Idaho's Selway

[lumbergreg]

I hunted elk in Idaho's Selway five years ago. Since then I have moved further and further south trying to stay ahead of the ever expanding wolf population. The past two years I hunted Idaho's middle fork and took a nice bull last year. Again we will hunt the middle fork this year, although I'm curious if the Selway has or will improve along with the opening of a wolf hunting season. I'm sure it will take several seasons at least, but has anyone spent time in the Selway this spring and summer? If so, have you noticed any changes in the elk population or movement?

 

[shoots-straight]

We haven't seen the low yet. With calf to cow ratio's so low, there bound to still slide before they level off. It's going to get worse before it gets better.

 

[smarandr]

I agree with shoots-straight. I go to Rotary with one of the Commissioners and he was telling me that herd populations in the Lolo & Selway zones are about 20% of what they were 10 years ago. It will be quite a while (if ever) before the populations bounce back.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

wolfs i think are gonna severly reduce the non-resident apps,are there even enough elk for it to be worth applyiing?I applied for nevada instead.

 

[TheTone]

I spent a little time in a Selway unit the other day and was honestly surprised with the amount of elk sign I saw, enough that I would consider the hunting the area I was in. I spoke with one of the area biologists the on the same trip and he did state that the areas I was in have kind of been holding their own and doing fairly well, while most of the rest of the area has went down hill. The lolo and selway areas have a lot of problems, wolves just being one part of the puzzle.