Marc: Somewhat west (Beaverhead, Bighole and Jefferson River drainages) of where you are headed we (Elk Hunters) are greatly afflicted with transplanted Canadian Wolves! They have COMPLETELY changed the haunts and habits of our Elk herds - the Elk are now very difficult to Hunt without paying exhorbitant tresspass fees or Hunting in "firing line" or "running the gauntlet" type situations along ranch boundaries. The reason for this is the Elk have now taken to large ranches for their protection! The Elk arrive on these ranches early and stay all winter! In fact I went for a drive last night out the Blacktail Road from Dillon, Montana - I actually observed and counted 3 (three) herds of Elk all on private ranches (2 herds on one ranch and 1 herd on another) - each herd of Elk was in EXCESS of 1,000 (one thousand!) animals! I was incredulous to the point of being dumbfounded! I spent over an hour counting and watching the Elk and listening to them bugling! One of the ranches allows a handful of Hunters to harvest Elk and Deer from his place: Fees: $3,000.00 per Buck Deer and up to $15,000.00 for a Booner Bull Elk - I believe I saw this Elk and at 1/2 mile distance with my Nikon spotting scope I am sure this bruiser would go VERY close to 400 B&C inches! Alas this morning my Hunting partner and I were up way before dawn and Hunted a long ridge that had 6 inches of three day old powder snow on it and the highlight of our half day Hunt was a single set of Wolf tracks and a few sets of Deer tracks! This area normally (over the past several decades) has lots of Elk in it - so far this season NOT SO! I wish I had better news for you but the Elk in much of SW Montana have learned a new survival technique - living on huge ranches and staying near outbuildings and equipment that buffer the Wolves away somewhat! I used to fight the deep winter snows to go view the herds of wintering Elk on the Blacktail Winter Game Range which were well past (16 - 18 miles past!) where these early season Elk have migrated to already and are holed up now. The last few days in SW Montana have been 24 to 34 for highs and -6 to 11 above for lows. It is supposed to warm a bit through November 9th through the 12th. The snow that is on the ground is fluffy dry and very quiet - perfect for tracking and stalking - unfortunately those Hunting techniques are all but worthless in the present situation! I did see a dandy 330" 6x6 Bull Elk running for the Holland ranch near Grasshopper Creek on the opening morning of Rifle season - I was within 900 yards of him and that has been my Hunting season so far! No sightings on public land since then. Again I wish I had a better and more localized report for you - I do have friends north of Gardiner (east side of the valley) and I heard from them last year that they had to quit Hunting their own ranch where they have killed Elk at a 100% success rate for decades - until the Wolves moved in. They now only apply for Elk tags in eastern Montana (no Wolf predation there as yet) for their Elk Hunting. Best of luck to you on your Hunt - pay attention to intel you might pick up from other Hunters and locals as to the new haunts of the Elk in your area. Hold into the wind VarmintGuy
Thanks for the info from all who have contributed. I live in southern California so it is an 1100 mile drive to go back up.
The outfitter claimed they killed 92 bulls last year so it was an exceptional year for him. Apparently the migration started early last year.
My friend worked for Frank Rigler. Frank is now retired. We visited him twice and he told us how the wolves have changed the elk dynamics. Before the wolves arrived there were elk scattered throughout the entire area we hunted. I will not go back up unless Frank tells me the trip is worthwhile.
I had not seen the info on the decline of the Yellowstone herd. This is the first time I have hunted with an outfitter. I would not have done it this year except that it turned out to be the only way to get everybody together to take care of our friend's final wishes.
Greenhorn - Would you agree that last year was a bit of a fluke as far as the elk kill in that area???? I was under the impression that early snow had changed the migration in many areas - ie: elk being where they normally aren't and in large #'s. You would know far better than I, just an observation from afar.
Here's one of the "fluke" bulls from last year. I worked hard for him, but have worked harder on a lot of hunts and came up empty. The weather was GOOD to me last year!
