Did the wolves get them all?

stickerpt · Oct 20, 2004

I got back from my hunt in Northern Idaho on Sat.
There were four hunters from different parts of the US
in camp. It was a guided hunt. Out of four hunters I
was the only one who saw an elk with horns and it was
only a spike. Saw maybe 12 cows total on a seven day
hunt. Did not see any calves with the cows. We were
hunting Clearwater National forest close to Pierce and
Headquarters. There were lots of other hunters in camps
but only saw 1 with an elk. I have been on at least 6
elk hunts and this is the first time I only saw 1 bull.
We were definately all disappointed in the amount of game
we saw and were wondering if this was due to wolves eating
everything up.

Backstrap · Oct 20, 2004

I have been waiting for a report from that area. I believe you are in unit 10?? They had a real nasty winter back about 1996-97 and lost over half their herd. I have been following the situation since and it has not improved. The problem appears to be with calf survival. They also have regular occurences of elk drowning in the Dworshak pool by falling through the ice in large numbers. This may be unrelated as I don't know for sure where the unit 10 elk prefer to winter.

As far as predators, I am unaware of significant wolf predation in units 10 or 12 (Lolo zone). There is however significant evidence of a major problem with bears. I will enclose a link to the Coolwater Ridge study done several years ago, scroll down to midpage and look under editorials. Basically they were able to more than double the elk population in the area by removing 75 bears. I had also read that some of those bears had been observed searching for calves using almost a grid pattern in the calving areas (abnormal behavior!).

http://users.moscow.com/jhag/csi newsletter feb 2000.htm

We used to hunt in the Lean To ridge area and left after 1996 due to lack of elk.......I have wanted to return (if only to scout) but have not heard any encouraging news from the unit. Previous posters mention normal bull cow ratios from unit 10 but only half as many overall elk. I would be interested to hear more from the guys or from you!!

HoytHntr · Oct 20, 2004

We hunt a little bit farther north in the Panhandle area & much like what was posted earlier the winter of 96-97 took a huge hit on the herd. After '96, we wernt seeing anything up until about 00-01 & from there on the herd has came back strong! The last 3-4 winters have been very weak which has virtually eliminated a good percentage of winter kills. Our group had an unbelievable year, we were fortunate enough to harvest 6 bulls out of 9 hunters (I killed a 5x5 in archery season along w/a friend who killed a 6x7; & the other 4 bulls were killed during the opening of modern season). We havent heard much talk about wolves other than a sighting here & there; however the bear population is as strong as ever.

sisqhunter · Oct 20, 2004

Wow! Deja-vu man. Last year 6 of us hunted unit 10A right on dworshak res. a little north west of where you were i think.
In 7 days hunting only 1 small spike was seen (no shot).
Saw some nice whitetail bucks (killed 1). We were in elk nearly every day just could'nt find any horns. Seriously considering going back next year late november for whitetails. We too saw lots of roadside camps between dworshak and headquarters on our way out and only saw 1 bull. Oh by the way we were'nt guided
we rented a cabin from an outfitter in Orofino. Access to the cabin is by boat only,the boat is included in the cabin rental.
Would you mind saying what outfitter you went with and what you thought of him. We are somewhat considering an outfitter next time. Last year we hunted Oct 10-16.
Thanks

IDkTm · Oct 20, 2004

There are lots of wolves in units 10 and 10A. There was that bad winter kill, combined with a bear population that seems to really wipe out the calves and a growing wolf population and you have a bad recipe for elk. Herds are way, way down from what they were even five years ago. Its really sad for someone who hunts that area all the time.

stickerpt · Oct 20, 2004

I was with Duncan Outfitters out of Orafino. He worked hard
and had good guides but the bulls seemed to have disappeared
in that area. There was quite a bit of pressure due to another
area closing down so those hunters came to our area. Talked with
another pair of hunters at the airport who were hunting North
of where I was. They did not see any elk at all. They each saw
one moose total in their 7 day hunt. As for whitetails, if you
want a good one go with George in his Nov rut hunt. He will get
you a good one.

sisqhunter · Oct 20, 2004

IDktm,
How would you rate the whitetail hunting in 10 and 10A?
Numbers,Size etc.. Hunted 10A in 2003. No elk but got a decent buck saw some bigger bucks. First time with whitetails.
Would it be worth a trip next year just for whitetails??
Thanks,
Barry

sisqhunter · Oct 20, 2004

Thanks stickerpt,
I have been in contact with George, he sent me his brochures.
Sounded good. I am more interested in big bucks than elk,always have been. Nice to hear from someone who has been with George.
Did you see any good bucks? Did you have a tag?
Barry

stickerpt · Oct 20, 2004

Yep I had a deer tag. Could have used it for bear mt lion, whitetail or mule deer. Never saw a decent set of horns but
everyone says that changes when the rut rolls around. I did
see lots of deer and some good sign but the big ones were
not showing themselves. I did see a nice buck on a guys 4
wheeler. One of the guides told me that he had a guy get shots
at 5 different big bucks and missed every time.

IDkTm · Oct 20, 2004

For whitetails in 10A it would be best if you avoided the areas that are down near the clearwater as last year we had a mahor die off due to EHD. We lost between 3 and 5 thousand whitetails as the best estimate. The outbreak in 10A mainly follwed the river from orfino farther up the clearwater to the Kooskia/Stites area. That said there are still lots of deer. Working this summer I couldn't drive through Orofino without seeing between 10-15 deer. I've personally never hunted unit 10A strictly for deer. The only deer I've got there was a decent 5x5 when I was about 16, he was just in the wrong place while I was elk hunting. The area around Dworshak is supposed to be a really good whitetail area and I may do more looking there this fall myself as some of my usual spots got killed off last year. I found a really god set of sheds last year on the otherside of Dworshak working last summer, probably would go 140-150 if not chewed up. A friend of my dads got a 6x6 24inch wide whitetail in 10A last weekend. Harvest stats have been good, 2002 had 24% of the whitetail bucks killed as 5 points or better.

IDkTm · Oct 20, 2004

StickerPt, do you know what drainages or mountains you were hunting in or on? Just curious to see where they hunt. This fall I found the elk were scattered, there would be a ton in some pockets and none in others. I called in seven bulls during a week of archery hunting, but couldn't get any shots. My dad hunted the same spots the first week of rifle season and only saw two elk total so they've moved in the past 3-4 weeks.