Any tips or suggestions? Anyone been? Anyone been successful? Looking at a control hunt for unit 1.

Sounds like an adventure hunt. I'm guessing unit 1 in Idaho?
I've driven through it. Beautiful, Steep and Thick!!
He** yeah!!

Birthday present. Tired of chasing hogs in the swamps and ready to do something a little different.

I'll know the draw results on the 23rd or shortly thereafter. Yes, unit 1 Idaho. The biologists in Idaho have set quotas they would like to have filled for bear for the last ten years and they have not even gotten 50% for the most part. Many units are reduced price and two tags right now. 41 clams per tag for black bear with about half or a little more being color phase. High probability of seeing grizzlies as well.

The Foundation for Wildlife Management, Inc pays 750 clams (1000 for units 10 and 12) reimbursement for costs if you kill and tag out a wolf. No limit on how many they will reimburse. I can get 5 tags otc at 31 clams each. Almost no chance of actually seeing one of course but the bears are everywhere and then some right now. Population has exploded and of course, the bear size has gone down. 300 is a big one but much higher probability of success.

Wolf hunting is hard. There are drainages where packs frequent, but they range. You may or may not hit them while being in the area. I seem to see wolves every time I go into the ID/MT wilderness. I think its luck more than anything but you ain't gonna see them from the road. Get off in the wilderness. Way off. If you aren't looking for them, you are more likely to find them, in my experience. I was looking at ID harvest data for wolves recently. I couldn't find data since 2017. But that was unit data, which was pretty helpful for giving you population concentrations, at least based on kills.

Fall bear I can't speak about. Their coat maybe not as desirable but still would be fun to put an inland bear fattening up for winter on the ground.

Good luck.

I'm with stob, sounds like a good time. If you kill a wolf, will you mount it?

Thanks.

Berry bear - lol. About the only way to make one palatable. I want a skull and a pelt/semi rug. Same with the wolf but a pelt from nose to toes. I am snakebit on predators right now - never gotten one other than a damn pet grey fox of my mom's neighbor. The pelt lasted about ten years made into a hat. Might have lasted longer but a dog got ahold of it. Tanned with 1/2 salt and 1/2 borax.

My plan for wolves is to listen for them to talk in the pre dawn hours and get as close as possible. I have a foxpro and will howl at them or yip at them if I even hear any. Call with fawn distress at daylight followed by coyote howl. Also know about coyoto pup distress calling in a pair of big wolves over two days in the same spot recently.

This sounds like a fun trip.

Ive always wanted to kill a wolf. Sounds like itll be a blast

I know the wolf population had gotten Bad in ID because not too long ago they were begging for out of state trappers to come in to help with the problem

Wolves were really bad in unit 10A the last time I was up there. I think the best way to find them is to locate some elk and use elk calls to attract them. If they do respond, they will be downwind and completely silent. They don't howl as much as they did before hunting them became legal.

You should get on some forums for that area and do searches. A lot easier to find info as a non-res.

Idaho unit 1 is beautiful. Of course a wolf and bear are both sparsely populated and very elusive. The success rate will be low. But that's secondary in my opinion because the scenery and experience is unparalleled. FYI you can save a little money flying Southwest into Spokane. Then drive back to Idaho.

We did this. Spokane not too far from Idaho Border. Plus there's a Cabelas in between

Plan on having that go not anywhere close to what you expect.

Last pack of wolves I saw were hunting me. I was dropping off a steep ridge into a bottom that backed up to a private ranch. No way to access to the bottom. I was trying to kill a mule deer but could kill a whitetail with the tag I had and was bumping whitetails all the way down through the timber. About 3/4 of the way down, I hear what sounds like guys running dogs behind me. As I processed it, realized it was a pack of wolves. The alpha came down silent and got within 140 yards. He and I had a stare down and he backed out. I don't really get buck fever, but that kinda got me jacked for some reason.

They were probably within 250 yards of me without me knowing. I think calls would of scared them away. Who knows.

Another encounter was when I was up high glassing and 2 small wolves appeared below me on a shelf. Completely silent.

Yet another when glassing, there was a small pack in a bottom running around in mid day which is weird. On further inspection, there was a mountain lion in a nearby tree that had cached a kill and the wolves had found it. A standoff was in the making. The cat backed out,from what I could gather.

North Idaho is some wild country. I have had wolves within 100 yards of me growling and barking but I never saw them. They are incredibly good at being all around but staying out of sight. Somehow they know exactly where you are at all times.

Thanks so much for the info.

15 dollar spotting scope. I admit it was a gamble but I just read the number on a mailbox 4 blocks away with it offhand. Window mount shipped today. I have to find the wife's tripods for when she was photographing the kid's football games. Or buy another if I can't. We've moved three times and consolidated three households since then.

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