RE: Terrible elk season so far in Montana
I just got back from the Idaho Panhandle last night, and I actually cut my trip short because we were finding NOTHING. Weather was terrible for the first few days, then turned cooler and off/on rain. Places that looked like there should be elk sign were empty or had old sign. We had a total of 3 different bulls bugle over the 5 days we were there. We did hear 2 wolf packs in the area, but I actually had a bull bugle while the wolves were howling. Not sure if theywere responsible for the decreased elk sign or not. Talked to a few locals, and they said the bulls weren't talking as much. We drove over 100 miles on FS roads and did not cut a single fresh track. Tons of deer, but no elk. Just seemed weird. Moral of the story, do more homework before heading out of state to a new spot.