So the answer to your question Ranger1, is YES... Strange year for sure!
Since our last snow(s) have visited many prime 'elk areas' and did not cut any tracks. Met many people, all asking 'where did the elk go?'
One rancher was telling me there will be 'changes' next year in the regulations for this part of Montana. Cow tags will be very limited (drawing only, maybe 400) and the tag will only be good for one week (computer will decide which week, not you).
Other changes are forth coming, but have not been released.
Wow... I'm hard pressed to fathom why with the amount of educated intelligence on this board and in these Elk hunting threads many here cannot see what is happening.
Rigler said there was a meeting or hearing tomorrow(Thursday) about the wolves. He urged us to send our input via email. My partner has the email address but I haven't been able to get a hold of him. Does anybody know the email for the hearing?
I watched the videos. Very depressing! Our southern California version of that story is the reintroduction of the California Condor which also took place in the mid-'90's. Thankfully, it has not impacted game populations. The USF&W biologist who started the program held meetings and asked the hunters to support the program and assured hunters that the program would not impact us in any way. That turned out to be nonsense once the biologist had built his little empire and the program was established. The condors were going extinct because there isn't anything for them to eat anymore. The vast herds of elk and antelope and later cattle that used to live in the San Joaquin valley are gone. They have to feed their zoo birds with still born calves from dairies. We ran into some of the bunny huggers who were tracking the radio equipped condors a couple weeks ago. These people don't have a clue! Everything they know about wildlife was learned from Walt Disney.
VarmintGuy - that wasn't you (or someone in your party) I chatted with in the parking lot of the Super8 Motel in Dillon on Sunday the 5th, was it? Much of what I was told was the same - 1000s of elk and no way to get to them as they were all on private land.
BTW, one of the fellows was sporting a custom Ruger #1 in a wildcat based on a necked-up .30-06, if that rings a bell.
Guns are like guitars - you can never have too many.
We were hoping to head down to SW Montana next year, haven't been in about 5 years and may not go next year since a lot of the news we are hearing is pretty bleak. We used to Stay on the upper Ruby and Hunt the Snowcrests, Gravellys and Greenhorns. Back then lots of elk and always saw a lot of animals period. Have a cabin we stay in and the guy who owns it said he isn't seeeing much as far as elk goes anymore and lots of wolves and a cat here and there. We will keep an eye on things since we enjoy that area a lot but not worth going if the Elk aren't there.
firedog, I would look into other options till they get the wolves under control. 3 guys in their late 20's hunting hard for 7 days...saw a total of 9 elk. The very first animal we saw on this trip was a wolf. The only bull we saw was a raghorn 6 x 6....dead from someone who needs to learn how to shoot. I may try colorado or cash in some wyo preference points for the next couple years. Good luck whatever you do.
Little bit of an oversimplication Buzz. There was a quota of 4 wolf tags in the area I hunted. The outfitters son had one and killed one. My guide had one and will certainly kill one. The pack that we saw had 13 wolves in it. Even if all 4 tags were filled out of that pack it wouldn't make much difference would it?
firedog, I would look into other options till they get the wolves under control. 3 guys in their late 20's hunting hard for 7 days...saw a total of 9 elk. The very first animal we saw on this trip was a wolf. The only bull we saw was a raghorn 6 x 6....dead from someone who needs to learn how to shoot. I may try colorado or cash in some wyo preference points for the next couple years. Good luck whatever you do.
Yeah we were talking about looking at a different area in Montana but more than likely anoter state. I have a bunch of Wyo points so may look there. One of these years I will draw an Arizona Elk tag and really looking forward to that one. Not sure what we want to do next year though, really like that SW Montana area and have a great spot we stay in but if there aren't animals it for sure isn't worth going. Wouldn't mind going over and hunting wolves though. FOr sure if we hunt a state that has a wolf tag available you can count on my group having them in our pockets. kinda like Cougars around here, always have a tag.
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