Sitting in Atkinson?s

runamuk · Mar 7, 2019

Parking lot in Bellevue whatching some wolves munch down on a couple of deer. Trying to get pics through
Binos.

elkboy32 · Mar 7, 2019

I was there today and had them in my spotting scope. It was a couple coyotes that made the fuss. I'll see if I can upload photos but I'm not super great on this website

elkboy32 · Mar 7, 2019

http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos_2019/24826aa25b6b89b44a348ddb4054f9c1bab0.jpeg

runamuk · Mar 7, 2019

I thought the same, that at least one was a coyote, I mentioned it to a f&g guy there he said nope, all four were wolves.
the ones that were bedded down sure looked like wolves to me though.
My belly was grumbling, and my ass was draggin' from moving snow all day so I didn't stick around much longer.

elkboy32 · Mar 7, 2019

Could have been wolves there but all I saw were the song dogs. Several others there that saw the coyotes kill the deer, but maybe wolves were there earlier. Only know what I saw and other witnesses told me. I have video on my instagram page of the one chewing up the deer. I'm not going to attempt to upload the video the pictures were hard enough haha

runamuk · Mar 7, 2019

I was pretty sure that upper one was a coyote until the guy told me wolves.
Makes sense for Coyotes though, hardly a morning goes by that there isn't 3 or 4 coyotes down in that hay field just north of Belleview on the east side.

idhikker · Mar 7, 2019

How are the deer doing over there? This snow got real pretty fast.

elkboy32 · Mar 7, 2019

They look better then 2 years ago body wise, but they in trouble with the amount of snow on the ground. 75 inches in February is a new record snowfall. There?s a crust that's pretty hard on the to break through for feeding and moving, and the predators are smoking them. Hopefully it will melt off fast but it's looking like another hit to the herd.

hawkbill · Mar 7, 2019

Let's get to the truth- they were coyotes that killed the deer on the hillside above Bellevue, the first guys there saw them take the deer down then the Eagles came in for there share. It amazes me when I showed up the same guy that was telling people wolves killed the deer, was still there telling everyone wolves killed the deer. I also saw the coyotes and those same coyotes are seen laying around that hill when you drive to work every day. You ask about the deer,I have been out a lot the last three days ,a lot of fawns have died and if the southern exposers don't open up we are going to loose a lot more deer. I have takin a lot of pictures ,I will get them posted. The Elk on the northern exposers are in the creek beds with 8? banks around them and know where to go. A lot of game is trapped in the bottoms of drainages, I have been makinking trails with my machine so they have something hard to walk on when it freezes at night. There have been a lot of avalanches, i saw one avalanche with a half dozen dead deer sticking out of the snow. In fact one area I photographed I counted 20 dead deer and 2 dead cow elk in a half mile stretch all laying in the road. I will get some pictures posted and start a new thread

elkboy32 · Mar 8, 2019

Thanks for the confirmation on that one hawkbill. Billy cares more about mule deer than about anyone I know, especially in this area. His report is not good. I haven't seen it that bad but he has no reason to lie. I would be laying off central Idaho for years if I didn't live here. Last year was terrible deer hunting, in between lack of deer and exponentially increasing nonresident pressure. The cow extermination in 49 should pretty much put a dagger in it.

idhikker · Mar 8, 2019

Thanks for the reports, fellas. It's a shame as feared. If Mother Nature would chill for a couple years the deer would bounce back. This year was looking awesome but it's not to be.

BPKHunter · Mar 8, 2019

It is sad to see areas where the critters winter so high get hit with such late storms.

Most of the wintering grounds in SW Idaho are low enough and the snow, while deep, is above the critters. This late moisture will help much of the state as the green up will be very beneficial compared to even last spring. In my very uneducated, non-bio degreed opinion.

Other than avalanches and cars, the elk will likely survive.

These critters can go quite a while without real access to food, so if we can get some warmer weather and some melt down lower, maybe the relief will be good enough. Bellevue 10 day weather report shows no snow, half the days are sunny, with daily highs upper 30's and low 40's. fingers crossed.