course of this recent trek to the various sucessful locations within this district we managed to call in two separate packs of wolves or maybe the same pack though roughly ten miles separating the two locations days apart. The picture above, my partner and I called for elk and after routing to different favored draws that filter into the meadow, we had a pack that howled their heads off. As we spotted what we believe was the alpha, the barking alerts began. We heard from both sides of our position. It was eerie. We made our way out and back to camp as the sun dropped.
Two days later we moved a good distance, roughly ten miles and again, our calls brought in another wolf. We didn't hear the pack mentality mentioned above though the one wolf howl made it clear the reason we had yet to hear a single bull bugle or a cow to call.
'03, - '11 freezer valued elk meat. '12 injury took me out of archery. '13 - present, wolves became more and more prevalent and elk became less and less.
People claim various predators cause elk loss and I agree it's always been the case. That was and is a constant normal factor, however the wolves have made a significant return to the detriment of the elk population, imo.
Here is the source side of their significant rebound... Our hunts are not keeping up with effective management of their advancing growth. I'm not and many of my friends and contacts are not wolf hunters. Most are opportunistic wolf tag owners though it costs $$$ to taxi the hides, skulls, or make mounts of, etc. ***Mostly we hunt for big game freezer filling meat and some are quite adept to trophy big game.
I believe the wolf growth is exceeding the dedicated predator hunters ability to keep them within a reasonable population. I believe we need alternatives to maintaining a healthy, yet controlled population. Be it, additional paid hunters, etc. I don't believe this is a MT issue only. I've heard it from friends in ID and imagine it's the same in WY.
Wolf rant over. Off to deal with wolves closer to my area and restart the search for, "fresh tracks".
Cheers all.
Edit: Oh, BTW... I found a GPS unit along a game trail to a favored set of wallows in HD 211. Seems we share a spot that once held value. I believe we also cross called our bugles while I hit an area close to the wallows as I heard your calls from that general area. You may have a white Chevy p/u. If you know of or you personally lost your GPS, PM me the usual details and I'll ship it to ya. Once I unpack, I'll check it for a *home waypoint and see if I can reach out to you while respecting your personal hunt waypoints.
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