3-21 SS Wolf Problem

3-21 SS Wolf Problem

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Ted Fry has talked to us in the past regarding his vast experience as a primitive bow hunter (or he will tell you that you can say traditional bow hunter) and he is also a professional guide. The last time I talked to him, he was at his shop called Raptor Archery in Hood River, Oregon and he was getting ready to guide a bear hunt in the Lolo Pass region in the Bitterroot Range of the northern Rocky Mountains between Idaho and Montana. I called Ted up this week and asked him how things had gone. His response was rather intriguing. "It wasn't real great. Yes our clients had chances and a couple of them did get bears but I'll tell you it was at a time of year when we had that hot spell right in September when it was 92°. It was a full moon, 92° and there were some elk hunters in our camp. They were not doing very well but we all know the reason behind that. Would that be the wolf issue? Oh yes. As a matter of fact there is no lack of wolves in that Lolo zone. We see them pretty regularly, we hear them pretty regularly. I have been up in that country long enough that I know what it was like then and I know what it is like now and there is only one thing that really changed. Will wolves go after a bear too? Absolutely in fact one of our hunters lost his bear to wolves. He shot one and we found it the next day and the wolves had gotten it. They will go after mountain lions as well.
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