I'll give you a little info on the Thompson falls area I live around 60 miles from there. I hunt the area religiously. I take my 60 year old uncle in there a lot of different trains. Elk are hard to find if you don't have any knowledge of the area but a lot of good deer. Pulled a nice 5+ 5 out...
My buddy got one down Sundays here in nw Montana. I've had 3 bulls talking for the last week but they area the only ones. My buddies bull came in silent
From what I understand if you can get permission to hunt private land it's great my aunt and uncle have acreage over there, last hunting season they had 300 head of elk on it all season
I wouldn't wouldn't worry about grizzlies that much they will come in to bugeling ounce in a while, but if you pack bear spray just hit them with that and they will leave you alone
if your worried about wolves and grizzlies, I'd stay clear of nw Montana, but to tell you the truth they leave you alone I've had a pack come in on me a few times, and didn't have a problem running them off. I did have a buddy get chased off of his elk by a pack of wolves, I've heard of a few...
I live in nw Montana and tipicaly have better luck, after the first week, not sure if it is the same as southern Montana, but I only live 10 miles from my hunting spot, and fallow it year around