36 and 36A used to be about the best elk hunts anywhere...draw or general, in any state. It went downhill fast when the wolves showed up, and by about 2000 was nearly elkless, at least in the mountains away from homes.
It apparently has made a major comeback, with people seeing 2-3 mature bulls in each and every drainage these days. I don't know what has changed...the wolves are still there, but I am sure they're not nearly as thick as they were in the 2000 era...no catastrophic fires have gone through the area that I know of (up by Seafoam and the Boy Scout camp yes...but not south of Stanley unless I didn't hear of it), which I think is what made the Selway herd get so huge in the mid 1900s. It has to be something with the habitat...
