jon_norstog
08-11-2017, 03:35
My brother wanted to scout the "big hole" in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains, up against the Montana border, see if it might be a good hunt for the fall. It's a steep valley, really hard to get in and out and thus the elk use it as a refuge during hunting season. The forage is incredible, but it hasn't been touched this year and we saw maybe 1 old set of tracks all day. We found bear and wolf sign, just one each. Huckleberries are sparse this year, though the bushes are all over the place.
The bear grass flowers in early summer and the elk usually bite off the flower tips. They love the stuff. You look in the pictures and those flower stalks are everywhere, none of them chomped. The hillsides are also covered in browse and none of that has been eaten.
41732417334173441735
This is my brother at the Montana state line
41736
We talked it over and decided to see how things look at our old hunting grounds around Mex Mountain-upper Fish Creek, above the Middle Fork of the Clearwater. That area has been an elk-free zone for some time, but at least we know it and it is a lot easier to hunt than the Big Hole. Paul said he was going to scout there this week.
jn
The bear grass flowers in early summer and the elk usually bite off the flower tips. They love the stuff. You look in the pictures and those flower stalks are everywhere, none of them chomped. The hillsides are also covered in browse and none of that has been eaten.
41732417334173441735
This is my brother at the Montana state line
41736
We talked it over and decided to see how things look at our old hunting grounds around Mex Mountain-upper Fish Creek, above the Middle Fork of the Clearwater. That area has been an elk-free zone for some time, but at least we know it and it is a lot easier to hunt than the Big Hole. Paul said he was going to scout there this week.
jn