Elk and Bear

Elk and Bear

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Ken Botley's a seasoned back country, big game hunter. He has been hunting for years, Is getting ready to hunt again this year and takes a look at his prospects and then reflects on times past. "I've seen a lot of good sign. Seems like there have been quite a few elk and a few bear. the biggest bunch I have seen has been about a dozen at a time with a bowl or two in them. It seems like I've seen more calves with the cows this fall than I had been seeing. There has been a little bit of sign of wolves. I haven't seen any wolves this last few days but I have heard them. Ken knows all too well and painfully that times have changed." The places where we have hunted before the wolves have just wrecked the elk population. It has really changed. 20 years ago you couldn't go through any of those areas without running into elk and now, all the elk are doing is trying to stay away from the wolves."

With multiple wildfires the last few years, Botley says a big challenge has been safely getting down the trails that are blocked by fallen debris left by the wildfires. "One of the biggest things that I have noticed over here is that the trails, you pretty much have to make your own. It hasn't been taken care of. Some places, it looks like the grass is coming back real good. Botley says that elk like to come back in to burned out areas because the grass is new."

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