Dad saw two wolves north of Potlatch below Lookout Mountain last summer, and the cats are no longer uncommon sightings in the area.
I'd bet the area around Gold Hill is being re-infiltrated with both types. I haven't been through the Deary cut-off in a number of years, so don't know what the population looks like out that way. I do know the hunters around St Maries were reporting wolve sightings within 5 miles of town.
Couple years ago one of my chums with hounds starting a big kitty track down that way off of Spring Crk I believe. They finally treed it right off the St. Maries river about a mile or two up from Lotus. It had even killed a 5 point buck on the way north. It hit the scales at 160lbs plus. Heck of a long race.
The wolf tracks were thick the one day we had snow on the Emida side of the Palouse divide. Ran into several spots where 2 or 3 were cruising the clear cut edges. No sightings though.
Lefty,
Awesome buck. What a monster. My grandpa told me once of a 300 lb plus deer he killed while guiding some elk hunters. That was back in the 40's or 50's though. Right in Broomd's back yard.
