Yesterday I witnessed elk forming a protective herd against wolf attack. I was up at the snow line on my Idaho bear hunt and doing some shed hunting as well. I sat on a great overlook and watched well over 100 elk milling all around a ridgeline and flat platues grazing. They were all scattered about and I was eagerly glassing for bulls to see if they had dropped thier antlers. It was about 3 hours before dark, and off in a distant canyon beyond the elk I heard the distinct cry of the wolf. It echoed thru the canyon and I swear every elk head turned in the direction of the howl. Immediately the elk began to gather in small herds from 10 to 50 strong, and slowly make thier way away from the wolves. I planned to sit until dark as the elk trailed out above my position, hoping to catch a glimpse of thier persuers. Looking behind meI sawdark clouds heading my direction which told me I would not get a chance this night.It was good to see that the elk herded up like that for protection, butI'm suremany will fall to predation. I can not wait for the legal hunts to be available in my hunting area. Until then, I guess I'll just have to fire off some "warning shots"
