Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Montana's Bob Marshall unit 150 wolf problems ?

I will be hunting unit 150 in the BOB in 2014 . The outfitter said that they never heard a wolf in there area until the end of this past season . Very honest people as I have been talking to them for a couple years now . They told me that they are concerned for the future in there area .
The question that I have is how many years does it take for the wolves have an impact on the elk and mule deer in the area ?

There's been wolves in that area for quite a while, it's very doubtful they'll alter the elk hunting in that unit in the next 20 months.

Not saying this is what's going on with this guy, but a lot of locals use wolves for a fallback on why they weren't successful.

What part of 150 are you planning on hunting?

With $50 non-resident tags one would hope they won't be much of a problem. Wolves seem to be a much bigger deal on the internet though.

Not much to worry about. Just make sure you have a wolf tag in your pocket. mtmuley

I will be hunting with Cheff Guest Ranch Outfitters
If anybody on this thread has hunted or know anybody that hunted with them please let me know how it was . Thanks!

There will be a tag in my pocket for sure !

Do you know where they guide out of. I have hunted 150 quite a lot over the last few years.

It would be the lower half of 150 on the eastern side . They have a camp that hunts the southern part and one on the south east part towards the continental divide . It's a 28 mile horse ride in . We will camp along the river and hunt from horses everyday .

That hurts just thinking about it.

Seems like the Cheffs were here to greet Lewis and Clark.

They should definitely know that country pretty well.

My friend that I visit in huson grew up with buds grand boys. He used to help them a lot during his college years and sometimes now for fun. It is a 20-30 mile ride to their camp we was there in 2010. Awesome country to ride. The friend of mine speaks highly of their outfit. I don't know about the wolves but did see a momma Griz and her cub prolly 10 miles or so from their camp.

bgbuck153-you might wish to consider applying for a mountain goat in that unit as well. Tough to draw a tag but you may as well try if you can.

Just a thunk.

Dober

Mark, where the goats are is a little farther South than Cheff's concession I do believe. Last I knew it was Bullseye Outfitters that ran that part of the Scapegoat.

That's no [bleep]... Gun hunting the rut would never impact their numbers.

I don't think I've seen a bull over 300 come out of the two Backcountry Rifle districts in the last 10 years.

Gorgeous country though. I absolutely love it in there. The memories I have of packing into the Dannaher with Grampa Al and Shorty are some of the best.

I hunted with the Rich Ranch out of Seeley Lake in the Bob this October. We had three days in the snow and covered a lot of ground. I saw one wolf track and never heard one. I saw lots of elk and shot a nice 6X7.

I also saw one set of mountain lion tracks and a ton of grizzly sign.

Crowkiller , what part of the season did you hunt ? We are strongly considering the last hunt towards the middle of Nov.

We hunted the last week of September and the first week of October. The season runs a little differently in the back country if I remember right. The regs are about impossible to read if you don't really know the area!

The Rich Ranch hunts the back country until the second week in October, then around Seeley Lake later in the season. I think it just gets too brutal for most pilgrims later in the season in the Bob.

What sort of weather did you guys have then? I did a loop hike last July from Holland Lake to Upper Holland, north to Lena Lake and back west by the Necklace Lakes and down to Holland. I was amazed how much that area reminded me of western N. Carolina, with its lush ferns and flora. I saw blueberry bushes on the trail up to Lena Lake that were 10ft tall. When you get over on the other side of the Divide, it looks totally different, like "Montana" or what an easterner thinks of as Montana.

We rode in on a 65 degree day, got a foot of snow on day 5, and rode out on a day that started at 7 degrees. I hunted in shirtsleeves in the beginning, then piled on layers later. It got cool or cold every night though.

I recommend the Cheffs and have hunted with them 4 times. I will go back.
This cou try is big and beautiful and you should be in good shape.
We hunted the first 10 days of November on two trips then hunted their last hunt on the other two trips. Take riding lessons before you go!
They have good stock and the family does know the area.
The weather can change quickly and usually does so
Phil