Beav,
I used to hunt North East of Slough creek , ground zero for the initial wolf reintroduction... well it didn't take long to make elk hunting not worth the effort there. The N. Yellowstone herd went from 20k plus to estimated 4k today.
I spent a couple of days in that part of the park this summer and didn't see an elk the entire time, not counting the lawn elk in Mammoth,
Back in the day the I delivered supplies to dude ranches surrounding Yellowstone and they told me in private the elk were almost gone.
The biggest impact has been on the moose population... wasn't uncommon to see a moose in every drainage... they are few and far between these days.
Just up the road from me a drainage was said to have the densest moose population in the state... I hunt it often and haven't seen a moose yet.
Every year the F&G does a hunter survey and the first thing they ask me is did you spot any moose, second question did you spot a wolf?
We used to be able to shoot several whitetail in my area, now only one, a buck. I have spent 5 days hunting around home and seen a handful of whitetail does and one mule deer, zero elk, no elk tracks or droppings either.
The elk and deer seemed to have moved into the valleys close to people, the hills are practically bare.
This summer I have seen seven bears and one lion, the most ever.... had a pack of wolves in the yard the other day, my dog howls and barks ... when she howled the wolves lit up.. it was eery....
A few years ago I hunted 24 days total including several nights back packing in and saw two cow elk the entire season.
Last year I hunted 30 miles back in the Bob Marshall, traveled 10 to 20 miles a day by horse and saw 1 elk 1 Mt.goat, 1 grizzly, 1 mule deer and a handful of whitetails in 7 days.
The people I talk to that used to kill elk every year can't seem to find them , the old spots don't hold elk anymore.
If you pull up the F&G map of wolf packs my locale is loaded with them..... last year I located an elk herd put them to bed for the night and returned at first light... no elk, wolf tracks everywhere in the fresh snow.
Wolves are just part of the decline... bears , lions etc.. are at all time highs. Also rich libs buying ranches and not allowing hunting has created "safe spaces" for elk herds....
In the recent past if I posted such things I would get ridicules as being a lousy hunter.... I was a better hunter before wolves arrived...
